The sailors didn't dare to be negligent. The sails caught the wind tightly, and the ship sailed very fast.
The fan - shaped clouds on the horizon became increasingly gorgeous. One could even faintly see a half - broken rainbow. According to Li Ying, those swirling clouds were the so - called eye of the typhoon, also known as the "mother of the hurricane".
Such a magnificent and fantastic scene made all the officials on the ship marvel. However, with the safety of the common people south of Huan City weighing on their minds, none of them was in the mood to enjoy the view.
As night fell, Li Ying became even more convinced of her judgment.
Before a typhoon passed, apart from the abnormal celestial phenomena, marine creatures would also act in many strange ways.
For example, those luminous plankton that originally lived in the deep sea would be carried to the surface by the undercurrents. From afar, the sea was dotted with twinkling fluorescent lights, looking extremely beautiful.
At first, these lights were very weak, just jumping up and down with the ebb and flow of the waves, like burning flames that never went out.
The deeper the night, the stronger the lights became.
When the dragon boat sailed by, it stirred up layers of white foam. The splashing water seemed to be illuminated by a lamp, shining brightly and leaving a ribbon like a fire dragon behind the boat, extremely eye - catching.
This scene was different from the dim "blue tears" in the fishing village before. It was called "sea fire" or "floating sea lanterns".
Li Ying remembered that in her previous life, before and after several catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, coastal residents and fishing boats had observed this spectacle of "sea fire". This made her even more anxious.
The ship sailed all night. It was not until dawn that the flickering "sea fire" gradually died down. In the sea, one could faintly see bright lights like pearls twinkling.
The officials and noblemen on the ship had been on the road all night, looking haggard with big dark circles under their eyes. Seeing the clear sky and the dawn outside Huan City, they were all in a bad mood.
"Miss Li, didn't you keep saying that a hurricane was coming? But now we've rushed all the way to Huan City, and there's not even a drop of rain. Are you just making fun of us?"
Seeing everyone's unhappy expressions, the emperor frowned tightly.
"Miss Li, what else do you have to say?"
Li Ying was extremely anxious. Judging from the sea fire last night, the typhoon that was about to hit Huan City would surely be extremely fierce. They didn't have much time to prepare.
She didn't bother to defend herself. She quickly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I'm willing to stake my life on it. A typhoon will hit Huan City within two days! This matter concerns the lives of the common people. It's of great importance. Please trust me, Your Majesty!"
Even though she explained all the strange phenomena clearly, since Huan City had never suffered from a maritime disaster, even the experienced pilots in Huan City weren't sure how much of what she said was believable.
Lu Xunguang knelt beside her and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I'm also willing to vouch for A Ying! If it turns out to be just a false alarm, Your Majesty can punish me for deceiving the monarch!"
Su Buchi also said, "Your Majesty, I'm also willing to vouch for Miss Li and Lord Lu!"
The emperor looked at their confident expressions and frowned even more tightly.
Both Lord Lu and Lord Su were interested in Li Ying. Especially Lu Xunguang. If Li Ying said that sugar was salty and snow was hot, he would surely agree without hesitation. How could their guarantees count?
Finally, Princess Yongning walked forward gracefully and bowed slightly.
"Father, I think what Miss Li said is indeed unheard of. But after all, she grew up in a fishing village by the sea, so she must have more knowledge.
"If the hurricane really invades Huan City, I don't know how many innocent people will die in vain and be buried in the belly of the fish. I think this matter is really dangerous and concerns the lives of the people. We mustn't underestimate it. We might as well order the people to take shelter first. If everything is calm after three days and it's just a false alarm, we can deal with Miss Li later."
Her words were reasonable. After a moment of thought, the emperor indeed agreed.
Lu Xunguang and Su Buchi were ordered to lead two teams of imperial guards and act separately.
The people living in the low - lying areas of Huan City all packed their valuables and went to Mount Huanling to take shelter.
The Ministry of Revenue worked against the clock. Together with the prefect of Huan City, they dug caves to serve as temporary shelters.
The imperial guards rode their horses and traveled a thousand miles a day to send messages to the counties south of Huan City. They were in a hurry to reinforce the houses in the city with huge stones and logs. All fishing boats were ordered to enter the port and not to sail out. They were on high alert.
Since it was a matter of life and death, although the people were suspicious, they didn't dare to be negligent. They obediently followed Su Buchi and evacuated in an orderly manner.
Before long, Huan City had become an empty city. The people huddled shivering on the mountainside of Mount Huanling, looking out at the blue tiles of Huan City in the distance, feeling extremely uneasy.
Lu Xunguang led the craftsmen and the Lu family servants to survey the river channels. Before the typhoon arrived, they tried their best to dig some ditches for flood discharge.
They were busy like this for a full five days.
Li Ying watched as the sea fire became brighter every night. Her nerves were getting more and more tense.
The emperor also looked gloomy. The accompanying officials didn't dare to say a word, and they were all very anxious.
On the seventh day, the soldiers who were on duty at the outer seaport of Huan City ran back in a panic.
"Your Majesty, the wind is rising!"
The queen mother, Empress Pei and others had already gone to the palace on Mount Huanling to take shelter.
In order to show his benevolence towards the people, the emperor stayed in Huan City every day and personally took charge. Princess Yongning accompanied him. The people all praised them.
At this moment, the dark clouds were getting thicker, threatening to cover the sky. The sea wind blew, making the yellow dragon flag flutter. Obviously, a storm was coming.
"Your Majesty, please go to Mount Huanling to take shelter quickly!"
The hurricane was coming fiercely. Almost as soon as Li Ying and the others had hidden in the cave on Mount Huanling, the heavy rain came down in torrents, sweeping in from all directions.
The rain poured down like a waterfall. The strange wind howled, uprooting everything in its path and stirring up chaotic water mist.
There was a loud "crack".
An old towering tree outside the cave was broken in half by the hurricane and was lying crookedly on the mountainside.
The faces of all the officials in the cave turned cold. It was as if what had been broken was not a thick tree trunk but their own bones.
The common people were not much more relaxed either.
Some sharp - eyed people had already seen that in the distance, huge waves were rolling in on the sea, blocking out the sky. It was like a huge beast charging forward, opening its abyss - like mouth and swallowing all the low - lying cottages in Huan City.
How could those small thatched huts that hadn't had time to be repaired and reinforced withstand such destruction? Before long, one could only see bundles of thatch on the roofs floating up.
"Oh, my house! How can I live now!"
An old woman couldn't help crying and wailing when she saw such a miserable scene.
Some of her neighbors comforted her, "Forget it, forget it. If the house is gone, we can build it again. But if we hadn't got the news and escaped early, we would have lost our lives by now!"