Gu Qing hadn't even left the courtyard when he heard Gu Fei shout, and he quickly turned and went back inside.
With a grunt of effort, Gu Fei pulled out a few taels of broken silver from under her pillow. "Big Brother, I know the family's out of money. This is what I've managed to save. Take it and buy some grain for now."
Gu Qing took the silver in amazement. 'Was she hiding this in her shoes or something? These pieces are so big, they must have been digging into her feet something awful.'
Gu Fei added, "I have to ask you another favor, Big Brother. When you get into the city, please find out for me if the women of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion are still in prison."
She was worried the Second Miss might be exiled.
Gu Qing nodded. "I'm heading to the government office anyway. I'll be sure to ask around carefully."
Gu Qing took the silver and left. The father and son then hurried on their way to the city.
A short while later, Li Chunhua came in holding Little Cao, followed by a woman with a young boy.
Gu Fei propped herself up and smiled at the woman. "Auntie."
This woman was Ms. Li, the wife of her younger paternal uncle. She was also Li Chunhua's paternal aunt and had been the one to arrange the marriage between Gu Qing and Li Chunhua.
The young boy was Ms. Li's son, Hu Zi, who was seven years old.
Ms. Li was carrying a dozen or so eggs. She placed them at the head of the kang bed. "I heard you were back. We don't have much else, but we had a few eggs saved up. These are for you, to help you get your strength back."
"Thank you, Auntie. How is everyone at home?" Gu Fei asked, studying Ms. Li as she spoke. She hadn't seen her in eight years. Ms. Li looked much older, her face etched with worry and hardship.
Ms. Li sighed. "Ai... How could things be good? This year's harvest is a disaster. Not a single drop of rain has fallen since spring began. We didn't get a single grain from the summer harvest, and now we can't even sow the autumn seeds. What is our family going to eat?!"
Li Chunhua, holding Little Cao, sighed as well. "It's true. I heard several families from the next village have already fled the famine. There's no other way. With nothing to eat, you can't just stay home and starve to death."
'Our family used to have some savings,' Li Chunhua thought, 'but we spent everything to bail out my sister-in-law. I have no idea how we're going to survive the days ahead.'
The two women sighed in shared misery.
Gu Fei's heart went cold as she listened. She suddenly remembered the history book she had frantically crammed for back when she took her college entrance exams. 'In XXXX A.D., a great drought struck the five northern commanderies. The drought lasted for three years, and not a single grain was harvested in the entire north. As a result, nine out of ten homes stood empty, and the land was littered with the bodies of the starved. Tree bark, grass roots, field mice, insects—everything edible was consumed. In the end, with no other choice, people turned to cannibalism.'
'There were men who ate their own wives, parents who ate their own sons, and people who carved flesh directly from corpses. The number of women and children sold south by human traffickers was immeasurable.'
'So many died that there was no one to bury the bodies. The decaying corpses bred disease and sparked a plague. In the end, the entire north became a living hell.'
Gu Fei knew from her memories that the current year was the third year of Jia You of the Da Ying Dynasty. And Jia You was the reign title of the very last emperor of the Da Ying Dynasty!
'Based on the year the Da Ying Dynasty fell, doesn't that mean this year is right around XXXX A.D.?'
'The three-year drought... it's starting now?'
Gu Fei's heart seized with terror. She scrambled to recall more from her history book. 'The reigning emperor is known to history as Emperor Ai. Following the great drought in the third year of Jia You, the people of the Northern Land were plunged into misery. The central government gradually lost its grip on the regions, Vassal Kings carved out their own domains and warred endlessly, and the entire Nine Provinces descended into a century-long period of turmoil.'
'Oh my god, how did I end up transmigrating into this era?' Gu Fei suddenly felt that she was completely screwed.
'What do I do? What do I do?'