With the clouds parting away for the clear skies, the last droplets of water dripped from the roof of the governor palace.
The group gathered in the living room, and once everyone was present, Wang-Yi cleared his throat and spoke up:
"Did everyone have a good sleep?"
"Yes my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi nodded; follow by a consensus of replies.
"Good." The prince replied, then turned to Jiang-Yi and said: "Who would like to report first?"
"My prince, I would like to report first." Jiang-Yi stood up and bowed.
"No need for formalities. You may be seated." The prince gestured for her to sit down.
"Thank you my prince." Jiang-Yi sat down again. "I have 1 good news and 1 bad news, which would you like to hear first my prince?"
The prince rubbed his chin for second, and then replied:
"I will hear the good news first."
"Yes my prince." Jiang-Yi paused then spoke: "Most of the city inhabitants have been evacuated safely and the water has mostly receded from the city. The city can expect to be restored to proper operations by end of today."
"And what's the bad news?"
"4 of the city's 5 granary has been flooded, we only have enough food for 7 days."
A sense of dread descended upon the room like a falling anvil.
The prince sat silently with hands clasped before him. A minute later, he spoke up:
"Yu-Xiao-Xi, I need you to write two pieces, first a letter of urgency to my brother Wang-Fei."
"Yes my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi answered, as she quickly scrambled her way to the writing desk and took out the paper and the ink.
"This is what the letter is going to be about: send as much grain as you can and send them as soon as possible. And I will fulfill my promise."
"Yes my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi got writing at once.
A minute later she was done.
"My prince, please review the letter." Yu-Xiao-Xi brought the finished letter before the prince.
"Very well written." The prince nodded as he took out his personal seal, a rectangular piece of bright jade with a tiger head carved on top.
The prince rolled up the letter and took out an extra candle and began to let it drip over the letter. Once the wax was spread out, the prince stamped his seal against it, than spoke:
"San-Qi I need you to deliver this to my brother Wang-Fei in Lu-Zhou. When is the soonest you can get to there?"
"About 3 days." San-Qi said casually.
"Very well, God speed to you." The prince handed her the letter.
"I will do my best." San-Qi took the letter then left the room.
"For the next piece Yu-Xiao-Xi, I need you to write an official decree in poster form."
"Yes my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi pulled out a much larger piece of paper from the back shelf then smoothly rolled it across the writing desk, with her brush ready in hand.
"This is what the official decree will be about: every official and house owner living in the aristocrat neighbourhood are required to minimally donate half their food to the food bank. And the government palace will set an example by donating 90% of our stored food."
"Yes my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi got writing at once again.
"Jiang-Yi, I give you full authority over the operations of the food bank. And because it will take the grain caravan at least 2 weeks to arrive, I need you to cut rations by half and I will leave you to oversee the entire rationing process."
"Yes my prince." Jiang-Yi got up then bowed and left the room.
"My prince, please review the official decree." Just as Yu-Xiao-Xi was going to bring the paper over, the prince quickly walked over to the writing desk.
"Excellent." The prince dipped his seal against the red seal paste, and then pressed his seal against the bottom right corner of the paper, leaving behind a bright red seal mark.
"Shu-Wen, take this poster to the printing press and make 10000 copies of it and have the soldiers post it all over the city."
"Yes my prince." Shu-Wen got up and took over the poster carefully, then bowed and left the room.
"Han-Yan must be hungry by now. Lin-Lin I need you to go get some food from the kitchen and deliver it to Han-Yan in disguise."
"Yes my prince." Lin-Lin got up then bowed and left the room.
"Do you have any reports for me Ye-Li?" The prince turned and said.
"The sewage system of the city is poorly designed. If it isn't restructured, a rain like that could cause another flood. We need more builders to reconstruct the sewage system."
"How many men do you need?"
"At least 1000."
"And how long would this take?"
"About three months for the basic restructuring."
"I will give you 3000 men and full authority over the sewage planning. Given the fact that we are in rain season, I need you to get it done within 1 month."
"Yes my prince." Ye-Li got up then bowed and left the room.
Seeing everyone left the room, the prince lowered his head and let out a long sigh.
A moment later, the prince lifted his head, stood up then walked out of the room.