Qingzhou.
To prove that she truly possessed the ability to foresee the future, Lin Wanwan told Lin Wufeng about two major events that were about to happen in the city.
The first was that the city’s number-one restaurant was suddenly put up for sale at a ridiculously low price and transferred to the pawnshop owned by their third brother, Lin Wuchong.
The Lin family knew that the restaurant actually belonged to a favored imperial concubine as private property.
Even the Lin family, the number-one clan in Qingzhou, wouldn’t dare compete with the restaurant for business.
A business that profitable being sold off so suddenly had to be hiding something.
The second was that the county government posted a notice announcing an increase in taxes for everyone across the prefecture.
The entire northern border was suffering from a severe drought. The summer harvest had yielded nothing, yet instead of providing disaster relief, the imperial court was demanding even more grain from the common people.
That alone revealed that something was seriously wrong.
If only Qingzhou weren’t so far from the capital.
Lin Wufeng’s second brother, who served as an official at court, still hadn’t sent back any news.
Lin Wufeng was so anxious that he could barely sit still.
Sure enough.
The very next day, both matters were confirmed.
At this point, Lin Wufeng was about fifty percent convinced that Lin Wanwan really could foresee the future.
There wasn’t much time left for the Lin family to make preparations.
He immediately ordered his third brother, Lin Wuchong, to sell off the number-one restaurant and several other less profitable businesses at low prices in exchange for cash and banknotes.
Lin Wufeng had originally owned quite a lot of fixed assets as well, but unfortunately, the deeds to those properties and farmland had all been stolen by the thieves.
Even though the authorities knew those properties belonged to him, without the proper documents and complete paperwork, he couldn’t sell them and turn them into cash.
At the same time, he borrowed a large sum of silver from his third brother to keep things running and sent people to quietly purchase as much grain as possible in Qingzhou and the surrounding prefectures.
The illicit businesses under Lin Wuchong’s control all had powerful people backing them. He wouldn’t dare let word spread that he had lent his eldest brother such a huge sum of money without even charging interest.
Nor did he dare let his elder brother make these purchases under the Lin family’s name.
In just five days, mysterious buyers had purchased part of the grain stocks held by major grain shops and merchants, paying high prices.
And it wasn’t just grain.
As long as it was food or cooking ingredients that could be bought, the Lin family didn’t let any of it slip through their fingers.
But the Lin family had no idea what their actions were causing.
They had gone too far, buying up virtually all the grain on the market.
As a result, grain prices skyrocketed once again.
It wasn’t just that ordinary people couldn’t afford to buy grain.
Even those who had money couldn’t find anything to buy.
Unseen by the Lin family, countless people who should never have died began starving to death.
A terrifying uprising was quietly taking shape.
***
Peach Blossom Village.
As soon as Shen Shuli and Shen Yuehua entered the village, they saw Su Ping’an running toward them.
“Mom, um… Dad told me to wait here for you. He said that if you didn’t come back tonight, I was supposed to go to Grandfather’s house and bring you home tomorrow morning.”
Su Ping’an scratched his head with a silly grin.
Shen Yuehua knew that her son was still somewhat uncomfortable around his younger sister, so she didn’t force him to interact with her.
“When did you get back?”
“We got back around noon.”
“Why so early?” Shen Yuehua asked in surprise.
“Ah, something unexpected happened. We went to three different county towns and only managed to buy a little over eight hundred jin of grain. We heard that a wealthy family in Qingzhou was buying grain from every county at high prices. They didn’t even spare the towns.”
“Luckily, we’d already set out yesterday and managed to buy some. If we’d been even one day later, we wouldn’t have been able to buy so much as a single dou of grain!”
Thinking about how desolate the county towns had looked, Su Ping’an couldn’t help feeling relieved.
Thankfully, his younger sister had brought back the news in time. Otherwise, they might have had to go hungry in the days ahead.
“Now you understand how important the news your sister Ah-Li brought back was, right? By the way, where’s your father?”
Shen Yuehua looked around the house but didn’t see her husband.
“Oh, he went out to ask around and see which families are planning to leave with us.”
Shen Yuehua nodded.
“Then hurry up and get your brothers to finish packing. We’re leaving first thing the day after tomorrow.”
“Got it, Mom.”
After spending the entire day at the Shen family home, Shen Shuli hadn’t forgotten to use her spiritual spring water. The bruises on her face had already healed considerably.
Only two or three spots were still slightly bruised and swollen, making her face look a little unsightly.
Another day or two, and she would be completely recovered.
“You two little bastards! Just wait until I break your legs!”
Su Yunhai’s booming voice echoed throughout Peach Blossom Village.
Shen Shuli was startled. Her usually gentle and courteous father had to be furious to be shouting like this.
His voice was loud enough to shake the heavens.
Curious, she hurried outside to see what was going on.
She saw Su Yunhai chasing two wayward sons all over the village.
Su Chang’an and Su Ding’an had split up and were running in opposite directions. Su Yunhai could only chase the elder son, Su Chang’an, whose physical condition was the worse of the two.
“Su Chang’an! Stop right there!”
“Dad! Dad! Dad! Don’t hit me anymore! I’m a scholar, you know! At least leave me some dignity!”
Su Chang’an was kicked to the ground by Su Yunhai and couldn’t get back up for quite some time.
Su Ding’an had already disappeared without a trace.
Su Yunhai didn’t bother chasing him. Sooner or later, the boy would have to come home. Where could he possibly run to?
Shen Shuli and Shen Yuehua exchanged a glance before walking over to Su Yunhai.
“Dad, what happened? Why are you so angry?” Shen Shuli asked with concern.
Su Yunhai still had one foot planted firmly on Su Chang’an’s backside, his face dark with fury.
“These two good-for-nothing sons have been going around the village stirring people up, telling everyone not to listen to us or flee the famine with us. They’ve even spread rumors and slandered you, trying to ruin your reputation!”
“I came back today intending to have another serious talk with the families who were unwilling to leave. But every single one of them had already made up their minds. No matter how much I tried to persuade them, they refused to go.”
“Those two idiots are going to get so many villagers killed! How could I not be angry?”
Shen Shuli sighed.
Things had been going quite smoothly.
The villagers who had gone out to buy grain with Su Yunhai had seen the situation outside. Once they returned and explained everything to the others, they should have been able to convince most of them.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t counted on these two troublemakers getting in the way.
They absolutely deserved this beating.
“All right, Dad. Don’t be angry. You can’t reason with people who are determined to walk into disaster. Let’s stop trying to save everyone and respect their choices.”
“Rumble…”
As she spoke, Shen Shuli faintly heard a deep rumbling sound in the distance, as though the pounding of countless horse hooves were gradually drawing closer.
She frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Su Yunhai.
Neither of them liked what they were hearing.
“Mom, hurry back and lock all the doors and windows. We’ll go take a look at the village entrance!”
With that, father and daughter quickly ran toward the village entrance.
At the far end of the main road outside the village, clouds of dust billowed into the sky, blotting out the horizon.
Shen Shuli immediately took a military binoculars from her spatial storage.
They had a maximum range of five kilometers.
Through the dust, she could make out a group of horse bandits riding large horses and wielding broad sabers. Their faces were fierce and murderous.
The horse bandits were less than three kilometers from Peach Blossom Village.
She immediately handed the binoculars to Su Yunhai and said quickly,
“Dad, this is bad! They’re horse bandits! There are at least twenty or thirty of them, and every one of them has a saber! They’re probably heading straight for the village!”
“How could horse bandits suddenly appear here? Hurry back and tell everyone to hide. I’ll guard the village!”
Su Yunhai immediately grabbed Shen Shuli and ran back with her.
These horse bandits were all trained fighters. The two of them alone couldn’t possibly handle them.
“Dad, I have some replica ancient bows and arrows here. They’re much more powerful than the ordinary bows and arrows used around here. If things get really bad, use the gun! Don’t worry about exposing it. Staying alive comes first!”
“Thanks, sweetheart!”
Su Yunhai grabbed a copper basin from the house and ran through the entire village, banging on it as loudly as he could.
“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”
The ringing of the makeshift alarm echoed through the village.
“Horse bandits are coming! Horse bandits are coming!”
“All able-bodied men, grab your weapons and get to the village entrance! We have to work together to defend the village!”
“Don’t think you can stay safe by hiding inside your houses!”
“Once the horse bandits break in, all we’ll be able to do is wait for death!”
Su Yunhai’s thunderous voice quickly spread throughout the entire Peach Blossom Village.
As soon as the old village chief heard the warning, he immediately ordered his son to climb a tree and take a look.
When Li Rui saw the large group of horse bandits already approaching the village entrance, his entire body went stiff with fear.
“Dad, the horse bandits are really here!”
“Quick! Organize the able-bodied men and have them defend the village together. We can’t let Scholar Su face them alone!”
“Got it, Dad!”