The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

"What's wrong? Is there anything different about these rats?"

As he spoke, Cang Jue deliberately picked up a mouse and examined it closely. "There's no difference. They're all black with two eyes and a mouth."

"Don't you think there are a lot of rats? And the ground is really clean!" Min Youan said with a sullen face and a hint of anger in his voice.

"You mean, it's like someone deliberately let it in?"

Gao Wei stared warily at the rats walking on the ground and said, "Impossible. Rats are the best at digging holes. If they were deliberately let in, how could they possibly keep them locked up? They would have already dug their way out!"

Cang Jue sneered, "Whether they were specially let in or not, we'll find out in a few days."

Min Youan instructed, "Cang Jue, take a few back!"

"Yes!"

Min Youan looked around again, then said, "Let's go!"

Cang Jue was still catching mice, and Gao Wei watched with a grin, his body trembling slightly.

It started raining outside sometime during the day. When I first came out, it was just a drizzle, but it soon turned into a downpour. The rain got heavier and heavier, and it seemed like it had no intention of stopping.

Based on his experience with previous floods, Gao Wei said with some concern, "Your Highness, with such heavy rain, there is a high possibility of flooding!"

Min Youan stood in the rain, letting the downpour hit his face. "Cang Jue, go back and call someone. Also, give the rats to Wu Che and let him keep them!"

"Yes!"

The floods struck again, almost without warning.

The rain was deafening, occasionally accompanied by thunder. Xia Tongsheng was startled awake by the thunder and looked at the torrential rain outside.

If she listened carefully, she could even hear some shouts. She immediately got up and ran to Min Youan's room, but he was no longer there!

She immediately went back to her room. "Yingling, get up quickly! Did you hear anything?"

Yingling rubbed her eyes. "No, Miss!"

Xia Tongsheng ignored her and ran straight to the door, asking, "Wu Che, where is the Prince?"

"His Highness has already gone to the flood-stricken area!" Wu Che replied.

Ever since he saw Min Youan pick up Xia Tongsheng yesterday evening, Wu Che assumed that Xia Tongsheng was Min Youan's "best buddy" and treated her almost like a prince.

"Take me there quickly!"

Wu Che scratched his head, looking troubled. "Well, His Highness said he can't take you with him. Please forgive him, Young Master Wang!"

That's true. I'm too weak to even kill a chicken. If I went there, would I be able to help carry sandbags or help carry the wounded? It's more reliable to stay at home and think of a solution.

Xia Tongsheng stayed in the room, pacing back and forth.

"Yingling, go and find me some blank paper!"

"Okay!" Yingling nodded and went out immediately.

Xia Tongsheng laid the white paper on the table and began to write and draw.

Xia Tongsheng combined what he had seen about the river's course during the day to identify the erosion surfaces of the riverbed, which were the sides that the river struck when it turned. He circled each of these surfaces in red and marked the surrounding guesthouses with black triangles.

By the time all of this was completed, it was already dawn. By then, the floodwaters had receded, leaving only the streets and ground covered in silt!

She had Yingling find the prefectural official in charge.

"Steward Li, go and get ten loads of white steamed buns. Also, bring out as much food as you have in the prefecture. Quickly cook the rice from the prefecture into rice, and be fast! After it's cooked, send it all to the flood-stricken areas!"

By daybreak, the cooks in the kitchen had already prepared enough white rice for several hundred people, working non-stop.

Xia Tongsheng instructed the manager to find several laborers and have them bring white rice to the disaster area.

Upon seeing Xia Tongsheng, Cang Jue immediately went to report, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort has arrived!"

Min Youan frowned slightly, "Why is she here!"

He came out of the guesthouse that was being used as a temporary office and saw Xia Tongsheng leading a large group of dozens of people, carrying basket after basket of white rice and steamed buns!

A beautiful smile curved her lips slightly. "She really is unique!"

"The princess is truly worthy of being called a princess; she even knew to bring food!" After a busy night, Cang Jue was starving. Seeing the baskets of food, he couldn't stop smiling.

Upon hearing this, Min Youan's brows furrowed slightly with delight, as if he were being praised.

When Xia Tongsheng saw Min Youan, she immediately instructed Yingling to distribute the rice and steamed buns, while she herself grabbed two steamed buns and rushed to Min Youan's side like a gust of wind!

They gave one to each of Min You'an and Cang Jue. Cang Jue was a good boy; upon seeing the steamed bun, he grabbed it and started eating without saying a word. Min You'an, however, didn't even reach out his hand.

Seeing Xia Tongsheng's embarrassed expression, Cang Jue snatched the steamed bun from her hand, "If Your Highness won't eat it, give it to me!"

Xia Tongsheng didn't feel embarrassed. Sometimes, once you get used to embarrassment, your mental resilience is strengthened, and you gradually get used to it!

After adjusting her mood, Ma Shan regained her energy.

"Ta-da!" Xia Tongsheng pulled out the white silk she had painted overnight from her bosom as if presenting a treasure.

Min Youan glanced at it, but still couldn't figure out what it was. "What?"

Xia Tongsheng raised an eyebrow and said with a hint of pride, "My strategic map!"

Min Youan didn't understand what she meant, and raised her eyebrows, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

Xia Tongsheng took his arm and led him into the guesthouse. The interior wasn't much better than the outside; there was still a lot of standing water. The water reached her ankles and dirtied her shoes, but she didn't seem to care at all.

She carefully placed the white silk handkerchief on the dry table. "Look!"

Min Youan glanced at her suspiciously, then turned to look at the blank scroll. "The Princess's painting is truly..."

Cang Jue was curious. What could possibly leave the prince speechless? His curiosity drove him to peek closer!

Then she burst out laughing, "Your Highness, you call that a painting!"

Immediately afterwards, she received a sharp glare from Min Youan. The warning was clear, roughly meaning, "This is the woman of the King, how dare you mock her!"

Okay, Xia Tongsheng admitted that his paintings were not very good, but at least the general meaning could be understood, and he had always been an abstract painter, not a realist.

She glared at Cang Jue, "Don't laugh! I spent all night drawing this!"

Cang Jue held two white steamed buns in his hands, munching on them as he asked, "Is this winding, worm-like Wei River?"

"Yes! Look, this is the Wei River. The red part is the alluvial surface, and the small black triangles are the guesthouses!"

"You drew all of this in one night?" Min Youan asked.

“Your Highness, I admit my paintings aren’t very good, but these are very mentally taxing. Look at these impact surfaces. We can raise them. When the floodwaters come in, the force will hit this side very hard. This area must be reinforced. As you know, we don’t have enough sandbags right now, so we can focus on this area first. Stop the floodwaters from overflowing!”

Xia Tongsheng pointed to some black triangles with her index finger, "And these guesthouses, as long as they are in this area, they must be evacuated! This will minimize the loss of life and property!"

Min Youan studied the painting for a while and felt that Xia Tongsheng's words made sense. He handed the painting to Cang Jue and said, "Go and do as the Princess Consort wishes!"

"Yes!" Cang Jue put away the scroll and was about to leave.

"and many more!"