That day in the Imperial Study was agonizing for the emperor and his ministers, but word of what had happened in Lingdong Circuit and Hexi Circuit would spread sooner or later. There was no telling whether it would throw the court into turmoil when it did.
But all of that was now the business of the emperor and the court alone. It had nothing more to do with Chu Hang, nothing more to do with Tan Yuanshang, and even less to do with Yi Shuyuan.
Several months later, Yi Shuyuan had reached Si Prefecture in Hexi Circuit.
Although Hexi Circuit had always borne a name meaning "west of the river," the Datong River's basin had not actually been so vast. It had mainly covered a few prefectures in Lingdong.
Now, however, the Datong River had swallowed numerous tributaries into its main course. Its waters had truly expanded enormously, its waterways stretching far and deep, all the way along the edge of Hexi Circuit.
Hexi had become "west of the river" in the truest sense.
Yi Shuyuan believed that future maps of this region would change accordingly.
Si Prefecture had always been a land of abundant rivers and water within Hexi. Some of the tangled, intersecting valleys of the Si River had once been unsuitable for either boating or farming. Now the Datong River ran through them, forming one great, unified waterway.
This had become the stretch where the Datong River's waters were truly most abundant. Once past the Si River, its flow would begin to ease.
Although only a little over a month had passed, the local people had already begun using both the old name, Si River, and the designation of the Datong River basin.
The people of Lingdong and Hexi believed that Chancellor Chu's entry into the