Chapter 66: Lighting The Fire
Congshan Ward, Lu Xiang’s residence.
These days, Lu Yun has been studying diligently, seriously preparing for the family selection to be held next month. Although his foundation is very solid, he has been in Jiangnan for a long time after all, and is relatively unfamiliar with the literary style and views popular in the capital city, all of which require time to prepare bit by bit. And in a few more days, he will set off to accompany the emperor, and he still doesn’t know what will happen then, so he can only seize the present time and learn as much as possible.
Seeing her younger brother working so hard, Lu Ying was also very sensible. She no longer pestered him to play with her, but instead prepared a large pile of tonics for Lu Yun, sending them to his room three or five times a day.
Lu Yun had just finished eating bird’s nest when he saw Lu Ying come in carrying another plate of peeled walnuts.
“These are precious fruits from the Western Regions, the best for nourishing the brain.” Lu Ying placed the dish on the table: “Eat them all, okay.”
“I’ve had nosebleeds several times recently…” Lu Yun pleaded helplessly with a wry smile: “Elder Sister, please let me off.”
“You brat, treating good intentions like a donkey’s liver and lungs. Isn’t Elder Sister just worried about you!” Lu Ying gave him a glare, picked up a walnut, and brought it to Lu Yun’s mouth: “Eat!”
Lu Yun had no choice but to take that walnut into his mouth, but really didn’t want to swallow it. Who knew Lu Ying would get addicted to feeding him, successively giving him seven or eight pieces, stuffing Lu Yun’s cheeks full.
Only then did Lu Ying realize that Lu Yun hadn’t swallowed any into his stomach at all. She pressed his cheeks and force-fed him like a duck. Lu Yun whimpered and tried to dodge, looking extremely comical.
The brother and sister were laughing and playing around when an untimely cough sounded at the doorway.
Seeing there was someone else there, Lu Ying quickly withdrew her hand and looked over with a flushed face, only to see a hunchbacked, scarred middle-aged man standing there with a face full of amusement.
“Uncle Bao is here.” Lu Ying hurriedly stood up to greet him, but sighed inwardly. She really didn’t want to see her younger brother getting involved with this man.
Uncle Bao also knew that Lu Ying didn’t like him, so he just smiled and said nothing.
After Lu Ying left, he knelt down and paid deep respects to Lu Yun. “Young Master, this subordinate arrived late to rescue you.”
“Cough cough!” Lu Yun finally managed to swallow the mouthful of walnuts, picked up the tea cup to moisten his throat, and smiled at Uncle Bao: “Yes, if you had come a little earlier, I wouldn’t have had to suffer this ordeal.”
Uncle Bao gave a dry laugh twice and presented a thick paper bag to Lu Yun with both hands. “Mission accomplished!”
“These two months have been hard on Uncle Bao.” Lu Yun took the bag, pulled out the thick stack of papers inside, and examined them closely.
As he looked, Uncle Bao explained from the side: “Young Master guessed correctly. There are indeed major problems with the river embankment. This subordinate visited places like Bianzhou and learned about the situation from more than two hundred river workers. The conclusion is that the reason the embankment collapsed after just one year of construction mainly has three causes: one is shoddy workmanship, two is private design modification, and three is stealing from the embankment.”
“Shoddy workmanship is an old story, let’s set it aside for now.” Uncle Bao explained in detail: “The private design modification was done by the Water Management Bureau to free up more riverbed for land sale. They privately narrowed the river channel, rerouted it, cut off bends and blocked tributaries, greatly reducing the Yellow River’s flood discharge capacity. When the spring floods came with massive water, the current became extremely fierce, with an impact on the embankment beyond the ordinary.”
“Even more fatal is that those big landowners who bought the old riverbeds, in order to draw water for mulberry cultivation, all privately dug ditches on the embankment, leaving it full of holes and completely unable to withstand the flood’s impact. It collapsed along the entire line all at once, causing this rare disaster.”
“So that’s how it is.” Lu Yun flipped through the river workers’ statements and suddenly understood everything. Anger surged up as he said: “With so many vermin gnawing away, it’s no wonder the embankment collapsed!”
“But these matters all point to the Water Management Bureau. We still don’t know what role Gao Guangning played in it.” Uncle Bao frowned: “According to the river workers, the blueprints initially provided by the Ministry of Works had no problems, and the allocated materials were sufficient. Gao Guangning can completely shift all responsibility to the Water Management Bureau in charge of construction, so at most he’d be guilty of the crime of negligence.”
“Another crime of negligence…” Lu Yun sneered repeatedly upon hearing this. He had heard from Lu Xin that Lu Jian, with the secret help of the Elder Council, had already mostly cleared himself of blame, leaving only a crime of negligence not severe enough to hurt his bones.
“Young Master, why do you say ‘another’?” Uncle Bao had just arrived in the capital city today and naturally knew nothing about the Lu Clan’s affairs.
Lu Yun then briefly told Uncle Bao about Lu Jian’s matter. Uncle Bao drew in a cold breath and said with a chill in his heart: “In just ten years, the Lu Clan has become such a mess?”
“Born in hardship, dies in ease—nothing exemplifies this better throughout history.” Lu Yun said indifferently: “But Gao Guangning’s situation can’t compare to Lu Jian’s.”
“It’s still quite similar.” Uncle Bao said: “Lu Jian has the Elder Council as his backer, Gao Guangning has the Xiahou Clan supporting him. Neither Lu Shang nor the Initial Emperor can do anything to them.”
“But there’s one point that’s absolutely different.” Lu Yun stretched out his finger, pointed at the stack of papers on the table, and said coldly: “Gao Guangning is the culprit who caused the Yellow River to burst its banks, leaving millions displaced!”
“I’m afraid it’s hard to pin that down!” Uncle Bao frowned tightly: “If Young Master wants to bring him down with this charge, it’ll take even more hard work.”
“No need.” Lu Yun shook his head resolutely: “Uncle Bao, what’s the biggest feeling from your return to the capital this time?”
“Naturally, many feelings…” Uncle Bao sighed darkly. When he left the capital ten years ago, his wife and daughter were still alive, but now they were separated by yin and yang. “But the most direct feeling is the disaster victims everywhere.”
“These disaster victims have been forced to leave home and live under others’ roofs for two or three months, in extremely dire straits. Their pent-up anger could burn down the entire capital city.” Lu Yun said in a deep voice: “If they knew the Minister of Works is the culprit who made them homeless, do you think they would calmly discuss evidence with you?”
“Definitely not…” Uncle Bao said softly.
“Spread these things out!” Lu Yun lightly slapped the stack of papers and said slowly: “Then guide them a bit, and let the disaster victims use Gao Guangning as their punching bag.”
“This…” Uncle Bao calculated for a moment. The dead soldiers he had trained had mostly already mixed in with the disaster victims and entered the capital long ago. These people were perfect for spreading news and fanning the flames. “It can be done.”
“At the right timing, hand this over to the Investigative Bureau.” Lu Yun took a list from under his stack of books and handed it to Uncle Bao.
Uncle Bao took it and looked, seeing a clear list of names on it, followed by the times, locations, and areas of land purchases. He couldn’t help widening his eyes: “These are all from the Water Management Bureau buying land?”
“Yes.” Lu Yun nodded: “It took a lot of effort to steal them from the Water Management Bureau.”
“For things like this in the future, leave them to this subordinate.” Uncle Bao carefully put away the list and said to Lu Yun: “Young Master is a body worth thousands of gold; you must not take risks lightly.”
“Got it.” Lu Yun responded perfunctorily.
.
After receiving orders, Uncle Bao secretly contacted that group of dead soldiers and had them spread the news among the disaster victims separately. But he knew the proper way and understood that such things must be done step by step without rushing. Otherwise, not only would it be ineffective, but it would also arouse suspicion.
So Lu Yun didn’t urge him either. After handing the matter to Uncle Bao, he planned to continue studying. But Lu Ying came to tell him that they both had to go out with Mother tomorrow.
“What’s it for?” Lu Yun frowned slightly.
“Tomorrow is Maternal Aunt’s birthday. We all have to go to Cuihe Garden to offer congratulations.” Lu Ying told Lu Yun.
Lu Yun was stunned for a moment before realizing that the Maternal Aunt Lu Ying mentioned was probably Madam Lu’s cousin, the eldest daughter of the Xie Clan Leader.
“Where is Cuihe Garden?”
“Not far outside Luojing City.” Lu Ying smiled with a hint of sarcasm: “Our Maternal Aunt is inviting Mother to her birthday banquet for the first time. It’s truly an honor.”
“Elder Sister’s words are getting sharper and sharper.” Lu Yun said very seriously.
“Am I?” Lu Ying pouted. She clearly knew too that if not for Father being in the spotlight lately, that Maternal Aunt would never have thought of their family.
Although Lu Yun instinctively resisted a bit, he also knew he couldn’t refuse to go.
Early the next morning, Lu Yun and his elder sister accompanied Madam Lu by carriage toward the outskirts of the city.
Madam Lu seemed to be in a better mood these days. It seemed the change in her family’s attitude toward her had eased her heart quite a bit. Lu Ying also hoped Mother could regain her smile soon, so along the way she specially picked pleasant words to cheer Madam Lu up.
Lu Yun listened quietly from the side with a calm expression, when suddenly his brows furrowed. Lu Ying immediately looked over and asked softly: “What’s wrong?”
“It seems we’re being followed.”
