“Inland rivers have gone unrepaired for years, and now with torrential rains pouring down, we’ve been receiving reports of breached dikes day after day. Though the rain has stopped these past few days, the floodwaters haven’t receded. I fear the casualties won’t be less than ten thousand. What’s most worrying is that the water levels of the Baishui River and the Yangtze outside won’t drop anytime soon, and the dikes are far from impregnable… That’s what I’m most afraid of…”

William Brooks fell silent for a moment, then said bitterly, “Damn it, after so many years of peace, people have forgotten to be vigilant in times of safety. The counties of Baisha are suffering from floods, while Hailing, Chongzhou, and other places are facing tidal backflow from the sea. On top of that, pirates are taking advantage of the chaos to come ashore and stir up trouble. Now, even the county school in Chongzhou has been looted…” After venting these frustrations, William Brooks couldn’t help but sigh in front of his subordinates and old friends, angrily flicking his sleeve and instructing Samuel Foster about the dike repairs, “It’s too late to repair the dikes now; we’ll have to wait until after winter—assign more people to keep watch on the dangerous sections, and evacuate everyone from below the dikes as soon as possible. Any disaster victims we can’t resettle here should be sent to Weiyang City. As for post-disaster relief in the county, you need to think it through carefully and draft a plan for me…”

“Yes, sir.”

William Brooks, Samuel Foster, and Henry Clark discussed disaster relief as they walked toward the mountaintop, where there was a pavilion overlooking the Baishui River.

Although a few raindrops were still drifting down from the sky, the horizon was bright and clear. Standing in the pavilion atop the mountain, they gazed into the distance: the clear autumn sunset was as red as if stained with blood, hanging in a sky as blue as if freshly washed. Beyond the dike, the surface of the Baishui River stretched vast and wide, its clear waves tinged with crimson. At this moment, a wisp of music, light as smoke, drifted from the direction of the ferry crossing. The surrounding clamor seemed to fall suddenly silent at the unexpected sound of the zither.

William Brooks followed the music with his gaze down to the foot of the mountain, where several small boats were moored outside the dike. Among them, a brightly decorated pleasure barge stood out, and the music seemed to be coming from within, ethereal as if from the heavens. Many ragged disaster victims sat on the stone embankment, entranced by the music, appearing as tiny as ants from above. A few fishing boats clustered around the makeshift ferry, seemingly drawn there just for the music.

William Brooks paused to listen for a moment, his brows slightly furrowed, and asked, “Who is playing the zither?”

“Grace Bennett, the famous courtesan of Jiangning, has anchored her boat here for several days now,” reported Samuel Foster.

“She’s not in Jiangning—what is she doing here?”

William Brooks had also heard of Grace Bennett’s renowned beauty, knowing she was a famous songstress in Jiangning, celebrated for both her looks and talents, much admired by scholars and officials alike. He was puzzled as to why she would leave Jiangning and appear in Weiyang Prefecture at this time.

“Charles Parker returned home to celebrate his father’s sixtieth birthday and invited Grace Bennett to accompany him to Weiyang for the festivities…” reported Samuel Foster.

At the mention of Charles Parker, William Brooks frowned slightly, his nostrils flaring as he breathed heavily, his expression showing clear disdain for the man.

Henry Clark said, “The She family is seeking to submit to the court. Besides Yanjing, many people here in the capital are working to promote the She family’s cause, and Charles Parker is one of them. Someone reported in writing that Charles Parker is colluding with pirates, but Marshal Li turns a blind eye…”

Samuel Foster looked away; as a lowly county magistrate, he dared not comment on court politics. William Brooks was notorious for his bad temper—he even dared to slam the table and argue with David Thompson, the Minister of War in Jiangning and Governor of Eastern Min. Perhaps David Thompson appreciated his abilities, for even if he disliked him, he simply transferred him away from under his nose.

William Brooks snorted coldly, “In recent years, the pirate scourge in the East China Sea is inseparable from the She family—if it weren’t for the pirates aiding and abetting them, Marshal Li would have pacified Eastern Min long ago. Why stoop to such disgraceful dealings?”

“I fear that after the She family submits, they’ll only raise more bandits to strengthen their own power,” Henry Clark added. “Before I came to Weiyang, I stayed in Jiangning for a few days. The scholars of the Xixi Academy publicly supported the She family’s request to surrender. It seems the court and Marshal Li are determined to accept their submission.”

“These bookish fools fancy themselves refined gentlemen, but all they do is play with words!” William Brooks spoke with open disdain, though his tone also carried a hint of helplessness. He was only the prefect of Weiyang and had no influence over court politics. In fact, it was precisely because he disagreed with others over the She family’s surrender that he’d been kicked out to Weiyang.

Bookish fools? Samuel Foster glanced sidelong at the pleasure barge outside the dike. The Xixi Academy was hardly just a group of glib scholars. He also thought that if the She family submitted, received a marquisate and land, and kept nearly ten thousand elite troops—plus the surrounding pirate forces of the East China Sea—they’d become a regional warlord, always a hidden threat to the court’s southeastern flank. But the court was heavily engaged in the north against the Donghu, and urgently wanted to transfer elite troops from the southeast to reinforce the northern front. Accepting the She family’s surrender was only to be expected. Of course, there was also the intention to guard against David Thompson amassing power for himself. Most importantly, over the past decade, the campaign to suppress the She family’s rebellion in Eastern Min had cost tens of millions of taels in military expenses, leaving the court’s finances stretched to the limit.

Samuel Foster saw William Brooks looking at him and, not wanting to continue the conversation with him and Henry Clark, changed the subject with a smile. “When Grace Bennett passed through Baisha County and saw the severity of the floods and the plight of the victims, she anchored her boat outside the riverbank upon returning from Weiyang to perform. The wealthy in the county can board the boat to listen to her music and songs, and all the money and goods collected are donated to aid the disaster victims. Charles Parker also joined in, promising that if Grace Bennett performed in Baisha for ten days, he would donate a thousand taels of silver—this is already the eighth day…” Seeing William Brooks looking toward the pleasure barge, he added ingratiatingly, “If you, my lord, are in the mood for music, I can send someone to invite Miss Grace Bennett ashore to enliven your wine.”