The daughter of a noble family is reborn, and she is doted on by her godmother.

How could I forget this?

When it was raining, Aunt Hua's son, Liu Haidong, came to deliver vegetables and said that Huanghua Village was affected by the heavy rain. What was his exact words?

"It is said that all the houses in Huanghua Village were destroyed, and it seems that several people died."

Yun Qingjin did not hear what Liu Haidong said. Yun Yuke quickly explained, and the two rode their horses swiftly south to Huanghua Village.

Not long after they left, Yun Yuke and Yun Qingjin both sensed something unusual.

The surrounding farmland was in a mess, with some fields even half-harvested. Some fields seemed to be being harvested, but the heavy rain was too much, and there were still some unharvested areas everywhere.

If it were just farmland that was affected, that would be one thing, but the impact of heavy rain on farmland is not simply a matter of being flooded.

Some fields were already emitting an indescribable odor, so the two had to cover their mouths and noses and continue south.

The scene became even more desolate as they approached the village.

Everywhere was covered in mud, so Yun Yuke could only pull on the reins and let the horse walk slowly.

Some people dressed as county yamen runners began to appear on the road to maintain order.

"Stop! Who are you!"

The two rode their horses to the village entrance, where they were stopped by the guards on duty.

Before Yun Yuke could speak, the constable took a closer look and recognized her.

"Is this Boss Yun? I'm not mistaken, am I?"

"It's me. Judging from your appearance, you seem to be Brother Ye from the county government?" Yun Yuke dismounted herself, leaving Yun Qingjin on the horse.

When they arrested Gou Chenjun earlier, Yun Yuke had spoken with people in the county government office, so she quickly recognized the person on duty as Ye Bantou from the county government office.

"Mr. Yun, what brings you here? Huanghua Village is in turmoil these days. Do you have any friends here?"

"No, I brought my child out for a stroll today. We've been staying at home for too long, so we came to take a look around. We happened to be passing by here, and looking at the situation in the village... it seems a bit unsettled."

"Judging from the looks of it, the disaster in the village is quite severe. Brother Ye, do you need our help? I'll go back to the city now and call some people over."

The constable quickly waved his hand and said, "No need, no need. Our Magistrate Sun has specially invited the local garrison to assist in handling this matter. They are already on their way and will arrive soon."

Yun Yuke looked around and was shocked by the desolate scene.

"Huanghua Village is in a terrible state, Boss Yun. You may not be able to see it from here, but many houses in the village have collapsed. Although no one was injured, they have nowhere to live."

Constable Ye bowed slightly to Yun Yuke, "Boss Yun, I must take my leave. The area is in chaos right now, I need to get back to work."

"Brother Ye, you go quickly, don't worry about me."

Yun Yuke naturally wouldn't linger there. After Constable Ye left, Yun Yuke led her horse out of the village.

"Qingqing, it's all mud down here, so Mother won't carry you down. Let's not go into the village either. It seems like the two of us would only be causing trouble."

During disaster relief, it would be troublesome to join in the commotion. Yun Yuke hurried back to the village entrance. As soon as she arrived, she saw a small team running towards her. It seemed that they were soldiers from a nearby military camp who had come to provide support.

However, the soldiers did not enter directly, but waited at the village entrance until people from the village came to meet them.

It was Magistrate Sun who came out. He was dressed in plain clothes, with his sleeves and trouser legs rolled up high, and his feet were covered in thick yellow mud.

"You're the man sent by General Wang, aren't you? I am Sun Zhongyang, the magistrate of this county. Please come in with me."

Although Magistrate Sun's attire was hardly that of an official of the imperial court, the visitors were initially hesitant to believe him. It wasn't until Magistrate Sun produced the official seal he carried to prove his identity that the team leader confirmed his identity, and only then did the group enter.

"Oh, isn't this Boss Yun? I heard from my subordinates that you had arrived, but I didn't know that." Magistrate Sun saw Yun Yuke standing to the side and quickly greeted her.

"Your Excellency, you've worked hard. Please don't bother me. I just took the children out for a stroll to clear my head. I don't know the extent of the disaster. If you need our help, please let me know, and I'll go back to the city to help you."

Although it was a repetition of words, Yun Yuke's kindness was genuine and not feigned.

"Sigh, everyone is worried about disaster relief. Huanghua Village is the most severely affected village in our vicinity. People in the city are also anxious. If it weren't for the kind-hearted general of the local garrison, I wouldn't have been able to borrow these soldiers to help clean up the mud and filth."

Magistrate Sun looked worried. "Boss Yun, we really can't serve you here. Please forgive us for any shortcomings in our service."

"Not at all. It's me who's causing you trouble by staying here. Of course, you don't need to worry about us. I'm happy to help if you need anything."

"Not for now, but later... I'll have to trouble you all."

After saying this, Magistrate Sun went back to continue the disaster relief efforts. Yun Yuke watched his retreating figure and shook her head helplessly.

"This Magistrate Sun is still so cautious."

"Mother, what's wrong?" Yun Qingjin asked.

"We'll talk on the way back." Yun Yuke mounted her horse, and the two carefully rode away.

The entire journey was muddy, even on the official roads where the conditions were slightly better.

"The road surface is still in such poor condition that it's difficult to walk on anywhere."

"Mother, what does 'hardening' mean?" Yun Qingjin asked, confirming that she had heard an unfamiliar word.

"The dirt road isn't hard enough. It turns into mud as soon as it rains. It's okay to walk on normally, but now it's really difficult. Horses and vehicles are easily stuck on the road."

"Oh, I see. Mother, what did you say about Magistrate Sun? What happened to Magistrate Sun?"

Yun Yuke shook her head helplessly, "This Magistrate Sun, to put it simply, has too high a moral bottom line; at a disaster relief site like today, an ordinary magistrate would not come in person at all, but he not only came in person, but he also did not dare to extort money from merchants like us."

"But I heard Teacher Zhu say that officials should not exploit the people, and that officials have their own responsibilities."

“What you, Teacher Zhu, said are the words of a sage, but if you really want to see the world outside of books, that won’t work. Oh, if we’re really talking about it, this Magistrate Sun really does have the kind of sage-like character that you’ve learned about in books.”

Yun Yuke looked into the distance, lost in thought. "Alas, it's a pity that there are too few people like this, and they probably don't have a good ending. The general stationed here should be considered a good person, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent troops here."

As the two rode their horses through the surrounding farmland, they were once again struck by the appalling state of the place, with the fields in complete disarray.

"It seems that we really need to buy land to farm, as natural disasters and man-made calamities have had a significant impact."

Yun Qingjin nodded, then asked, "Mother, are you referring to Manager Lin's man-made disaster? Did this village also use moldy timber from Lin's Timber Shop?"