Watermarks left by the flood still stained the bases of many houses' walls.
Shallow puddles still lingered in low-lying spots.
Occasionally, ragged refugees could still be seen huddled in corners along the road. Their eyes were numb and vacant as they sat motionless, with no telling what they were thinking.
From their appearance, their homes had clearly been flooded, and they had yet to be properly accommodated.
Su Fei stopped, pointed at several refugees sitting in a corner, and looked at Zhou Bo'an as he asked,
"Lord Li, why are these refugees still here? Why hasn't the relief camp taken them in as well?"
Li Qinghe's expression shifted slightly, and he hurried to explain.
"You may not be aware, Earl of Martial Peace, but the camp has limited capacity. As provincial governor, I have already assigned men to put up tents with all haste. These refugees will be able to move there tomorrow."
"Not until tomorrow?"
Su Fei's tone grew colder.
"Look at them. Who knows how many days they've been starving here, and you want them to wait another day? Lord Li, the disaster relief funds and grain His Majesty allocated should have reached the Kuaiji Commandery offices in Yuezhou several days ago. The money arrived long ago, so why aren't the tents ready?"
At these words, Lord Li said repeatedly,
"We're still making arrangements, still making arrangements!"
The Kuaiji Commandery officials behind him hardly dared breathe, and the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
Su Fei saw his negligence, and his heart grew heavy. He did not press further, merely saying coolly,
"Is the money insufficient? I have brought another two hundred thousand taels in silver notes on this mission as imperial commissioner. If the silver notes from a few days ago aren't enough, just tell me."
"Let's keep going.