The original owner still felt lingering fear whenever they recalled the great massacre of the 20th year of Jingtai.

Even Qiao Xin, who had witnessed countless deaths, felt uncomfortable revisiting those memories.

That year, the original owner and their father planned to sell furs in the capital.

Passing through Jiangcheng, they heard that the last emperor was touring the area.

Since many high-ranking officials and nobles were gathered there, they thought it might be a good opportunity to sell their furs at a high price.

They weren’t the only ones with that idea—many other small merchants and peddlers thought the same.

As a result, Xiaojiang City, originally built to accommodate only thirty to fifty thousand people, was suddenly overflowing with crowds, and prices skyrocketed.

Unable to afford an inn, the original owner and their father had no choice but to set up camp in Youzhi Mountain outside the city—something insignificant to them as hunters.

Yet, this very choice saved them from the fate of being massacred, though it also made them witnesses to the horrifying slaughter.

Seemingly out of nowhere, an invading force of foreigners breached the passes and directly entered the prosperous heart of the Jing Dynasty.

The last emperor fled without a fight, escaping Jiangcheng overnight.

Even more disgracefully, he took all the city’s defenders with him, leaving the citizens completely unprotected.

The noble families, officials’ households, and common people who were left behind suffered terribly.

For two consecutive days, Jiangcheng became a living hell—a scene of inhumane slaughter and pillaging. It wasn’t until the current emperor, then known as Prince Jing, led his troops to drive out the butchers that the carnage finally ended.

It was said that after this event, most noble households in the capital hung white mourning banners. For every family torn apart, there was someone who harbored deep hatred for the cowardly last emperor.

Qiao Xin’s voice remained calm and steady: “We found you all among the corpses.”

The original owner had never truly settled down in life.

Their relationship with their adoptive father was in name only.

That man, supposedly a bodyguard of Yun Ting, was severely injured when they rescued him.

He assumed a new identity and stayed for half a year to recover.

To provide his three sons with a legitimate status, he left behind a marriage certificate.

The moment he recovered, he departed to gather information and was never heard from again.

Before leaving, he entrusted them with some items, repeatedly instructing that they must never be revealed unless absolutely necessary.

“Later, the last emperor was dethroned, and chaos spread. Your grandfather and I had no choice but to take you into hiding, eventually settling in this secluded mountain village. Life was bitter, but at least we survived…”

Qiao Xin’s voice echoed in the dimly lit room.

The thrilling, dangerous escapes and years of hardship sounded almost trivial when she spoke about them.

Yet, as the three brothers, now responsible for their household, recalled those early years of fleeing for their lives, they could still feel the suffering.

In the side room, candlelight flickered.

Qiao Xin disliked the darkness—she wished she could light candles in every corner. But their household couldn’t afford such luxury.

Qiao Yunqing’s expression darkened. His adoptive mother had never told him about any of this before!

“Is Mother trying to send us away?” Qiao Yunqing’s eyelids lifted slightly, his voice hoarse as if it had rolled several times in his throat before being spoken.

Qiao Xin rubbed her aching forehead. “I’m not sending you away. You simply have the right to know. If one day, someone comes looking for you, you shouldn’t be caught off guard.”

“By the standards of noble families, children should never have been left in such a situation. When I found you, you were far from the main forces. Apart from the corpses of a few guards, there were no servants, wet nurses, or maids. I don’t know what kind of conspiracy lies behind this.”

“Now that the new emperor has ascended and the empire is stabilizing, opportunities are everywhere. But this place is too poor, too harsh, and too remote—it puts us at a disadvantage. I plan to move to a wealthier place.”

“Mother, are you really going to move?”

“Do we have a choice? Look at our situation! Aside from these few straw huts, what else do we have? The children are nearly starving! For years, the village hasn’t even granted us a single plot of land. We can barely rent a few fields. The villagers of Xiaoyao Village are too exclusionary. Aside from Doctor Zhao, who is grateful to your grandfather for saving his life, no one has ever truly accepted us.”

“We should try our luck in a big city. There will be more opportunities. I can’t let Da Niang, Yi Rui, and the children continue to suffer without enough to eat. Your grandfather and I were mistaken before—we thought hiding away here was enough. But as the saying goes, ‘The greatest concealment is among the people, the lesser concealment is in the wilderness.’”

Qiao Yunqing listened carefully and finally confirmed—this person before him was not his adoptive mother.

His adoptive mother had been a simple huntress—brave, literate, but absolutely incapable of speaking such profound reasoning.

Winter was approaching.

The Qiao family’s dilapidated straw hut would not survive the freezing cold.

Last year, the adults managed to endure, but Qiao Yunting’s youngest daughter did not.

If another heavy snow fell this year, the straw hut might collapse.

And if it crushed someone to death, their already tragic family would be left even more broken.

Looking at the clothes on both the adults and children, aside from Qiao Yunqing, who was dressed a little more decently, the rest of them were wearing ill-fitting clothes.

In the deep autumn, Qiao Yunxin and Qiao Yunting were only wearing vests.

Their clothes were so worn and dirty that they didn’t dare to wash them too hard for fear that they would fall apart.

Cold and hunger had always been the greatest challenges for humanity. For most people in the world, a lifetime of struggle was simply about getting enough to eat and staying warm.

She couldn’t do anything about it before, but this year, she absolutely wouldn’t allow anyone to die.

Qiao Xin fumbled along the edge of the wooden chest, and with a click, she opened a hidden compartment at the bottom. Inside lay a neat row of small silver ingots, each worth ten taels, a total of twenty pieces.

Qiao Yunxin and his two brothers were so shocked that they jumped to their feet.

Their mother had hidden this all along?

Even Qiao Yunqing had no idea about it. No wonder their foster mother had managed to bring Tai Ming safely to the capital despite their dire circumstances.

So that was the secret!

“This two hundred taels were left by your foster father during the war. I wouldn’t touch it unless it was absolutely necessary. But now, with the children starving and freezing, there’s no point in holding on to it any longer.”

Qiao Xin pushed the silver toward the three brothers. “Tomorrow, you will go to town and buy supplies for our journey. First, go to the pawnshop and get some warm second-hand clothes, buy plenty of food and meat, and also get an ox cart.”

Qiao Yunqing hesitated and asked tentatively, “Mother, where do you plan to go?”

Qiao Xin wasn’t very familiar with this world—there was no way she could know it better than the locals like Qiao Yunqing. Naturally, she would follow their lead.

“Anywhere is fine. You decide. Even if you want to go to the capital, I will go with you.”

“The war has lasted for years, and the population has sharply declined in many areas. Many places are now vast and sparsely populated. The new emperor wants to restore peace and prosperity, so he won’t stop people from relocating. Besides, those who can move toward the capital are usually not the poorest,” Qiao Yunqing explained.

As a scholar, he knew more about the situation than the average person.

Qiao Xin looked at him. “If you want to go to the capital, then that’s fine! Tomorrow, find out the details and get the travel permit. As for you, third son, go and bring your wife home tomorrow. Let her know about our move.”

Qiao Yunting turned his body away in defiance and said, “I’m not going! She can stay as long as she wants. If she doesn’t want to come back, I’ll just divorce her. Running back to her mother’s house over every little thing—why did she even get married in the first place?”

Hearing this, Qiao Xin became furious and reached for a broom on the kang bed. “You brat! What kind of nonsense are you saying? Didn’t you pick that wife yourself with your eyes wide open? Now that you have a child, you’re still throwing tantrums?”

“For the sake of Wuniang’s passing, you should be more considerate. She married into our family but hasn’t enjoyed any good fortune—only suffering. If you keep treating her this way, what’s the point of her staying with you? A wife needs to be coaxed, and you should speak to her sweetly. Will that kill you?”

Qiao Yunting fell silent, though he still looked unwilling.

What happened to Wuniang was an accident.

No one had wanted it to happen.

Besides, if they were being fair, his wife was mostly at fault—she insisted on taking their infant child back to her parents’ house in the middle of winter.

And what happened?

The child caught a cold, and that single illness took his daughter’s life.

He hadn’t even blamed her, but she had the audacity to cry, throw tantrums, and even threaten to hang herself.

She kept complaining about how poor his family was and how useless he was, dragging his dignity through the mud.

Once or twice, he could tolerate it. But after three to five years of marriage, she still threw a fit over the smallest things, running back to her parents’ house each time. Every single time, he had to coax her back.

He loved his wife, but he wasn’t a fool.

Even the best relationship would sour after being dragged through the mud for so many years.

The only reason he still endured it was for the sake of his two sons.

Qiao Xin had said all she needed to say.

She was exhausted and waved her hand, signaling for them to leave. “Go now. No matter what, you need to resolve this matter. She’s the wife you chose. If you want to stay together, then treat her well. If you truly can’t stand each other, then separate on good terms. Tomorrow, take a piece of meat with you when you visit your in-laws—it’ll make things easier.”

“…Got it.” Qiao Yunting had no choice but to agree and dropped the matter.