Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After returning to the mountain, I carried a bowl of hot soup over to speak with the village head and ask how the disaster had come about.

“Yesterday, it looked like there was going to be a heavy downpour, so I told the men to pile up more sandbags. While it was still light out, I even went to inspect them myself. They were stacked good and solid. Who would have thought that once the storm broke in the night, it would actually wash the embankment away? The county only sent people over a few months ago to take a look. Who could have imagined it would be so useless?”

The village head grew agitated as he spoke and broke into a coughing fit. His wife poured him a bowl of water. Seeing me silently drink my soup without saying anything, she asked anxiously, “Lord Lin, the higher-ups won’t punish us for this, will they?”

Holding my bowl of soup, I reassured her, “They won’t. The Emperor is the fairest of men when it comes to rewards and punishments. He will certainly examine the matter thoroughly.”

The encampment was relatively safe. The grain I had brought could relieve the immediate crisis, but it would not last long. Outside, the heavy rain had blocked the roads, and we still had no idea when reinforcements would arrive.

During the day, there was more than enough work to keep me busy, leaving no room to think of anything else. But after night fell, as I sat in the tent going over the accounts, the sounds of children crying and elders coughing drifted in from outside. Looking at the figures written in black ink on white paper, I realized that even if we watered down the rice porridge further from now on, what we had left would only last another two days.

At that moment, the rain pattering over my head sounded like an hourglass counting down to death. When time ran out, it would come crashing down.

I thought of the houses flattened by the waves, and my head ached so badly that I slumped over the table.

A cool gust of wind stirred. I lifted my head and looked toward the entrance. The young man was standing there with a small copper kettle in his hand. He had not expected our eyes to meet, and for a moment he looked a little at a loss. “I came to bring hot water.”

He filled the empty cup in front of me before setting the copper kettle on the table. I lifted the cup to drink, only to catch the scent of medicinal herbs.

The lamplight was dim, and I could not make out the color of the liquid in the cup. I stopped the young man just as he was about to leave and asked, “What is this?”

“Sour Jujube Seed Decoction. It nourishes the blood and calms the mind, clears heat, and eases restlessness.”

There had been no such prescription among the medicines we had purchased.

Seeing my confusion, the young man went on, “There were a few packets of sour jujube seeds among the medicinal herbs you brought, my lord. They might have been packed by mistake. The village doctor said there was no use leaving them there, so we might as well boil a few kettles of Sour Jujube Seed Decoction for everyone to drink and settle their nerves. Once the waters recede and we can go down the mountain, there will be plenty to do. For now, this is a good chance to preserve our strength.”

“Qiyun Town sits by the river, so every three to five years, there is always a season when the waters run high. This time, the embankment collapse made things much worse, but once the flood recedes, we will still go on living as we always have. My lord, as soon as you received word, you brought grain and medicine and rode through the night to come to our aid. To have a responsible official like you is already our good fortune.”

He must have seen me worrying over the account book and said all this to comfort me. He looked about the same age as me, yet he was remarkably good at reading the room.

I took a sip. It was sour and sweet with a faint bitterness, washing away the helplessness that had just begun to rise in me.

I thanked him for bringing the decoction. The young man gave a slight nod. The candlelight surged up like the tide, illuminating half his face.

He has excellent bone structure, I thought.

The National Preceptor had refused to teach me geomancy, divination, immortal cultivation, or the arts of fortune-telling, but during our occasional chats, he had mentioned a little about physiognomy and divination, so I had some understanding of them.

This young man’s bone structure was truly good. His brow ridge, eye sockets, nose bridge, jaw-everything I could see was handsomely shaped.

I drifted off for a moment, and when I came back to myself, I found him staring at me with an intense gaze.

Holding my cup, I signaled with my eyes for him to say whatever he wanted to say. The young man’s thin lips moved slightly, as if he were about to speak, when someone suddenly lifted the tent flap.

The newcomer was a soldier from Tanzhou Prefecture, and his expression was not good. “My lord, an official has arrived. He insists on seeing you.”