CHAPTER 221: CHAPTER 216 MANUSCRIPT

Xiahou Ren said darkly, "I’ll have someone send it over shortly."

He paused, reluctant to give the original to Zhao Hanzhang, so he said, "It represents years of my hard work. I’d like to keep something for memory. How about I make a copy for you first?"

"How could we trouble you, Uncle? Tinghan is skilled in drawing as well. Why not hand the manuscript to us, and we’ll make copies instead," Zhao Hanzhang said with a smile. "Once the drawings are complete, I will return the original to you personally, Uncle."

Xiahou Ren wanted to argue further, but Zhao Ming squinted and said, "Zitai, could it be that you’re unwilling to part with it, and want to back out?"

Xiahou Ren’s face darkened. The reason he agreed then brought it up again was precisely out of fear they’d think this way. And indeed, they did think that, how petty! Was he truly such a person?

Xiahou Ren flicked his sleeves and called his follower, commanding on the spot, "Go fetch all my manuscripts from Yu State."

Xiahou Ren’s manuscripts were all in his luggage. Thus, for someone like Xiahou Ren, who loved to travel, in the event of danger, a lifetime of work might just vanish into the long river of history.

Zhao Hanzhang felt as if she was preserving their hard work on their behalf. With this thought, she accepted the manuscripts brought by the follower without feeling burdened.

The manuscripts were many. Although it was just Yu State’s portion, it was quite a thick stack. Most were on paper, but some were recorded on silk cloth.

Zhao Hanzhang casually drew out a roll of silk and opened it to find it was a topographical map of Shangcai. The writing was already old, as if drawn years ago.

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow slightly, rolled up the silk, and said to Xiahou Ren, whose face was pained, "Uncle, rest assured, I will return the manuscripts promptly."

Xiahou Ren tried his best not to look at those manuscripts on the table, for it was too distressing.

Zhao Ming, seeing his purpose accomplished, invited Xiahou Ren, "There’s a little wine at home, might Zitai join me for a drink?"

Xiahou Ren looked at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Ming said with a satisfied expression, "Third Lady is very filial, currently observing mourning for the elder uncle, so she won’t join us."

Xiahou Ren had to leave.

As Zhao Ming left, he secretly glared at Zhao Hanzhang, warning her to be well-behaved for the time being. Her reputation had already been spread; she should not ruin his good name.

Zhao Cheng wore a disapproving look. As far as he knew, Zhao Hanzhang had started drinking after the strict mourning period—not exactly suffering in mourning—wasn’t Fifth Brother deceiving people this way?

Zhao Hanzhang easily caught Zhao Ming’s signal, slightly nodded at him, and respectfully sent off the five uncles alongside Fu Tinghan.

Zhao Hanzhang stood at the door, respectfully seeing them off. As soon as they were out of sight, her smile immediately disappeared, and she pulled Fu Tinghan to run back home, "Quick, let’s go look at the manuscripts."

Ji Yuan, who had also received the news, came over, and the three of them began to go through Xiahou Ren’s manuscripts together.

Most of them were drawings, with only a few written documents. The writings mainly recorded the local customs and some geographical conditions.

For example, the Ying River is a branch stemming from the Huai River, and fifty miles downstream, due to the narrow river channel, the water overflows every three or five years. The locals believe it’s the River God’s tribute demand, so they throw livestock into the river as offerings every three years.

The nearby villages suffered due to increasingly expensive offerings, causing more people to flee. However, Xiahou Ren believed the flooding was due to silt build-up in the river, which could be resolved by clearing it.

He also documented his conversation with the local County Magistrate on this matter.

The County Magistrate acknowledged the issue, having sent people to persuade the villagers and arranged for each village to send workers to clear the silt, but the villagers were ungrateful, accusing him of burdening the people and offending the River God.

The year after the silt clearing saw a great flood, and the river overflowed more severely than in previous years.

The County Magistrate voiced his grievances, believing the flooding was mainly due to two reasons: one, that year’s rainfall was unusually high; and two, the workers were lazy and didn’t follow his instructions to clear the silt properly, instead leaving a section uncleaned, resulting which made the channel narrower and more abrupt, causing the upstream flow to surge and break through the still-silted section.

Since then, organizing those villagers to clear the silt was nearly impossible.

The County Magistrate simply gave it up and let them perform the yearly offering rituals.

Xiahou Ren expressed regret over the matter, then drew a river map and left.

Fu Tinghan carefully examined that section of the river map and said, "To clear the silt, this section alone is not enough. It needs to start from here, it’s best also to dig a new channel for diversion. Not only can it control flooding, but it can also increase irrigation for the fields."

Zhao Hanzhang commented, "That would be a huge project, requiring a lot of manpower and resources."

Ji Yuan added, "... My Lady, the Ying River is in Ruyin, which is far from our Ru Nan. Would you like to look at Ru Nan’s map first?"

"Oh," Zhao Hanzhang obediently put down the map and manuscript, and started looking for Ru Nan’s map.

It’s not standalone, generally one map per county, or a few maps. Xiahou Ren was quite whimsical in his map drawing; sometimes a village and roads on one map, and other times, separate river maps.

Integrating them into a single map was also a massive workload, but this could be done later. For now, first copy them out. However, with so many drawings, and such intricacy, it’s also a significant task.

The three spent the entire evening simply sorting, dividing Yu State’s sections by county, keeping them busy until night.

Mrs. Wang checked on them twice, saw their busyness, delivered meals, and then left without further disturbance.

She was about to change and lie down when the front door suddenly knocked. Startled, she asked, "Who comes at such a late hour?"

Qing Gu went out to inquire and quickly returned, "It’s Mr. Ming, heading directly to the study."

Mrs. Wang felt slightly worried, "At this hour... did something happen?"

Qing Gu suggested, "Could it be because of the duel in the afternoon?"

Mrs. Wang only learned about her daughter’s duel with someone after Xiahou Ren left, but because Zhao Hanzhang had won, she wasn’t concerned.

Now she felt a sense of fear, considering Xiahou Ren’s notable status; perhaps he was upset about the duel?

Qing Gu, seeing her deep worry, offered, "Shall I go check the study?"

"Go quickly," said Mrs. Wang. After pacing, she added, "Bring some snacks and have the kitchen cook some meat. When I checked earlier, the desk was full of manuscripts. Mental work makes one hungry quickly; meat fills one up fast."

Qing Gu agreed.

Fu An led Zhao Ming inside. Zhao Hanzhang looked up and casually nodded, "Why has Uncle come by so late?"

Zhao Ming walked directly to look at the manuscripts in front of her, "What do you think?"

Zhao Hanzhang chuckled and presented the half-sorted drawings with both hands, "Look, these are the mountains and rivers diagrams of Xiping and Shangcai."

Zhao Ming unfolded them and even found detailed notations of Zhao’s Fortress, with every nearby route clearly marked.

He couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine, "When were these drawn? How could Xiahou Ren draw so meticulously?"

"The date is noted below the maps."

Zhao Ming gave it a glance and then stared intently at Zhao Hanzhang, "How did you know Xiahou Ren had such drawings?"