Chapter 199 - 197. Disaster (1/2)
Third-person POV
One month later* (Early in the morning)
Hong er became more and more restless each day because of the bad premonition. Among all of the premonition that she ever had, this was the worst. Even after they came through a few bad occasions in a few months, none of them were the premonition that she was feeling.
Hong er: ”Something is not right.”
Hong er stood up and decided to go find Weisheng to talk about it. She also found it strange that Weisheng woke up extremely early. When she spotted him in his study room, she saw him frowning like there was no tomorrow. Hong er approached him and sat beside him.
Hong er: ”What's wrong?”
Weisheng: ”Everything seems suspicious.”
Hong er: ”What?”
Hong er became more anxious seeing that even Weisheng was having a hard time.
Weisheng: ”Tsunami.”
Hong er: ”What?! How? This is winter.”
Hong er frowned deeply.
Weisheng: ”That is what I am suspicious of. I found a book around a hundred ago that says about a tsunami that happen in winter, it's called 'ice tsunami'.”
(A/N: I do some research on the internet and 'ice tsunami indeed exist. But I added a few things in the story so it is a mix of fact and fantasy.)
Hong er: ”What caused it to happen?”
Weisheng: ”In the book, it said that the cause was a strong gust of wind. But they reported that the ground was shaking and the water under the thick ice layer got sucked in like how usually tsunami is.”
The thick layer of ice cracked because of the water pressure and to add it more, the wind caused the ice and water to move faster than usual. Hong er knitted her brows and tried to calm herself down.
Hong er: ”Where was it?”
Weisheng: ”Near Dong Fang's border.”
Hong er: ”Meiyun?”
Weisheng: ”She is fine. They were the ones who were investigating this case.”
Hong er: ”En. Casualty?”
Weisheng: ”Over half a million people.”
Hong er widened her eyes in shock.
Hong er: ”D-don't tell me…”
Weisheng: ”En. The military base and also father-in-law's secret base. The accident occurred at 2.37 AM.”
Hong er's face immediately paled. Just by that little information, she could grasp everything. To happen at the most populated place and at the worst timing, it is too bad to believe.
Most people would be asleep at that time. Therefore, even if the guards managed to ring the bells to alert the citizens and the other soldiers that were staying in the base, they wouldn't have enough time to escape. Especially in the state of just waking up.
At first, Hong er didn't know where Xu Tingfeng trained the Xu's soldiers. However, after she got married to Weisheng, he told her everything and it actually helped him a lot. Hong er would help him out with the state affair or doing negotiation with the nobles as she has a better communication skill than him.
Just from this accident, they had lost so many things such as their military power and citizens' life. And the one who suffer the most was Xu Tingfeng. More than half of his soldiers died.
Hong er: ”Huayun, any news from father's side?”
Huayun: ”No, Your Majesty Empress!”
Hong er gritted her teeth in frustration.
Hong er: ”Uncle Jian?” (Senior Jian)
Huayun: ”The elite forces in Xi An suddenly lost connection with Senior Jian 3 days ago.”
Weisheng also frowned from the new information that Huayun told.