Chapter 339

Li Changlin’s return, especially injured and stumbling, caused a great stir in Shanshui Village!

He was the eldest grandson of the village elder, and Fan Jin had once said he was a promising student. After discussing it with the family, the village elder decided to support him fully in attending the government school in the prefecture city.

The government school was near the prefecture city, quite far away, so Li Changlin only came back during holidays. After the flood, the village elder deemed it unsafe for him to travel back and forth and advised him to stay at school. The family would send money and food whenever someone went to the city.

They had assumed that the wealthy students lived in their own homes, leaving only the poorer ones in the government school, which should have been safe. But who could have thought that even a humble school would be targeted by bandits!

Shuiqing, leading a group, quickly made their way to the scene.

Dani, Erni, Feng Da, Feng Er, Manku, Mancang, and others who had good relations with the village elder’s family, and were grateful for his care, hurried over to visit with a dozen eggs, even though they were not very familiar with Li Changlin.

The courtyard of the village elder’s house was packed with people. When the villagers saw Shuiqing arriving, they instinctively stepped aside to make way for her.

Aunt Zhang, anxious, said, “Shuiqing, go in and see how it is. Changlin said Prince Yan rebelled. What’s going on? How could he just suddenly rebel?”

Shuiqing thought to herself that it wasn’t sudden at all. Last year, there had been a push to reduce the power of the princes, with three being targeted each month. Some were exiled, some imprisoned, and one prince even died with his entire household to prove their innocence. Prince Yan’s rebellion was inevitable.

The other princes had been waiting for Prince Yan, holding a wait-and-see attitude. Now that he had rebelled, things would get even more chaotic.

“We’ve only enjoyed thirty-odd years of peace, and now it’s going to be chaotic again?” Grandma Xu said, her voice trembling with fear.

The younger generation might not know the horrors of chaos, but she had experienced it firsthand. It was better to be a dog in a time of peace than a person in a time of chaos. No matter how hard they worked for a year’s worth of grain, it could all be taken away. Even without natural disasters, they’d still end up digging for wild vegetables and eating bark, unable to find anything even if they begged.

The world must not fall into chaos.

The villagers looked at Shuiqing with hopeful eyes, as if she could bring back good news.

Shuiqing sighed. Even though she had been mentally prepared, it was still heavy when the day finally came.

She stepped inside.

Dani and the others quickly followed. Inside, Qin Yilin was already treating Li Changlin’s wounds.

The boy had a long wound on his left arm, with the flesh turned outward.

After cleaning and applying medicine, Qin Yilin finally breathed a sigh of relief. While skillfully bandaging the wound, she instructed, “Luckily, we bought a lot of hemostatic powder and skin-regenerating ointment last time we were in the city. And now that it’s winter, the wound is less likely to get infected. Just apply the ointment and re-bandage it daily. If you really can’t manage, I’ll come by for the first few days. If I’m unavailable, you can ask my husband or Jiajia.”

Changlin was only twelve or thirteen, the same age as many other kids in the village who weren’t as particular.

Wang Guifen’s tears fell as she repeatedly thanked Qin Yilin.

Li Wen, pacing nearby, quickly responded with a few “yeses” to Qin Yilin’s instructions.

The village elder and Li Wu and Li Qiang looked solemn.

Zhang Hui, relieved, asked with concern, “Changlin, are you hungry? Is there anything you want to eat? I can make you some poached eggs.”

Li Changlin clenched his teeth tightly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Hearing his aunt’s words, he shook his head and said, “Auntie, no need for so many eggs. Just some bread with pickles will do.”

He was always aware of his family’s situation. To support his studies, the whole family scrimped and saved. After the flood, their fields yielded nothing. Over the past six months, the money his father and Uncle Wu sent to the academy had only increased!

Certainly! Here’s the English translation of the text:

“Presumably, they were eating simple meals at home. How could he still manage to eat eggs seasoned only with coarse salt?

Zhang Hui did not argue. She turned and fetched seven or eight eggs from the storeroom to the kitchen.

In the past, the eggs at home were exchanged for salt and other goods. However, after following Shuiqing, they earned quite a bit of money, and with enough grain to not need to spend money buying it, they gradually kept all the eggs for eating, supplementing the family’s nutrition.

Changlin was in need of nutrition now.

Shuiqing and Li Dani and others handed the eggs they brought to Wang Guifen. Wang Guifen was about to decline when Shuiqing softly persuaded, ‘Take them. The child has lost much blood and needs to be well-nourished. We happen to have plenty of eggs at home, so take them, it’s no trouble.’

Tears welled up in Wang Guifen’s eyes again, choking back words. Shuiqing’s bamboo basket was lined with cloth, and she estimated it held at least eighty eggs!

This was extremely valuable for the village’s social interactions.

Behind her, Li Dani and others had ten or twenty eggs in each bamboo basket, which was considered very good in the village. She had wanted to refuse, but considering that if she refused Shuiqing’s offer but accepted only from Li Dani’s family, it would seem like she was looking down on them.

Thinking about how each of their families raised chickens, ducks, and geese, these eggs shouldn’t affect their livelihoods. Thus, with heartfelt gratitude, she accepted them all.

After Li Dani and the others handed out the eggs, they all breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that Sister Guifen might disdain them as servants and refuse their eggs!

After Qin Yilin finished bandaging, she waved her hand signaling, ‘Let’s go out first. It’s too crowded in here to breathe properly.’

Everyone hurried to the main hall, leaving only Li Wen and Wang Guifen to tend to matters in the room.

In the hall, the old village chief sighed heavily, ‘Who would’ve thought Prince Yan would rebel again.’

Qin Yilin remained silent.

It was fine if the late Emperor’s Crown Prince died. It was absolutely not fine when the Crown Prince’s direct grandson also died. The late Emperor had to let the Crown Prince’s bloodline inherit the throne, so he paved the way for the new Emperor, who was just a son of the Crown Prince. Afraid that he couldn’t control the situation, he massacred many deserving military leaders.

He selected many civilian officials to educate the new Emperor, who were loyal in their words but inept in battle.

Seeking quick success and instant benefits, they rushed the process. Now it had turned out, following the late Emperor’s conquests, that Prince Yan was a real warrior who fought through seas of blood and mountains of corpses. One had real strength, and the other had the legitimacy of rule, making this war truly waged.

To tell the truth, she really didn’t care who won or lost, because no matter who won or lost, it was the world of the old family, which was rotting in the pot. It was just that it was a bitter time for ordinary people!

The longer the time, the harder it was for the people.

She preferred the two sides to be so unevenly matched that they could immediately determine the outcome!

Shuiqing belonged to a group of people who knew the answer in advance, and seeing the low spirits, she changed the subject and asked, ‘How did Changlin get injured?’

‘We haven’t been to the capital city in this period, so we don’t know,’ Wang Guifen said. ‘Changlin said the news of Prince Yan’s rebellion came a few days ago. The capital city became even more chaotic, and the official school intended to close its doors. But before it could announce it, a group of dozens of bandits attacked the official school!'”