Chapter 146
Chapter 146: Canal built by Heaven (pt. 1 & 2)
T/N: I accidentally skipped this chapter, so I’m adding it in
There are countless things to consider. People are becoming more and more concerned as to whether the princess’ promise is true, that soon, it will only take seven days connect the North to south of the kingdom.
This will be a great feat if accomplished, enough for people to spread songs of praise for many generations!
At the same time, they were even more worried that if a devoted princess like her was actually beheaded by the emperor because of slander, it would be heavy a loss to the world!
Gong Yi Mo spent two days and nights without sleep trying to reach Hengshui! Afterwards, she went straight for Xu Yuan’s room!
He was meditating in front of his desk. He rubbed his bleary eyes, before noticing the person before him.
“Princess! Why are you here?” After that, he suddenly looked at her strangely and asked, “What happened?”
He said it without hesitation, as if he knew this was going to happen.
Gong Yi Mo was extremely tired, but when she heard this, she instinctively frowned. “What do you know?”
Xu Yuan was stupefied by her question. He looked at her with regret on his face…
“Two days ago…Li Ke passed by her.”
Gong Yi Mo prepared herself emotionally, but when she heard this sentence, she still lost her balance for a moment.
It’s okay. Perhaps she simply felt tired…
Seeing her pale face, Xu Yuan couldn’t bear it. “Princess, don’t be too sad…”
Xu Yuan angrily added, “We never expected Li Ke to be such a person! For the sake of ambition, he even gave his friends out to the emperor! Two days ago, he was ordered to return to the capital under the emperor’s decree. I couldn’t stop him, otherwise, I would’ve beaten him up myself!”
“Needless to say…”
Although Gong Yi Mo felt very tired, it was clear in her mind that Li Ke must reported to Long Gui Fei, not only concerning the prince, but also the fact that she had developed a lethal weapon. No wonder the emperor sent orders one after the other. The emperor can’t be uninformed; he must surely be aware that an assassin was sent after Gong Che. But he couldn’t resist the temptation to inquire what was in her hand. Perhaps her guess was true, that something happened at the palace and now the emperor wants her to turn in the gunpowder!
Gong Yi Mo closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were filled with determination!
“The emperor wants the prince to return to the capital, but an assassin attacked Prince Gong Che and now his life is at stake. There is no need to say anything else! I want to open the canal within a week, and allow the prince to return to the capital by boat. Otherwise, if he traveled by land and suffered through the bumpy road, he is bound to die on his way back.
Xu Yuan felt ashamed. “What else can I do about this? I also received the decree to return to the capital immediately. It’s impossible to open the waterway within a week, so princess, why make the effort at all?”
Gong Yi Mo looked at him deeply and questioned, “Is it a waste of effort? You’ll know from today. That’s all, you head back first to the capital, but the rest of the workers must stay here and be sent under my command!”
Xu Yuan froze for a moment. “But– I’ve already dismissed the farmers and told them that they didn’t have to come back again…”
Gong Yi Mo frowned slightly, but soon dismissed it. “It’s nothing,” she said. “I have my own opinion on this matter. All you have to do then is leave the prince in my care while you head back to the capital yourself.”
Xu Yuan nodded. “You can rest assured that when I return to the capital, I will contact my friends to plead on your behalf.”
“No need. Just tell the emperor that the Prince is at death’s door.” As for other matters, what more can they say?
Xu Yuan’s heart was downcast. The successive attacks upon their end made him very angry and frustrated.
Originally, his rewards for meritorious service was just around the corner. It took him more than a year to get this far, exhausting his heart and soul! But because of a whistleblower like Li Ke, all of their painstaking efforts crumbled, not to mention there was an assassination an attempt on the prince and the princess was driven to a corner! The Grand Canal that was built for the benefit of the people may run aground, and all this was because of the battle for the seat of Crown Prince, for that position!
Based on the emperor’s character, he certainly wouldn’t allow such an event to happen on any day. Unfortunately, Gong Yi Mo kept a precious weapon in possession, not only causing the emperor to be jealous, but also leading others to use this as bait. They tempted the emperor to acquire this invention, which led to their current situation!
Those scheming people were just too selfish, too vicious!
Gong Yi Mo was truly angry, but what was the use?
After she bade farewell to Xu Yuan, instead of resting, she rushed all the way to the section of the canal that was under construction. This portion of the canal was being dug on dry land, which was built much faster than trying to dig on a river, since water won’t wash up against their work. Xu Yuan dug very quickly on this side. Based on their progress, one month was enough to dig the canal leading to the capital.
Gong Yi Mo stood at the end of the construction and looked northwards. There was a piece of land that had been cleared out, extending all the way into the distance. As long as it was excavated along the river and connected to the Longteng River, it would be enough.
It’s that simple.
The princess’ figure traveled all the way north, and from time to time, she stopped to bury something into the ground. She traveled onwards, burying items over and over again without sleep throughout the night.
The next day, the people in the surrounding towns and villages around Heng Shui were awakened by a series of explosions!
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The sound was so earth-shaking that their houses seemed to wobble from the vibrations!
The sky was clear, devoid of rain and lightning, by why was the sound of thunder rolling, exploding one after the other! What happened? Is the mountain god angry? Or did an earth dragon turn over?
The people in the nearby villages were frightened by the earth-shaking explosions and gathered the entrances of their village to bow in that direction. The farm workers, were had already been dismissed, heard the sound of explosions coming from the river that was being repaired. Each of them grabbed a rake and ran over. Soon, many people gathered in that direction.
Is God angry? Or was that just thunder?
There were also many fearful people who hurriedly packed their bags and ran in the opposite direction, afraid that if they slowed down, they’ll be damned by the destruction of heaven and earth!
However, the explosions suddenly ceased. Many people took a closer look, only to see smoke blanketing the sky with the smell of gunpowder. Could someone have set off fireworks?
As the smoke gradually dissipated, the numerous citizens cried out in surprise!
Because the place where they dug out the canal yesterday was blown out of the way, creating a low channel going northwards! It really blew out a path!
One deep pit after another was linked together, creating a trench in the earth beneath. This proved that what happened was not simply a dream, but that some unimaginable force had struck the ground, blowing up deep holes and loosening the surrounding rocks. It’s as if God’s thunder helped them to build a canal!
“God built the canal! God has come himself!”
The surrounding people bowed down, one after another, and continued to praise with their lips!
“God built the canal! God has come himself!”
Their voices were so loud that they attracted many of the terrified civilians to come forward. They were surprised to see the scene before them!
For such a mysterious power of the unknown, they humbled themselves and knelt in piety and fear, as well as gratitude!
Heaven has helped build the canal! This proves that the canal is approved by God. Perhaps he deliberately entrusted this dream to the prince, so that he would come forward to build it. Because all of this was God’s will!
Soon, there were 780,000 people kneeling by the banks of the river. It was clear that their numbers were increasing.
Now that God has given them a revelation, do they, mortals, dare to violate the truth? Even the local officials and businessmen who were informed rushed out to see the shocking scene. Heng Shui’s parents and officials knelt down, not daring to show a trace of disrespect!