The mistress is not a cannon fodder, the cold prince falls in love with her every night

The dam, which was once a bustling scene, is now just a swamp with surging waves.

Heavy rains for several days triggered mountain torrents. One night, the mountain torrents broke through the dam that had just been closed, and the breach spread for thousands of miles. The flood was like a beast passing through, sweeping hundreds of miles downstream.

The surrounding farmland and houses were washed away, and countless people were displaced.

After many days, the flood that had temporarily subsided was littered with dead pigs, dead people, houses, and trees. It was a horrific sight, like hell.

"Cough cough cough."

In a makeshift hut by the water, Pei Shijie lay on a wooden board, dying.

On the day the dam collapsed, he was awakened from his sleep. By the time he arrived, it was too late. All the efforts, sweat, and bitterness of the past year were washed away by the rolling torrent.

Looking at the muddy and roaring mountain torrent, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell straight to the shore.

"Dad, please open your mouth and drink some medicine."

Pei Xin knelt in front of the wooden board with a bowl of black medicine and scooped a spoonful to feed him.

But Pei Shijie kept his lips tightly closed and refused to open his mouth.

Pei Xin burst into tears.

"Dad, if the dam collapses, we can rebuild it. But if you collapse, what will happen to me, my mother, my sister, and my grandmother?"

Pei Shijie's tightly closed eyes trembled, and the corners of his eyes were slightly moist.

He opened his mouth and a voice so hoarse that it was terrifying came out.

"Xin'er, it's Dad who is incompetent and arrogant. Dad overestimated himself, thinking he could defeat the flood and bring happiness to the people on both sides of the strait."

"But look at what Dad has done."

"The dam is destroyed. All the manpower and resources invested over the past year have been wasted. Even though so many people have died, it's all Dad's fault! Dad is guilty!"

In previous years, during floods, people on both sides of the strait would temporarily evacuate. But since he started controlling the floods, people on both sides have come to trust him, believing he can bring order to the floods! Therefore, this year, everyone is staying home safely.

Many families were even asleep when they were washed away by the flood.

Pei Shijie sobbed bitterly.

"Dad has let down the folks! Dad has let down the court's trust! Xin'er, what is the point of Dad living?"

"father!"

Pei Xin also burst into tears.

She had seen everything that had happened over the past few days. Dad was certainly primarily responsible for the dam's destruction, but he hadn't done it on purpose.

Dad eats, drinks, defecates, urinates, and sleeps on the embankment. This is all his hard work over the past year!

"Dad, I beg you, just drink one sip. Mom and Grandma are still waiting for you to come home."

"boom!"

Pei Shijie raised his hand with all his strength and knocked the medicine out of Pei Xin's hand. He closed his eyes tightly and turned his head away.

"Tell your mother that she is still young and can remarry after your father dies. Tell your grandmother that your father was unfilial and that you should be filial to her in your next life."

Just let him die!

Let him apologize to the countless people on both sides of the strait!

Pei Shijie was determined to die.

Pei Xin knelt in front of the bed and cried bitterly.

At this time, I heard someone shouting outside the shed.

"That's it! The dog official lives in here!"

Following this roar, the makeshift shed where they lived was soon surrounded by people.

They were all dressed in rags, their bodies and faces covered in mud, and they were holding sticks as crutches. They angrily surrounded the place.

"The corrupt officials lied to us, saying the dam was solid and would last for 50 years. But what happened? Everyone saw it. The dam was only closed for one day before a flash flood washed it away! This is such a shoddy construction. The corrupt officials are just deceiving us!"

"Right! We thought he was different from the other corrupt officials, but we didn't expect they were all the same. The imperial court allocated countless funds for such a huge project as building the dam, and they must have been embezzled by the corrupt officials!"

"Find the corrupt official! Beat him to death! Avenge our dead relatives!"

"kill him!"

"kill him!"

"kill him!"

……

In an instant, the crowd outside was outraged, and everyone raised their arms and shouted, wishing they could pull Pei Shijie out and beat him to death on the spot.

Some clerks and river soldiers were so frightened by the people coming at them that they hid aside and dared not make a sound.

Suddenly, the tattered curtain of the shed was lifted, and Pei Xin came out angrily, shouting at the people:

"Bullshit! My father is a good official! He has never embezzled or abused his power."

"He didn't even go home for Chinese New Year because he was building the dam. He cared more about the dam than his own family. He ate, drank, defecated, urinated, and slept right on the dam. Are you all blind and can't see this?"

Soon someone in the crowd responded:

"Yes, he spends day and night on the dam, just because he's afraid that the money will fly away and not end up in his pocket!"

"fart!"

Pei Xin cursed,

"Have you ever seen a scoundrel official who would give up fine clothes and delicious food to come to the dam to suffer?"

"My father's clothes are even tattered than yours. He eats the same communal meals we eat on the dam! We can't even afford a charcoal fire in the winter! We still eat the lowest quality coarse rice, and wear only the most ordinary cotton cloth. And you say we're corrupt and have no conscience!"

"You're his daughter, so naturally you'll side with him! Whatever you say goes! I heard that this official is the Duke of Dingguo's third uncle, and his daughter married the son of the richest man in Lin'an City! The materials used in this embankment were all provided by the Qian family. You're colluding with officials and businessmen. Maybe all the money the official embezzled was shipped to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion? You're birds of a feather!"

Pei Xin frowned when he heard this, took a step forward and said angrily:

"Who said that? Come out and let's have a good talk!"

But after she finished speaking, the crowd fell silent and no one came out to recognize her.

Pei Xin gritted his teeth.

"You don't dare to come out and admit it, right? Then you are falsely accusing me!"

After saying this, he turned to the clerks and river soldiers and said:

"Are you all dumb? You've got detailed records of the materials used and the quality of the dam. They don't know if there was any shoddy workmanship or corruption, but you don't know either! Speak up!"

The clerks then timidly stepped forward and whispered in agreement:

"Lord Pei is a good official."

"Yeah, he really didn't do the things you said."

"There must be some misunderstanding here!"

"Misunderstanding!? Didn't do it? Folks, don't listen to their excuses. They're all in cahoots, and they're still trying to deceive us. Listen to me, charge in, drag that bastard official named Pei out, beat him to death, and hang him by the river for public display!"

"Kill to death!"

“Drag him out!”

Seeing that the crowd was out of control and angry, many people broke through the clerks and river soldiers and were about to rush into the house.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A violent cough was heard, and Pei Shijie struggled out of the shed.

The warm sunlight by the river was dim.

The bleak sunlight shone on his broken body, as if he would fall down in the next second.

Pei Shijie's face was pale, his hair had turned half white in just a few days, and his body looked like an eighty-year-old. He leaned against the door frame, trying to straighten his back, and spoke slowly and weakly:

"bring it on."