Chapter 84: People's Livelihood is Difficult
"Thank you, Brother Xiyan." Sun Rulan bowed with gratitude.
Meng Xiyan quickly helped him up: "You don't need to be so polite, be careful not to tear the wound."
Afterwards, Sun Rulan shyly asked to stay at the General's Mansion: "I am weak and frail, and I am worried that the assassin is still determined and will try to kill me again."
This reason made it difficult for Meng Xiyan to refuse. He couldn't just watch Guan's brother-in-law take risks.
He had no choice but to agree and asked someone to clean up the best guest house for him to live in.
Aunt Ya, who was standing by, poked Meng Chifei and reminded her, "Hurry up and go up to greet her."
Meng Chifei was confused: "Who is he?"
Aunt Ya almost fell over in anger.
He stepped forward and whispered, "Sun Rulan, your fiancé."
Meng Chifei's eyes widened instantly.
When she looked at Sun Rulan again, there was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
It turns out that this is the man I want to marry.
She couldn't help but look at him carefully.
Thick eyebrows, straight nose, phoenix eyes and thin lips.
He is not as handsome as his brother, but he is still good-looking.
He's just a little thin.
But it doesn't matter.
After they get married, she will teach him boxing, and his health will naturally get better.
Thinking of this, she stepped forward and saluted gracefully.
Sun Rulan quickly returned the greeting, not daring to look directly at Meng Chifei.
In fact, it was just a way to hide the disgust in his eyes that he couldn't hide in time.
The way Meng Chifei looked at him just now was as if he was looking at goods.
**
The Wen Yan couple had a safe journey and returned to the village after dark.
The village was quiet and the villagers had almost gone to bed.
Wen Yan's house was also pitch black.
Everyone at home should be asleep.
The gate was locked from the inside.
Ying Zhilin directly climbed over the wall into the yard, opened the door from the inside, and let Wen Yan in.
"Miss?" A sudden voice called out.
Judging from the voices, it wasn't Hui Niang and Pei'er.
Immediately afterwards, a fire starter was lit under the eaves.
It was Su He.
"Really, Miss? Why are you back at this hour?" Su He hurried to help her.
Wen Yan asked her, "Why are you here?"
Su He said, "Uncle Lin and I came here together."
"Uncle Lin is back? How come so soon!" Uncle Lin and Uncle Hu were sent by her to Jinyang Prefecture to investigate the drought situation.
Wen Yan asked them to stay there for two months to investigate the matter thoroughly.
It's only been a month and Uncle Lin is back.
It seems that the drought in Jinyang Prefecture is much more serious than she expected.
"Where is Uncle Lin? Take me to see him quickly." Wen Yan couldn't wait to know the situation over there.
"Miss, Uncle Lin is at Aunt Liu's house and has already gone to bed." Su He reminded her, "It's getting late now, you should eat something, wash up and rest first.
No matter how big the matter is, it’s not too late to talk about it tomorrow after you’ve rested up enough.”
Wen Yan then remembered how tired and miserable he was.
There is no rush at this moment.
What's more, if I don't rest, Uncle Lin will also need to rest.
She then said, "Okay, ask him to come over tomorrow morning. I want to see him."
Wen Yan followed his words and went back to the house to change clothes, eat and rest.
Maybe it's because I'm back in a familiar environment and feel safe.
She fell asleep almost touching the pillow.
However, before falling asleep, she still called Ying Zhilin's name in a daze.
Ying Zhilin had just laid down. Upon hearing this, he turned around and faced her.
"Don't go to the academy tomorrow. I have something to tell you..."
She fell asleep before she finished the second half of the sentence.
Ying Zhilin smiled helplessly, carefully tucked in the corners of her quilt, and straightened out the loose hair around her ears.
Looking at her sweet sleeping face, Ying Zhilin also felt sleepy and fell asleep peacefully.
No words were spoken that night.
Wen Yan was awakened by the sound of people working outside.
She stretched and felt relaxed all over.
I slept so comfortably last night!
She rolled around in bed a few times before getting dressed and getting up.
Su He had been guarding outside the door. When he heard the noise inside, he immediately pushed the door open and came in: "Miss, are you awake? I'll help you wash up."
Wen Yan knew she was uneasy, so she let her do it and just asked, "Is Uncle Lin here?"
"I'm already here, waiting in the yard."
Wen Yan asked about Ying Zhilin again.
I know he is reading in the study.
She quickened her washing speed.
Wen Yan didn’t have time to eat breakfast and went to see Uncle Lin first.
Uncle Lin has become much darker and thinner.
He sat against the wall, staring at his toes in a daze.
Ying Zhilin was sitting by the window in his study, reading, feeling calm and relaxed.
Uncle Lin stood up immediately when he heard the door open.
"Uncle Lin, you've worked hard. Let's go to the study and talk." Wen Yan greeted.
Su He then made a gesture of invitation.
The two of them came to the study one after another.
Ying Zhilin looked at her with a smile: "Did you sleep well last night?"
Wen Yan smiled and replied, "Very good. I even dreamed that I opened a shop specializing in selling sesame cakes."
She was really tired of eating sesame cakes after eating them for two or three days.
When Su He was pouring tea for the three of them, Ying Zhilin went out.
When he came back, he had a tray in his hand.
On the tray was a bowl of porridge and a dish of side dishes: "Eat something first to fill your stomach."
It wouldn't be a big deal to eat later, so why was he so considerate? It made her reluctant to let him die earlier.
Wen Yan looked at him with amusement: "Where did you learn these ways of taking care of people?"
"Of course I learned it from my mother. That's how she took care of my father."
In Ying Zhilin's eyes, this is the most common way of getting along between husband and wife.
Wen Yan's cheeks felt slightly hot.
She immediately changed the subject: "Uncle Lin, please tell me about the situation in Jinyang Prefecture first."
"Your uncle Tian and I have compiled the situation over there into a booklet." As he said that, he stood up and handed the booklet over.
Ying Zhilin took the booklet and said to Wen Yan, "Eat first, and I'll read it to you."
"good."
She was indeed a little hungry.
The disaster in Jinyang Prefecture was much more serious than Wen Yan had expected.
Jinyang Prefecture has been experiencing drought since the year before last.
But it's just a minor drought.
Although water is scarce, it's still manageable.
Unexpectedly, the situation is getting worse every year.
Last year's drought caused a significant reduction in grain production in Jinyang Prefecture.
Production in most areas has dropped by 30%, while in a small number of areas it has dropped by half.
This year's drought is even more severe.
Since the beginning of the year, not a drop of rain has fallen.
All the streams and rivers have dried up, and the water levels of the big rivers have also dropped a lot.
In many villages, villagers have difficulty getting water, let alone using it to grow crops.
In many places, the crops planted have sprouted only sparsely, and this year's harvest may not even reach 30%.
However, these natural disasters were not fatal.
Even more deadly are man-made disasters.
Lord Lan, the prefect of Jinyang, unexpectedly cut off the water flow and imposed forced labor at this time.
The hungry people are forced to clean the riverbed silt and raise the river embankment on an empty stomach.
According to the information obtained by Uncle Lin and others.
Magistrate Lan said that the rain will fall one day.
Taking advantage of the low water level to tidy up the riverbed and riverbank will be a major political achievement in the future, which will help him get promoted and return to Beijing to serve as an official.
But this is not the best part.
The most amazing thing is.
The grain sales points set up by the government sold miscellaneous grains at a price as high as 2,700 wen per stone, which means about 26 wen per pound of miscellaneous grains.
The price has more than doubled.
The people who suffered a reduction in production last year did not pay any less in grain taxes. The farmers have no surplus grain at all. Now they cannot afford the exorbitantly priced grain and have to perform labor service while hungry.
People die in the river every day.
It’s not because of long-term hunger that he died of exhaustion and weakness.
Because his family was poor and he couldn't afford food, he starved to death.
Now the entire Jinyang Prefecture is filled with complaints and the people are living in misery.
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