The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

"A woman?"

Song Wei Yu looked at the confession brought by He Sheng with a frown.

Looking at the entire Daqian, the only person who dared to go against the imperial court was a woman!

Song Weiyu told He Sheng her guess, and he also found it incredible. "The former crown prince was deposed, and she's still jumping around."

"Having enjoyed the benefits of power, how could she resist such temptation?"

He Sheng didn't know what to say.

"Then what should we do now?"

Song Weiyu smiled faintly. "She has fallen into depravity and joined the bandits. She won't be able to stay alive for long without our intervention."

He Sheng also nodded.

"Now that this matter is over, I'm going to go train first."

Song Weiyu replied, "Goodbye, General."

After saying that, he continued to deal with the government affairs at hand.

……

In the secret room of the imperial palace, Emperor Jianwu was also reading the latest news brought by the shadow guard.

"The little emperor actually went to Jiangnan?"

"Yes"

Emperor Jianwu was silent and pondered for a moment before saying, "Jiangnan is not like the capital. That place is full of flowers and brocade, and it is the most likely to breed vile things."

He thought of the situation when he was in power.

The old emperor had also been to Jiangnan, a place of beauty and prosperity, and he was proud of it.

But later, based on some secret reports from his shadow guards, he became suspicious of the officialdom in Jiangnan.

I had originally planned to start reorganizing after completing some more important things at hand, but it turned out that I was willing but unable to do so.

This made the officialdom in Jiangnan like a fat termite, growing bigger and bigger.

It has been delayed until now.

Thinking of this, the old emperor's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I don't know what that little bastard is going to do."

"I hope he won't let me down."

The old emperor sent a secret letter to Xiong Haikuo and Jiang Long, telling them to take their soldiers to Jiangnan to meet the young emperor.

……

Li Chengfeng, who was being talked about by Emperor Jianwu, was now inspecting the embankment with Tiezhu.

Since the water level dropped, officers and soldiers began to clean up the damaged areas of the embankment.

Baskets of gravel and sand were carried away, and the mud that washed ashore was shoveled away.

Li Chengfeng found a man who looked like an overseer and asked, "Big brother, I'm from the capital looking for my relatives. I want to ask you something."

The supervisor looked Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu up and down and said, "It's so dirty here, young master, you should look somewhere else."

Li Chengfeng smiled and said, "How can I just give up on finding my relatives?"

"I think big brother is an official, no matter how big his career is, he actually does everything himself. I admire him."

The supervisor was delighted to be flattered and asked Li Chengfeng, "Which family are you looking for?"

Li Chengfeng said, "The Ma family in the east of Yuxiang County."

"That's my mother's brother-in-law and his family, whom she hasn't seen for many years."

In order to facilitate the action, Li Chengfeng and Chen Tingshu learned a lot about Yuxiang County.

This family actually existed, but they all died in the flood.

"The Ma family..."

The supervisor looked distressed and said to Li Chengfeng, "That family was ravaged by the flood. They were all swept away. I don't even know if their bodies have been retrieved. Sigh."

Li Chengfeng showed his shock appropriately, then sighed, "Humans are so insignificant in the face of natural disasters. There's nothing we can do about it."

Tie Zhu grabbed Li Chengfeng's sleeve at the right moment and asked, "Sir, what should we do now?"

Li Chengfeng took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it over calmly.

"Thank you for telling me the truth, but it's getting late. I wonder if I could bother you for one night?"

The supervisor did not refuse and took the money and said, "Why not? When you are away from home, I will definitely help you wherever I can."

Li Chengfeng smiled and bowed: "Thank you, big brother."

Tiezhu also followed suit and thanked him: "Thank you, big brother."

Then Li Chengfeng looked at the dam in front of him and exclaimed in admiration:

"I grew up in the capital, and I've never seen such a magnificent building. It's truly breathtaking!"

The supervisor was quite proud and straightened his back. "This is the pride of Daqian! Back then..."

He talked incessantly about the history of the dam's construction, from the start date to the maintenance procedures over the years, knowing every detail like the back of his hand.

Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu listened attentively, nodded in agreement from time to time, and asked some more in-depth questions.

Seeing his extraordinary eloquence, the supervisor explained more enthusiastically, and even when he got excited, he gestured with his hands and spit flew everywhere.

Before they knew it, the two of them had talked about the construction of the dam and the customs and culture of Yuxiang County.

The sky was getting darker.

Patting Li Chengfeng on the shoulder, the supervisor said cheerfully, "Let's go to my house for a couple of drinks and have a good chat!"

Li Chengfeng readily agreed.

Because the supervisor's home was located at a higher position, the flood did not have much impact on his family.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

The supervisor's father, a vigorous old man, came out of the house with a cane.

"Dad, this is the distinguished guest from the capital, Mr. Li!" The supervisor stepped forward to support his old father.

Li Chengfeng quickly stood up and bowed respectfully to the old man, "Junior Li An, greetings to uncle."

Squinting his eyes, the old man looked at him and nodded slightly. "What a good young man! Not bad."

After saying that, he sat down at the table.

Li Chengfeng immediately stood up and poured a glass of wine for the old man. "Junior toasts you."

The old man took the wine glass, took a sip, and slowly asked, "Young man, are you here to look for your relatives?"

Li Chengfeng nodded: "To be honest, old man, but the supervisor said that my relative has passed away."

The old man sighed and said, "No one can stop natural disasters or man-made disasters."

"Man-made disaster?" Li Chengfeng was shocked, but remained calm on the surface.

He followed the old man's words and sighed a few times about the impermanence of life.

Then he subtly turned the topic to the past of Yuxiang County.

The old man sighed, his eyes looking far away, as if he was lost in memories.

"Back in the day, Yuxiang County's water conservancy was well-known far and wide.

The river channels are dredged and the ditches are clear, so even when there is heavy rain, there has never been a serious flood."

Li Chengfeng calmly followed the old man's words and asked, "Then why now..."

He sighed heavily, a trace of resentment flashing in the old man's cloudy eyes. "Ah, it's all because of those corrupt officials! They only care about lining their own pockets and don't care about the lives of the people!"

Li Chengfeng pretended to be surprised and asked, "Old man, what do you mean?"

He leaned forward slightly, pretending to listen attentively.

Glancing at him, the old man slowly said, "Back then, the magistrate of Yuxiang County was named Zhao Desheng. On the surface, he was righteous, but in secret, he colluded with local tyrants, engaged in corruption and committed all sorts of evil!"

His tone was excited and his face flushed.

Following the old man's words, Li Chengfeng asked, "What evil things did Zhao Desheng do?"

Picking up the wine jug, he filled the old man's glass and poured himself another.

The old man picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. "Not long after Zhao Desheng took office, he started a large-scale construction project, including building this dam. He said it was for flood control, but in fact it was to make money!"

He slammed the table hard with his hand, and the dishes and chopsticks on the table shook.

"The funds for the construction of this dam were divided between him and those powerful people."

"He should have used fine stones and soil, but he cut corners and used coarse sand and grass instead."

The old man became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice became louder and louder.

Seeing this, the supervisor quickly stepped forward to comfort him, "Dad, please stop talking. It's not good for your health to get angry."