The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

I saw that the road in front of me was covered with stones and mud, and there were more than a dozen people standing or lying on the side.

Duan Jing'an breathed a sigh of relief only after he saw that these people were servants.

At this time, Butler Zhao also arrived with his men, only to find that Duan Jing'an had arrived even faster than them.

Just now he noticed a group of people riding horses passing by them. It seemed that they were their future son-in-law.

After briefly explaining the situation, Duan Jing'an remained calm and directed his men to quickly clear the roadblocks so that people could pass through.

After a while, seeing that people could pass through, a servant walked over tentatively and made a gesture to this side when he found that there was no problem.

Duan Jing'an raised his foot to go over, but Tong Li stopped him with some concern.

"Fourth Master, let the servants go, you stay here."

Duan Jing'an waved Tongli's hand away and said in a cold voice, "Order the carriage to be prepared. Put up the awning. Leave the carriage over there. The women of the Ding family will be here soon."

After saying that, Duan Jing'an passed through the narrow opening.

When Bai heard that her master and her brother were not at home, she felt a little uneasy. When she heard that Duan Jing'an had come, she felt relieved and a little surprised, and immediately felt that she had some support.

When Ding Meishu heard that the man was coming, she felt excited and secretly happy.

Unexpectedly, he came.

At this time, Duan Jing'an had already arrived beside the carriage. He knocked on it gently and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Madam Bai, are you all right?"

At this time, Bai Shi didn't care about the distinction between men and women, and since he was her future son-in-law, Bai Shi simply lifted the curtain and saw a young man wearing a straw raincoat standing next to the carriage.

"Jing'an, why are you here?"

Duan Jing'an bowed and quickly told Bai that the emperor had kept all officials above the fifth rank in the palace, and Bai now had a clue.

"Madam, the carriage cannot pass. I have no choice but to ask you to get off and walk over. There is a carriage ready over there."

"it is good"

Mrs. Bai handed the two children out first, and the nannies beside Mrs. Bai each held one child, covering Ding Meijian and Ding Meiting tightly.

"You go first."

Duan Jingan ordered.

Only then did Mrs. Bai come down wearing a straw raincoat and turned to look at the carriage.

"Shu'er, come down quickly."

Ding Meishu lifted the curtain and stuck her head out. The straw raincoat she was wearing might not have fit her properly, it was a little big and hung loosely on her body.

"Mother, you go first, I will come soon."

"Madam, please go ahead. I'm here."

Bai knew that staying here would only delay time, so she simply followed the servant over there.

The maid beside her helped Ding Meishu down. This was not the place to talk, so Duan Jing'an just gave her some gentle instructions and quickly took the rest of the people and followed Ding Meishu over.

The rain was heavy and the mountain road was muddy. The embroidered shoes that Ding Meishu was wearing had already been stained by the mud and water, making it very difficult to walk. It became very difficult to lift her foot after stepping down.

The old woman beside her squatted down and carried Ding Meishu on her back, but the muddy road was slippery and she couldn't stand steadily several times.

Duan Jing'an supported the two people who were about to fall again, and said hesitantly:

"If Miss Ding doesn't mind, would you mind if Duan took you there?"

"The rain is so heavy, I'm afraid something might happen. I need to get there quickly."

Afraid that Ding Meishu might misunderstand, Duan Jing'an quickly added another sentence.

Ding Meishu looked at her mother who had disappeared, bit her lip, and nodded slightly.

So Duan Jing'an took Ding Meishu from the old woman, clenched his fists, and held Ding Meishu in his arms.

Ding Meishu blushed as she hurried toward the intersection. Fearing she would fall, she had to scramble up Duan Jing'an's shoulders to avoid him falling.

Glancing at her clenched fists, Ding Meishu laughed inwardly.

Just after the last person passed through, the newly dug entrance was covered by the washed away soil again. Fortunately, there was no danger.

Duan Jing'an rode a horse and led the carriage carrying Bai back to the capital. Some of the remaining servants were injured and could only wait for the people behind to arrive and then slowly rush back.

After sending the Bai family back to the Ding family, Duan Jing'an returned to the mansion. After taking a shower and changing into dry clothes, Duan Jing'an went to Bisongyuan.

Song Shengfu finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that all the women of the Ding family had returned safely.

With such heavy rain, if we encounter mudslides, landslides or something like that, our lives would be at the mercy of fate.

"You said the emperor has left many officials in the palace? Did something happen?"

Song Shengfu felt that this matter was not simple, and Duan Jingan, who was drinking ginger tea, also looked a little worried.

"There's still no news. Mother and son are really worried."

Song Shengfu looked at the gloomy sky outside the window and felt a little heavy in her heart.

No news came from the palace at night, and most people in the capital did not sleep well that night.

The next day, Duan Jing'an, with dark circles under his eyes, dressed neatly and went to the Ministry of Justice as usual.

After arriving, Duan Jing'an was a little confused when he saw his colleagues whispering to each other.

It wasn't until a clerk, with whom he was on good terms, pulled him over that he realized what had happened.

"Hey, you heard about the flood in Nanyang. Several counties in Guiling County were flooded."

"What? Why is it so sudden? I haven't heard anyone mention it before."

"Well, do you remember that Nanyang previously received 400,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue to build a dam? Oh, you weren't here at the time, but at the end of April, they asked the Ministry of Revenue to transfer another 300,000 taels of silver. You should know that."

Duan Jing'an nodded. He had some impression of this incident. At that time, the Minister of Revenue was so angry that he threw the sign and was scolded by the Emperor of Chu for being disrespectful in front of the palace.

"It's about this matter. I heard that the people below were greedy for money, and the dam collapsed, so they kept it secret. Now that the accident has happened and hundreds of thousands of people have died, they can't hide it anymore."

Duan Jing'an was shocked. Seven hundred thousand taels of silver, not to mention building one dam, even two would be enough, but it was all embezzled.

Duan Jing'an felt a little angry. These parasites of the country did not serve His Majesty loyally and help the country, but instead abused the people and had no regard for the law. Duan Jing'an felt a chill in his heart.

Floods, how many people will die.

"That's right. The Nanyang Governor had been suppressing this matter for a long time. It was only when the magistrate of the next county under Guiling Commandery risked his life to rush to the capital that he exposed the matter."

As he spoke, he cursed the corrupt officials in a low voice.

"It's been raining for many days straight. I wonder what the situation is like in Nanyang right now."

"Ugh"

They both sighed, there was nothing else they could do. They were just small fry, and if the sky fell, there were people above them to hold it up.

Soon, many orders were issued from the palace one by one, and the entire court began to move. All departments took action according to the orders of the Emperor of Chu.

Prince Xin was entrusted with the important task of leading the army to Nanyang to quell the flood.

Accompanying him were the Right Vice Minister of Works and other officials who set off overnight to go to the disaster area with Prince Xin to assist in handling the aftermath.

These days, everyone went to court with their tails between their legs. Every morning during the court session, one could clearly feel the suppressed anger of the Emperor of Chu. No one dared to approach him at this time, for fear of angering the Emperor.

If they were not careful, they would be scolded. The officials in the court were complaining bitterly and cursed the corrupt official from Nanyang for eighteen generations.

You can be greedy, everyone is greedy. But at least everyone should know their limits and not delay important matters.

Everyone knew why so much money was allocated to build a dam; most of it was reserved for feeding them. Who would have thought that the idiot from Nanyang was a toad with a big belly and a black heart?

"All the money in my treasury has been fed to you fat-headed idiots. You can't even do this little thing. Get out of here!"

Another person was scolded. When the morning court was over, several adults sitting in the front seats wiped the sweat from their foreheads. His Majesty was getting more and more angry.

They all saw the anger on the emperor's face. Alas, no one knew when the mess in Nanyang would be resolved.

If this continues, they are afraid that their lives will be in danger one day.