Chapter 47: The Original Wife Spends Money Like Water (14)

The rain had been falling incessantly—this was the eighth day. There seemed to be no end in sight. Word had it that floods had already begun, with countless common folk suffering, displaced from their homes, and casualties mounting.

Jiaozhou, situated on the remote borderlands adjoining neighboring countries, could somewhat mitigate the devastation of the floods, but its land was barren, and there was always the lurking threat of raids from across the border. With the floods, the supply of grain transported to Jiaozhou had visibly dwindled. Though there was grain provided by the imperial court, it was allocated to the soldiers—military rations.

In ordinary times, caravans passing through Jiaozhou had dwindled since the rains began. It was said that banditry had risen in Yuanzhou, which bordered Jiaozhou, and even the roads leading to Jiaozhou had become unsafe. Though there had been attempts to suppress the unrest, the results were far from satisfactory.

Now, the food stores in Jiaozhou would likely last little more than two months. Much depended on whether the prefectural office would be willing to open its granaries for the people. The rain, surely, would stop someday.

But in the novel, the rain fell for a whole month, never ceasing—a scene of corpses numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Jiang Youyou sat in a teahouse, watching as Xue Ci stormed out of the shop opposite, his face dark with anger, feeling rather pleased.

In the original novel, this character had foreseen the unusual nature of the coming storm. Using the Jiang family’s wealth, he bought up vast quantities of rice and grain, so that when disaster struck, he appeared as a savior in the eyes of the masses.

Under the guise of easing the emperor’s worries, he became a great philanthropist, dispensing porridge and grain, spending his entire fortune. He rescued countless refugees and was revered as a living deity. The court, beset by floods and banditry, was at its wits’ end, opening the state treasury for relief, causing severe losses. At this critical moment, Xue Ci’s appearance was a timely salvation.

After the floods, Xue Ci was summoned by the emperor and granted a minor official post. But who was Xue Ci? He was the protagonist. Behind him, a host of sacrificial pawns shed blood for his cause, paving the way for his grand ambitions. He hardly needed to exert himself—his rise was inevitable.

Only in matters of the heart did he face hardship; obstacles fell one after another, and at last the road to love was paved, stained with blood. Jiang Youyou was the first stumbling block.

“Young master, what’s going on with all the rice shops in town? There’s so much grain, yet none will sell to us,” the servant grumbled, wincing at his aching feet.

“Shut up!” Xue Ci’s face was thunderous. Sensing something, he looked up in a certain direction. A woman leaned gracefully by the window, smiling as she watched him.

Her expression was one of undisguised mockery.

Xue Ci clenched his fists, hatred burning in his eyes, nearly tangible. He had sent out wave after wave of assassins, spending a fortune, but none had succeeded. Now she still had time to watch him make a fool of himself.

Useless fools! They couldn’t even deal with a woman!

The servant followed Xue Ci’s gaze. At a glance, his head dropped hurriedly. It was over—the young master was about to lose his temper again!

“What are you standing there for? Go try the next shop!” Xue Ci kicked the servant. The latter tried to dodge but didn’t dare, enduring the blow and nearly falling flat on his face.

The servant thought: What a curse!

Jiang Youyou was dressed in a pale blue ruqun, embroidered with delicate chrysanthemum patterns. Over it, she wore a finely crafted light purple cloak, its golden threads glimmering faintly—pure gold embroidery, worth a fortune.

Her hair was adorned with a sparkling white jade hairpin, intricately carved, glowing softly in the rain. Next to the jade pin, several tiny pearl blossoms were set, the pearls round and lustrous.

From head to toe, she radiated opulence.

Now that she had left him, all Jiang Youyou had left was money—her entire being exuded the scent of gold and silver.