Chapter 487: Chapter 484: I’m Offering Myself—Do You Want Me or Not?

"Earlier I heard that the Fifth Prince’s adviser Jia transferred a lot of silver notes into the Money Shop and also acquired several property deeds."

"I didn’t pay much attention at the time. After all, when someone does something, there’s always a motive."

Until she learned that Ying Fuyan was that adviser.

Now, Ying Fuyan’s forces are financed by Wei Zhao. His daily needs are taken care of by someone else.

What’s the use of having so much money and property?

You can’t take it with you when you die, and he couldn’t spend it all.

Yao Ru’s eyes turned misty: "Is it left for me?"

Though it was phrased as a question, she had been certain of it, without needing Ying Fuyan to admit it.

"You’ve arranged everything, ensuring I won’t worry about food or clothing in the future."

"But Brother Yan, in the plans you’ve laid for me, there’s no place for you." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The room carried a faint scent of medicine.

"I’m not the indecisive girl I once was."

After getting married, she could stand on her own, being the head mistress of the Second Prince Mansion.

"I have my own judgment."

"Nor am I inclined to simply obey you."

To secure this position steadily, thanks to the teachings of the late Princess Consort Yan and the means and prestige she accumulated day by day.

She told the man in front of her.

"As long as you live, I’ll stay with you. After your death, I’ll still live well."

"Twin lotuses only share a summer, intertwined branches merely brave a few autumns. It seems that in this world, seasons aren’t truly worth counting."

If the person is right, what does anything else matter?

"Is having me miss you not good?"

Seeing his appearance, she couldn’t reconcile this Ying Fuyan with the one in her memory. But regardless of which Ying Fuyan it was, everything prioritized her.

Yao Ru’s eyes were like the misty rain of March.

Yet it clearly pained her.

To hurt seeing him enduring life’s hardships and still standing strong.

The myriad unspoken emotions stewed into a tender and obscure clarity at the bottom of her gaze.

"I have read the classics, also studied the women’s commandments, and understand the principles of etiquette and integrity. Maybe these words will draw the ire of many, but in my heart, from beginning to end, there’s never been anyone else."

She said, "I know what I want."

Ying Fuyan’s throat tightened: "What do you want?"

"You."

Yao Ru: "I don’t want to have any regrets."

She was also sufficiently greedy.

"I’m offering myself to you, do you want me or not?"

The bowl slipped from Ying Fuyan’s unsteady hand, crashing heavily to the ground, shattering in half. Milk splashed, soaking the hems of their clothes, but neither paid attention.

Ying Fuyan’s eyes darkened.

"Ah Ru."

"Hmm?"

"My health is ruined, but elsewhere I’m intact, and I have desires for you."

Ying Fuyan restrained himself: "Do you know what you’re doing?"

Yao Ru didn’t respond.

She simply pulled his hand, making him wrap it around her waist.

That was her answer.

Ying Fuyan hoarsely uttered a few words.

"Ask again."

Yao Ru complied: "Do you want me?"

The tight string abruptly snapped; Ying Fuyan suddenly clenched his fingers, trapping her waist—not forcefully, yet it seemed he could crush her.

A hot tear fell onto Yao Ru’s neck, making her shiver.

With a loud rumble, the sound of thunder drowned out the sob that escaped the man’s throat.

The rare bright spring in Shangjing was severed by the sound of thunder.

At last, she received Ying Fuyan’s response.

"Yes."

————

The curtain of floods across various regions began to tear open.

The sky was dark and gloomy, the sound of rain pouring down incessantly.

Water seeped in through the door’s crevices. Drip-drip, like an old woman weeping in the night.

The third drum of the night had just been struck, awakening many from the chill below their beds.

Setting their feet on the ground, they found themselves stepping into a puddle of brackish water. The whole family was panic-stricken.

Outside, the clamor rose, villagers talking loudly.

"This cursed weather, rain day and night. Who knows which evildoer committed some atrocious act, leading the heavens to be angered, causing the river to rise, flooding over the banks and implicating us all!"

"Indeed. We thought living by the river was convenient for drawing water and washing clothes, but now, let’s hope the wooden furniture inside doesn’t get soaked."

"Worried about your wooden table and stools? Use your head, foolish woman, you’d better worry about the crops in the fields. We depend on those to fill our bellies, if they’re ruined, how will we live?"

"Oh dear, I wonder about the food and grain stored in the cellar. How can you chatter idly? Go and check it out!"

This situation isn’t the worst yet.

In places where the flooding was severe, murky torrents rolled, turning streets into waterways.

Water reached waist height.

Beds floated, stoves sank, the God of the Stove’s altar was submerged in the murky water, incense ashes scattered as the burner toppled, and various things floated on the water’s surface.

Someone clutched their ancestors’ memorial tablets, climbing onto the house beams and refusing to let go.

Near the river, people panicked, trying to flee to higher ground, but fell. Coins and pieces of silver, their entire wealth, scattered with that fall.

"Money, my money!"

The woman got up, bending to grope around, her long hair trailing in the water like drifting seaweed, swept away by a mighty wave, vanishing completely.

Children cried, old women called for help.

Some families who lived by fishing took to boats.

"Go to the Government Office. The County Magistrate surely won’t ignore us."

"County Magistrate? That brute?"

Someone sneered.

"A few days ago an urgent decree came from the Court; magistrates who care for the people or fear losing their positions have long gathered crowds to head for the hills."

In impoverished places, roads were difficult to traverse, moving entire families by foot wasn’t feasible.

The only solution was to head for the hills.

But reaching the mountains, the County Magistrate and constables had to make thorough preparations to travel with the people together.

City dwellers had to be brought along; those spread across different villages under jurisdiction couldn’t be left out.

If willing to leave, would they abandon the elderly, sick, and women and children? The County Magistrate had to convince everyone to bring their food and baggage, which wasn’t easy. After all, there’s a limit to resources, they’d end up opening the County Government’s granary, with able-bodied men taking turns carrying up the mountain.

And all this, just because a Daoist predicted a flood.

In the beginning, many people didn’t believe it, some even said the Court likes stirring up trouble.

But now...

"Our County Magistrate found it troublesome, plainly dismissing it as fear-mongering. He wouldn’t open the granary; who said it belongs to the public? It became his private stash. Holding onto a concubine he seized from gods knows where, he’s probably still cuddled up with her, not caring about our lives!"

A sudden loud crash was heard, the neighbor’s earthen wall collapsed into the water, sending waves spraying far and wide.

————

A few more days passed.

For some reason, Emperor Qian was especially uneasy.

He had just allowed Black Shadow to help him sit at the desk when hurried footsteps were heard from outside.

"Holy Emperor!"

Emperor Qian’s eyelids twitching incessantly.

The head of the Imperial Army strode in: "Jizhou urgent report."

Emperor Qian rose abruptly, his unease growing.

Moments later, another member of the Imperial Army held high a courier’s urgent report sent from eight hundred miles away, kneeling outside the hall, shouting.

"Holy Emperor, an urgent message from the Zhuozhou inspector: half a month of heavy rain, canal flood—"

The third Imperial Army soldier stumbled into the hall, falling beneath a coiled dragon pillar: "Yu State’s four cities’ dykes have broken."

The teacup on the dragon desk suddenly shattered, Biluochun tea mixed with porcelain pieces spreading over the maps of mountains and rivers laid on the table.

It was just like the rampaging turbid streams, submerging the boundaries of the prefectures delineated in red ink.