The besties traveled through the book together, and the prince and general became abandoned husbands

"Your Highness, it's time for dinner."

The secret guard brought the dinner into the room and was about to leave when Jiang Wumei frowned and turned away:

"Is the Emperor still in the government office?"

The secret guard nodded:

“Yes, my lady.

Before leaving, the Emperor instructed that the rain outside was too heavy, and that the Empress should rest in the inn and not worry about anything else.

The sound of rain continued outside. Jiang Wumei raised her eyes upon hearing this, stared at the secret guard in front of her for a few seconds, and then nodded after a moment:

"I understand, please leave."

"Yes, ma'am."

The secret guard left the room and continued to guard the door.

Jiang Wumei looked at the meat and vegetable dishes on the table, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up her chopsticks to start eating.

Xiao Tong's strategy and cunning are even more outstanding than hers, so why should she worry about it for nothing?

Eat well, take good care of your body, wait for Junjun to come back, and ask her carefully what happened between her and Jun Xiaochen.

After eating some of the food, Jiang Wumei asked the secret guard to remove the leftover food. She sat for a while, washed, changed her clothes, and lay down on the bed. She opened the map of Qingcheng brought by the secret guard and started to look through it.

After memorizing several high-rise buildings in the city and looking at the water conservancy trends in the city, Jiang Wumei put the map aside and took a travel book to pass the time.

Jiang Wumei thought that no matter how busy Xiao Tong was, he would return to the inn to rest.

Unexpectedly, it was already midnight and there was still no sign of Xiao Tong.

The heavy rain continues.

Jiang Wumei stayed in the clean and warm room, but her heart was still uneasy.

Half an hour passed in a blink of an eye. Jiang Wumei felt sleepy and suppressed her uneasiness, put down the book, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Wumei was awakened by a loud thunder.

The entire inn seemed to shake three times under this huge thunder.

Jiang Wumei's mind was a little confused after sleeping. She opened her eyes and stared at the candles in the room for a while before she remembered that she was in Qingzhou Inn.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

There was still no sign of Xiao Tong in the room. Jiang Wumei was about to get up and ask, but the secret guards outside the door shouted continuously.

Jiang Wumei sat up, pressed her eyebrows and replied:

"what happened?"

After hearing her voice, the secret guard continued:

"The rain is so heavy that the first floor of the inn has flooded and is no longer safe.

The Emperor has sent Lord Zhao to take you to the government office for temporary shelter. Please follow me downstairs."

Jiang Wumei was startled. She listened to the sound of rain outside and immediately got up and put on her clothes.

Opening the door, the secret guard lowered his head and led her downstairs quickly.

Zhao Qi was soaked all over and was standing at the stairs on the second floor. A large pool of water had formed where he was standing.

He was whispering something to the secret guards when he saw Jiang Wumei coming down the stairs. He quickly took two steps forward and saluted respectfully:

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is outside the city right now.

When the Emperor left the city, he instructed that if the city floods endanger the inn, he should take you to the government office for temporary shelter."

After looking at the blueprint of Qingcheng just now, Jiang Wumei knew that the government office in the city was the highest point in Qingcheng. In other words, it was also the safest.

Jiang Wumei nodded and followed Zhao Qi out, asking as she walked:

"Is there anyone protecting the emperor?"

Zhao Qi lowered his head and responded:

"Twenty men are accompanying the Emperor. Once I have safely escorted you to the government office, I will immediately rejoin the Emperor."

Jiang Wumei paused slightly, then returned to normal.

There was a carriage parked outside the inn. Even in such a situation, Xiao Tong would not let Jiang Wumei's skirt get stained by the wind and rain.

Zhao Qi opened the umbrella and helped Jiang Wumei onto the carriage. Just as he was about to fold the umbrella and mount the horse to set off, he heard Jiang Wumei's voice coming from the carriage.

"You don't need to escort me here personally. Take your men outside the city to protect the emperor immediately."

Zhao Qi hesitated. In fact, he knew that it would be more dangerous for the emperor to go to the dam in person to check the water situation, but the emperor had just ordered him to escort the imperial concubine to the government office.

If he left now, wouldn't that be disobeying the emperor's order?

"If the emperor blames you, just say you are following my orders."

Hearing this, Zhao Qi, standing in the heavy rain, immediately responded loudly.

The sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella was very deafening, but Zhao Qi didn't care at all. He pulled over his trusted secret guard and gave him a few serious instructions. Then Zhao Qi jumped on his horse, led his men and horses, broke through the rain curtain, and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Let's go."

Only after Zhao Qi left did Jiang Wumei order the secret guards to set off.

The secret guards responded loudly, and one of them took over Zhao Qi's position, stepped forward and whipped the horse.

The wheels rolled over the puddled pond and headed towards the government office in the rain.

When they first set out from the inn, the surroundings were relatively calm and Jiang Wumei could only hear the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof of the carriage.

But the closer they walked to the government office, the more Jiang Wumei noticed that the voices on both sides of the road were getting louder and louder.

When the carriage stopped at the gate of the government office, Jiang Wumei stepped off the carriage under the escort of secret guards, only to find that the outside of the government office was crowded with people.

As the rain poured down, many people gathered outside the government office, dragging their families with them, their faces full of panic, as if they had foreseen an impending disaster. Everyone was carrying a bag, as if fleeing.

"The Emperor has already arranged a courtyard for the Empress in the government office. You can go in and rest."

The secret guards blocked a path and sent Jiang Wumei safely to the government office. Wherever Jiang Wumei passed, the secret guards used their bodies to build a human wall to isolate all safety hazards.

Behind her, the people saw her enter the government office and immediately became agitated.

Some brave citizens wanted to follow in, but were pushed out by the officials who were left here to guard the government office, and they fell in the rain in a very embarrassing manner.

The ferocious appearance of the officials frightened the rest of the people who were ready to make a move. They could only wear straw hats and hold broken umbrellas, and huddle themselves and their families in the corner outside the government office, trying to survive the long, cold night with heavy rain.

Some children cried because they were cold, wiping their tears and asking why their family could not move into a clean big house to shelter from the rain.

There was no one around to answer him, only sighs.

For many years, Qingcheng has come here several times every year.

Those officials only care about themselves and never consider ordinary people like them. They don’t care that their homes are destroyed and they even lose their lives for it. They have long been numb.

If several generations of relatives had not been here, they would have packed up and run away long ago. Why would they endure the exploitation of these corrupt officials in Qingcheng?

Jiang Wumei saw everything, but did not get angry on the spot.

After entering the government office, Jiang Wumei, led by the secret guards who stayed there, stepped into the courtyard and stood in the clean, warm and bright room. While drinking hot tea, she spoke slowly:

"Pass on my order to open the gates of the government office and let the people outside into the government office to shelter from the rain.

He then ordered the officials to boil several large pots of ginger soup and give each of the people a bowl.

In addition, the official who just pushed the people outside will be directly abducted from his post and will not be employed again."

These people must have come from the low-lying east side of the city. Their homes might have been flooded. If they were to be caught in a night of heavy rain, they would inevitably fall seriously ill.

The government office is so big, Jiang Wumei plans to make full use of it.

"Your Majesty, there are too many people here. If you let everyone in, I'm worried someone might sneak in and do something bad to you."

The secret guards' mission was to protect the imperial concubine's safety, and the lives of ordinary people were completely out of their consideration.

Jiang Wumei understood this, but still insisted:

“I know that a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall.

But the emperor, for the safety of the people of Qingcheng, did not hesitate to risk his own life and personally went to the dangerous place to check the flood situation. How could I ignore so many people for some illusory hidden dangers?

You will follow my instructions and deliver the message. Return immediately after delivering the message and guard this courtyard."