Xiao An said, “Once we cook it thoroughly, it won’t spoil.”
The entire afternoon, the back half of the bamboo house was gradually built up. The bamboo poles were set firmly into place, and stones were laid around them to form the walls.
They were all doing heavy physical labor, yet none of them felt particularly tired.
They would never have imagined that because they had come to help Xiao An, they were drinking spiritual spring water that was said to be incredibly rare.
The water could eliminate fatigue and fill the body with strength.
Drinking spiritual spring water regularly could even keep a person free from illness.
Dinner consisted of steamed rice, rabbit meat stewed with potatoes, blanched wild vegetables mixed into a cold dish, and a plate of boiled pork.
Just like at lunchtime, everyone sat around the large stone and ate heartily.
They finished the entire plate of pork, while there was still some rabbit meat and potatoes left.
Xiao An put the remaining rabbit meat into a small clay basin and had Zhu Cui take it home.
Zhu Cui and Wang Dashan had both been helping here all day. Her three children were at home, eating nothing but cold vegetable buns all day. How could Xiao An not take that into consideration?
Zhu Cui was so touched that her eyes reddened, and her hands trembled slightly as she carried the basin.
Wang Dashan pursed his lips, silently took the basin from her, and carried it home for the children.
Night descended.
Xiao An entered her space. She hadn’t slept at all the previous night, so since it was still early, she quickly took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
When she woke up, it was just past the hour of Hai.
She took the steel fish fork out of her space and crouched in the field, turning her eyes from side to side as she searched for rabbits.
She suddenly saw two figures coming from behind her bamboo house. They followed the narrow mountain path and quickly headed down the mountain.
Xiao An was afraid there might be more people behind them, so she remained completely still in the field.
After waiting for a long time, no one else appeared.
Who were those two people?
There wasn’t even a path behind her bamboo house. Could they have come out from deep within the mountains?
And there was that handsome young man who had killed the snake last time. He hadn’t been carrying a basket or a backpack. He wasn’t a hunter or a herb gatherer.
Could he be someone from the martial arts world?
While Xiao An was lost in thought, a flash of white suddenly passed before her eyes.
A rabbit hopped right past her.
Xiao An remained crouched and motionless.
Perhaps the rabbit thought she was a human-shaped stone and practically delivered itself right to her.
A flash of cold steel appeared.
The fish fork in Xiao An’s hand flew out and pierced straight through the rabbit’s belly.
The rabbit struggled helplessly for a few moments before collapsing motionless in the field.
That night, Xiao An caught three more wild rabbits with her fish fork.
When it reached the hour of Chou and no more rabbits appeared, she finally returned to her space to sleep.
After five days of work, the new bamboo house was finally completed.
The bamboo poles were packed tightly together, while the bottom sections were reinforced with stone walls more than a meter high, both inside and outside.
The stones weren’t placed haphazardly. They had been carefully arranged into neat, sturdy walls.
The exterior was coated with yellow mud until it was smooth. Xiao An had said there was no need to plaster the inside. The exposed bamboo, with its natural joints, actually looked more beautiful.
The roof was peaked, with a thick layer of dried grass laid over the bamboo and coated twice with yellow mud.
It wouldn’t leak during the summer rains and could withstand the cold winter winds.
Half of the house was used as a kitchen, with a stove built inside. On windy or rainy days, Xiao An wouldn’t have to cook outdoors anymore.
The other half was Xiao An’s living space. Zhao Guangxing had built a kang bed for her. There was plenty of firewood on the mountain, and sleeping on a heated kang would be much more comfortable.
The house was finished, but Xiao An still couldn’t move in yet. It was too damp and needed to dry completely.
Fortunately, she already had somewhere to stay, so she wasn’t in a hurry.
On the fifth day after the house was completed, another rainfall came.
The villagers were delighted and said that judging by the weather, this year might finally bring favorable weather and a good harvest.
However, refugees began appearing along the official road near Linshi Village.
They had all come from Yongzhou.
Not a single drop of rain had fallen there, and the imperial court still hadn’t distributed any disaster relief grain.
That day, Xiao An went to the county town.
The weather was getting hotter, and the original owner had only one set of clothes to change into. They were also old, and the original owner’s body had been thin and small.
Xiao An went to a clothing shop and bought two sets of clothes.
After leaving the clothing shop, she entered a tavern and ordered a bowl of noodles. She chose a seat in the corner and slowly ate.
In this world, time seemed to move much more slowly. There were no longer endless urgent matters demanding her attention.
At the table beside her, four men were drinking and chatting.
One of them said, “Have you heard? It still hasn’t rained in Yongzhou, and the imperial court still hasn’t sent anyone to provide disaster relief. Yongzhou is Prince Xuan Yuwen Xun’s fief. Aren’t they practically forcing him to rebel?”
Another man said, “The court isn’t providing disaster relief or allocating funds. I heard Yuwen Xun has already raised an army in response to the people’s wishes.”
The third man scoffed. “What do you mean, ‘in response to the people’s wishes’? If that’s really what the people wanted, why are so many families fleeing with everything they own and becoming refugees?”
The men leaned their heads together and even glanced at Xiao An, who was sitting in the corner.
They lowered their voices, clearly discussing things they didn’t want outsiders to hear.
After finishing her noodles, Xiao An left the tavern and asked around until she made her way to the area beneath the overpass.
The area beneath the overpass was where all kinds of people gathered. It was also one of the places where information spread most quickly.
Sure enough, it was bustling.
Many people were discussing Prince Xuan, Yuwen Xun.
From their conversations, Xiao An gradually pieced together the situation.
Prince Xuan Yuwen Xun was the emperor’s third son, and his biological mother was the empress.
As an imperial son born to the empress, his fief should not have been in such a remote and impoverished place as Yongzhou.
But the Crown Prince, Yuwen Lan, was Yuwen Xun’s biological elder brother and the person most wary of him.
Through Yuwen Lan’s arrangements, Yuwen Xun’s fief was not only far away from the capital, but Yongzhou was also remote and poor.
It seemed as though even Heaven was against him.
For several consecutive years, Yongzhou had suffered severe droughts.
The situation had become so bad that people were starving to death. Public resentment was enormous, and waves of refugees were fleeing Yongzhou.
Yuwen Xun had repeatedly submitted memorials requesting that the emperor send disaster relief, but every attempt had failed.
With nowhere else to turn, Yuwen Xun had raised an army and rebelled.
After learning all of this, Xiao An felt like she was about to cry.
Since crossing into this world, she had sold her house and broken off her engagement, bought seeds and planted melons, dug up ginseng and sold it for money to buy rice and flour, built a new bamboo house, and hunted rabbits to protect her melon fields.
She had solved one problem after another.
Her life was finally getting better.
Once autumn came, she planned to sell the other thirty-year-old ginseng root and open a small distillery.
Every night, she studied the brewing techniques her grandfather had taught her, and they were now firmly imprinted in her mind. All she needed to do was wait until autumn to harvest the corn.
Who could have imagined that at this critical moment, refugees from Yongzhou would begin arriving?
And Yongzhou wasn’t particularly far from Qixian County in Qizhou, where she lived.
A small group of refugees wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But if a large group arrived, her melons would be completely looted before they were even half ripe.
How could Xiao An not feel miserable?
Fortunately, she was naturally optimistic.
After feeling sad for a short while, she quickly recovered.
Having refugees and Prince Xuan raising an army were both matters she was better off knowing about sooner rather than later.
Knowing in advance meant she could prepare ahead of time.
After returning to the village, Xiao An went to the village head’s house.
The village head was squatting in the courtyard, building supports for the bean vines growing beside the low wall so they could climb upward.
When he saw Xiao An arrive, he put down his work and invited her inside.
Sitting on the edge of the kang, Xiao An voiced the concern in her heart.
“What if the refugees come to rob our grain when autumn arrives?”
The village head sighed.
“Everyone in the village has been anxious these past few days. We’re all afraid something like that will happen.”
Xiao An said, “Those refugees have fled their homes because they’re starving. Under the pressure of survival, they’ll dare to fight and steal.
“Shouldn’t we think of a way to protect ourselves in advance?”