These words made the common people nod in agreement.
As long as the green mountains remain, there will always be firewood.
If they were to lose their lives in this hurricane, it would truly be all over.
Thankfully, they had received the news from the imperial court early on. They had packed up all their money, grains, and valuables. The livestock such as cows, horses, pigs, and mules were also safely tied up in another cave.
As long as people were alive, there would still be a chance to survive after the flood receded.
Moreover, the emperor and the princess were trapped with them at the moment. That princess, who was as beautiful as a fairy, showed no airs at all. She gently comforted them, saying that in the face of such a great disaster, the imperial court would never stand by idly.
With the full support of the imperial court, why should they worry about not being able to rebuild their homes?
This typhoon came on with great force. The gale and torrential rain lasted for a full day and night before finally subsiding.
After the rain stopped and the sky cleared, the sea off Huan City was calm. The terrifying scene that had made people shudder before seemed to have never existed.
The sea still gently kissed the rocks. Everything from the previous day seemed like a dream.
Inside the Huanling Mountain Palace, the empress dowager, Empress Pei, the young prince, and others were all safe and sound.
The court officials, with pale faces, looked at the flooded Huan City in the distance. Each of them felt a cold sweat break out on their backs.
Now, only planks and straw were floating on the stagnant water in the city.
But if they had stubbornly regarded Li Ying as an ignorant country bumpkin and refused to listen to her advice at the beginning, it was very likely that there would be countless corpses floating on the water at this moment.
The magistrate of Huan City reported that there were no casualties in the city.
The flood had not receded yet, and it was inconvenient to travel between the cities in Lingnan for the time being. But after noon that day, carrier pigeons brought messages. The magistrates from various places reported that thanks to the early warning from the imperial court and the early preparations, the common people in the cities were safe. There were some injuries and disabilities, but they were not very serious.
Although there were ditches in Huan City to drain the water, the stagnant water in the city was quite deep and it would not be easy to drain it away in a short time.
Li Ying and Princess Yongning volunteered to set up porridge sheds in the relatively high and dry areas of the city to provide porridge for the hungry common people.
The emperor, dressed in magnificent robes, took command in the government office, showing his determination to stand together with the people through thick and thin.
Seeing this, the court officials naturally rolled up their sleeves and got involved. Some continued to dig water diversion channels, while others carried buckets to transport the stagnant water out of the city bucket by bucket.
The common people were moved to tears and shouted long live. They all worked enthusiastically to rebuild their homes.
Princess Yongning looked at the meager and watery porridge left in the big pot and couldn't help but frown slightly.
She lowered her voice and said in a solemn tone, "A Ying, there are a large number of refugees, and they are all doing the hard work of carrying water and draining the flood. Their appetites are huge, and the rice and grains may not be enough."
The relief rice and grains from the capital could not be transported to Huan City in a short time. According to the current consumption, there would be no more rice to cook in the city in less than two days.
What could they do?
Li Ying had already made preparations. Hearing her words, she was unhurried.
She said softly, "Princess, you've been eager to impress the emperor. Now is the perfect opportunity."
After the typhoon, the city was flooded, and there were surely countless invisible viruses and bacteria in the water. As the saying goes, there is always a great epidemic after a great disaster.
The emperor was in command in Huan City, and his imperial body must not be in any danger.
There must not be an outbreak of plague in Huan City. Otherwise, the common people in the city would surely be in chaos, and the spirit of rebuilding their homes with enthusiasm would surely disappear!
Princess Yongning certainly understood this truth.
Li Ying whispered in her ear, instructing her to immediately order the accompanying imperial physicians to boil water with mugwort, old ginger, isatis root, etc. to make anti - cold medicine and distribute it to the common people in the city for disease prevention.
There was still a batch of brewed spirits in her space. Although they were not as powerful as medical alcohol, they could at least be used as disinfectants in the city, which was better than nothing.
She also carefully drew the appearance of pyrethrum and gave it to Princess Yongning, asking the palace servants to search for it on Huanling Mountain as much as possible and boil it into a medicinal juice to spray, which might get rid of mosquitoes and flies.
Mao Mao was also carried out by Li Ying. After some gentle coaxing, the little spirit cat lazily stretched and meowed as it jumped onto the undamaged houses. It called out a few times, summoning its friends.
Before long, all the cats and dogs in the city gathered in front of Li Ying. Mao Mao let out a few more proud meows, looking very majestic.
These cats and dogs had somehow managed to hide during the typhoon. Li Ying checked their injuries one by one and took out some dried fish and dried meat from her space that she usually used to coax Mao Mao.
After getting these treats and being scolded by Mao Mao a few times, the little guys reluctantly rubbed against Li Ying's skirt before nimbly scurrying over the rooftops and disappearing into Huan City to catch the rats that had emerged after the flood.
With no worries about mosquitoes and flies spreading malaria or rats spreading the plague, Li Ying heaved a sigh of relief. Then she took a few familiar common people from Huan City at the porridge shed and headed straight for the seaside.
Although the typhoon was a natural disaster, after the wind and rain, it also left the common people with rich gifts from nature.
All kinds of conchs and shells had been washed up on the beach by the storm and were just right to be used as rations for the refugees.
Most of the common people in Huan City were good swimmers. Without Li Ying having to say much, they knew exactly what to do and started picking them up.
Li Ying only needed to remind them to be careful to avoid the poisonous cone snails and blue - ringed octopuses.
She herself also carried an empty bucket and happily threw shrimps, crabs, and conchs into it. Before long, the bucket was filled to the brim.
However, looking at the conch shells in the bucket, Li Ying couldn't really relax.
On normal days, picking up some seafood for a living would have been considered a great harvest.
But now, there were thousands of mouths in the city waiting to be fed. How could they be full just relying on these conchs with thick shells and little meat?
Just as she was pondering, she suddenly heard a startled cry not far away.
"Miss Li! Come and take a look. What is this? Could it be some kind of sea monster?"
A few common people from Huan City gathered together, shouting and surrounding a grayish object. They hesitated and didn't dare to get closer, their faces full of fear.
"Miss Li, there's one here too!"
"Miss Li, over here!"
On the beach, the startled cries kept coming one after another. The common people in Huan City were all panicked, secretly thinking in their hearts - with the hurricane and now the sea monsters, was Huan City... being punished by the gods?
Li Ying naturally didn't care about these superstitious ideas.
She quickly stepped forward and pushed through the crowd. When she saw the strange, sticky thing on the beach that looked like mud, a relaxed smile slowly appeared on her face.
She had been worrying about food, and now the heavens had sent so many delicious ingredients. Her luck was really as good as ever!