After the child was born, Mo Yan took a glance and didn’t really pay attention to whom the child resembled. Hearing her daughter’s words, she quickly sat up in bed and reached out to hold the baby, "All your younger brothers look like your father. It would be quite rare if Fifth Small turned out to resemble ."
Xiao Ruiyuan moved faster, cradling his youngest son in his arms before anyone else and scrutinizing the little guy’s face. A gentle smile gradually graced his lips as he gently placed the child at the bedside and said to the expectant Mo Yan, "This child does indeed look like you."
As Mo Yan looked down at the child, she couldn’t see any resemblance, no matter how she looked, and she couldn’t help but laugh, "You two are teasing now, aren’t you? Fifth Small’s features haven’t fully developed yet, how can one tell who he looks like?"
No matter how potent the Spirit Spring Water was, it couldn’t trump genetics. Mo Yan felt so disappointnt that not one of her four sons resembled her, especially when seeing four miniaturized faces of her husband made her all the more frustrated. Thankfully, having her only daughter resemble her gave her so consolation.
Xiao Ruiyuan shook his head with conviction, "Although the child’s features are not yet fully developed, his mouth and nose certainly resemble you, and they will grow to look even more like you in ti."
Mo Yan listened with so anticipation, but she only smiled at her four sons, who had gathered curiously around the bed to stare at their newly born brother, and said, "Perhaps it’s better if Fifth Small looks more like you, then when you brothers grow up and go out, one will know right away that you are blood related."
Upon hearing this, the four brothers unanimously said, "It would be better if he resembled Mother a bit more. If he were to look like us, Mother might get tired of it."
Their words were sweet, but secretly they all prayed that their little brother would look more like their father. This way, another child would share the attention of their father and oldest sister, and wouldn’t that make their brotherhood worthwhile?
Mo Yan was unaware of her sons’ cunning thoughts. She smiled and stroked their heads, feeling both happy and content. Despite the unimaginable pain she had to go through each ti, she never regretted having these children.
The family chatted happily for a while until Xiao Ruiyuan used Mo Yan’s need for rest as an excuse to send the children out, even the newborn Sixth Small, to prevent any crying that might disturb Mo Yan’s sleep after waking up.
Mo Yan was indeed very tired and desperate for rest, but there were more important matters at hand, so she could only muster her energy and said to Xiao Ruiyuan, "It has been raining heavily around Wei Zhou for nearly half a month, and with the low-lying landscape, it is easy for floodwater to break the river banks. I wonder if they are prepared for flood control and disaster relief there."
"This... Officials in Wei Zhou must be taking action, and a few days ago The Emperor also issued orders to the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Revenue, so there shouldn’t be any problems," Xiao Ruiyuan replied, not expecting his wife to be concerned about this matter. Although he had heard about the heavy rains in Wei Zhou, it was outside his official remit, and he was not well-inford of the situation there.
Mo Yan looked out the window at the bright sunlight and said with a worried heart, "There’s an old saying, ’After a major disaster, there must co a great plague.’ If the Wei Zhou embanknt on the Cang River fails to hold, I fear there will be even greater troubles to follow."
Wei Zhou is located to the southeast, downstream of the Great Chu’s largest river—the Cang River. Normally, the rainy season starts in May each year, but this year’s weather has been unusual, with continuous rain beginning at the end of March.
At that ti, the upper reaches of the Cang River were lting ice and snow, causing a significant increase in water flow, followed by the continuous rain, so the water levels never went down. Half a month ago, the continuous rain turned into torrential downpour, causing the river to rise even more dangerously, and the embanknt was at imminent risk of collapse.
In previous years, Wei Zhou also suffered from flood disasters, but the damages were not severe and the affected areas were not extensive. The local people could fend for themselves, but Mo Yan knew this year would be different. This was the very year when the Wei Zhou embanknt burst for the first ti, leading to countless floating corpses downstream and a great plague following the disaster.
Xiao Ruiyuan thought his wife was rely being compassionate and concerned for the situation in Wei Zhou. He patted the back of her hand to reassure her, "Yanyan, do not worry, I will send soone to Wei Zhou to investigate the situation. If there is a risk of the embanknt breaching, I will report it to The Emperor and discuss counterasures."
Mo Yan felt sowhat relieved and urged, "Then you should hurry with the arrangents, I’m afraid it will be too late otherwise."
Seeing his wife’s concern, Xiao Ruiyuan was sowhat helpless as he stroked her head and said, "Rest first, I will make the arrangents after you fall asleep."
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