Chapter 395: Blowing Up The Rock Mountain
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Just as Su Ying walked out of the guest courtyard, a figure hiding in the dark sneakily ran away.
The local officials did not care about the lives of the commoners and actually cut corners on such a critical infrastructure like the dam for profit. Su Ying was so angry that she wanted to kill someone.
Su Ying went to the other guest courtyard and got Zhu Lin to get up from his bed before telling him the news she had received from Yi Kun.
Zhu Lin’s expression changed drastically after listening. He would never have imagined that there was a problem with the entire new dam.
“What should we do? The flood season is coming. This new dam can’t be used at all!”
“If the new one doesn’t work, what about the old one? Can the old dam be used?”
“The old dam is worn out and there are many places that need to be repaired. However, with the new dam in this condition now, the old dam is still stronger than the new one. It’s just that the river diversion opening has been dug and the flood waters will rush toward the new dam.”
“Block the diversion opening. Immediately send someone to block the diversion opening. Use whatever method at his disposal.”
“Alright. I’ll get it done immediately.” Zhu Lin was well aware of the gravity of the matter. They were now fighting for their lives against time.
Su Ying was holding a name list in her hand. The names on the list were all those who had illegally profited from the dam construction.
Su Ying wanted to capture all of these people before they got wind of their impending doom.
After Zhu Lin left, Su Ying summoned the secret guards and told them to keep an eye on these people without alerting them. These people were not allowed to take even half a step out of the city of Jing Prefecture. Whoever left the city was to be arrested.
After explaining everything to the secret guards, Su Ying also rushed out of the city.
At this moment, Zhu Lin had already led his men to the mouth of the river diversion.
They only started digging the opening for the river diversion this year. Initially, it was expected that the new dam would be ready by this year, so the excavation works for the river diversion opening proceeded gradually to let the water flow slowly in this direction. By now, the size of the diversion opening was not small, and the water flow was just like a small river. It was easier said than done to block this opening.
There were still many workers doing dredging at the diversion opening. When Zhu Lin arrived, he immediately ordered, “Go. Tell all of them to stop. Don’t dig out the mud anymore. Tell them to backfill all the mud!”
The minor official in charge of the dredging work walked over when he heard the talking. The two of them had met before when Zhu Lin came previously.
“Lord Zhu, what happened? Why did you ask everyone to backfill the mud? Then all the digging we have done earlier was for nothing?”
“There is a problem with the new dam ahead of us, and it cannot be used for the time being. If the water rushes there, the people living along the banks will be in danger. Go and find someone to quickly backfill the mud that you dug up earlier. No matter what method you use, you have to block this diversion opening in the shortest time possible.”
The minor official was somewhat hesitant. This matter was not small, and he did not dare to listen to Zhu Lin alone. If something happened and they pushed all the blame on him, wouldn’t he be in big trouble?
“Lord Zhu, is this… this the Imperial Court’s decision?”
How could Zhu Lin not see through his petty thoughts? He was just afraid of getting blamed.
“This is my decision.” Su Ying’s voice rang out from behind them.
Everyone raised their heads to look at Su Ying. They saw her walking toward them in a minimalist phoenix robe.
In the Chu State, not just anyone was qualified to wear a phoenix motif on her body.
“Why is Your Imperial Highness here?”
The people nearby were shocked when they heard the way Zhu Lin addressed her. The Empress actually came to this damned place.
Everyone went forward and knelt down.
“Greetings, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Everyone, rise. Do as Zhu Lin says. Then, gather the villagers nearby. As long as they are willing to come and help, they will each receive ten copper coins of wages a day.”
Although they didn’t understand why the Imperial Court suddenly wanted to block the diversion opening that they had been digging for so long, they didn’t dare to disobey the Empress’s order now that she had spoken. They could only tell the villagers to go and look for people.
“Why don’t you go back first, Your Imperial Highness? Leave this place to me.”
Su Ying shook her head. “We have limited manpower, and we might not be able to trust Yi Kun’s subordinates. 1’11 keep watch over here. You should immediately bring some people to the old dam and fix the problem there as quickly as possible.”
With Su Ying watching over this place, Zhu Lin also felt more at ease, so he led his men and headed in the direction of the old dam.
The new and old dams were located at different mountain streams. When one stood in the mountains, the old dam didn’t seem far, but it wasn’t that near when one tried walking there.
“Where did you guys dump the mud that you dug out earlier?”
“Your Imperial Highness, the mud has been dumped in the mountain.
However, there has been a lot of rain recently, so most of the mud has probably been washed down the mountain.”
Su Ying walked to the bank and jumped into the water, eliciting cries of surprise from everyone.
“Her Imperial Highness! Quickly save Her Imperial Highness!”
Those people were so shocked that they hadn’t even had time to jump into the water before Su Ying surfaced. She had jumped into the river to determine the speed of the river currents.
“I am fine.” Su Ying climbed onto the bank, and the secret guards hurriedly brought a cloak over and helped her put it on.
“The present speed of the water current is not fast now. Quickly get someone to move the mud here and backfill the opening.”
“Yes, yes.”
Su Ying told the secret guards to stay behind to help. She wanted to go nearby and see if there was anything more suitable to use as backfill material.
She turned around and walked into the mountains. When no one could see her, she walked into the interspatial store to dry her clothes. When she came out, she had already put on a diving suit underneath her clothes.
At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker. The dark layer pressed down, shrouding the entire mountain in darkness.
If it was a sunny day, it was not impossible to slowly block the river diversion opening with mud. However, the current situation was that the flood was likely to rush down in a short period of time. The strong gravitational force coupled with speed would instantly wash away the mud that had just been backfilled and was not firm enough yet.
Therefore, Su Ying needed something more solid and firm.
She walked one round and found a rock mountain in front of her.
She took out a flashlight and walked around the rock mountain. After confirming that this was a dispensable rock mountain, a plan formed in Su Ying’s heart.
She zipped into her interspatial store and came to the rack of bombs. Then she hesitated.
The new dam was like a bean curd construction. If she made too much ruckus here with the explosions, the new dam might collapse immediately due to the seismic resonance.
With that in mind, Su Ying put the explosives back and only took some small bombs.
After taking the items, she left the interspatial store again.
After a while, a series of loud explosions suddenly reverberated through the mountain. Everyone got so frightened that they stood rooted to the same spot. They thought it was an earthquake.
However, before long, those sounds died off.
Everyone turned around and saw Su Ying walking out, covered in dust from head to toe.
“Everyone, follow me to drag the mountain rocks back here.”
When the minor official heard this, he immediately ran to her. “Your Imperial Highness, what was that commotion in the mountains just now?”
“I blew up the rock mountain. Those big rocks are more suitable to use as backfill material if we can drag them back here. Don’t delay anymore. Everyone follow me there.”
Everyone was very shocked when they heard Su Ying’s words. What did the Empress just say?
She blew up the rock mountain?
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