The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, and the Emperor turned to De’an and said, "Please let Director Zhang in!"

In Changtian Prefecture, in the backyard of the magistrate’s residence.

A man stumbled and rushed towards the main room, ignoring the gatekeeper’s objections, shouting as he ran, "Sir! It’s terrible, the Tianya River has breached its embankment!

Qian Hui Chun was originally lying on the couch, the doctor had just applied medicine and bandaged his injured leg.

"Master! You’re just too anxious, see! It takes one hundred days for bones and muscles to heal; who knows when you can walk again?"

The Prefect’s wife, Mrs. Lian, fanned the perspiration from Qian Hui Chun’s forehead while grumbling.

At this moment, Qian Hui Chun had already changed into clean clothes, his eyes slightly closed, with dark circles under them.

"What do you, a woman, know? If the Tianya River breaches, not only will I lose my official’s hat, but our entire family’s lives won’t be spared! How could I not be worried? This is about my career and life!"

Mrs. Lian pursed her lips and muttered, "Is it really as serious as you say? The Tianya River rises every year, but it never breaches. You just have a small courage, running to the river with the servants in such weather; you don’t care for your own health."

Qian Hui Chun was annoyed by Mrs. Lian’s nagging, "Enough! Go prepare some food for me, I’m hungry!"

As soon as he finished saying this, shouting was heard from outside.

"Who is shouting outside? Such a lack of decorum!" Mrs. Lian heard a man’s voice; how could a man be in the backyard?

The decorum in the house had become increasingly unruly; Mrs. Lian planned to go out and see who was so brazen.

Qian Hui Chun was also very impatient, but he suddenly thought of something and promptly sat up.

The sound came closer, now at the main room door.

"Sir, it’s terrible! The Tianya River has breached!"

The desperate shout scared Qian Hui Chun so much that he rolled his eyes, couldn’t breathe, and fainted.

"Sir! What’s wrong?" Mrs. Lian wanted to go out to see what was happening, but Qian Hui Chun’s sudden fainting scared her.

"Sir? Quick, call the doctor!" Forgetting everything else, Mrs. Lian was worried because the master was the pillar of the house. With him fainted, how could any other matters be handled?

Mrs. Lian was at a loss, not knowing what to do.

"Oh dear! Madam, quickly pinch the master’s philtrum!" A waiting old woman hurriedly reminded.

This must be an emergency fainting.

"Ah! Right!"

Then it was a chaotic scene, as Mrs. Lian firmly pinched Qian Hui Chun’s philtrum. After a while, Qian Hui Chun slowly awoke.

Just awakened, Qian Hui Chun’s gaze was still dazed. But soon, he became agitated, "Is it Chen Zhao outside? Quick! Come in and report!"

Qian Hui Chun couldn’t care about it being the backyard now; immobile, he could only have Chen Zhao explain things thoroughly.

"Sir! The lower reaches of the Tianya River near Yuanli Village couldn’t withstand the river’s onslaught and indeed collapsed. The river water flooded into fields and villages; when I went to check, the houses were already gone."

Chen Zhao was terrified, having heard of the Tianya River breaching, he immediately thought of Yuanli Village.

He hurried over; nearing Yuanli Village, he saw from afar that the densely packed village had turned into a vast expanse of water.

No trace of houses, not even roofs, remained above the water. Too fast!

Everything was gone! Chen Zhao, legs trembling, mounted his horse in despair.

Qian Hui Chun, hearing that Yuanli Village was submerged, turned pale.

He trembled all over, "How many villages were flooded? Didn’t I instruct last night to evacuate the people? How many were evacuated?"

Holding out hope, Qian Hui Chun wished that the villagers had been evacuated.

"Sir! Those villagers refused to abandon their land. Yesterday, all our government’s people went to the villages, and after much persuading, only a handful agreed to leave. They said leaving overnight was impossible as they wanted to take their belongings; whether they escaped, I don’t know. Our people are insufficient, and the villagers were reluctant to leave their livestock; it’s still unclear how many escaped."

Chen Zhao faced such a massive flood for the first time, feeling overwhelmed but still articulately explaining the situation.

"What do you mean by insufficient? Didn’t I order you to send a water report to the Riverside Prefecture earlier? In such an urgent matter, other prefectures should help; did they not send anyone?"

Qian Hui Chun sweated profusely, his mind blank, uncertain what to do.

"Sir! The other prefectures did send people; they traveled day and night and arrived at 1:00 PM today. But those people were exhausted from the journey, so we let them rest for two hours, not expecting the embankment to collapse so suddenly."

Qian Hui Chun couldn’t listen to what Chen Zhao said; he steadied himself, knowing panic wouldn’t help.

Since the issue had occurred, he needed to think of a remedy. Losing his official’s hat was minor; saving lives was crucial.

"Quickly gather everyone, including officials and Government Officials from the county. Have the Water Supervisor and River Patrol Officer lead the rescue effort. Also, arrange a water report to notify the state of Lijiang. Count the population according to records to determine how many were flooded."

Qian Hui Chun arranged everything and was ready to put on his shoes.

"Oh dear! Master, what are you doing? The doctor said your leg can’t move now, or it’ll heal crooked, becoming permanently lame."

Mrs. Lian saw Qian Hui Chun preparing to move and hastily stopped him.

"Bang!"

In his urgent frustration, Qian Hui Chun couldn’t tolerate Mrs. Lian’s nagging.

"You fool! We’re in a crisis now; if I don’t steer this situation, none of us will survive, let alone worry about a lame leg. We’ll all perish together."

Qian Hui Chun, in a fit of rage, showed no mercy. Ignoring Mrs. Lian’s disbelief as she held her face, he shouted for someone to carry him out.

...

"What do you think? Director Zhang, is there any problem with the Lifespan Extension Pill?" The Emperor saw Director Zhang taste and examine the medicine in silence.

His mind was anxious, hoping the elixir truly extended life.

Director Zhang tasted it and detected several herbs, all of which were beneficial for nourishing the body. But there were a few he couldn’t discern.

"Grandmaster! What other herbs are in this? I must understand the main medicine; otherwise, the Emperor should not ingest it rashly."

Director Zhang looked at the Tianji Taoist; he had tasted it, believing the medicine non-toxic.

Yet in pharmacology, even if the herbs are non-poisonous, there are combinations that contradict each other.