Lord Prime Minister

The further south you go, the hotter the weather. The team advances during the day and rests at night. In order to catch up with time, they often start before dawn, and are still on their way at sunset.But even so, the carriage traveled on the road for five full days before arriving at Ji County, where the drought was the worst.

The closed carriage was as hot as an oven, Ren Danfeng had long since ignored the fan in his hand, which was painted with Mr. Wang Chenyi's calligraphy, and the fan was whistling loudly.

Mu Zihuai tugged at the front of his shirt to breathe, the inner shirt was already soaked with sweat, and the sweat dripped from his forehead onto his sleeves.It was so hot that he was dying, but he didn't dare to open the curtain of the carriage, for fear that someone would assassinate the prince.

On such a hot day, even if you lie in ambush, you will die from the heat.

Mu Zihuai couldn't help thinking, and glanced at the prince who was only wearing a thin shirt.

It is said that the gown he is wearing is made of Tianshan ice silk, which is very cool and comfortable to wear.I don't know if Mu Zihuai is really made of Tianshan ice silk, but what is certain is that the dress is really cool, as can be seen from the calm and relaxed expression of the prince.

He moved his buttocks and leaned closer to the prince, and a trace of coolness came from his clothes, and Mu Zihuai couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh of relief.

Huangfu Yunhua put on the specially prepared ice silkworm clothes a few days ago, even sitting in the stuffy and closed carriage, he still felt a bit of coolness.

Just now the guards have come to inform that they will arrive at the Jixian government office in half an hour.

While thinking about how to solve the drought, the people around him slowly squeezed in.Huangfu Yunhua raised his eyes and looked over, just in time to see the little sage he raised was holding the corner of his clothes with both hands, squinting his eyes slightly, with an expression of comfort and enjoyment on his face that made people laugh.

The temperature here was indeed far beyond Huangfu Yunhua's expectations. It can be seen that the severity of the drought here, other people probably knew about the situation a long time ago, they were unwilling to come and had to kick themselves to such a ghostly place.

The mountains are high and the land is far away, and the disaster is serious. Not to mention whether they can get through the disaster safely, but also that they will lose power if they leave the palace for a long time. This is also the reason why other princes are reluctant to come.

But for Huangfu Yunhua, this place is a good place.

The carriage stopped slowly in front of the Yamen of Jixian County, the babbling sound of the carriage disappeared, and the surrounding area was eerily quiet, with no human habitation or cicadas singing.

The blue curtain in front of the carriage was lifted by a hand, and a young man bent over and stretched out his head, almost getting back into the carriage due to the heat wave outside.

It was too hot to breathe.

Mu Zihuai frowned, put his hands between his brows and raised his eyes to see the sky that was too clear without a single cloud.

Ren Danfeng twisted his thick waist and got out, and Mu Zihuai moved his legs to stay away from the heat on his body.The last one to come down was Prince Minqing in a clean suit.

County Magistrate Chen of Jixian County has already left the Yamen and waited at the door. Maybe it was because of the bitterness and hatred that he had grown up, or maybe it was caused by the drought after months, his face was sallow, and his eyes were drooping. He was unlucky, and his figure was very thin. The official robe of the prefect was worn on him, and he walked with wind hanging on his body.

Seeing the Fifth Prince Minqing get off the car at this moment, the sorrow on his face deepened even more. Mu Zihuai thought that he was going to cry in an instant and knelt down on the ground with a plop.

"My lord, the next official is guilty, the next official is guilty."

As soon as Huangfu Yunhua got out of the carriage, he felt that the temperature outside was higher than that inside the carriage. Before he could see clearly what was outside, he felt a figure rushing towards him, and immediately his legs were hugged.

At this moment when he wished that others could be as far away from him as possible, the hot air from this person hit him one after another, until he was so hot that he frowned, his legs seemed to be placed on the stove , It's hot and uncomfortable.

"Magistrate Chen, get up quickly and take us in first." Huangfu Yunhua followed Mu Zihuai's example and raised his hand to shade his forehead, saying lazily.

"Yes, yes, my lord, please follow me."

County magistrate Chen got up from the ground with a wheel, and he didn't care to pat the dust on his official robe, leading Huangfu Yunhua to the government office.

Behind the government office is the official residence of County Magistrate Chen. Passing through the same indifferent lobby, an old woman greeted her, dressed in plain gray clothes, with a fat figure and a smile on her face.

"See you, my lord." He kowtowed on the ground, King Minqing nodded and got up, then went to the side of County Magistrate Chen.

"My lord, this is a bitch, I don't know how to be polite, please invite my lord Haihan."

As soon as the magistrate Chen finished speaking, Mrs. Chen rushed to speak: "My lord, the women have already prepared meals."

County magistrate Chen was slightly dissatisfied with his wife's ignorant interruption, frowned and patted the back of her chubby hand, then turned to ask the prince again: "My lord, you have worked hard all the way, let's eat to relieve fatigue first." Bar."

Huangfu Yunhua nodded, as long as he doesn't come and squeeze him, everything is easy to talk about.

County magistrate Chen prepared the meals and put them in the dining room with the door open to enjoy the cool air. It is not afraid of the dishes being cold in such a hot day.Two or three plates of dry side dishes, and a plate of pickles that looked refreshing, plus a few bowls of bland porridge.

Mu Zihuai and his party ate dry food for five days. Although the dishes were really unsatisfactory, they also felt the severity of the drought from what they saw and heard on the road. At this time, they were not too picky and ate a lot of pickles.

Mrs. Chen stopped after eating only half a bowl, and looked at the person opposite who was devouring it with a sad face.Seeing Ren Danfeng's sturdy physique went to add another bowl of rice, I felt like I was about to cry.

"Master." Chen lowered her voice and leaned into her master's ear. "Didn't it mean that they all came from the capital? Why are they so delicious? Could it be that life in the capital is more difficult than ours?"

County magistrate Chen rolled his eyes at his wife, "Don't talk nonsense, go and get some more porridge."

"No, they have eaten up the rice jar." Chen frowned, recalling the empty rice jar in the kitchen, and couldn't help feeling sad.

County magistrate Chen was in a hurry. The prince came all the way to relieve the disaster, but he didn't even have a full meal.The emperor's heart was kind, he forgave him for improperly governing the people, he didn't take off his black hat, and even sent his beloved fifth prince to help, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even bring out a bowl of porridge.

Thinking of this, magistrate Chen felt sad and almost knelt down on the spot to self-criticize.

Just as he was seriously thinking about the feasibility of this move, the prince put down the bowl and chopsticks.

"Magistrate Chen, please tell me first, how is the drought going?"

When the matter was mentioned, County Magistrate Chen's expression became serious.

"My lord, Jixian County is located in the lower reaches of the Ning River. It has been abundant in water since early in the morning, and it is still relatively rich. However, it has not rained for more than half a year. Originally, this would not have much impact. But somehow, since the beginning of spring Since then, the water level of the Ning River has continued to drop. In the past few days, the wide Ning River has completely dried up, and there is no water left. The crops in the fields and the water for the people are all taken from the Ning River. After a few days, the rice fields dried up. After waiting for a few more months, it didn’t rain, and most of the crops died, and even the weeds were sunburned. Those with money and people moved out of Ji County. Now the people in the county are old, weak, women and children. It is the fault of the lower officials that the people are in such a predicament because of improper management, and I ask the prince to punish them.”

While talking, County Magistrate Chen knelt on the ground again, ready to throw himself at Huangfu Yunhua's feet to repent, but was thrown away, so he had to bow his head and prostrate on the ground.

Prince Minqing nodded, glanced at Ren Danfeng who was still eating porridge persistently, and Mu Zihuai who was staring blankly after eating, and suddenly felt that he was a little tired as a prince.Obviously, he brought these two people here to plan for himself, but he didn't expect that one was busy eating and the other was busy wandering.

Sighing, Huangfu Yunhua resigned himself to his fate and asked, "Does Magistrate Chen know why the Ning River dried up in just a few days?"

"The Ninghe River is icy water brought down from the Tianshan Mountains. It has always had enough water. This time it suddenly dried up, and the officials sent people along the way to check it out. Follow the embankment until you reach the desert of dead people outside Jixian County. People who dare to move forward only know that the water of the Nanning River enters the desert of the dead and disappears when it comes out."

"The desert of the dead?" Ren Danfeng, who finally swallowed the last bowl of porridge, wiped his mouth, took out the folding fan with Wang Chen's calligraphy on it, and fanned it twice, and finally focused on the business.

"Dead people's desert, people in several nearby counties know it, but no one dares to go in. Across the desert is the Tianshan Mountains, and the Ning River flows from there. It is said that this desert can only enter but not exit, and the people living in it are Horrifying monsters, and all kinds of strange things, if you don’t pay attention, you will die there, and no one has ever come out of it. Once a person walked in, and he hasn’t come back yet.”

"Could it be that you didn't notice it when you went out from the other side?" Mu Zihuai asked.

"Impossible." County Magistrate Chen shook his head without thinking, "I didn't see anyone coming out of Tianshan Mountain either."

"Could it have gone out from other places?" Ren Danfeng guessed.

"That's impossible." County Magistrate Chen shook his head. "The west side of the Dead Man's Desert is a cliff, and even the most agile apes can't climb it, let alone humans. The east side is the sea, and they can't get out."

All possibilities were rejected, and the expressions of the three of them were a little dignified.

"That man, he just died inside." Chen, who had been silent all this time, widened his eyes and told a gossip: "One time there was a north wind blowing here, and the wind blew for three days and three nights. Someone went out in the morning and saw There was a piece of clothing hanging on a pole in the square. Someone recognized it, and that piece of clothing was the one worn by the person who walked into the desert of the dead."

After eating and being exhausted on the road for so many days, Huangfu Yunhua was not in a hurry to start the inspection right away, and decided to rest for the night first, and go to Ninghe to see in person tomorrow morning.

As night fell, County Magistrate Chen knelt on the ground with a plop and uttered a new question.

Not enough room.