Chapter 153: Seeking a Way Out

ed his hand and said."Wu Lao, I'm leaving school now and I'm sorry, but I won't be able to rent your house anymore. I'll move out in three days.""There's no need to rush. The house is empty anyway, yo...Since Huo Mingliang saved his life and his severed arm grew back, he was sent to repair the dyke.

After all, he was missing an arm. He couldn't dig sand, stones, or soil, so he could only carry stones on his back. By the end of the day, the skin on the back of this once pampered prince was worn raw, with blood seeping through his cloth shirt and sticking to him. The pain made his face pale.

And the three coarse flour buns and two bowls of clear porridge, in which one could even count the rice grains, that were given out that day were only not snatched away because the overseer was there.

When he was brought here, the guards had instructed the female supervisor in charge, this man cannot die, otherwise, he wouldn't live three days on the levee construction site. He wouldn't die from exhaustion but from starvation.

To keep Huo Mingliang alive, doctors would visit him at regular intervals to take his pulse. His back was rubbed raw, and the best gold ointment was applied to the wounds. When he fainted, there were pills for treatment. In short, everything was done to ensure that he stayed alive.

Huoming thought he was the unluckiest time traveler in history. He had a good hand, but somehow things went wrong and landed him in this situation. Especially whenever he wanted to slack off, the overseer's whip would mercilessly fall on him.

The other party's eyes also held a hint of disgust, and once they even explicitly said:

"If it weren't for the Empress wanting you alive, just let me tell these conscripts that you were the one who assassinated her, and you'd be dead to the bone. Put away that air of superiority of yours, because now you are a prisoner at my mercy."

Immediately, a whip lashed fiercely across Huo Mingliang's face, swelling it up that very day and stripping him of his meager courage.

From then on, Huo Mingliang learned to endure. He just bent over and carried the stones, no longer daring to show any contempt for women. He still wanted to live.

Just as their three-month term of corvée labor was about to end, the weather turned against them. It started raining continuously for half a month straight, resulting in widespread flooding. Thankfully, they had finished building that section of the dike; otherwise, they would have had to endure the heavy rain while still performing their labor duty.

Huo Mingliang had read a book and remembered a passage in it. Because Fengchi Kingdom was most severely affected by the flood, several cities that suffered from the flood resulted in many casualties. Because rescue efforts were not timely, an epidemic subsequently broke out. In addition, that year's autumn harvest was very poor. The people paid their grain taxes, but they had almost no reserves, and many people died of starvation.

And while the Panlong Kingdom, Xuanwu Kingdom, and Baihu Kingdom seized the opportunity, they proposed exchanging food for cities. They were clever, wanting those cities that had been affected by the disaster, and stated that they would take care of the displaced people.

At that time, the empress had already passed away. The two princesses fought fiercely, with no real leader and no good solutions. They could only accept this condition, as it at least eased the burden on Fengqi Country.

It's precisely these actions by the two individuals that have caused them to lose public support. Imagine, during your most difficult time, being pushed aside like a scapegoat—it's something no one can accept.

Moreover, since the breach was opened, there was no stopping it. The Three Kingdoms used various excuses to start nibbling away at Phoenix Nest Country, and ultimately, the struggle between the eldest and second princesses resulted in a Pyrrhic victory for both sides, losing their chances of inheriting the throne. This allowed the third princess, who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, to ascend to power, and the consequences are self-evident.

Even with loyal ministers wholeheartedly assisting, they couldn't halt the decline of Fengqi Country. In the end, Fengqi Country became a vassal state of Panlong Country and gradually merged into its territory.

But after he traveled through time, it seemed he had made a blunder, failing to gain the trust of the Three Emperors' daughter. Not only that, but he barely escaped with his life and was trapped in the Fengchi Kingdom.

And that queen is still alive and doing well, even conquering five cities in the Panlong Nation. This is completely different from what he read in the book.

He Ming thought about it over and over, and came to only one conclusion: his involvement had changed the original course of the story, which is why he was in this predicament today.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was right. But now he was the one suffering. He no longer dared to hope of using Fengchi as a stepping stone to regain control of Panlong with the status of the Fifth Prince. All he wanted now was to live a good life. So when he learned about the flood, he felt that his opportunity had come.

After all, he's a modern person. He's received years of education and numerous training sessions on disaster preparedness. He also has some methods for preventing pandemics. He wants to fight for himself and at least avoid doing hard labor anymore.

When the female foreman learned that the Empress wanted to see her, she saw the tattered clothes and pungent odor on the other person and felt that it would clash with the Empress. She directly gave the other person a coarse cloth suit, took her to the riverbank to wash, and after changing her clothes, handed her over to the guard who came to pick her up.

Huo Mingliang this time learned his lesson. When he saw the empress, he immediately knelt down and bowed. He used to look down on the empress's rule, but now he is very flattering.

The ripples was pruning a potted plant, glancing faintly at the one-armed man kneeling on the ground, and said in a low voice:

"I hear you have a recipe to suppress the plague Do tell."

"Yes, I have here prescriptions for strengthening the people's physique and resisting epidemics, as well as methods for preventing the spread of epidemics."

"You want to make a deal with me."

"I dare not, I just want to live a good life."

Ho Mingliang spoke in a low voice, head bowed. He could feel the probing gaze of the other person.

The ripples now connect to one's communicator:

"Nineteen, I think the other party's soul merging is pretty good, I estimate it doesn't need ten years of time."

"Zzzt! Zzzt! You are absolutely right! It's all thanks to your tortures, which have chipped away at his will and pushed him further into merging with his body."

"How many more years"

"At most two years."

Ripple put down the small jade scissors in her hand, then spoke:

"Tell me everything you know, and for the next two years, you won't have to serve any labor duty. You just need to stay quietly in prison."

"Thank Your Majesty for your grace, I will certainly speak out everything and do my utmost!"

Liàn Yī didn't want to see the other person's distorted face, so she simply waved her hand, and someone took Hòu Míngliàng away.

The following day, the compiled content was delivered to Lianyi. After reviewing it, she had it sent to the Second Imperial Princess for careful consideration and handling.

After the Second Princess received the book, she specifically inquired about its origin. She learned that it was the Fifth Prince of Panlong Country who had spoken it in order to save his life. She believed it somewhat, after all, Panlong Country had once experienced a drought, and these suggestions still held some value.

Moreover, this had passed the Empress Dowager's eyes. If it were useless, it wouldn't have been sent to her. Therefore, she directly discussed it point by point with the ministers at the morning court on the second day, revising and deleting parts, compiling the useful ones into a book, and sending them to the disaster-stricken cities with all haste.

The eldest princess brought her daughter to pay respects to Lianyi, saying that she had discussed with Rong Shijun and wanted to donate some silver to help with the disaster relief, setting an example for others.

"This matter should be done within one's capabilities. Instead of donating money, I think you could organize a donation drive in the capital city. Every household has unused items, whether it's clothes, shoes, socks, or dustpans and baskets. As long as disaster victims can use them, they can all be collected together and sent to the affected cities."f suede boots from his closet and put them on. Then, wearing a white silk undershirt, he left his room and went to his father's bedroom. Everything here had been tidied up, with eight cedar chests pla...