Chapter 218: Wise for a Lifetime, Foolish for a Moment

Yuan Xiude did not want to stay there any longer.

He called the yamen runners and ordered them to throw Mu Cailiang out.

Even though Mu Cailiang knelt down, Yuan Xiude still did not say yes to his request directly.

At that time, the water upstream rose very fast.

If they were a day late, big trouble would happen.

Yuan Xiude clearly knew that he was a person who cared only for himself to the extreme, so he would rather let the flood drown the tens of thousands of Jing people downstream than lose his official job.

But in managing water matters, he truly admired Mu Cailiang.

However, Mu Cailiang had bowed to him before. To Yuan Xiude, that shouldn’t have happened.

He wanted Mu Cailiang to show real respect to him once.

“Why did he kneel?…”

Yuan Xiude murmured to himself. He looked at the papers on his desk and felt unsure.

After thinking it over many times, he let out a long sigh.

Yuan Xiude crumpled the papers and threw them aside.

He ground ink, picked up his brush, and wrote a new announcement.

Yuan Xiude did not want to be kind to the Jing people downstream. But for Mu Cailiang’s kneeling, he could not harden his heart.

Because that person was Mu Cailiang.

He also carefully thought about why Mu Cailiang came to him with this matter. But he didn’t want to think about it anymore.

He, Yuan Xiude, only wanted Mu Cailiang to respect him!

…

In the Xinglong era, fifth year, on the first day of the sixth month.

North of Tongtian River, the upstream flooded and swept over big markets everywhere. Shangjing City was not spared, but the damage wasn’t deep because the water level wasn’t too bad yet.

As the River Governor, Yuan Xiude did not panic when he learned about it.

At noon that day, Mu Cailiang went to the floodgate. He waited all day, but no one came to open it and let out the water.

“He really did it…”

No advance warning!

Mu Cailiang opened his mouth and felt a bit lost.

He guessed what was happening upstream now, then rushed to many places to help control the water. He worked with the local yamens to prevent floods and disasters.

Meanwhile, at the downstream area.

A group arrived at the final market of their trip.

An old man nearby said, “Young Master, we’ve only reached this point.”

The one called Young Master nodded and said, “Tell our men below to quickly spread the people out. The time to open the floodgate isn’t far off.”

A group of dozens began visiting many places.

When people heard about opening the floodgate and releasing water, they were startled at first. Then they doubted who these newcomers were.

“Are you from the yamen?”

One of the group took out a waist token with an official word printed on it.

The blurry-eyed old man looked at that waist token and recognized it at a glance.

“You all are…”

“It’s good if you know, old man.”

The old man’s eyes suddenly filled with tears.

He knew that waist token!

It was an official token from the Jing era!

The day to open the floodgate, according to the plan, was set for noon on the second day of the sixth month.

But on the night of the first day of the sixth month, the capital blamed them.

“Yuan Xiude! What are you doing!”

Yuan Xiude sat in his hall and looked at the visitor. That person was the overseer of water, sent to punish him.

“Calm down, overseer.”

Yuan Xiude said, “The planned time to open the gate is tomorrow at noon. The paper orders are already sent; we can’t take them back.”

The overseer glared angrily and said, “How dare you speak such words to me! Go open the floodgate right away! I tell you, Your Majesty is very unhappy about this. If you want to live, rush and open it.”

Yuan Xiude stared at the overseer. After a long silence, he shook his head in the end.

“The orders are already sent.”

He simply ignored this overseer who outranked him. Seeing that the overseer wanted to fight, he called people to chase him out.

The official seal was with Yuan Xiude, so even the overseer couldn’t manage the floodgate opening.

To Yuan Xiude, the worst he faced was a demotion, because the upstream flood wasn’t too bad yet.

In his view, making Mu Cailiang respect him was worth more than anything.

In the Xinglong era, fifth year, on the second day of the sixth month, at noon!

Not a moment early, not a moment late.

“Open the gate!”

As Yuan Xiude waved his flag, hundreds of yamen runners pulled the chains. Then, the dam rumbled and slowly broke apart.

The water rushed out like the sky river bursting.

“Splashing…”

Floodwaters stirred up a big wind. Yuan Xiude staggered, steadied himself, and stepped back twice.

He sighed deeply and muttered to himself, “Mu Cailiang, I’ve done my fair share…”

But this matter didn’t turn out as simply as imagined.

Not even half an hour after opening the gate, a servant ran to report.

“Governor, the people downstream are all gone!”

Hearing this, Yuan Xiude paused, but soon calmed down as if he expected it.

“Who did it?” asked Yuan Xiude.

The reporting officer frowned and opened his mouth several times but dared not speak.

“That group was trained like soldiers. They kept it secret from the start, not like common workers.”

Yuan Xiude saw him hesitating and snapped, “Speak!”

The officer lowered his head and said, “Probably the rebel army!”

Yuan Xiude felt dazed for a moment.

He sighed deeply, knowing he probably wouldn’t escape punishment this time.

…

Where the flood passed, houses and trees were all drowned. Market places were washed away by muddy waters. In just half a day, all the downstream lands were covered by flood.

Yuan Xiude faced the most blame and was fired from his job as River Governor, awaiting further punishment.

The Jing people who should have died in that flood survived. Logically, many homeless people should appear.

But after that day’s gate opening, a rebel army group showed up in the Southern Region and gathered up all those homeless people.

In just a day, that rebel group attacked the Tongshun Prefecture yamen and raised their flag.

This news soon spread to Shangjing.

After detailed questions, they learned that over twenty thousand people became homeless; excluding women, children, and elders, over ten thousand were taken by the rebel army.

“Rascals!”

Zhao Zhen raged and immediately sent troops to destroy the rebel army.

“Who handled this at the time!?”

In his fury, Zhao Zhen threw Yuan Xiude into the prison to be executed soon.

…

Yuan Xiude’s home was taken away. On the third day, he was pushed up to the execution ground.

That day, the area outside the ground was packed with people watching this former River Governor now a prisoner.

Mu Cailiang came too, squeezing to the very front.

Yuan Xiude knelt there. His eyes scanned the many faces and finally fell on Mu Cailiang in the crowd.

He suddenly laughed. Before, he felt bitter, but by then, all feelings were pointless.

Yuan Xiude asked just one thing, “I, Yuan Xiude, look down on everyone, but I must ask: this time, do you respect me?”

Mu Cailiang opened his mouth. Staring at Yuan Xiude, he suddenly felt this man was different from anyone he knew before.

His eyes clouded. He closed them and said one word.

“Yes.”

Yuan Xiude burst into loud laughter, amid the waves of guffaws.

The executioner’s long saber then came down.

He was wise for a lifetime, but made one foolish moment.

But…

Was it truly just one foolish moment?