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Chapter 166 Coincidence
It was probably because the waiter was deeply impressed by Yan Daoxin's eloquence that the next morning, when several people were about to leave the inn to continue their journey, he specially chased them out and kindly reminded them to prepare more dry food in advance, otherwise when they arrived in Huazhou, the closer they went to where there was more rain, the harder it would be to buy food.

I heard that the local people saw that this year was going to be a complete failure, and they were eager to save all the food they had at home so as not to starve when a famine really hit. No one was willing to sell it for money easily.

As the saying goes, listen to persuasion, and eat a full meal.

Zhu Yu and his companions followed the young man's advice and went to the market when they left the county town. They bought a lot of long-lasting dry food, such as flatbreads, which they carefully wrapped in oil paper and put away. They also filled their water bags with water.

Generally speaking, the thing that is least lacking in places prone to floods is water.

But at the same time, what such places lack most is clean water that is safe to drink.

The most terrifying thing is not the flooding that submerges farmland and drowns crops. The truly terrifying thing is that as people are soaked in muddy water, they can easily get sick after drinking unclean water and eating food soaked in sewage, and then the plague may spread rapidly.

They traveled like this for another two days. The further they went, the more it rained. The official road, which should have been easy to walk on, was soaked by the incessant rain and became soft and muddy. The horses' hooves would slip from time to time on it.

This also forced them to slow down their pace to avoid accidentally falling into the mud with both themselves and their horses.

The stream beside the road, which should have been clear and shallow, was now filled with muddy water. The water surface was almost wider than the walkable road, and the yellow water surface was rippled by the wind.

Whether in the towns or the county town they passed along the way, it was just as the young man reminded them. Not only the vendors selling Hu Bing, but even many places like restaurants and butcher shops no longer opened their doors to welcome customers.

The people here saw that the rain seemed like it would never stop and that all the crops in the fields were drowned. They might even have no harvest at all, so they carefully hid their own food and were unwilling to sell it to outsiders.

The restaurants and butcher shops outside have run out of ingredients to cook, so the only one left is Guan Zhang Daji.

This also made the villages and county towns we passed along the way increasingly lifeless.

Although he was wearing an oilskin coat, Zhu Yu still felt damp all over when traveling in the rain every day. The wet clothes stuck to his body, which was very uncomfortable, and there was also a faint smell of dampness and mold.

When we reached a place where there was no village in front and no shop behind, it suddenly rained harder. Countless raindrops fell from the sky and hit the ground, instantly splashing water in the puddles on the ground. The road ahead was covered with mist by the heavy rain and could not be seen clearly.

The raindrops were carried by the wind and hit people's faces, making it impossible to open their eyes and making it more difficult to walk.

The five people had no choice but to find a shack next to a farmland where a melon farmer was watching over the melons, and take shelter from the rain temporarily, planning to continue their journey when the rain subsided.

"During Prince Yi's wedding, didn't we hear that the Duke of Yan's second son-in-law, Bai Qihong, the Minister of Works, had been sent by His Majesty to Huazhou to build a canal?" Zhu Yu looked at the large expanse of farmland opposite the shack that had become a puddle, and after calculating the time, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled, "It's been a while now.

Although the rain was quite heavy, if the canal construction had gone smoothly, there wouldn't be waterlogging in farmlands and all the crops drowned along the route, right?
We have indeed seen repaired canals wherever we pass these past two days, but they are all filled with water and have no effect at all."

"It seems that Minister Bai must have encountered some difficulties." Lu Qing calculated their speed of travel. "If this rain passes quickly enough, we can see him within a day." Zhu Yu looked at Lu Qing suspiciously. "Are you going to Huazhou specifically to see Minister Bai?"

"Thank you, madam, for thinking so highly of me, but this is just a coincidence." Lu Qing waved his hand humbly.

Zhu Yu smiled back at him.

If this is really a coincidence...that would be strange!

If it was really a coincidence, the fox would not have asked Fu Wen to pay attention to whether Bai Qihong appeared with his father-in-law, Duke Yan, on the day of Lu Zhang's wedding. If he didn't, where did he go?

After all this time, Zhu Yu had already formed a basic understanding of her husband - in his case, apart from the absolute coincidence that he married a wife who could perform autopsies, there was no other coincidence.

The conversation between the two people ended at this point and no one went into details.

The rain outside the shack showed no sign of abating. Yan Daoxin lowered his head and sniffed inside his oilskin coat with a look of disgust on his face. It was obvious that he was also very troubled by the musty smell.

He rummaged through the boxes he carried with him for a while, and like a magic trick, he picked out a crimson porcelain bottle from among the many bottles and jars, poured out a few small pills of the same crimson color, and gave one pill to each of the other four people.

"It's not a good thing to be soaking wet all the time. Taking this medicine can help clear out the excess moisture and foul air in your body. Otherwise, you'll really get sick from the summer heat!"

Zhu Yu had seen Yan Daoxin's ability, so she had no doubts about whether the pill he gave her would work. She took it and swallowed it. After a while, she felt a warm feeling in her stomach. The warmth slowly spread along her meridians to her limbs, and she felt an indescribable comfort.

After more than half an hour, the rain finally subsided, and there was no trace of soil on the farmland nearby. It had turned into a shallow pool of water.

Taking advantage of the light rain, the five people quickened their pace and finally arrived at a busy place before sunset.

Unlike the places I passed before where there were almost no people, this place is extremely lively.

Before he got close, Zhu Yu heard from afar the sound of someone singing in the wind mixed with raindrops.

As you get closer, you can see many strong men, with their upper bodies naked, carrying loads or baskets of soil to farther places.

They were wet from head to toe, barefoot, with muddy trouser legs casually rolled up around their calves. Everyone looked very tired, but they sang encouragement songs in unison, trying their best to cheer themselves up and not give themselves the opportunity to slack off. Everyone looked very motivated.

Suddenly, a strong man in his thirties or forties stumbled, the burden on his shoulders fell to the side, and he fell silently into a puddle of mud in front of him.

　Thanks to 汪偻danni x2, 营养小猪, and 573602869 for their monthly tickets!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)