All the way from Zhujiagou Village to Mingtai County, the trees along the road were broken by heavy rains, the fertile fields were destroyed, and the houses collapsed one after another.
On the roadside, I saw many coffins placed under greenhouses, with family members wrapped in linen scarves and kneeling aside with dull expressions.
Xia Zhaoyi knew that this was a custom in Xizhou. People in Xizhou believed that those who died due to natural disasters must leave their bodies outside to attract their souls back. Otherwise, they would become lonely ghosts.
She did not go to Xucheng immediately, but took the least traveled road to Nanchangzhuang.
When I arrived in Xucheng at the beginning of this year, the first people who were willing to entertain them were the village women from Nanchangzhuang.
But now, half of the people in the village have disappeared, and the house of the hospitable Aunt Huang has been deserted.
In the entire Nanchang Village, in addition to the elderly people who cannot walk, there are also a large number of unfamiliar faces.
These strange faces had a bad look on everyone who entered Nanchangzhuang, but after seeing Xia Zhaoyi parked in front of Aunt Huang's house, many people's eyes brightened and they were happy, but no one came to talk.
.
Until someone heard the news and rushed over. When he came to Xia Zhaoyi's side, he said in a low voice: "Second Miss."
Xia Zhaoyi turned around and smiled: "Chen Dingshan."
"Ah!" Chen Dingshan said, "Second Miss, you can even recognize me."
Xia Zhaoyi didn't say anything, but neither Zhan Ning nor Shi Guoxin recognized him.
Chen Dingshan wears a bun on his head, has a double mustache, and his eyebrows have been trimmed. His skin is not as dark as before. He has gained some weight and is now whiter.
"My life was good when I was little!" Zhan Ning said.
Chen Dingshan glared at him and looked at Xia Zhaoyi: "Second Miss, everyone in Nanchangzhuang is ours now. The first batch of villagers left before the foot restriction order. Some of those who were too late to leave, I have quietly
Arrange for people to send them away. There are still some old people left who really can’t leave."
Xia Zhaoyi asked: "Did there be severe wind and rain in the past few days?"
"It's not as bad as half a month ago, but more people died this time. Along the way from Liujiacun to Caoqugou, all the houses in that area were flooded, and many people died. They were all crushed to death by the collapse of the houses in the middle of the night.
Yes. It should have been the heavy rain half a month ago that damaged the house. If it rains again now, the house will not be able to hold on."
"Will the government come forward?"
Chen Dingshan sighed angrily: "Just don't raise taxes, we are even more disregarding the people's complaints!"
Xia Zhaoyi raised his eyebrows, turned around and walked towards the north, looking at the surrounding houses as he walked.
If other people enter this village, they will definitely not think there is anything weird about this village except that there are few people in it.
This house is drying clothes, that house is drying fish, and a few houses are full of tea leaves.
There are many people drinking and playing chess in the open space of the village road, accompanied by a plate of peanuts.
There is also smoke curling up from cooking pots, and the fragrance of rice wafting in. I wonder which house is lighting a fire for cooking.
Shi Guoxin suddenly said: "I didn't see any women or children."
Chen Dingshan replied: "We are all men. Women and children are not easy to find either."
Zhan Ning was curious: "Where was the original village chief here?"
Chen Dingshan showed an air of dignity: "You are my follower now. You must obey my instructions."
"You still have to be careful," Shi Guoxin said, "Don't be kind-hearted and discordant."
"Don't worry, I have a backup plan."
"Where is Li Ju?" Xia Zhaoyi suddenly asked, "How is he in the palace now?"
Chen Dingshan's eyes brightened: "The people from the palace came back to report that he is getting worse and worse and has begun to forget things! Second Miss, he finally can't survive it!"
"Great!" Zhan Ning was also happy, "I'm just looking forward to his death!"
When I turned around, I saw the girl in front of me walking slowly, without any hint of joy on her face.
"Second Miss?" Zhan Ning said.
"This is not good," Xia Zhaoyi stopped and said in a deep voice, "It's not good at all."
There were two consecutive heavy rains, with only a break for a few days, and it finally cleared up again today.
The streets and alleys of Hejing City were in trouble, and everyone, men, women, old and young, came out to clean up.
The urchins didn't know it was a disaster, so they poured water from basin to basin, thinking it was fun and laughing.
In terms of government affairs, whether they liked or disliked the Ministry of Works, they were all speaking for the Ministry of Works at this time, trying to allow the Ministry of Works to have maximum freedom in manpower deployment.
The emperor on the dragon throne seemed not to hear it.
No, he seemed to be listening.
His eyes were always deep and shrewd. I used to think he was plotting something, but now I just feel scared.
Now, no matter who these eyes were staring at, all the officials felt that the emperor was planning a way for that person to die.
Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger, a tiger whose temperament becomes increasingly elusive.
Several more people came forward to persuade. Li Ju suddenly felt tired and raised his hand.
"Your Majesty!" Zhuge Shan's voice was almost pleading, "This natural disaster must be saved!"
Li Jue looked at him and finally said: "I always feel that I have forgotten to do something lately."
Zhugeshan paused and looked at him with wide eyes.
Everyone in the court did not dare to make a sound, and the hall seemed to be suddenly quiet.
Almost at the same time, everyone guessed what the emperor was talking about.
Last month, on April 20th, Emperor Xuanyan suddenly issued an order to kill Queen Nangong on May 15th, depose the crown prince Li He, and establish the third prince Li Hao as the crown prince.
It's exactly one month now, May 15th.
As the date got closer, the government and the public suddenly maintained a high degree of tacit understanding on this matter, and no one reminded them.
Even the Ministry of Rites doesn't dare. When Tianwei gets angry, he can push and push everyone in Zhongshu introspection and throw the blame for a while.
No matter how eager Li Hao was to become the crown prince, he would not dare to talk about it.
It’s not that I haven’t thought about bribed the father-in-law in the palace to ask for it, but now, which chamberlain dares to take this job, not even secretly putting a piece of paper in front of the desk.
Now in this palace city, everyone is in danger and everyone is on guard against others. Everyone seems to be stared at by countless pairs of eyes, unable to breathe and not letting others breathe.
"Where are your dear friends," Li Zhizhi said, "think about it for me?"
The officials held the wat tablets, lowered their heads one by one, looked at their noses with their eyes, and looked at their mouths from their noses.
Zhugeshan, who had just stood up to speak, was completely dumbfounded, as if he had been struck by lightning.
Why, why is it him again!
It doesn't matter if he moves or doesn't move.
He also lowered his head, but felt that two bright eyes were falling on him, and they were going to burn holes in him.
"Zhuge Aiqing," Li Ju said slowly, "do you remember what I want to do and what it is?"
Zhugeshan's scalp was numb.
He suddenly felt that the emperor was not as insane as they thought, at least, he was not now.
He was definitely waiting for Zhugeshan to stand up and speak before interrupting him and mentioning this matter!
If he didn't say anything, he would be punished for deceiving the emperor and he would be finished.
If he were to blame for the death of Queen Nangong, he would even be scolded worse than Emperor Xuan Yan in the official historian's book!
From now on, Zhugeshan will never be able to take off the labels of traitors, traitors, and sycophants one after another.
Not to mention the historian, even in this life, he will not end well!
The emperor's move was to involve the Zhuge family in the crown prince's dispute, and then risk the life of Queen Nangong!
