Song Wan threw down the bamboo pole and ran in that direction. Halfway there, she saw Yun Shuyue's appearance and stopped abruptly. She wanted to laugh but couldn't, and her neck turned red from holding it in.
Xue Huan, leaning on his hoe, glanced at the column of water, then turned to Gu Moran: "Your Highness, come quickly!"
Upon hearing this,
Gu Moran up the sketch, stood up, and walked over there.
As he approached, he saw Yun Shuyue standing in the mud, with only her eyes still moving. Her gaze towards him held a mixture of confusion, grievance, and an indescribable sense of despair.
Gu Moran was silent for half a second, then reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the pit.
The water jet was still spraying, and muddy water splashed on the ground, forming a ring around it.
Gu Moran took off his dark blue outer robe and wrapped it around her.
Yun Shuyue didn't have time to dodge; she was completely wrapped in the robe, and couldn't see outside at all.
She poked her head out from under her robe, a clod of mud still smeared on the tip of her nose.
Gu Moran took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, pinched her chin, turned her face, and began to wipe her face.
Yun Shuyue froze, not even knowing where to put her hands.
The outer robe wrapped around her, carrying the faint scent of medicine from Gu Moran, as well as the fragrance of charcoal ink.
The mud on her face was wiped away little by little, and her cheeks grew hotter and hotter.
Gu Moran wiped the tip of her nose, paused, and folded the handkerchief again.
He wiped it clean before stopping and putting the handkerchief back into his sleeve.
He took half a step back, calmly raising his eyes.
Yun Shuyue's cheeks were completely red, and even the base of her ears were red.
Gu Moran looked down at the spring that was still gushing water, his voice calm and unhurried.
"Miss Yun, you're really going all out. Investing isn't about planting yourself in the ground to grow money."
Yun Shuyue: "..."
She pulled the robe tighter around herself and buried her face in the collar.
Gu Moran had already turned around to call Xue Huan, saying that the pressure of this spring was high enough to save the process of pumping water. He told people to first use stone slabs to suppress the water column, and then adjust the direction to direct it into the nearby water storage ditch.
The commotion at Ten-Li Slope was quite significant.
The Gan Clan of Chengnan.
The merchants of Yi Prefecture, whose ancestors started by selling water,
The seven old wells in the east and west of the city all have the Gan family's name on them. During the dry season in Yi Prefecture, the price of each bucket of water is entirely determined by the Gan Family.
The Gan Family Gan Family had a hand in both cloth and grain prices in Yi Prefecture, and half of the shops on that street in the south of the city accepted their money.
Recently, Prince Yi's Residence arrived, and all sorts of novel shops opened. A merit monument was to be erected for the road construction.
Gan Family was envious, but unsure of Prince Yi's methods, he didn't dare to make a move.
Upon hearing that Ten-Li Slope and bamboo pipe irrigation systems were to be built at Shilipo,
Gan Lingmu, the head manager of the Gan Family, immediately summoned his advisors and spent half a day discussing the matter.
The conclusion can be summed up in just four words: cut off my source of income.
Once the terraced fields were completed, that hillside became one of the sources of grain.
With the bamboo pipe network in place, the city's water supply had a source, and the pricing power of the seven old wells was no longer in anyone's hands;
If the water tower is erected at the West Mountain, the city's residents will likely no longer rely on the Gan Family for water.
Wouldn't the Gan Family just hand over all this hard-earned silver?
After figuring out the situation, Gan Lingmu paced around the hall three times and smashed a teacup.
"Go, find a few dozen quick-handed men. After midnight tonight, go up Ten-Li Slope and cut all those bamboo pipes and field ridges."
His advisors offered a few words of advice, Gan Lingmu waved them off.
"Those people in Prince Yi's Residence are just a few women in charge. As for a sickly man, what's there to be afraid of?"
"I have connections!"
So, just after midnight that night, the back gate of the Gan Family in the south of the city quietly opened.
Thirty-five sturdy servants, each wrapped in black cloth, carrying shovels and ropes, crouched low and crept towards Ten-Li Slope.
However, what they didn't know was...
Outside the city, people had already been squatting in the trees all night.
Yun Shuyue worked on the slope all day today. In the evening, Shen Ling'er forced her to drink medicine and made her drink two bowls of soup. Before she could recover, she started to think about whether she should stay on the slope at night.
She had already done a great service by digging out the bursting spring during the day, but she still felt it was far from enough.
I changed into my night clothes, quietly climbed over the wall, and took a detour to the old pine forest on the east side of Ten-Li Slope. I found the thickest tree trunk, climbed up it, and kept watch at the intersection leading to the bamboo sheds and terraced fields.
It was the dead of night, and the mountain breeze was cool. She huddled in the branches of a tree, her eyes fixed on the mountain path.
After waiting for about half an hour, there was movement on the mountain path.
Thirty-five dark figures, groping and fidgeting, climbed up the slope one after another.
Judging from their physiques, they were all burly men, walking with their feet extremely low to the ground.
She rose from the tree branch, put two fingers to her lips, and blew out a short, low, trembling night bird cry that echoed through the mountains.
As soon as the sound faded, another bird's call echoed from the shadows not far away.
He was Xue Huan's secret sentry.
In less than the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, Xue Huan led his men and silently surrounded the mountain path on the east side of Ten-Li Slope from three directions.
There were no torches, only the soft, gentle clinking of beetle leaves.
The thirty-five servants of the Gan Family were still hurrying along with their heads down when the leader raised his hand and gestured, about to move forward, when suddenly he felt his foot trip and fell down.
I got up and found a row of people standing in front of me, a dark mass that stretched as far as the eye could see.
The leader was stunned for a moment.
Under the moonlight, Xue Huan stood opposite, a knife resting on his shoulder, his expression calm.
"Go back to where you came from, or stay here and reflect for the night?"
The thirty-five people looked at each other in bewilderment.
Song Wan couldn't hold back and wanted to slap him across the face.
Xue Huan tilted his head. "Stop, our Highness said that we should win people over with virtue."
Song Wan nodded, her face serious.
"Yes, win people over with virtue."
He pointed to the side.
"Gentlemen, that big pit ahead is the compost pit we just dug. His Highness said that we need to prepare enough high-quality organic fertilizer for the Ten-Li Slope Terraces, and we need to have some manpower to turn it over."
One of the Gan Family's servants reacted quickly and turned to run. Just as he took a step, a bamboo pole swept across from his side, hitting him on the back of the knee, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
He was then restrained by two security guards who grabbed his wrists.
The remaining thirty-four people looked around and saw that everyone was carrying weapons. However, they discovered that the people opposite them had even more weapons and more people. They had already formed a circle around them, with people all around them.
The leader swallowed hard and put the shovel down on the ground.
"... My lords, we've simply taken the wrong path."
Xue Huan nodded and tapped the hilt of his knife against his shoulder.
"Well, it doesn't matter, we're already here."