Chapter 3: The Outbreak of War

Xu Nian sighed deeply and pushed her bowl in front of Wang Zhen. She took Wang Zhen’s bowl of porridge and said, “I have no appetite, Grandma, please finish my bowl so it doesn’t go to waste.”

Wang Zhen felt a sweetness in her heart. Since Xu Nian woke up, she had been especially close to her. Wang Zhen then gave a glare to her two sons, thinking that her granddaughter was far more sensible and filial than they were.

It’s always the comparison that stings. What she hadn’t noticed before now felt so obvious: Xu Nian’s actions these past few days seemed so much more considerate and filial.

Xu Fugui and Xu Youliang were eating heartily, completely unaware of the resentment from their own mother.

“Wei’an will be back tomorrow, right? Make sure he goes to the town to meet his elder brother.” Xu Ren, the patriarch of the family, put down his chopsticks and spoke.

Wang Zhen nodded in acknowledgment.

“I wonder how Yaozu did on the exam? If he passes and becomes a scholar, our family’s future will be secure.”

Once Wang Zhen’s words fell, the room grew quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Two years ago, Xu Ren had left his fabric shop and now worked the fields alongside his two sons. Although the family still had some savings, with so many children, Wang Zhen had to calculate every expense carefully.

Moreover, if Xu Yaozu passed the exam this time, Xu Ren was also considering sending the grandchildren to study.

Having seen the world, Xu Ren understood that for people like them, common folk with no background, only the imperial examination could change their fate.

The next day, Xu Nian met her returning younger uncle. Unlike her second and third uncles, who were honest and simple men, this younger uncle was clearly a sly, sharp-eyed young man.

Xu Nian awkwardly greeted him as “little uncle” as the younger children did. Xu Wei’an was busy preparing to meet Xu Yaozu, so he didn’t notice that Xu Nian seemed different from before.

On the first day, Xu Wei’an did not meet Xu Yaozu.

The second day was the same.

The third day…

Finally, when the Xu family was on the edge of losing patience, Xu Wei’an arrived, bringing a weary Xu Yaozu back home.

This was the first time Xu Nian had seen the father of her new body, and he was much different from what she had imagined. Xu Yaozu was tall and strong, and had he not been wearing scholar’s robes, you would never have guessed he was an academic.

Before the Xu family could relax, Xu Yaozu delivered some bad news.

“What did you say? They’re coming to attack us?” Xu Ren asked in shock.

Xu Yaozu explained in detail the news he had heard in the capital, and the whole family understood the gravity of the situation. Xu Ren immediately took Xu Yaozu to the village head’s house.

The rest of the Xu family was stunned, their faces filled with worry.

Although Xu Nian had never experienced war, she had seen the brutality of modern warfare through the internet in her own time.

And this was in an era where human lives were considered cheap in ancient times.

Xu Nian gathered the information Xu Yaozu had just shared and slowly pieced together the situation. She came to understand the world she was in.

In this world, there were five countries coexisting. Xu Nian was in the prosperous Sheng Dynasty, which had the largest and most fertile land. It was the most powerful of the five. To the north of Sheng Dynasty was the Mo Bei region, which, while large, had poor farmland, so its people relied on animal husbandry.

Due to a food shortage, Mo Bei and Sheng Dynasty had maintained trade relations, and for many years, they had lived in relative peace.

The other three countries were Liyue to the east, Yan Yang to the south, and Yun Lan to the west.

The countries attacking Sheng Dynasty were Yan Yang and Yun Lan.

Yan Yang was known for its weapon manufacturing but had small land with scarce mineral resources. In recent years, it had been in conflict with Sheng Dynasty.

Meanwhile, the current ruler of Sheng Dynasty promoted benevolent governance. Since his reign, he had focused on civil affairs while suppressing the military.

As a result, the army of Sheng Dynasty was no longer the formidable force it had been decades ago.

According to Xu Yaozu, the armies of Yan Yang and Yun Lan had already taken two cities and were about to approach Yang City. Beyond Yang City was Qingyun City, which governed Dahe Village.

There were already refugees fleeing toward Qingyun City.

The more Xu Nian thought about it, the more despondent she became. She had already accepted her identity and planned to live a good life, but now, just as things were starting to settle, war had broken out again.

She looked up at the sky and silently extended her middle finger.

“In my past life, did I dig up your ancestors’ graves, Heavenly Father…”

Xu Nian vented all her frustrations from these past few days with a string of curses, immediately feeling much more refreshed.

However, when she looked up, her little brother, Xu Cai, had taken a few steps back, clearly frightened. He quickly turned around to find their mother.

He was going to tell his mother that his big sister was not just silly, but also crazy.

No matter how much Xu Nian felt wronged inside, when Xu Ren came back from the village chief’s house, he announced the village chief’s decision: anyone willing to go north would leave tomorrow.

As soon as Xu Ren finished speaking, Wang Zhen immediately started organizing the preparations with her three daughters-in-law.

Xu Ren also got a few of his sons to start sawing wood to make hand carts.

The children didn’t understand what it meant for an army to be coming, but they knew they were about to leave their home.

The youngest, Xu Cai and Xu Ling, had already started crying.

Xu Nian, not being a small child, first comforted the two younger ones before turning to Xu Ji.

“You’re the oldest here, take care of your younger siblings. I’ll help Grandma.”

Xu Ji nodded in understanding.

Xu Nian found Wang Zhen.

“Grandma, is there anything I can do to help?”

Although Wang Zhen appeared to be in charge and working efficiently, her heart was already in a chaotic state.

When she saw her granddaughter approaching, she didn’t say much and simply gestured vaguely to a place to continue her task.

Xu Nian twitched her mouth when she saw the spot Wang Zhen indicated. It was better for her to handle things herself.

Since they were fleeing from the chaos, they couldn’t carry big packages, and at this moment, she really wanted to curse the heavens again. If only her space came with her, she wouldn’t need to worry about this and that.

Seeing how haphazardly Wang Zhen and the others were packing, Xu Nian realized it wasn’t a solution. Her second aunt seemed to want to pull up all the vegetables from the field and take them with them.

Knowing she was young and her words might be ignored, Xu Nian went to find Xu Yaozu.

“Dad, I heard we’re fleeing from danger, but do we have enough to carry? Will we be able to travel far?”

Since Xu Yaozu returned, he had been busy and hadn’t paid much attention to his children.

Seeing his usually silent daughter offering advice for once, Xu Yaozu smiled and said, “Of course, we can’t carry everything. Food and warm clothes are the necessities.”

After some persuasion from Xu Yaozu and Xu Ren, Wang Zhen and the others began to unpack the extra items from their bundles.

By the time dusk arrived, they had finally packed everything, and dinner was hastily thrown together.

Wang Zhen brought out the oil lamp and, with the three daughters-in-law, began preparing dry rations for the journey.

They were fleeing for their lives, not going on a sightseeing trip, so they wouldn’t be able to cook on the road and needed to prepare food in advance.

At that moment, Wang Zhen couldn’t help but regret. If she had known it would be this difficult, she wouldn’t have sold all the grain. Who knew how long these supplies would last?

It wasn’t until late into the night that the four women had finally turned all the family’s grain into dry provisions.

Tian Shi, seeing that Xu Nian was starting to doze off, said with concern, “Nian’er, go back to your room and sleep.”

Xu Nian rubbed her eyes and, seeing that everything was done, extinguished the fire and swayed back to her room, collapsing into bed and falling fast asleep.