Shen Qingwan returned to her room and looked out the window silently.
She hadn't been to the dam for a long time, and didn't know how the dam was doing recently. Shen Qingwan was thinking about this when she looked up and heard a servant running in to report: "Madam, Governor Li wants to invite you to go to the dam to inspect the disaster."
This was a pillow that was delivered to her when she was dozing off. If Fu Yuheng was here, she would definitely not be allowed to go out now. After packing up, she went out. The road in this area was not very good after being washed by the flood, and now the yellow mud along the way was easy to splash passers-by.
Shen Qingwan waved her hand and didn't let the servant drive for her. She just walked towards the dam under the guidance of the servant. Fortunately, it was not far from here to the dam, and it would take only a few minutes to get there.
Li Chaoyang was inspecting the dam and felt a little anxious because the dam had not been completed for such a long time.
Fortunately, the water has dissipated now and there is still some time before the next flood season, otherwise he would definitely be here staring at the progress in confusion.
Li Chaoyang was worried, and when he looked up, he saw Shen Qingwan coming towards him from afar, and his anxiety was half gone. In the disaster-stricken areas these days, no matter where they were, as long as the virtuous concubine appeared, all problems could be solved to a certain extent, and at the very least, there were always some solutions that would make people suddenly enlightened.
He waved to Shen Qingwan from a distance, and she nodded slightly. She also saw along the way that these soldiers were now repairing the dam, and they might not be able to spare any manpower to repair the road in the city for the time being. When Shen Qingwan came to his side, Li Chaoyang bowed and said, "Hail, Madam."
"Let's not talk about those empty words. How is the emergency repair of the dam going now?" Shen Qingwan signaled him not to be polite.
Li Chaoyang nodded, "My Lady, we are still repairing it."
"Where exactly has it gone?" She knew that repairs were still ongoing, but she wanted specific details.
"Two or three out of ten..." He shook his head and frowned.
After taking a quick look at the soldiers' situation, Shen Qingwan sighed, "There's nothing we can do. These are all the soldiers that can come within a hundred miles. If we need to find more soldiers, we have to expand the scope of conscription to the south of Jiangnan. However, the south of Jiangnan is now in the grain harvest season, and I'm afraid that every household will not be able to spare any manpower."
As they talked, the two walked along the dam. The soldiers on both sides were busy repairing the dam, which was refreshing.
"I have an idea, listen to it..."
Before Shen Qingwan could finish her words, she felt a push from behind. Before she could react, her legs went weak and she stumbled and fell into the river.
After the sound of "dong" water splashing, someone started shouting.
"The Concubine Xian has fallen into the water!"
Their shouts could be heard all around, "The Concubine Xian has fallen into the water! Help! Come quickly!"
Li Chaoyang was stunned for a long time, and subconsciously took off his official robe and hat, took two steps forward and jumped in.
Although the flood season has passed, the water has not receded much, and the river is still turbulent. Even though Li Chaoyang is a good swimmer, he can only swim in the river for a while. He looked around and finally found Shen Qingwan. When he reached out to pull her, Shen Qingwan seemed to have lost consciousness and floated away with the river. He swam over desperately but couldn't catch her hand!
When Li Chaoyang surfaced from the water, there were several "dong dong dong" sounds around him, and several soldiers who were good at swimming also jumped down.
Two of them swam towards the direction of the water flow, and the rest swam towards him and helped him to the shore.
Shen Qingwan's vision was blurred, and she was surrounded by turbulent river water. Occasionally, she was hit by a wave, and a large amount of river water flooded her mouth and nose, choking her and making her cough repeatedly. She couldn't even call for help.
She couldn't swim, and vaguely saw an old tree lying across the water in front of her. When she reached out to grab it, she found that her hands and feet were weak. Her outstretched hand brushed against the tree trunk, and the next second, she completely lost consciousness.
Li Chaoyang had just been rescued and was struggling to climb back up, but the soldiers on the side quickly held him down and advised him, "Think twice, sir! The current is turbulent, you must not go down! We will find a float that is good at swimming and go down later. We are counting on you to take charge of the situation now!"
Li Chaoyang was about to open his mouth to refute, but there was a sound of hurried footsteps. He looked up and saw a bright yellow figure running towards him. The soldiers naturally knew that this person was Fu Yuheng. They were so scared that they let go of him and bowed down in salute, "Long live the emperor!"
Fu Yuheng, who ran over in a hurry, seemed to be trying his best to suppress his emotions, gritting his teeth, "She, did she fall in!"
The river water was just as turbulent as before, making people feel scared. Not to mention ordinary people, even the few floaters who came hurriedly behind did not dare to go into the water easily.
The brave soldier nodded and looked at the river with a sad face. "Just now, I only heard the queen screaming, and then she fell into the water. My lord, you only had time to jump in, but the river was too fast to hold the queen. The float has already come. Your Majesty... Your Majesty!"
The soldier looked up and saw Fu Yuheng ripping open his dragon robe and running towards the river. Fortunately, the soldiers on the riverside quickly stopped Fu Yuheng and advised him, "Your Majesty! Don't go into the water! The river is turbulent and Your Majesty is not a good swimmer. It's extremely dangerous to go in now!"
Li Chaoyang, who had just tried to jump into the water, struggled to get up after seeing this scene, and staggered forward to block Fu Yuheng. "Your Majesty, please do not go down!"
Fu Yuheng's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth, obviously trying to suppress his emotions, "Why can't I go down!"
"I can go down, and all the soldiers on the river can go down! But Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the father of all the people. If Your Majesty goes down now, I can only take the 30 million people of Jiangnan with You and jump in together!"
Although Li Chaoyang was already exhausted, every word he spoke was uttered with tears in his eyes, as if he had suddenly awakened Fu Yuheng. He then murmured and took two steps back, "Yes, I cannot go down. I am the support of the people and the lifeblood of the country..."
But Shen Qingwan is also his lifeline. Seeing that Fu Yuheng's emotions had finally calmed down, Li Chaoyang gave him a look, and the soldiers on the side quickly helped him back to the post station.
Li Chaoyang had used up all his strength in the roar just now. He half-knelt on the river bank with one hand supporting the ground, looking at the direction where Shen Qingwan went away, feeling full of self-blame.
If he had been a better swimmer, if he had reacted earlier, maybe he could have saved the Concubine Xian! He could only blame himself for his lack of ability.
The river was so turbulent that it was frightening just to look at it. Li Chaoyang suddenly felt sad for the virtuous concubine who loved the people like her own children. All the things in the past in Jiangnan appeared before his eyes, and he inexplicably felt a little sour in his nose. The virtuous concubine, even if she was found, she would have passed away.