readytorunbook Chapter 437: The mess, sent to repair the imperial mausoleum
Chapter 437: The mess, sent to repair the imperial mausoleum
Yao Qingnian laughed happily at the sight of him running away, and went to see Shunzi for a follow-up checkup in a good mood. Shunzi's vital signs are now stable. If he is well taken care of, he will be able to recover and go home in a few days.
When she went in, besides Shunzi's father, there was another woman kneeling on the ground crying bitterly: "Master, please, don't divorce me! I promise that I will take good care of Shunzi in the future."
"Hmph! You even dared to covet Shunzi's life-saving money. How can I forgive you? Fortunately, Shunzi met a noble person, otherwise he would really be dead!" the man scolded.
"I... I didn't mean it. Who knew that the doctor was such a black-hearted person? At that time, there were so many people queuing up at the city gate for medical treatment. I thought that since such a good thing had happened, I might as well save the money to supplement Shunzi. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen! Woo woo... Although the child is not my biological child, I ask myself, since I married you, I have never beaten or scolded the child, so how could I hurt him?" She felt very guilty. When she heard that the child was in trouble, she wanted to slap herself twice. Fortunately, the child was not destined to die and met a noble person. Otherwise, she would not be able to face people in the future, and she would probably spend her whole life in regret.
"Stop talking and go away!" The man turned his back.
"Boss, let me take care of Shunzi until he gets better. You can divorce me if you want. I won't say no." Seeing that the man had made up his mind, she glanced at the child on the hospital bed and begged, wiping her tears.
The child suddenly woke up at this time: "Dad."
"Shunzi, you're awake! Daddy is here!" The man was relieved when he saw his child wake up.
"Where's mother?"
"Mom is here!" When the woman heard the child calling her, she ran over and held his little hand.
"Dad, don't blame mom. She didn't mean it. Mom is so nice to me. She even bought me candied haws, which are delicious." In fact, the child had woken up a long time ago. He just heard the conversation between the two and was afraid that the woman was really gone, so he opened his eyes. Shunzi's biological mother died of illness not long after he was born. He envied others for having mothers. Later, his father married a stepmother, and then he felt the happiness of having a mother. There was someone to accompany him when he was sick, someone to accompany his father when he went to work, and someone to stand up for him when others bullied him. His stepmother had always been very good to him, and he had long regarded her as his own biological mother.
"Okay, Daddy doesn't blame your mom. When you get better, we'll go home." The man softened his expression after hearing what the child said. "Since you are so sincere to the child, let's forget about this. If it happens again next time..."
"Don't worry, there won't be a next time." The woman saw that the man had forgiven her, and then she wiped the tears from her face: "Shunzi, mother will buy you some candied haws later, you have to drink the medicine obediently."
Shunzi's family returned to their former happiness and peace. Yao Qingnian watched this scene and felt happy for them.
Shen House.
After Shen Wenting took the medicine for a few days, it finally worked. Yan Huan stopped holding him back and gave him the key to the warehouse, asking him to pick out some good things himself. Shen Wenting happily took the things and delivered them to his superiors, thinking that he would not have to repair the imperial mausoleum. However, although he delivered the gift, the emperor suddenly specifically appointed him to go, and the gift was in vain.
In the past, building the imperial mausoleum was a lucrative job, but since the previous Minister of Works was arrested, no one dared to cheat, and it became a mess that no one wanted to take on. The officials in the court avoided it, fearing that they would take on this thankless job.
The cause was that the former Minister of Works took a lot of bribes when he was building the imperial mausoleum, which led to the corruption of the project. The supporting beams inside the mausoleum showed signs of tilting, as if they would collapse at any time. The ground, which should have been flat, was also bumpy and stagnant.
When the emperor learned about this, he was furious and had all the officials responsible arrested and imprisoned, and their entire families were punished. From then on, the construction of the imperial mausoleum was delayed.
A few days ago, Emperor Cang Ling had a dream in which he saw the emperor and his family climb out of the coffin and scold him for being unfilial. The emperor woke up from the dream, sweating profusely, and felt terrified. He knew that this matter could not be delayed, so he immediately summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.
The ministers looked at each other, no one dared to speak easily. The emperor was furious and ordered to select a suitable person in charge as soon as possible. In the end, no one was willing to step forward, so he had to appoint Shen Wenting to be in charge of this matter.
Shen Wenting did not dare to disobey the emperor's order, so he could only obey it. He packed up his things and set out that day, thinking that it was just repairing the imperial mausoleum, how difficult could it be? He could just patch up the broken parts and continue repairing the unrepaired parts.
This is a good thing. Recently, he was a little scared when he saw Yan Huan at home, so he went out to hide away some peace and quiet. After taking care of the things at home, he set off.
But after arriving at the imperial mausoleum, Shen Wenting was completely dumbfounded. He then truly realized how difficult it was. No wonder everyone avoided it. The scene of the imperial mausoleum was in chaos, huge stones dumped on the ground, and the traces of fractures were shocking. The mausoleum wall, which should have been extremely solid, had many cracks.
The first thing Shen Wenting faced was a shortage of funds. In the past, corruption had led to a large amount of money being misappropriated, and the funds available were now stretched to the limit. The craftsmen’s wages could not be delayed, and the purchase of materials also required a large amount of funds, which gave Shen Wenting a headache.
Furthermore, it was difficult to find suitable craftsmen. The previous turmoil had frightened many skilled craftsmen and they did not dare to participate in the construction of the imperial mausoleum. Even after recruiting some, their skills were uneven and the quality of the construction was difficult to guarantee.
The supply of materials is also a major problem. It is difficult to collect high-quality stones and wood in a short period of time, and the transportation distance is long and rugged, and there are often disasters such as mudslides and landslides, which lead to delays in the delivery of materials.
The design of the imperial mausoleum is complex and exquisite, and the construction requirements are extremely high. Every detail must comply with the royal regulations and Feng Shui. Any slight deviation will require rework, which greatly increases the difficulty and time cost of the project.
There were also local people who complained about the construction of the imperial mausoleum occupying a large amount of land and resources. Conflicts and disputes occurred from time to time, and Shen Wenting had to mediate.
On this day, a group of people gathered in front of the imperial mausoleum construction site to make trouble. The construction of the imperial mausoleum had occupied their land, and the promised compensation had not been paid. Later, after the former Minister of Works was arrested, the court had not sent anyone to the site. They went to the government several times to make trouble. The government said that people would be sent down soon to deal with the matter, and asked the people to be patient. After waiting for a long time, Shen Wenting arrived. They came here immediately after getting the news.