"What did you say?"

  "Eight years ago, the Hu mouth burst its banks, my father represented the government and went to inspect the breach." Zhao Zongji said: "I followed him to take a look, and to this day I still remember it clearly. That eight hundred steps of the breach was endless, the Yellow River's momentum was overwhelming, shocking heaven and earth. Such heavenly power is not something that human strength can resist. Now Li Zhongchang is trying to use his trivial six towers to divert the mighty waters of the Yellow River, this is seeking death!"

  "It was only a small fraction of the floodwaters that had overflowed, yet it had already inundated five provinces. I dare not imagine what it will be like when the Shanghu Decree is blocked." Zhao Zongji sighed again.

  "It seems this isn't some profound principle, so why don't those officials understand?"

  "Our great Song Dynasty officials are just like this, all talk and no action. They're just armchair strategists who don't dare to get their feet wet." Zhao Zongji sneered: "The merchant Hu's mouth is only 200 miles away from Bianjing, but few people are willing to go to the muddy dam to take a look. Even if it's an official who has been ordered to inspect, what they have in mind is to flatter their superiors, not to seek truth."

  "Uh-huh." Chen Ke nodded and said, "Following the leader is the safest way. If it succeeds, it means being in harmony with the leader; if there's a problem, the leader will take responsibility anyway, so there won't be too much blame."

  "Three brothers in one sentence." Zhao Zongji said in a deep voice: "So I want to tell the truth and speak the truth."

  "This will offend all of you gentlemen."

  "I'm not even a prince." Zhao Zongji burst out laughing and said: "Why bother about the opinions of those bureaucrats?"

  "Also true." Chen Ke suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie and said: "However, your memorial, still needs to be cautious."

  "It took me a lot of courage to say this." Zhao Zongji said with a downcast face.

  "Don't get me wrong." Chen Ke smiled and said, "My intention is that we can't be like those officials who speak vaguely. We have to write in a way that's convincing."

  "Yes." Zhao Zongji nodded and smiled: "It sounds like you have something good?"

  "Of course not." Chen Ke smiled and said: "Then let's take advantage of the momentum, let's get started!"

  "Hmm." Zhao Zongji nodded and said: "However, before writing, I have to ask for advice from the old officials who helped Father King with water control again."

  "All right, I'll go visit the construction site at Liu Ta River again." Chen Ke nodded and said.

  "Good!" Zhao Zongji said: "Things should not be delayed, let's take action separately." He smiled apologetically and said: "After I finish writing the memorial, I'll take you on a good tour of the capital city."

  "It's settled then."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The plan was set, and the two of them went their separate ways.

  Anyway, he finally had some ideas, Chen Ke swept away the heavy mood of his arrival and walked back quickly. He found that the road was a bit winding when he came, seemingly not as fast as the one he took when he first arrived in Beijing. Relying on his excellent memory, he turned directly onto South Gate Street from the Imperial Street, walked east for a while, saw the Dashengguo Temple, and then turned south to get onto Baokangmen Street.

  Chen Ke remembered clearly that walking along this road would lead him to the old bridge alley, so he quickened his pace and strode forward.

  As he approached the Baokang Gate, he felt a bit hungry and couldn't help but scold in his heart, "This little prince actually doesn't even care about a meal." Fortunately, there were many food stalls on the street, Chen Ke took out a few copper coins, bought a fragrant donkey meat fire roll, and devoured it while walking forward. Who knew that as he walked to an alley entrance, a mass of objects suddenly rushed out from inside at an angle.

  Although there were no cars on the streets in this era, Chen Ke's good habit of crossing the road from his previous life still remained. As he was eating something, his peripheral vision scanned the intersection and when he saw something coming towards him, he subconsciously dodged out of the way.

  Just then, there was a loud crash, and the object fell to the ground. It turned out to be a heavily made-up woman.

  Chen Ke swallowed the food in his mouth and quickly bent down to check the woman's injuries: "Are you okay?" Although in his previous life, he had been taken advantage of like this before, but seeing someone lying on the ground unattended was something he couldn't do.

  At this moment, Chen Ke's eyes were filled with a snowy white abundance. He couldn't help but react. It turned out that the woman was wearing extremely bold clothing, with an outer layer of semi-transparent pink gauze and a peach-red bra underneath, accentuating two snow-white hemispheres. Chen Ke hadn't been with a woman in a long time, and his breathing became slightly heavier.

  The woman saw him with this initial appearance, first covering her mouth and smiling, suddenly making a soft "ah" sound and moaning "Ah yo, ah yo......" while slightly lifting her legs, as if in pain, but also as if beckoning to someone's soul.

  Chen Ke only then thought that the other party was injured, and hurriedly muttered "doctor's parental heart" to look at the woman's face. She looked good, but her makeup was too thick... He suddenly became pure and asked: "Where does it hurt?"

  The woman mumbled and murmured for a while, still not speaking very clearly. Chen Ke also saw that she shouldn't have been seriously injured. He said, "If you're okay, I'll help you up."

  "Thank you, sir." The woman nodded slightly with a hint of shyness.

  Chen Ke then reached out to help her up, intending to let go once she was steady, but unexpectedly the woman leaned half of her body against him, weakly saying: "I don't have any strength left, sir. Please be kind and send me back home. My residence is just over there." As she spoke, she pointed to a courtyard deep in the alley, with its gate slightly ajar.

  "I'll just call your family over then."

  "There is nobody at home."

  "Alright." Chen Ke rolled his eyes and sneered in his heart: "Looks like I've encountered a crazy person!" He was skilled and bold, just looking for something to stimulate him, so he nodded and said: "Okay."

  He supported the woman as she walked into the alley, her body still tightly pressed against his. Not only that, but from time to time, she would whisper a few sentences in a low voice, and waves of hot air would blow onto his ears, making him feel itchy all over. He thought to himself: "Is she teasing me?"

  The distance was too short, and even if they walked slowly, they would soon arrive at the entrance. Chen Ke wanted to put the woman down, but he heard him say: "To send Buddha to Western Heaven, the officer should still help my family in."

  Chen Ke looked down at the woman's radiant expression, then glanced at the half-closed door, his mind racing with thoughts. Suddenly, he lifted his leg and kicked the door open, taking a look inside... This was a small room that didn't match the exterior of the house. Inside, there was only a tiny courtyard where one could barely turn around. Apart from the bed, there was only a square table, nothing else to be seen, and it seemed unlikely that there would be any danger.

  "Was I overthinking? Chen Ke let out a slight sigh of relief, but the woman moaned again, so he had no choice but to carry her in. As they entered the room, they arrived at the bedside, and just as he was about to put the woman down, she suddenly wrapped herself around him like an octopus, trying to push him onto the bed. But Chen Ke's feet were rooted to the ground, and she couldn't budge him."

  The result is like a monkey climbing a tree, awkwardly there.

  "What do you want to do?" Chen Ke glanced at the door, as if someone had flashed by. He stretched out his hand and separated the woman from him... It was unclear whether it was intentional or unintentional, but his palm directly pressed against the woman's chest, so soft, a good start", definitely not silicone.

  The woman not only didn't panic, but instead proudly puffed out her chest and laughed loudly: "Sir is so impatient! However, for this kind of thing, it's better to take it slow. How about this? Sir first gives me a string of money, goes out to buy some wine and dishes to serve you, and then gets into bed to enjoy the pleasure?"

  "Oh..." Chen Ke didn't understand, it was like a pig, and suddenly realized: "It's actually a fallen woman." He pinched her soft chest, reluctantly let go of his hand and said: "Before leaving the house, my wife had an order, don't pick wildflowers by the roadside..."

  "The young man is so tall and powerful, but it turns out he's afraid of his wife." ... The woman burst into laughter: "What are you afraid of? We don't know each other, we're just temporary acquaintances. Once the sun comes out, we'll disappear without a trace. How would your wife even find out?" As she spoke, she slightly pulled down her blouse, and a pair of white breasts almost popped out. Chen Ke's blood rushed to his head, and he involuntarily swallowed his saliva.

  When she saw his pig-like behavior, the woman chuckled and lightly lifted her skirt, using her smooth thighs to gently tease between his legs. Her voice was as sweet as honey: "Sir, please take out your money quickly, I'll do something wonderful with you." With that, they didn't even need to buy wine or dishes anymore.

  "Hmm......" Chen Ke swallowed his saliva again, he had been provoked, but really didn't want to be in this lowly brothel. Just as he was about to push the woman away, he suddenly heard a cold laugh from outside.

  The woman also heard it, and although she was coquettish, she didn't want to be seen by a third person, so she blushed and quickly covered her legs with her skirt, while hastily pulling up her undergarments. Chen Xiao took the opportunity to flee in disarray.

  Rushing out of the door quickly, I saw a tall figure disappear at the alley entrance.

  Chen Ke chased him out, and on the bustling street with people coming and going, where could he go to find someone?

  But he still caught sight of a woman who was extremely tall, almost as tall as a man, let alone a woman.

  It turned out to be a girl, Chen Ke was confused.

  The woman seemed to have sensed something, stopped in her tracks, turned around, revealing a cold and elegant face, full of disdain as she looked at him with one glance, then raised her hand.

  A pretty female attendant in a tight-fitting dress then presented her with a brocade pouch.

  The woman flicked her wrist and the pouch drew a beautiful arc over the crowd, landing right in Chen Ke's hand.

  Having done all this, she didn't look at him again. The maid led over a big red horse and she stepped onto it.

  She didn't say a word from start to finish, her movements were quick and neat, extremely proud. It made Chen Ke feel inexplicably puzzled, until he saw the horse, then suddenly realized, wasn't this that little girl who was racing horses the other day?

  Loosen the silk pouch and find a package of silver inside: "Depend on it, what do you take me for?" But he was just caught by someone else, how could he still have the face to go forward and question? A good mood suddenly became extremely depressed.

  "Who's that?" The official asked. The prostitute tidied up her clothes and also came out.

  "My wife." Chen Ke said irritably.

  "Oh......" The prostitute was shocked.

  Chen Ke's voice was not loud, and on this bustling street, he thought the woman wouldn't hear him at all. But to his surprise, she suddenly turned her head, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, her cherry lips pursed, and spat out two words.

  （）