July, the sun was already at its most scorching, and it hadn’t rained for over two months. It’s unbearable to even consider going outside, and it’s suffocatingly hot indoors.
Mingzhu has now moved to a cooler room. But even so, each day is a tornt for her.
Mingzhu wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief: "Nanny Zhou, when will these days co to an end! I’ve heard that in so places, people have already died of thirst." Luckily, her two sons had returned to the Capital City, otherwise, she would be worried sick!
Nanny Zhou, who had been through a lot, was sent by the Empress Dowager to Mingzhu: "Madam, the most important thing for you now is to focus on caring for the pregnancy and not worry about other things." The problem is, the more Mingzhu worries, the more uncomfortable she becos, only adding to the burden on the Old Master and their people, with no use at all.
Mingzhu murmured: "I wonder how things are in the Capital City?" Sigh, this child arrived at a very coincidental ti; if it was later, she could have returned to the Capital City with them. In the Capital City, she has her family to take care of her and wouldn’t be a hindrance to her husband here.
Mingzhu stroked her belly, secretly thinking to herself, this child must be a girl. From pregnancy to now, the child has been very well-behaved, completely different from the feeling of her previous two pregnancies.
In the evening, when Niu Yanghui returned, Mingzhu was just preparing for dinner. Niu Yanghui shook his head and said: "I have sothing else, I’ll change clothes and go out."
Seeing Niu Yanghui’s unpleasant expression, Mingzhu was taken aback and asked, "Husband, what’s wrong? What happened?"
Niu Yanghui smiled and said: "It’s nothing, you know the Yan is very busy now, everyone is swamped. You stay at ho and take good care of yourself, I probably won’t be back tonight."
After seeing Niu Yanghui off, Mingzhu quickly sent soone out to gather information. The next day, upon hearing the news, Mingzhu’s face changed dramatically: "An epidemic? An epidemic has broken out?"
The steward delivering the news said: "Madam, don’t worry, the place where the problem occurred is not Suzhou, it’s a neighboring province. The Old Master and other officials are discussing counterasures." The situation in Suzhou is relatively good; after all, there is a river nearby. Although the river water is dwindling, there’s no worry about lacking drinking water, and there are generous individuals in Suzhou City distributing porridge. Although it can’t fill people up, it prevents starvation. Because of this, many people from neighboring provinces have fled to Suzhou City. But now, with an epidemic outside, this issue has escalated.
Nanny Zhou did not prevent Mingzhu from inquiring about such news because she felt that given the current situation outside, they couldn’t let Mingzhu be completely oblivious to everything. And now that there’s an epidemic outside, although it’s so distance from Suzhou, they still need to be cautious.
Nanny Zhou instructed the servants to close the doors tightly and not allow people to enter or exit freely. Because Mingzhu believed what Yueyao had said and knew there might be a drought, she bought a lot of grain and supplies a few months ago. There’s no imdiate concern about daily necessities for the ti being. Now, the only worry is that the epidemic must not spread into Suzhou City.
Mingzhu muttered to herself: "I should have asked Yueyao more questions back then."
Nanny Zhou’s eyelids twitched. The two masters had urged them to buy more grain for so ti, which puzzled her. Now that Madam suddenly said this, Nanny Zhou couldn’t help but think more: "Madam, what are you talking about?"
Mingzhu realized she had misspoken and covered it up by saying: "I was saying that if I had known things would be like this here, I should have gone back to the Capital City with Yueyao."
Nanny Zhou didn’t want to think too deeply about it. Since the Empress Dowager put her by Mingzhu’s side, her life and death were tied to Mingzhu: "As long as we are careful, nothing will happen to you, Madam."
The Yueyao that Mingzhu was talking about was also busy at this ti. Even though it had rained in the Capital City over the past couple of months, it wasn’t enough, and crops had decreased. Yueyao had exempted the tenants from rent under her na, but even so, many tenant farrs were still living with difficulty.
Due to the drought, grain prices in the Capital City had risen rapidly over the past two months; the current grain price is more than double that of April.
Yueyao was bewildered: "Why doesn’t the Imperial Court release grain to sell at a fair price?"
Xiang Wei chuckled: "If the Imperial Court hadn’t intervened, do you think the grain prices would only be this much? They would at least be several tis higher." Xiang Wei believed the Emperor was shrewd; the grain price being more than double, although high, was still bearable for many people. The Emperor’s actions temporarily stabilized the Capital City and avoided losses for himself.
Yueyao didn’t continue to discuss the grain issue with Xiang Wei, but said: "I still have a lot stored in the manor, what if soone gets wind of it and cos to seize the grain?" Yueyao ant that the grain needed to be dealt with.
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