Chapter 56

Rong Tang said: “My husband and I originally wanted to come to Suzhou for summer vacation, but my family has several estates nearby, and before leaving, my mother told me to check them out. So in the past few days, I’ve been bringing Huaijing around. According to the stewards, the flood season is almost upon us.”

He smiled, casually picked up the tea cup and took a sip, giving Jiang Shanxing time to react, and then said, “I’m actually not familiar with all this. I only heard that the autumn grain has yet to be harvested, which may have an impact. Although my family doesn’t have that many assets in Jiangnan, there are still thousands of acres of farmland and more than a dozen shops. It’s fine if I didn’t hear of it, but since I’ve heard of it, I will inevitably have doubts. Fortunately, Excellency Jiang happens to be here, so I just want to ask whether the flood season is really coming. How is the rain this year? Will it affect the harvest?”

It was the first time that Rong Tang called Su Huaijing “husband” in front of outsiders, but Su Huaijing rarely had the time to carefully savour it. He just sat aside, playing with Prince Ningxuan’s waist tablet, and his gaze nonchalantly fell upon Jiang Shanxing’s face.

Many things for him are things he could do but not things he must do.

Since natural disasters are bound to happen, the political achievements he gave to Sheng Chengming were merely a couple of numbers.

How many losses have been reduced, how many villages have been saved, how many victims have been rescued, how many rebellions have been pacified……

Since the founding of Dayu, judging from the chronology of major events recorded in history, droughts, floods, snowstorms, locust plagues…… disasters of all sizes have occurred every few years, which isn’t extraordinary.

And once these disasters occur, the local officials in charge will be held accountable later, while officials or princes who make special contributions during the disaster will be rapidly promoted and gain significant achievement.

This was the political achievement that Su Huaijing originally planned to bestow on Sheng Chengming.

He analyses things from an absolutely rational and self-beneficial perspective, and plans the most appropriate opportunity.

But all the plans were ruined the moment when, in a clear morning after the rain, Rong Tang lifted his sparkling eyes and said to him, “Let’s go to Jiangnan.”

He should have known a long time ago that his little Buddha is an extremely smart and kind-hearted person. The disasters he can foresee are not completely invisible to Rong Tang.

And when he saw it, no matter whether his ability was weak or not, he would still want to save them.

Just like that night in early spring, the young prince, bracing his body, which was about to faint from coughing at any time, rescued him from Fengyue House.

So Su Huaijing asked Xingfeng to collect grain and stockpile medicine along the road. He could not change the will of heaven, but at least he could save a few people from starving to death and find ways to prevent the inevitable epidemic that occurs after flooding.

Su Huaijing originally thought that the world was insignificant to him.

To him, whether people in the world live or die doesn’t concern him.

He wants revenge, wants to kill Emperor Renshou, wants to expose his hypocritical mask to the people, and wants to seek redress for his parents, brothers, and sisters.

From his perspective, there isn’t a person in the world who isn’t an accomplice.

But looking from Rong Tang’s perspective, the common people in the world are the fishermen on the lake, the farmers in the fields, and the bookmakers in the villages…… The tens of thousands of ordinary people who work from sunrise to sunrise are all innocent. They should not become indifferent chess pieces in political struggles.

So Su Huaijing tried to understand it from his perspective.

Once he changed his mind, he wanted to know whether the destination and the house chosen by Rong Tang were truly worth their long journey all the way from the capital.

These millions of people still have nothing to do with him, but if Rong Tang wants to save them, Su Huaijing will definitely save them for him.

He lowered his eyes and casually stroked his waist tablet. The fragrance of tea leaves spread throughout the hall. Jiang Shanxing sat in the round-backed armchair on the right, his expression altering from his initial respectfulness to a serious one.

Like Li Changfu, he was a fourth-rank official. He was over fifty years old and had served in more than half of the country. But now he had to sincerely bow in respect to two young people below the age of twenty.

“Prince is smart and perceptive. This year’s flood season…… is likely to be disastrous!” Jiang Shanxing said it in a deep voice; his expression was filled with sorrow. His back was hunched, making him seem as if he had aged over ten years in one instance.

Rong Tang narrowed his eyes and didn’t speak for a while.

Jiang Shanxing, fifty-three years old, is originally from Longxi. He became a jinshi* in the third year of Yuanxing. He started as a county magistrate in Minnan and was promoted and transferred many times until he became the magistrate of Suzhou.

(*TN: Successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations.)

In the summer of the ninth year of Qingzheng, there was abundant rain in Jiangnan. Jiang Shanxing noticed something was amiss. He inspected the estuary dams many times and wrote to the governor. He bluntly stated that the water level had risen this year and the temperature had become colder, which might cause floods. He asked the governor to send someone to investigate and organise local villagers to repair dams to prevent any disaster from happening.

Lu Junxian, the governor of Jiangnan, received his letter but pretended not to have seen it. He sent ten confidential letters in succession, but Lu Junxian did not reply to any of them.

Jiang Shanxing had no choice but to write a letter and planned to send it post-haste to the capital to hand it to the cabinet ministers. However, Governor Lu intercepted it right after it left Gusu city. In his letter, he angrily accused Jiang Shanxing of being an alarmist, bypassing him, reporting to a higher level, and suggested that such heinous intentions deserved severe punishment.

Jiang Shanxing was trapped in Suzhou. His immediate superior did not believe his judgement about the rain this year, and his reporting letters could not be delivered. Before returning to the capital at the end of the year for his debriefing, he was in an impossible situation. As a local official responsible for protecting the people, he could only patrol the dykes barefoot every day, trying to rally the villagers to reinforce the embankments out of his own pocket without causing panic.

But what he could do was still a mere drop in the ocean, at most, saving a small area. Once the floodwaters gather, releasing the flood would still cause disasters.

If the imperial court does not send the minister of water conservancy and the army southward, rebels will definitely appear once the disaster is over, and then there will be an even greater crisis.

This is simply a vicious cycle. Any official with a hint of a brain would not allow such a major disaster to occur in the land under his jurisdiction. However, Lu Junxian, whose bones were softened by the spring waters of Jiangnan and whose mind was clouded by sweet wine, could only see the dishes on the table, the gold in the chests, and the slender waists in his bed. He was blind to the wailing infants and the elderly struggling to survive.

Rong Tang was silent for a long time and finally spoke up, “May I ask Excellency Jiang why you’ve been visiting so many times these days?”

For three consecutive days, the first day was an unintentional miss, and the second day was spent collecting grain. If Jiang Shanxing had come a little later today or if they’d left a bit earlier, they would have missed each other again.

Jiang Shanxing said: “This lowly official is bold and wishes to ask Prince to write a letter to Duke Ningxuan informing him of the hidden dangers in Jiangnan and to request that His Majesty dispatch officials and troops to the south urgently to prevent an endless disaster!”

Rong Tang pursed his lips and didn’t respond immediately.

He sat in the chair, lifted his gaze at the old man who was saluting him on his right, and said nothing.

Su Huaijing stood up, replaced a cup of hot tea for him, then stood smiling next to Rong Tang, lowered his eyes, and asked, “Excellency Jiang cares about the people; we are deeply moved, but—”

He paused slightly, his eyes revealing a sharp, icy gaze. “What if your judgement is wrong?”

Jiang Shanxing stood up and said quickly, “After judging that there would be floods this year, I visited several nearby villages and spoke to the farmers along the riverbanks. They all told me that the water level is unusual this year and there may be trouble.”

Su Huaijing’s eyes lit up when he heard this, as if a little admiration had emerged.

Some local officials work for old scholars, and when they encounter any trouble, they will pay them a visit and get their input. But in regards to this year’s harvest size, whether there is sufficient rainfall, whether the number of insects has increased or decreased…… Such questions should be asked of farmers who have been close to the loess for generations.

They may be ignorant of major principles, but they definitely have more life experience than those academics.

However, Su Huaijing still did not respond and instead said, “Even if you all say so, the natural disaster is still uncertain. If Prince abruptly writes a letter back to the capital and Duke Ningxuan reports it to His Majesty, when the time comes and the flood has not appeared, who is going to bear the blame for deceiving the Emperor?”

Jiang Shanxing: “This lowly official shall readily take responsibility.”

Su Huaijing nodded, seeming to agree. Jiang Shanxing’s eyes lit up, and just when he was about to speak, Su Huaijing turned around and asked, “But this letter has the mark of Duke Ningxuan’s Palace on it. The person who wrote the letter is Prince Ningxuan. In the first place, how can you, fourth-rank magistrate, take responsibility for the crimes of Duke Ningxuan’s Palace?”

“In other words, why should the responsibility that should be borne by you and the governor of Jiangnan fall on my husband?” Su Huaijing said in a clear voice, with a smile on his lips, as if he planned to stand by and watch, while Rong Tang, who was sitting beside him, hadn’t said a word from beginning to end.

Jiang Shanxing’s face turned pale, he pursed his lips tightly, and his figure seemed to hunch a lot more.

He wanted to entreat again, but Su Huaijing smiled and raised his hand to see the guest off: “Please return to your abode, Excellency Jiang. Don’t continue to waste your time here with us.”

The notice to leave was too straightforward. It was impossible to remain, even if Jiang Shanxing wanted to. Pretty soon, he was quickly led out of the house by a servant.

He stood in front of the mansion and stared at the newly renovated building for a moment. Then he sighed heavily, turned around, got into the carriage, and drove towards the mouth of the river.

In the hall, the guest had left, but the tea was untouched.

Su Huaijing walked over and glanced down. “It’s a pity; I bought the tea specially.”

Rong Tang looked up at him and asked, “Why didn’t you agree?”

Su Huaijing turned around and tilted his head with his eyes widening in astonishment. “It’s clearly Tangtang that doesn’t want to agree, so why are you asking me instead?”

Rong Tang remained silent and met his gaze.

After a second, Su Huaijing smiled.

He let out a soft sigh, walked up to Rong Tang, persuaded him to take a sip of hot tea, and then said, “Excellency Jiang is a good official, right?”

Rong Tang didn’t nod or shake his head. He cannot judge a person’s character based on a single event. A corrupt official with vast wealth may still toil for the welfare of the people, while an upright and honest official may still pass wrong judgements that lead to innocent deaths.

The officialdom is all murky waters; trying to see through it and understand any particular official is foolish.

But Jiang Shanxing was indeed a good official, a good official who died in the line of duty.

After the disaster occurred, although he was unable to prevent the heavy rain from bursting the embankments, he did his best to minimise the losses. Among the disaster-stricken counties in Jiangnan, Suzhou suffered the fewest losses.

But after a great disaster, there is always a great epidemic; this is an unchanging law throughout history.

Despite being exhausted from days of hard work, Jiang Shanxing continued to inspect the quarantine zone for an epidemic. As a result, he fell ill, but with inadequate medical conditions, he managed to overcome the illness purely through willpower.

But soon, there was news that a group of refugees had gathered outside Suzhou to start an uprising. Jiang Shanxing went in person to recruit the rebels by offering amnesty, but the irate, agitated victims mistook him for a corrupt official and stoned him to death on the spot.

He survived the natural disaster and escaped the epidemic. But as a local magistrate unwilling to suppress the disaster victims by force, he was ultimately killed by the misinformed populace.

Even the King of Hell would say that he’d been wronged upon seeing him.

Su Huaijing bent down, looked straight into Rong Tang’s eyes, and asked seriously, “Tangtang is so smart; guess how much longer it will be before the rain falls?”

Rong Tang thought silently in his heart: In the summer of the ninth year of Qingzheng, on the thirteenth of the sixth month, it rained heavily for seven days, bursting river embankments at multiple locations.

Su Huaijing said: “Today is the sixth day of the sixth month. I guess there will be at least seven days before the rain starts.”

Rong Tang was shocked, his eyes widening in disbelief, and then relaxed just as quickly.

Su Huaijing noticed his momentary unease and mistook it for nervousness. Grasping his hand, he said, “Seven days—if we ride hard, we could make it back to the capital. But even if we don’t account for the rain and mud along the way, or whether the Duke will report to the court, or if His Majesty will dispatch envoys and troops to Jiangnan, by the time they arrive, the flood will have already become a disaster.”

Rong Tang pursed his lips tightly and said nothing. He was afraid that, as soon as he opened his mouth, he would tell Su Huaijing that he actually had other plans.

Su Huaijing observed his expression, gave a light smile, and slowly said, “Tangtang wants to ask Magistrate Jiang to hold a banquet, invite Jiangnan Governor Lu Junxian, and then you attend. Then you would directly use your authority as Prince Ningxuan to compel him to obey orders and immediately evacuate the people along the river and strengthen the dykes. Then they can wait until the flood has passed before returning to their homes?”

“……Not just that.” Rong Tang finally said something. He looked at Su Huaijing and swallowed the rest of the sentence into his stomach.

——I have leverage over him—leveraging that would force him to follow my orders.

Su Huaijing was stunned for a moment, and then he understood. His gaze brightened, and he nodded with a smile. “I’m being negligent. How could you be able to control the governor of Jiangnan with mere Shizi status? Tangtang, you have come all the way to do this. You won’t fight an uncertain battle, and you probably still have other bargaining chips in your hands.”

He almost assumed that his little Buddha was just being overly compassionate, but he forgot that with Rong Tang’s character and intelligence, if he didn’t have some assurance, coming to Jiangnan would be to witness the disaster with his own eyes and feel sorrow for nothing.

Su Huaijing curled his lips and smiled, staring straight at Rong Tang. His words were clear but extremely solemn: “But I won’t allow it.”

He reiterated, “I won’t allow you to put yourself in danger.”

“Tangtang, betting on people’s hearts is the most dangerous approach. If your leverage crosses the line by even a tiny fraction, it could provoke lethal intent from the other party. I won’t allow you to do this.”

Su Huaijing still smiled gently, reminiscent of the previous day beneath the willow trees on the street, much like the pure white lotus flower placed beside a basket of lotus pods. Its soft and adorable pale yellow stamens appeared completely harmless.

Rong Tang unconsciously made a motion of swallowing, and his Adam’s apple rolled slightly. Su Huaijing’s eyes fell on that place, and he continued in a slow, low voice: “What Excellency Jiang needs is not a confidential letter to be sent to the capital. What he wants is someone who can actually make Lu Junxian do what he’s told.”

The young prince’s neck is slender and fair, with a delicate and petite Adam’s apple. Following the line of his neck upward, there is a thin and narrow chin, leading to pale and reserved lips.

Su Huaijing’s eyes stopped there and he smiled: “Tangtang, guess what gift I’ve prepared for you?”

The author has something to say:

Susu: I want to kiss my wife.

Sheng Lao’er*: Hi! Big daddy, little daddy, your unruly son is here! (Appears with a flower in his mouth) (Gets scared away by Susu’s glare) (Hastily slips away to work) – Checked the information, fixed a bug in the previous text, changed the number of flood victims to millions.

(*TN: ol’ Er, as is “2”, aka. Sheng Chengming.)