Shen Qingwan heard about Fu Yuheng's rage in the court and Xiao Shushen's rejection of him. Shen Qingwan felt a little worried. She didn't expect that the thing she was most worried about had happened.
She did not go to find Fu Yuheng immediately. She knew in her heart that she should give him some time to calm down. Otherwise, even if she let it go, she would probably end up like Xiao Shushen.
The most important thing right now is to come up with a solution to the flood in the south as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if you meet him, you can only say irrelevant words that are of no use. Only by grasping the key to the problem can you actually help Fu Yuheng solve his problems.
However, as a girl, she rarely comes into contact with knowledge about nature and hydrology. Fortunately, she has always loved reading and has read all kinds of books, so she decided to find the answer from books.
Shen Qingwan spent the entire afternoon in her study, with the door tightly closed. She quietly flipped through books, looked up information, and silently wrote down methods that might be useful. She was so engrossed in her reading that before she knew it, the sun had set outside, and the evening glow shone through the window onto the ground.
At this time, there was a knock on the door. Shen Qingwan raised her head from the thick history books in surprise, "Who is it?"
"My queen, it's me." Lianyun's voice came from outside the door.
"Come in." Shen Qingwan responded, and Lianyun gently pushed the door open and came in. She twitched the corners of her lips and continued to ask, "What do you want from me?"
Lianyun was holding a vermilion wooden box, bowed, and then stood up and continued, "Madam, it's getting late. I came to ask when you would like to eat. You have been in the study all afternoon. I brought some snacks. Please fill your stomach first."
"Wait a moment longer. I don't want my thoughts to be interrupted, otherwise it will be difficult to pick them up again." Shen Qingwan looked at the book on her desk and spoke reluctantly.
"Your Majesty, what book are you reading? Are you so engrossed in it?" Lianyun curiously came closer to take a few glances, and placed the snacks in her hand in a small corner of the desk, because the rest of the place was piled with open books.
"There is a flood in the south. I came to read a book and find a solution. The emperor has been very worried about this these days."
"I have said it quite well. The emperor is really lucky to have a concubine like your majesty who considers him in every way." Lianyun frowned.
"Don't dare to talk nonsense. If others hear you talking about the emperor like this and make up a few more lies, I may not be able to save you. It would be best if I can share the emperor's worries. If not, then I can only give up." Shen Qingwan sat back in her chair with a hint of fatigue in her voice, picked up the new tea that Lianyun brought her and took a sip.
"It was my fault for being careless. I will remember this in the future. Madam, please continue reading. I will not disturb you any more. Lianyun will take her leave first."
She nodded, continued to open the book and read, taking a sip of tea from time to time to refresh herself.
On the second day, Shen Qingwan estimated the time when Fu Yuheng would leave the court and went to the imperial study. When she arrived outside the door, she was not in a hurry to go in, but asked Sun Ning at the door, "How has the emperor been these days?"
"To answer your Majesty's question, the Emperor has not been in good health recently. He must be worried about the floods in the south." Sun Ning shook his head, looking embarrassed.
Shen Qingwan nodded, then stepped into the imperial study. Fu Yuheng was sitting alone behind the mahogany carved chair in the middle, reviewing memorials. She took a few steps closer and could see that his handsome face was furrowed with brows. It seemed that there was still no breakthrough in the matter of the flood in the south.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." She walked up to him and bowed.
"You're here?" Fu Yuheng raised his eyes and saw her face with a gentle smile. He was a little stunned, and then said, "No need to be polite."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shen Qingwan slowly stood up, thinking about how to express her thoughts.
Fu Yuheng's voice was filled with fatigue. "You should have heard about what happened in the past two days, right?"
"Yes, the flood in the south is related to the livelihood of the people. Although I live in the harem, I know a thing or two about it. I heard that the emperor has been worried about state affairs these days, so I want to come and see the emperor. Is there anything I can do?"
"There are so many civil and military officials in the court, but not one of them can come up with a solution that satisfies me. Seeing the flood getting worse and worse, I am extremely anxious." Fu Yuheng rubbed his brows and spoke helplessly and angrily.
"If Your Majesty does not despise my incompetence, I am willing to volunteer to go to Jiangnan to govern in person."
Fu Yuheng narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Shen Qingwan, quite surprised. "Oh?" He looked at her in surprise, and then continued to ask: "Do you have any good ideas? Tell me about it."
"I have read a lot of books these days and read a lot of records of our ancestors' efforts to control floods. The reason many of them failed was that they passively built dikes and dams without paying attention to solving the problem fundamentally. If the water does not have a fixed river channel, it is useless no matter how high the dikes are built."
Shen Qingwan combined the words she read from the book with her own thoughts and told the story. Fu Yuheng put his right hand under his cheek and listened thoughtfully.
She continued, “To eliminate flooding, we must not only build dikes to prevent flooding, but more importantly, dredge the silted riverbed and dig channels to let the water flow out.”
Fu Yuheng was slightly surprised after hearing Shen Qingwan's words. He did not expect that she would have such an opinion. After being surprised, he thought for a while before slowly speaking, "These all require a lot of manpower and strength. As a girl, you should not go there in person. I will consider it myself."
"Your Majesty, the flood in Jiangnan is imminent. We cannot delay any longer." Shen Qingwan was anxious and carefully analyzed the interests involved.
Fu Yuheng listened patiently and nodded from time to time, but in the end, he still couldn't accept all her suggestions. He waved his hand and smiled bitterly, saying, "You go back first, I will think about it again."
Seeing this, Shen Qingwan could only nod silently and did not insist any more.
Soon after she returned, the news spread like wildfire, and even reached Xiao Shushen's ears, which made her very unhappy, and she felt that Shen Qingwan was taking advantage of the situation. She thought for a while, and then called for Aunt Gui.
"Madam Gui, call Concubine Li over."
"Yes." Nanny Gui responded and left. She was always efficient, and Li Jieyu received the summons very quickly. She was very confused, but after all, Xiao Shushen was the queen, and she did not dare to disobey her order, so she had to go.