Lin Xie and Zhou Pu, along with the other Wu Wei, rode their horses at full gallop, arriving at Chao Tian Yi ferry crossing by dusk.

  Lin was delayed for two days in front of and behind the military camp in the northern border of Guting County. The fleet had already sent everyone to the south bank for settlement, and the Dongyang ship returned to the north bank and docked at the Chaotianyi Ferry Terminal waiting for Lin and others to join; Liu Yue'er and Xiao Man also came to the north bank by boat.

  These two days, Lin Xie's heart had been blocked by a lump of gloom, but seeing Liu Yue'er and Xiao Man's lovely faces and concerned eyes, warmth seeped into his heart, and he temporarily put aside his worries.

  Lin Xuan didn't know if Zhang Yuber was at Chao Tian Yi, so he sent someone to find him. He got on the boat, and Dongyang Hao had been tidied up at the river mouth. The second-class cabin had a brocade bed, which seemed to be specially taken care of for the two women. After riding a fast horse for over 100 miles, plus not being able to rest well these days, and having injuries on his body, Lin Xuan sat down on the brocade bed, smelling the fragrance coming from the two women's bodies, and felt that his bones were almost exhausted. He asked: "How did you get to the north shore? I thought I wouldn't see you until tomorrow."

  "You shouldn't blame Sister Liu, it's me who dragged her here. I heard that your right arm was injured by an arrow and you can't even eat or wash your face, so I came with Sister Liu to take care of you, otherwise you would have gone hungry for another day?" Xiao Man said crisply, the corners of her small mouth slightly raised, her red lips parted, as she reached out to wipe Lin Xie's cheek, wiping away a layer of dirt. "Look at you, how dirty you are!" She didn't mind that Lin Xie was dirty and leaned half her body against him, then playfully reached out to touch the stubble on his chin, saying "No one has even shaved for you."

  "I'm not injured in both hands," Lin said, "Everyone has been busy these days, how can I have the heart to dress up?" And apologetically said to Liu Yue'er, "I didn't expect Shiliang County would fall so easily, and no one was sent to the county to pick up your parents and siblings, will you blame me?"

  "The most important thing is that you're back safely," said Liu Yu'er softly, not mentioning anything else. She looked at the white cloth wrapped around Lin Xuan's arm and saw the blood seeping through, asking: "The arrow wound hasn't healed yet, do you want to hurry back and let Wu Lang take a look?" Her thoughts had been with Lin Xuan for the past few days, also worrying about her parents' and brother's safety, but it was always overshadowed by her concern for Lin Xuan. Now that she mentioned it, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not being concerned enough about her family.

  "It's nothing serious, just ride a fast horse over and accidentally burst the wound." Lin said, the wound bursting open and bleeding wasn't a big deal, what he feared most was infection and inflammation, fortunately there wasn't any.

  *********

  The person sent to find Zhang Yubo returned quickly, saying that Zhang was not at the temporary requisitioned yamen inn, and had left with County Magistrate Liang Wenbai for the Sixteen Mile Pavilion in the west after noon.

  Lin tied a message for Zhang Yubo and took a boat along the north shore of Chao Tian Tang to the west, going to Shi Liu Li Puzhen.

  They said they were going to Shiliupu to meet Zhang Yubo, and Lin Xie also wanted to take a boat to take a closer look at the scattered refugees on the north shore of Chao Tian Dang River Beach.

  Under the sunset glow, from the mouth of Heziganzi to the west, there are continuous huts of refugees on the river beach, and a large area of beach has been reclaimed as good fields.

  The wheat in the eastern part of the river is all winter wheat, and it's almost time for harvest. During this period, a large number of refugees gathered after the New Year, and the newly reclaimed land was mostly planted with spring wheat after the spring, which had just grown to be about a foot high, green and full of vitality.

  The reeds in the shallow beach are as short as knee-high, and many people can be seen standing barefoot in the shallow water with simple fishing gear to catch fish. Lin Xian thought that it might be after Li Zhuo took office and abolished the fishing tax added by the Jiangning Guard Battalion.

  If one doesn't think about the impending danger of the flood season, at this time Jiangning Prefecture and County have taken many emergency measures to alleviate the contradictions between the main customers, localities, and refugees. After that, the difficulties of the refugees' survival have been alleviated to some extent. The prefectural and county governments have set up porridge halls in several large refugee gathering areas such as Chaotianyi and Shiliupu. Seeing that the riverbank wasteland will soon be harvested, most of the refugees who arrived at the riverbank early to enclose land may also have the idea of settling down here.

  Along the outer edge of the river beach, the refugees spontaneously built a mud dam that was over 20 miles long. The mouths of the dams were mostly creek mouths and river mouths, and some areas also built the mud embankment into an earth enclosure to gather fellow villagers to live together.

  Coming out of the Hezizikou, I walked west for six or seven miles along the waterway. The bright moonlight illuminated the riverbank, making it a vast expanse of white. In the distance, I saw many people walking on the muddy dike, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

  Someone on the embankment shouted this way: "Is Mr. Kinko Saryōin on the boat?"

  It was Gao Zongting's voice, Lin Xie hesitated whether to let the boat pass, and during his hesitation, Zhang Yuber also shouted on the embankment: "Is Lin Xie on the boat?"

  It is unknown how Zhang Yubo met Gao Zongting, Lin Fu ordered people to put a small boat prepared on the Dongyang ship into the water and took Gao Zongting, Zhang Yubo and others onto the ship; The Dongyang ship was deep in the water and could not be moored. There were two small boats on the ship that could take six or seven people or one or two thousand catties of goods up and down the Dongyang ship at a time.

  Together with Gao Zongting and Zhang Yubo was also Gu Ting's acquaintance, County Magistrate Liang Wenbo.

  Zhang Yubo and Liang Wenbo went to Shiliupu to inspect the settlement of refugees, on their way back they met Gao Zongting who was inspecting the riverbank embankment.

  "On a clear moonlit night, with the cool breeze brushing against our faces, it's truly delightful for the three of you to be in such high spirits...” Lin Mou welcomed the three onto the boat, feigning ignorance as he smiled and said, “There’s also good wine on the boat. Since the waves are calm and there’s no turmoil, I had someone set up a table on the deck. With such great enthusiasm, surely you won’t mind me joining in as well?"

  "What's the good news? Bring out some wine and dishes, we're all starving," Zhang Yuber said to Lin Fu with a casual tone. Looking at the window of the second cabin in the stern, he saw a beautiful woman's shadow, and smiled brightly at Lin Fu, "Speaking of good news, you are the one who is good news, when can we drink your wedding wine with Liu Niang? Or should we just make do with today?"

  Lin Xuan has not yet married, and taking Liu Yue'er as a concubine cannot be publicly celebrated with a banquet, so they can only have a simple ceremony, choosing a day is not as good as seizing the day, tonight's wine can also serve as wedding wine, it's not impossible; Zhang Yuber just made such a joke.

  Lin Tie just smiled and said, "I'll have to invite you for a drink."

  Lin Xie can't be too gentle with Liu Yue'er.

  Even if you can't have a public wedding banquet, you should still invite a matchmaker to recite auspicious phrases, select an auspicious date based on the couple's birth dates, and prepare the betrothal gifts.

  It's not that Lin Xuan is very supportive of the elaborate rituals, but Liu Yu'er is a traditional woman at heart, and going through these formalities is a way to show her respect and comfort. Moreover, with Liu Yu'er's parents and siblings trapped in Shiliang County with no news, this isn't the time for wedding celebrations anyway.

  Zhang Yubo, Liang Wenbo and Gao Zongting were all starving, so Liu Yu'er cooked a few small dishes on the boat, warmed up two jars of wine and set up a simple table on the deck. Lin Xian accompanied them to eat and drink.

  The boat sailed back to Chao Tian Yi, and Lin Xie had some food sent to the shore for Zhang, Liang, and Gao's entourage to fill their bellies.

  If it weren't for the Hongze Lake disturbance and the precarious north shore, at this moment, with clear wind and bright moon, sailing on the water would be truly delightful.

  "Mr. Gao saw a danger here, and when Mr. Gao mentioned it, I was also frightened...” Zhang Yuber said while drinking wine, telling Lin Fu why he and Liang Wenbo met with Gao Zongting on the outer mud embankment of Hehuan. Pointing to the winding black shadow of the distant mud embankment, he said, "We walked three or four miles, and all the mud embankments we saw were very thin. At this time, the water level in the sky is not high, and some inner sides of the embankment have seepage. If it's during the flood season, the flood peak will come, and these mud embankments will collapse with one blow...”

  "Ah!" Lin Xie responded with a deliberately surprised tone, her eyes staring blankly in the direction of the mud dike.

  Lin Bing didn't want others to know that this danger was proposed by him and Gao Zongting, Gao Zongting also knew the difficulties here, so he said to Zhang Yuber and Liang Wenbai, maybe Gao Zongting deliberately pulled Zhang Yuber and Liang Wenbai to the muddy dam to wait for him.

  He turned his head and said to County Magistrate Liang Wenbo, "Magistrate Liang, you really want to thank Mr. Gao. Since Hongze Pu did not cause any trouble, there won't be any big trouble here either. The refugees who were washed away by the flood are just gone, and when the time comes, the county will invite local gentry and clans to donate money and grain to comfort the disaster victims. Washing away some refugees is also a way to relieve pressure for the prefecture and county. However, the current situation is different, and everything on this side of Jiangning prioritizes stability, which all of you gentlemen agree on. If we really let tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of refugees drown in the water and then wash away three to five thousand people, I don't know what Commander Li will think when it's time to pacify the refugees; according to the Provincial Inspector's office, they probably suggest beheading one or two people to calm people's minds."

  Lin's words were very impolite, even bordering on threatening. Liang Wenbo was furious in his heart, thinking that this arrogant scholar, a mere ninth-grade Confucian official, dared to say such things, and if he had to chop off someone's head, it would certainly be Liang Wenbo's head.

  Lin Tie was still in a good mood at this time, and if he could let him act arbitrarily, he would have hacked Liang Wenbai into minced meat and thrown it into the sky to feed the turtles. What's there to fear about offending him?

  Liáng Wénbó was the county magistrate of Gǔtáng County for three years, and he himself is a native of Jiāngníng Xīnyuán County. How could he possibly be unaware of the dangers of the north bank of Cháotiān Zé? He knew very well that this place was dangerous, yet he allowed hundreds of thousands of refugees to gather here without taking any measures to disperse them. When the flood season arrives, who knows how many lives will be swept away by the floodwaters?

  If we were to assume the worst about Liang Wenbo, he might even wish for a flood to wash away these tens of thousands of refugees, so that he wouldn't have to worry about local security, or bother with resettling the refugees, or be bothered by local gentry coming to present their petitions.

  Liang Wenbo's face turned red and green, he was the highest-ranking official in the room, with the longest seniority, but Gao Zongting represented Li Zhuo, Lin Lian represented Gu Wu Chen, and Zhang Yu Bo was a member of Gu Wu Chen's faction. In terms of power, Zhang Yu Bo was slightly inferior to him.

  The lid is now lifted, and he can't cover it up. In the future, when a big mess really occurs on the riverbank, he won't be able to push it onto the head of the natural disaster either. Whether it's Li Zhuo or Gu Wu Chen, although they may not necessarily be able to chop off his head, they can still strip him of his official robes at that time.

  Liang Wenbo was resentful in his heart, but had to stand up and make a bow to Gao Zongting: "Thank you, Mr. Gao, for your wise eyes. If it were to become a great disaster, how could I face my parents and fellow villagers? How could I explain it to the imperial court?" He was much older than Gao Zongting, Zhang Yubo, and Lin Fu, but at this time he had to put aside his pride.