[R18] Will drink wine – “About Wine” Chapter 66 [English]

Chapter 64 Shocking Rain

The cloak was too big. As it slid down his shoulders, Shen Zechuan picked it up. Wrapped in the warmth, his whole body was immersed in Xiao Chiye’s scent.

Shen Zechuan took out the handkerchief and wiped his cheeks that were wet by Xiao Chiye. In this noisy rainy night, he couldn’t help but smell the handkerchief again.

They all taste like Xiao Chiye.

Shen Zechuan lowered his eyes for a moment and gently rubbed the handkerchief with the tip of his nose. The gloom in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows was dispelled.

The upper layer of the food box contained gold and silver rolls, and the lower layer contained hot decoctions.As soon as I opened the lid, the air suddenly filled with heat.It was not easy to get a hot meal tonight. Even Xiao Chiye had to run as fast as he could to get over and get back.

Ge Qingqing wanted to pour a bowl of tea to Shen Zechuan, but when he climbed up and saw that he was drinking medicine, he couldn’t help but be startled, and then said happily: “It turns out it’s been arranged, that’s great. I was also thinking about sending someone to buy a bowl of medicine.”

Shen Zechuan drank the medicine, wiped the corners of his lips with his fingers, and said, “Where was this street demolished?”

“We just passed the Ouhua Building. The collapsed place is difficult to demolish.” Ge Qingqing rolled up her sleeves and said, “There is something wrong with this.”

“Another unexplainable account,” Shen Zechuan sat up, calmed down for a while, and continued, “Who sent the emperor out? Only the emperor himself knows about this. If he refuses to talk, the case will be closed.”

“In my opinion, this collapse is not a coincidence. Donglong Street has been flooded every year, but the Ouhua Building collapsed just last night.” Ge Qingqing looked at Yu Ye, then looked at Shen Zechuan, “Do you have any clues?”

Shen Zechuan has been thinking about this matter since this morning. The collapse wiped out all traces of Ouhua Tower. This is definitely not a coincidence.Xi Hongxuan is a man who cherishes his life. He just renovated the Ouhua Building some time ago, and very few people know what happened below.

Shen Zechuan looked at the rainy night with his open eyes, as if saying to himself: “Don’t be impatient, there must be another trick. I don’t know who it is for this time.”

* * *

The imperial physician in the bedroom retreated and saluted the Queen Mother and the others.The Queen Mother leaned over and asked about Li Jianheng’s condition through the curtain. The imperial doctor reported him in detail. She was relieved when she heard that the bleeding had stopped.

“This is strange,” the Queen Mother said, sitting upright. “Once the emperor left the palace, no one knew about it. How can the patrols inside and outside the palace make people feel at ease?”

None of the veterans below said a word, they all stood in silence with their heads lowered, like clay sculptures.

The Queen Mother said: “The Ai family lives in the harem and should not interfere in political affairs. However, this time it is once again related to the safety of the emperor. A mother in the Ai family is really worried and tears will dry up in her eyes [1]. How can she bear such a fright again? My lords, I should give the Ai family an explanation this time!”

Pan Xiangjie’s heart tightened when he heard this.

Kong Qiu was silent for a moment and said: “Even if the inner patrol wants to stop him, he may not be able to stop the emperor. In my opinion, Xi Hongxuan should be severely punished this time! If he hadn’t used those monsters from outside to lure the emperor, how could the emperor leave the palace?”

“Yes,” Wei Huaigu, the Minister of Household Affairs, is the eldest brother of Wei Huaixing, who was the first to criticize Xiao Chiye, and is now the head of the Wei family.He usually doesn’t speak, but this time he said, “Xi Hongxuan deserves to be punished, but his crime is not worthy of death. I see that it is the Ministry of Industry that is going to be blamed this time, and the repair of the palace is under his control. Mr. Pan, why did the official ditch become blocked like this?”

Pan Xiangjie knew that Wei Huaigu was going to shirk responsibility, so he immediately knelt on the ground and said to the Queen Mother: “I hope the Queen Mother and the Emperor will see clearly! As early as the Xiande period, our Ministry of Works notified the Ministry of Household Affairs about the blockage of the official trench, hoping that they could allocate some silver to repair it, but the Ministry of Household Affairs has not approved it. What will the Ministry of Works do? This is not a small construction project!”

Wei Huaigu was not in a hurry. He was much more difficult to deal with than Wei Huaixing. He only said: “The accounts of our household department have to be discussed by the cabinet. Mr. Huage was not there at that time. Who dared to transfer the money casually? In addition, in the past few years, I had to clean up the mess of the six states of Zhongbo, and the bank account was almost empty. We are also more than capable.”

“Everyone has difficulties,” Pan Xiangjie said, “Why are you clinging to our Ministry of Works? Cen Xunyi, the censor of Zuodu, wants to impeach the Ministry of Works for neglecting water conservancy, saying that we did not fix the dam of the Kailing River, but did it collapse today? No! It means that the work of the Ministry of Works did not cut corners and was done in a down-to-earth manner! If we had money, we would have opened up the official channels.”

The Ministry of Household Affairs does not acknowledge this account, and the Ministry of Works does not accept this fault. Both parties are old men of the Eight Families. Now no one is willing to back down, and they are just standing here trying to push the blame.

Kong Qiu almost sneered. He was from a humble background, and it was Hai Liangyi who brought him up. He could work with ministers from aristocratic families, but they couldn’t share the same goals.Now listening to them playing football, I feel tired.

Yes, the Ministry of Industry reported it, but who reported it?It was reported by a low-level official who did not join the court.Did Pan Xiangjie pay attention?If he took it seriously, he would have mentioned it to the Ministry of Finance himself, but he did not do so.Does Hubu know?Know.What is the relationship between Wei Huaigu and Hua Siqian?The two families are related by marriage, but they have not seemed close in recent years, but there is a relationship, and he is far more capable than Wei Huaixing, and he and Hua Siqian are people who can discuss political affairs.But he never really broke up with Hua Siqian about this matter. This matter has always been passed by, and you deserve it if you get flooded. You will be unlucky!

The Queen Mother sat behind the curtain and could clearly see the thoughts of these people.Hua Xiangyi stood behind her, listening with rapt attention.

Hai Liangyi finally coughed a few times, covered his mouth with a handkerchief, and said: “There was such an item in the cabinet’s accounts. But it was only once, and then no one paid attention to this issue. Now that it collapsed, everyone has remembered it, but is this the first time this year that the water has risen? Not to mention, at the beginning of last year’s spring, and the year before last, did it rise before? Did the Ministry of Industry report it?”

Pan Xiangjie stopped talking and said regretfully: “What Yuan Fu said… is indeed the negligence of our Ministry of Works, but there is really nothing we can do. Now the most important thing is to clear it up quickly.”

“The Ministry of Household Affairs has also allocated money to the victims,” Wei Huaigu said. “The situation is critical now, and accountability can wait until the official ditch is cleared. Is the Eighth Battalion digging now?”

Chen Zhenyan, Secretary of the Ministry of War, said concisely and comprehensively: “It’s the Forbidden Army, and Governor Xiao is still soaking in the water.”

Just as the Queen Mother was about to speak, the palace maid inside hurriedly ran out, knelt down on the ground, and said, “To report to the Queen Mother, the Emperor suddenly had a fever, and there were rashes all over his back!”

The Queen Mother stood up suddenly and said in shock: “What?”

Hai Liangyi bent over and started coughing violently. Hua Xiangyi supported the Queen Mother and made a decisive decision: “Chun, Imperial Physician, please help Elder Ge quickly!”

* * *

Xi Hongxuan also had a rash. The first person to notice it was the military doctor of the Eighth Battalion. He quickly went out with his robe and reported it to Han Jin.

Han Jin wiped his face, still a little stunned, and said, “Is it eczema? It will be fine if the cold is gone!”

“It’s not eczema,” the military doctor stamped his feet anxiously, “Then what is eczema? It’s an epidemic!”

At this time, not only Han Jin, but also the soldiers from the eight battalions around him who were still in the water all changed their expressions.Han Jin turned around and saw that the Imperial Guards in the distance were still busy. He waded through the water and ran over, grabbed Chen Yang, and shouted: “Where is the Governor? Call the Governor quickly, I have something urgent!”

Xiao Chiye pushed off the broken board, walked over, and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Han Jin’s hands were shaking, and he rubbed the dirty water on his clothes and said, “We can’t take it apart, and we can’t soak it in this water! Governor, there’s an epidemic!”

Xiao Chiye’s eyes flashed and he said, “Who got up first?”

“Xi Hongxuan,” Han Jin breathed rapidly, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, is that…”

“Gujin!” Xiao Chiye immediately ordered, “Run into the palace and report this matter to Mr. Haige!”

Gujin climbed ashore and ran, climbed onto the roof in a few steps, stepped on the ridge and jumped towards the palace gate.

“Take me to see Xi Hongxuan,” Xiao Chiye said steadily, “right away!”

Xi Hongxuan felt hot all over his body and had a severe fever.He had just finished applying medicine to his crushed leg, and now it was soaked with sweat. He was lying on the bed and started talking nonsense.

The military doctor wiped his sweat and said: “Two hours ago, he just had a slight cold. The medicine was given and the fever was reduced. Who knew that when he touched it just now, the fever became even worse! I changed the dressing on his legs and opened his pants to see that they were all covered in red rash!”

Xiao Chiye looked at the red rash and said, “Are you sure it’s an epidemic?”

The military doctor said: “During the Yongyi period, there was such an epidemic in Dancheng. We reported it to the Imperial Hospital. We have a record of it. Governor, when the rash spreads over the body, the fever will not go away. In an hour or two, the sick person will be unconscious and vomiting. I am afraid that there are still sick people among the victims. Zhaosu Temple must quickly arrange for the decoction of corresponding herbs to be prepared!”

Han Jin was frightened and asked quickly: “What caused it? There must be a reason, otherwise how could we dig this ditch?”

The military doctor said: “It is the turn of winter and spring, and it is very cold and humid. The low-lying areas are filled with sewage odor all year round. The houses are so close together that they don’t even have windows. Without sunlight, people are prone to illness.”

“In that case, how could he get sick?” Xiao Chiye frowned, “Ouhua Building is far away from low-lying areas, and the alleys behind it are also cleaned by people. There is no dirt on it. Is it just because he soaked in swill during the hours of collapse?”

The military doctor hesitated, wiped his sweat again, and plucked up the courage to say: “I will tell the truth to the governor, I am afraid that this disease was not contracted during the collapse, but was contracted while messing around in the building before the collapse. Er Shao Xi has been burned to this state, where is the emperor -”

“Governor!” Meng Rui opened the curtain and entered with a serious expression, “Suddenly, more than a dozen people fell down in Zhaosu Temple, and two people from the household department who came to do errands also fell down!”

Just as Xiao Chiye was about to give the order, the morning sun burst in with rain and said, “Master, the tiger has also fallen ill with a fever!”

The sound of rain outside was sudden and rapid, like the sound of war drums ringing from all directions, beating desperately, as if to break the dark night.

Xiao Chiye suddenly opened the curtain and said: “It’s too late to wait for the batch. Go directly to the major pharmacies on Shenwu Street to get medicine. Anyone who has caught wind and cold, has fever, vomiting, or lack of physical strength will be helped to Zhaosu Temple. The rest will be evacuated and the people in charge of the household affairs department will start cooking the herbs immediately! Ding Tao!”

Ding Tao said: “Master!”

Xiao Chiye pulled Ding Tao, breathing heavily in the rain, and whispered: “Tell Shen Lanzhou to leave immediately!”