Chapter 124 : The Pretty Widow
Chapter 124 - The Pretty Widow
This woman was in her early twenties.
But in this world, people married relatively early, so a widow in her twenties was quite normal. Who's to say her children weren't already running around?
The woman's figure was petite, her waist slender, but her chest and hips were quite full. Her figure had a certain allure. Two strands of black hair fell down by her ears, making her pretty face look even more delicate. Her looks were not bad to begin with, but paired with this mourning attire, she really had a bit of a heart-stirring charm.
It's just that this kind of attire was a bit too inauspicious for others. Therefore, even though the pretty widow's looks were not bad, no one dared to get close. Occasionally, when someone passed by, they would pull away with a look of disgust.
Of course, Song Yan wasn't particularly concerned with what the pretty widow looked like or her figure. He was just curious why this pretty widow had come up and asked where the Luo family was. Could it be she had some connection to the Luo family?
Thinking this, Song Yan opened his mouth and asked: "Why are you asking for the Luo family?"
Hearing this, the pretty widow's eyes immediately turned red, and she looked on the verge of tears. Her eyes under her eyelashes were glistening, a sight that would inspire pity in anyone. Accompanied by her sobbing voice, Song Yan finally understood the whole story.
It turned out this pretty widow's husband had died, and they were holding a funeral at home when the floodwaters came. Although she had luckily survived with her child, she was tired and hungry.
When she arrived in Ningping, she heard that the Luo family was a well-known benevolent family that was giving out congee every day, so she wanted to go over and ask for a bowl of congee to eat.
Song Yan's expression did not change. He asked a few more simple questions, then informed the little widow in front of him that the Luo family had only just started setting up the congee shelter, and that they probably wouldn't start distributing congee until tonight or tomorrow morning.
Hearing this, the pretty widow's face was instantly full of disappointment, but she didn't pester him any further. After thanking him, she turned and left.
Song Yan's brow furrowed slightly. He silently watched the pretty widow's departing back until she disappeared into the crowd, only then retracting his gaze.
"What, have you taken a fancy to the little widow?" A lazy voice came from his side.
"You could at least wait a few days. Didn't you see she's still wearing mourning clothes? What's the difference between this and kicking a widow's door?"
The familiar voice was, of course, Yang Siyao's. The empty bamboo basket was swinging casually between her fingers. Seeing Song Yan staring intently at the pretty widow, her gaze became a little contemptuous.
Song Yan slowly let out a breath: "That woman has a problem!"
The mockery on Yang Siyao's face quickly dissipated. Her expression became serious, and her gaze floated almost imperceptibly towards the distance, but the pretty widow's figure could no longer be found in the crowd.
"Since she has a problem, why not take her down on the spot? What exactly are you planning?"
"To lure the snake out of its hole."
……
Returning to the Luo family in the mid-afternoon, Song Yan had Gu Banxia bring him a brush and ink. After thinking for a moment, he began to write.
The content on flood control mainly combined ancient classics like the 'Wuzhong Shuili Shu' and the 'Hefang Yilan', synthesized with some modern knowledge and strategies to improve them and make them more suitable for the Ning Kingdom's current situation.
As for disaster relief, it was also improved from modern strategies. Song Yan never denied the wisdom of the ancients, but wisdom also could not make up for the gap of thousands of years of experience.
As for disease prevention, it was the top priority.
'After a great flood, there will surely be a great epidemic.’
One could even say that, most of the time, the deaths directly caused by floods are not that many. It's the plagues that break out after the flood that reap lives in droves.
And these plagues are mostly caused by the decay of animal and human corpses soaked in the water.
Therefore, in terms of disease prevention, Song Yan mainly started from the aspects of salvaging corpses, cremation, burial with quicklime, disinfection, and disaster victim management.
He was busy writing for the entire afternoon. By the time Song Yan finally stopped, his wrist was already a little sore. Even Song Yan couldn't help but feel a little tired.
This charter for flood control, disaster relief, and disease prevention, if it could really be implemented, perhaps many fewer people would die in this flood.
This was the act of a sage that could save countless lives. I'm afraid this charter alone would be enough for his name to be passed down through the ages.
The reason he wanted to leave this thing behind was probably just that he couldn't bear to see the tragic scene of 'white bones filling the fields, and no rooster crowing for a thousand li.'
He was, after all, not such a cold-blooded animal. Having transmigrated with great difficulty, he ultimately wanted to leave something truly meaningful for this era.
After finishing writing, Song Yan took the thick stack of documents and went to Luo Yuheng's residence.
Pat, pat, pat…
The sewage in the courtyard had not yet been cleaned up. Stepping into it would splash water everywhere.
It was already evening again.
Although it was a bit inappropriate to look for his mother-in-law at night, after a while, he had gotten used to it.
The candlelight in Luo Yuheng's courtyard was still lit. Perhaps because she had been busy for too long during the day, Luo Yuheng had not yet rested. She was just drinking white congee in the living room. The haggardness brought by her fatigue could be clearly seen on her face.
Her son-in-law was going to Xinhou County to take up his post; many things had to be prepared in advance. Although her son-in-law was intelligent, he was an honest person without much scheming. It was natural that she, as his mother, had to handle various matters for him.
And because of this great downpour, Song Prefecture had also suffered a disaster.
Within the prefecture's scope, Ningping County was a place that was relatively less affected.
One could imagine that it wouldn't be long before a large number of disaster victims would surge into Ningping. These victims naturally couldn't be ignored.
The person waiting on her had changed from Zhang Yan to Li Qingyue.
Hearing the footsteps, Luo Yuheng raised her head. When she saw that the person who had come was Song Yan, even though she was extremely tired, a trace of gentleness still appeared in her eyes.
"It's Yan'er. Coming to find Mother so late, what is it?"
"Mother should rest earlier." Song Yan let out a breath and sat down opposite Luo Yuheng. The stack of documents in his hand was also placed on the table.
Luo Yuheng then put down her bowl and chopsticks. She knew that the things Song Yan took out were never ordinary.
She had originally thought it might be the formula or blueprint for something, since Song Yan was truly quite skilled in the 'investigation of things'. But when she picked it up and looked, she discovered it was actually a charter on flood control, disaster relief, and disease prevention.
The matter of flood control, disaster relief, and disease prevention was different from poetry and prose. Poetry and prose relied on inspiration. Perhaps even if one's life experience had not yet reached that level, an occasional flash of inspiration could still allow one to write a pretty good poem.
But flood control, disaster relief, and disease prevention relied on experience... experience piled up from human lives.
Even if Luo Yuheng doted on this son-in-law, she didn't think that the charter Song Yan took out this time would have much value. Could it be more useful than the strategies that the Ning Kingdom had summarized over more than a hundred years?
Thinking this, Luo Yuheng still read it carefully. No matter what, to have this kind of heart was already quite good. But as she read, Luo Yuheng's expression changed.
It became more and more serious, more and more solemn. Even her reading speed became slower and slower. Occasionally, she would even ask Song Yan something in a low voice.
Li Qingyue glanced at Song Yan with some surprise. It was truly quite rare to see Her Highness the Grand Princess look so serious.
Who knows how long passed, but she finally read it through once. Then they carefully discussed the matter of distributing congee at the soup kitchen tomorrow.
This time, Song Yan stayed with Luo Yuheng for even longer.
It wasn't until the moon rose above the willow branches that Song Yan finally stretched lazily and left the side courtyard.
"Your Highness the Grand Princess, this charter for disaster relief and disease prevention that the Young Master-in-law made, is it very formidable?" Li Qingyue couldn't help but ask curiously in a low voice.
She had been listening on the side just now, but she had been a bit muddled and hadn't understood.
Luo Yuheng let out a breath and brandished the manuscript in her hand:
"If we use it to control the flood, we can save a million taels of silver."
"If we use it for disaster relief, we can reduce the grain needed by twenty percent."
"If we use it for disease prevention, we can save countless lives."
"Go. Have someone make several copies. Send one to Tianshu and Tianquan, send another to Song Prefecture, and then send one more to Dongling."
Save a million silver?
Save countless lives?
Looking at the manuscript in her hand, Li Qingyue couldn't help but feel suspicious. Is it really that formidable?
Although she didn't understand, since it was arranged by Her Highness the Grand Princess, she naturally had to complete it.
Humming a slightly off-key ballad between her lips, Li Qingyue walked towards the study. Halfway there, she suddenly heard a rustling sound in her ear.
In the middle of the night, with silence all around, this sound seemed particularly distinct.
Feeling suspicious, Li Qingyue lifted the lantern in her hand and walked towards the direction the sound was coming from.