The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 134: A Grim Outlook
When the first rope broke, the suspension bridge tilted sharply to the right.
The servant driving the carriage was so frightened by the scene that he froze, his mind going blank.
The carriage toppled to the right along with the bridge deck, sliding completely off. The horses let out a piercing shriek!
Chen Wangbei, who was in the middle of a fierce battle with mountain bandits, saw this, and he was so horrified his eyes felt like they would split.
"Prince Zhao!!"
His roar could not prevent the tragedy.
The carriage plunged into the river with unstoppable force, sending up a towering splash.
The river was too turbulent. In just a moment, the carriage was swept far away by the current.
By the time Chen Wangbei finished off the bandits and turned back to look for Prince Zhao, he was nowhere in sight.
The entire carriage had vanished, swept away to some unknown location by the river.
Chen Wangbei was on the verge of madness.
He immediately ordered everyone to search along the river with all their might. They had to find Prince Zhao!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, Li Cheng revealed a satisfied smile.
He had finally disposed of that troublesome Prince Zhao.
Lin Qingzhi happened to glimpse the Crown Prince’s smile and was taken aback.
At a time when everyone was anxious and worried for Prince Zhao after his accident, only the Crown Prince was smiling.
His unusual behavior was deeply unsettling.
Lin Qingzhi recalled the Crown Prince’s many displeasures with Prince Zhao, and a bold thought couldn’t help but surface in her mind—
’Could it be that what happened to Prince Zhao wasn’t an accident?’
’Was the Crown Prince secretly behind it?’
Li Cheng looked at Lin Qingzhi and asked with a smile.
"What’s wrong?"
Lin Qingzhi quickly suppressed the terrifying thought.
"Nothing."
Originally, Lin Qingzhi had wanted the Crown Prince to recruit Prince Zhao to his side and make use of him.
After all, Prince Zhao was skilled in both scholarly and martial arts, his abilities exceptional.
Even with his broken leg, his insights on military strategy remained unrivaled. Combined with the Emperor’s trust and favor, bringing him into the Crown Prince’s faction would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Unfortunately, Prince Zhao seemed to have no fondness for the Crown Prince.
After their brief time together, not only did their relationship not improve, they had grown to despise each other, making things even worse.
Now that Prince Zhao had met with an "accident," it was actually a good thing for the Crown Prince.
’Since Prince Zhao cannot be of use to him, it’s better to destroy him, lest he become an obstacle on his path forward in the future.’
Once Lin Qingzhi figured this out, she quickly calmed down.
She put on a worried expression.
"Prince Zhao’s carriage fell into the river. I’m afraid the odds are against him."
Li Cheng said calmly, "I recall that he can swim, and quite well at that. Perhaps he’ll survive."
Lin Qingzhi quietly reminded him, "But Prince Zhao’s leg is broken. There’s no way he can swim..."
Li Cheng acted as if he had only just remembered this. After a moment of feigned surprise, a helpless look appeared on his face.
"Well, there’s nothing to be done then. We can only wish him good luck."
Chen Wangbei was still leading his men along the river, searching for any sign of Prince Zhao.
From the looks of it, they wouldn’t stop until they found him.
Li Cheng waited for a while before growing impatient. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
He gave an order.
"The disaster relief cannot be delayed. I can’t waste any more time here.
You will all take the funds and grain and continue south with me.
As for the task of searching for Prince Zhao, we’ll leave it to Chen Guard. Let’s hope he finds him soon."
With Prince Zhao having fallen into the water and facing near-certain death, the entire disaster relief party had become a place where the Crown Prince’s word was law.
No one dared to defy the Crown Prince’s wishes, so they could only follow his orders and continue on their way.
Meanwhile, Chen Wangbei continued to search downstream along the river.
At this point, almost everyone had lost hope.
’The river is so swift, and Prince Zhao is crippled. How could he possibly survive?’
But even if Prince Zhao was dead, they had to bring his body back.
Otherwise, they would have no way to answer to the Emperor.
Given how highly the Emperor regarded Prince Zhao, he would surely fly into a thundering rage upon hearing of the incident.
The Emperor might not blame the Crown Prince, but they, the trusted aides responsible for Prince Zhao’s safety, would certainly not escape. Every single one of them would be punished.
The rain was still falling.
It was as if the entire world was soaked through, a dampness seeping from every corner.
The moment the carriage smashed into the river.
Due to the immense impact, the carriage suddenly broke apart.
The wooden planks all splintered.
The servant driving the carriage took the brunt of the impact; a sharp wooden beam pierced his heart, killing him instantly.
Hua Manman was nearly stabbed in the eye by a piece of wood, but at the critical moment, Prince Zhao reached out and protected her.
However, a long, thin gash was cut into his forearm.
Blood oozed from the wound.
They had no time to tend to it now.
The two of them were quickly swept far away by the turbulent river.
Fortunately, Hua Manman held tightly to Li Ji’s hand the entire time, and he held hers just as firmly.
The two were never separated.
When the river’s current gradually slowed, Li Ji grabbed a tree branch extending from the bank and pulled Hua Manman ashore with him.
As soon as they were on land, they collapsed onto the ground and began to gasp for air.
Hua Manman was panting so hard she couldn’t help but start coughing.
Li Ji raised a hand to wipe the water from his face.
He stood up and looked around. As far as he could see, almost everything was submerged.
Only the spot they were on, being on higher ground, had been lucky enough to avoid being flooded.
If one looked closely, the pointed rooftops of some houses could still be seen on the water’s surface in the distance.
This proved that this place had probably been something like a village or small town.
Now, however, it had become a vast expanse of water.
The houses were gone, the fields were gone.
The people who lived here had either been swept away by the flood or were forced to become refugees.
Hua Manman also stood up.
She stared at the scene before her, somewhat dazed.
The rain was still falling, sending endless ripples across the water’s surface, the sound unceasing.
It was as if she could hear, through the layers of rain and mist, the sobbing cries of the people when they first encountered the flood...
After a moment, Hua Manman came back to her senses.
’Wait, someone is actually crying.’
It wasn’t just her; Li Ji heard the crying too.
The two followed the sound and found a middle-aged man in tattered clothes lying under a crooked tree. He appeared to no longer be breathing.
Kneeling beside him were a boy and a girl.
The girl looked to be about twelve or thirteen, while the boy was a little younger, no more than ten by the looks of it.
The crying was coming from the two of them.
They were crying their hearts out, continuously calling for their father.
When she noticed strangers approaching, the girl immediately became alert.
She wiped away her tears, pulled her younger brother behind her protectively, and looked at the newcomers with a wary gaze.
"Who are you?"
Hua Manman stopped, keeping a respectable distance, and asked in a gentle voice.
"We’re new here, and we were hoping to ask if there’s a clinic nearby?"
Prince Zhao’s arm was still bleeding; they needed to find a doctor to bandage it as soon as possible.
Seeing that the woman seemed reasonably friendly, the girl relaxed slightly.
She answered, her voice choked with sobs.
"All the nearby villages have been flooded. There can’t be any clinics. If you’re looking for one, you’ll have to go to the county town."
Hua Manman asked again, "And how do we get to the county town?"
