Chapter 12

The sudden sound immediately extinguished the small sparks that had just ignited in Yueyang's heart. At the same time, the Linglong sisters, frightened like startled rabbits, all fled from his embrace. As she ran, Yu Ling softly said, "Young Master, Ling'er will go to open the door for Shunbao."

More than ten minutes later, Yueyang, now dressed in clean clothes, followed Shunbao to the living room in the old lady's courtyard.

When Yueyang entered, he saw the old lady sitting in the main seat of the living room. Below her stood the steward Yue Laifu, the guard Hu Laosan, and several other managers of Yue Family Village, all with sullen faces.

Yueyang walked into the living room, greeted everyone, and then sat down next to the old lady. He asked curiously, "Grandma, Steward Yue, everyone, what happened? Why are all your faces so gloomy?"

Seeing Yueyang come in, the old lady's originally sullen face eased a bit, and she forced a smile, "Grandson, you're here. I was so worried about you these past few days. How did it go? Did you get the things back?"

"Grandma, don't worry. I got everything back, and everything went smoothly." Yueyang, who had been busy all night and had just woken up, was already very hungry. After sitting down, he picked up the pastries on the table and swallowed them in a few bites. He ate three pastries in a row, and after feeling a bit full, he picked up the teapot and drank from it. His hungry appearance made the old lady feel very sorry for him, and she kept urging him to eat slowly.

After eating a few pastries, Yueyang felt much better and asked, "Grandma, it's almost dark. What's so urgent that you called everyone here?"

The old lady sighed lightly, "Grandson, you've grown up. It's time for you to shoulder the responsibilities of the Yue family. Look at this first." She then handed Yueyang a "name card" from the table.

Yueyang curiously took the name card and read it. In this era, a name card was like a business card in the future, but much larger. This name card was bright red, seven inches long, and three inches wide. In the upper right corner, the name "Zheng Fakui" was written in small characters the size of a thumb. In the middle, large characters read, "On June 15th, I look forward to the head of the Yue family visiting the Prefectural Office in Yingzhou for a discussion."

Seeing this, Yueyang frowned. In ancient times, name cards had specific rules. Generally, the name of the person delivering the card should fill the entire card. If the card was given to an elder or a superior, the name on the card should be large, indicating humility. A small name on the card would be seen as arrogant. This Prefect Zheng had written his name so small and the matter so large, clearly showing that he did not take the Yue Family Village seriously.

Yueyang frowned, "Grandma, isn't this Zheng Fakui the Prefect of Yingzhou? Why would he send us a name card and ask us to go to the Prefectural Office tomorrow? What's he up to?"

"What else could it be?" The old lady sighed. "He's just seen that our Yue Family Village has no one in charge, and the Li, Wang, and Lin families are all eyeing the Sanggan River, hoping to take a piece of us."

Hearing this, Yueyang frowned, "So, those three families still haven't given up on the Sanggan River and want to dig canals to divert water?"

Yue Laifu, standing beside him, also had a bitter expression, "Of course. Right now, out of the four rivers in Yingzhou, the Sanggan River is the only one that hasn't dried up. If they don't get water, their crops will fail this year. It would be a miracle if they could hold back! A few days ago, only the Wang family was leading the charge, but now even the Li and Lin families can't hold back anymore!"

Hu Laosan, standing nearby, grunted, "But if they dig canals to divert water, our summer crops will be ruined!"

Yueyang took a deep breath. At this moment, he understood why the Wang family had tried to steal water a few days ago. They were desperate. Without water, their summer crops would definitely fail, and the consequences would be unbearable. At this point, talking about reason was useless.

Yueyang thought for a moment and said to the old lady, "Grandma, let me go to this meeting tomorrow."

"What? You go?" The old lady was slightly surprised, then slowly nodded, "Yes, you've grown up. It's time for you to take on the family's responsibilities. But Grandma has to tell you, when you go tomorrow, you'll face the combined pressure of the Wang, Lin, and Li families, and even Prefect Zheng might be on their side. Grandma wants to know, how will you deal with these greedy people?"

After the old lady spoke, Yue Laifu, Hu Laosan, and the other managers all looked at Yueyang, wanting to know how the only head of the Yue family would handle this crisis. It was a difficult situation. If they refused, the Yue family would face a joint crackdown from the other three families and the government. If they agreed, the limited water in the Sanggan River wouldn't be enough for everyone, and the summer crops in Wulizhai would be affected. No matter what choice they made, Wulizhai would suffer.

However, to everyone's surprise, Yueyang smiled and said nonchalantly, "Grandma, what's so difficult about this? If the Wang, Lin, and Li families want to dig canals to divert water from the Sanggan River, let them. Why should we refuse?"

"What?"

When Yueyang said this, not only the people around him but even the old lady was surprised.

"Grandson, can you tell Grandma why? Do you know the consequences of this?"

"There's no problem with that." Yueyang smiled. It was just a matter of water. If it were two days ago, he wouldn't have had a solution, but now...

"Grandma, don't worry about it. Not only did I bring back the seeds I mentioned to you a few days ago, but I also brought back something good. With this, we won't have to worry about water for our fields anymore!"

"Oh, really?" When Yueyang said this, everyone in the living room looked at each other, their faces showing disbelief.

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Yueyang knew what they were thinking, but he didn't plan to reveal the secret. He thought that in time, they would see what a miracle was...

Seeing Yueyang's confident demeanor, the old lady also had her doubts, but out of trust in her grandson, she chose to believe him. After discussing the matter further, the old lady dismissed everyone.

The next morning, Yueyang set out for Yingzhou City with Shunbao, Hu Laosan, and over ten family retainers. By noon, they had reached the city gates of Yingzhou City.

To be honest, this was the first time Yueyang had seen a city with a complete city wall since he arrived in this era. The city wall of Yingzhou City was 26.7 li long and two zhang high, with soldiers patrolling on top. As Yueyang's group approached the city gate, they noticed a large basket on the right side of the gate. The citizens entering the city would voluntarily throw a copper coin into the basket. Next to the basket stood two men in blue robes, who seemed to be tax collectors.

On both sides of the city wall, over ten soldiers in tattered red battle robes leaned lazily against the wall, looking listlessly at the passersby, occasionally yawning.

Seeing the citizens entering the city and the soldiers at the gate, Yueyang frowned. He had thought that the tenants in Wulizhai were struggling because it was a rural area, but now he saw that even in a large city like Yingzhou, the citizens were not doing well.

However, Yueyang wasn't entirely sure. When Shunbao paid the entry fee and they entered the city, they saw the citizens on the streets, still dressed in tattered clothes and with gaunt faces. His mood became increasingly heavy. It seemed that the rapid fall of the Ming Dynasty at the end of its reign was not without reason...

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