Chapter 78: Disaster Strikes

Over here, Wen Ruyu met the person coming to pick up Chu Ying.

Pretending to be formal, she called Chu Ying over and asked a few questions.

Seeing that he was indeed willing to leave with his family, and recognizing the person who came, Wen Ruyu agreed to let him go.

She patted Chu Ying on the shoulder and said, “Since you’ve been close to Fu’er, go say goodbye to her. After this, you might not see her again.”

The person who came to pick up Chu Ying also agreed, and they took him to say goodbye to Qin Fu.

However, just before they turned to leave, Chu Ying actually knelt down in front of everyone and bowed to Wen Ruyu.

The person who came to pick him up furrowed his brows and looked at Wen Ruyu with some curiosity.

At first, Wen Ruyu was startled, but then she accepted Chu Ying’s kneel.

After Chu Ying stood up, he went with the person who came for him.

When they arrived at Qin Fu’s place, there was another tearful farewell between the sisters.

Chu Ying seemed a bit reluctant, but Qin Fu treated her like a real sister, so she cried deeply.

However, since Chu Ying was leaving to live with her real relatives and wouldn’t be staying as a servant in someone else’s house, Qin Fu reluctantly agreed.

What could she do? Qin Fu thought. Her sister’s heart was already elsewhere, so there was no need to force her to stay.

After saying goodbye to Qin Fu, Wen Ruyu intended to keep Chu Ying at home for one more night, thinking there was no need to rush her departure.

But the person who came to pick up Chu Ying was a bit impatient and took her away that very day.

From then on, the Lu family had one less problem.

After Wen Ruyu informed Qin Fu that the Qin family’s womenfolk were safe, she oversaw the construction of the family courtyard, and days passed by.

In the capital, the exam candidates had already entered the examination hall.

If all went smoothly, they should have already completed the preliminary exam and were preparing for the palace exam.

If not, Lu Songnian and Lu Ke should have already been on their way back home.

The Lu family courtyard was completed in March.

Zhao Shu’s pregnancy was becoming more noticeable, so Wen Ruyu decided to find a midwife to take care of the child when the time came, though she wasn’t yet worried about a wet nurse.

One day, Wen Ruyu was chatting with her daughter and second son at home.

Both of them were studying, and with the political turmoil, they often discussed political matters.

Wen Ruyu would dismiss the servants and let the two children talk freely.

At this moment, there were no outsiders, and Lu Mingzhu and Lu Jinnian were having an animated discussion.

Lu Mingzhu, sitting on the couch, said, “The emperor is young, so only the Empress Dowager and ministers are in control. The late emperor didn’t trust his brother, so he placed the Empress Dowager in a high position.

Who could be in such a high position without ambition? The Empress Dowager couldn’t trust the court officials, so she had to rely on eunuchs and her family’s influence. This led to the formation of different factions in the court. Factions will naturally result in conflicts.

In fact, the Empress Dowager is also constrained by her family and the eunuchs. So we can’t just blame her for ruling, as this power was given by the late emperor. If it exists, it is reasonable.”

Lu Jinnian waved a fan and said, “So according to you, the decline of the country is just inevitable?”

Lu Mingzhu nodded, “In the past, the Zhou dynasty divided the lands among its nobles, but it lasted only 800 years. The dynasties that lasted longer than that were no more than 400 years. Every time a dynasty reached a certain point, if there was no wise ruler or the ruler grew into a capable one, the country would fall. This is inevitable.

Ultimately, the decline of a nation’s politics is the result of infighting and dissatisfaction with the distribution of benefits. If these problems are not solved early on, contradictions will inevitably arise later, and sooner or later, there will be an eruption.”

Wen Ruyu listened and thought that hiring a tutor for Lu Mingzhu was the right decision.

She had already developed her own awareness and was beginning to think deeply about the environment she was in.

She wasn’t wrong. She had already recognized the flaws in the political system of the time.

Lu Mingzhu had also clearly felt the issues within the national system behind the Empress Dowager’s rule and the power struggles of the factions.

Even Lu Jinnian was slowly agreeing with Lu Mingzhu, so he stood up, stretching lazily, and said he wanted to go for a walk.

“It’s been raining enough lately, but this year has been unusually hot.”

Wen Ruyu also smiled and looked outside. “As long as there’s enough rain, it’s already good. At least the crops are secure.”

Lu Jinnian, shaking his fan, went outside.

He had just stepped out into the sun when suddenly the sky darkened.

“What’s going on? Why is it going to rain?”

Looking up at the sky, he saw countless flying insects blocking the sunlight. Lu Jinnian’s face immediately turned pale.

Nearby, a servant also felt something was off and looked up at the sky.

“Fourth Young Master! It’s insects!”

“Quick, shut the doors!” someone shouted.

Lu Jinnian was pulled into the house by a servant.

Inside, Wen Ruyu and Lu Mingzhu had no idea what was happening until they saw the people rushing in and locking the windows and doors.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Wen Ruyu asked the people running in.

Seeing their panic, she thought it was an attack.

Wen Ruyu didn’t like the clear glass or paper windows, so when the weather warmed, she had the paper replaced with mesh screens.

Although mesh screens were more expensive than paper windows, they were more comfortable to look at and not much more expensive.

Through the mesh, it was hard to see clearly what was outside.

“Madam, there are so many insects outside,” Fen’er said as she closed the window, still out of breath.

“Insects?” Wen Ruyu raised an eyebrow.

---

In the fields, amidst the loud shouting of the crowd, a rough, hoarse cry rang out.

“Heavens! This is impossible to live through!!!”

The cry was drowned out by the voices of many others.

Everyone was busy either harvesting crops or catching insects.

The locusts had passed through, leaving the fields barren.

Young people had never seen a locust disaster, but the elderly had seen it once or twice in their lifetime.

A locust disaster that only happened once in a few decades swept through after a year of drought in the southern region.

The county authorities were informed immediately and reported it, but the speed of the news couldn’t match the speed of the locusts, so the news arrived almost at the same time.

Farmers worked day and night catching insects for two days, but by then, the locusts had already eaten all the crops.

The situation in Qinghe County was already unbearable, and no one knew what was happening in the southern regions.

After eating the food, the locusts left behind eggs and flew north.

Wen Ruyu sent someone to inquire about the news and learned that the locusts came from the southwest, flying from south to north. The disaster couldn’t be stopped unless there was a sudden change in air pressure, and a typhoon could blow the insects away.

But obviously, that wasn’t realistic.

With this locust disaster, the crops in the southern region would be greatly affected for the first two seasons of the year.

The north had already started spring, and when the locusts arrived, the crops there would also be impacted.

If the locust disaster wasn’t properly handled, and the eggs left behind by the insects weren’t dealt with properly, there could be a second or third wave of locust plagues.

This was truly a natural disaster, and it was severe enough to change the population size of a country.

Food is life!

Just last year, they had endured a drought, and everyone had hoped for a better harvest this year since they had just managed to get through that difficult year.

But now, this year, it was just as bad.

In modern times, environmental problems like this often make headlines every year.

But modern technology advances so quickly that many people hardly notice changes in the environment.

Natural disasters like this are so frequent that even Wen Ruyu, who understands they are natural phenomena, couldn’t help but sigh that perhaps the rulers were too unkind, and even the heavens could no longer bear it.

This was superstition, but also a way to vent her frustrations.

Complaining about the heavens was useless; the sky wouldn’t collapse just because of a single spit.

So, she vented her frustrations on the rulers’ inaction and lack of virtue.

At least the people’s complaints and accusations could influence the rulers. This influence could cause them to reflect on themselves and take actions that benefited the people.

Of course, the rulers wouldn’t necessarily reflect on their mistakes. But when the anger of the people reached a certain level, it could lead to social unrest.

To secure their power, the rulers would certainly have to make a statement, as long as they weren’t too foolish.

So shortly after the locust disaster, the newly crowned young emperor issued a self-blame edict.

Everyone knew that the real power wasn’t in the hands of the puppet emperor, but it provided some psychological comfort.

The self-blame edict gave the people a glimmer of hope, making them feel that the rulers still cared about the common people.

As for Wen Ruyu, after her family courtyard was completed, she moved to the central part of the Lu family’s residence.

The newly built garden still stored her dowry and newly purchased items.

When she remembered, she would have them moved out to admire.

Lu Bainian was preparing to join the army, and during this time, many old friends came to see him off, and they celebrated with several days of drinking.

However, because of the locust disaster, Wen Ruyu reminded him, and he dared not indulge further, focusing on packing for his journey.

A few days later, news came that Lu Songnian had passed the second-round imperial exam, and the whole family celebrated. This lightened the dark clouds that had been hanging over the Lu family for days.

Because of the locust disaster in spring, the Lu family’s harvest was only about a tenth of the usual, and this amount of food was barely enough to feed the tenants.

Wen Ruyu believed they had been working desperately to harvest, and with last year’s leftover grain, they should be able to avoid starving, as long as they conserved.

Due to the income from the shop being enough to maintain the family’s expenses, and even generate a surplus, Wen Ruyu decided not to collect rent from the tenants for this quarter.

Regarding the monthly distribution of food, Wen Ruyu called for Lu Cheng.

She instructed him, “From now on, distribute food twice a month. Also, replace some of the old rice with food that is of lower quality but still edible. We’ll turn the usual porridge donation into two meals.”

This way, Wen Ruyu could provide more food to those coming for charity without spending extra money.

Compared to offering an extra serving of delicious food, Wen Ruyu believed those who came to ask for porridge would appreciate having an extra meal.

She had recently noticed that their porridge was thick and tasted good, so even some poor families who could still afford food came to ask for a bowl.

They were poor, but Wen Ruyu wanted to give the porridge to those who couldn’t even afford a meal.

By reducing the quality of the grain, she could deter people who just wanted to take advantage while providing more food for the beggars and refugees. It was a win-win situation.

Now that the locust disaster had just passed, the negative emotions in Qinghe County lingered for some time, but life had to go on.

Though Qinghe County had been affected, compared to the south, the common farmers in Qinghe could still manage to get by, even if it was tough.