Steward Bai shook his head and sighed, “The one above has been ill for a long time, yet still hasn’t appointed a crown prince. The princes are all busy gathering court support, vying for that position, and have no time to care about anything else.

The War King is trapped at the border, fighting against Beirong and unable to return to the capital.

General Gu is also engaged in battle with Xiyue and is stretched too thin.

Externally, Beirong and Xiyue are eyeing us like tigers, while internally, the court is unstable.

Now, the southwestern region is suffering from a severe drought, and the imperial court has no surplus grain to provide relief.

The Great Xia is in turmoil. The court allows the people to flee and beg for food, but whether they survive or not depends on fate.”

“If the people must flee, where do you think they should go to find a way to live?” Shen Qingwan hadn’t realized that the situation in Great Xia had become this dire.

If the country truly faced both internal and external crises, then there might be no safe place at all.

“Where they go is not for the common people to decide,” Steward Bai said. “Youzhou is in the southwest. If they go further south, they will reach the wealthy Jiangnan region, but that land belongs to Prince Huainan, and he would never allow refugees to enter.

To the east is the capital, but despite its prosperity, refugees wouldn’t be permitted to flood into the city either. The only option left is the north, where the War King is stationed. The imperial court has also designated that as the official refugee route. So, the people have no choice but to head north.”

Shen Qingwan’s expression turned serious upon hearing this.

She had forgotten that in this era, people needed a travel permit, much like an identity document. Without one, they wouldn’t be able to enter any city.

“Thank you, Steward Bai, for your explanation. May I borrow this granary for a day? I will have someone come and collect the grain today. However, I would need you to clear out your men for the day. There’s no need for them to guard this place.”

She had to ensure everyone left so she could store the grain in her spatial storage.

Steward Bai understood that every household had its own secrets.

Since Shen Qingwan didn’t want them to know too much, he wasn’t going to pry.

After all, the granary contained nothing but grain, and he had already sold all of it to her, so there was nothing to worry about.

“Alright, just lock the door when you leave. We’ll come back tomorrow,” he said before leading his men away, carrying the gold.

Once she confirmed that everyone was gone, Shen Qingwan entered the granary and examined the piles of grain sacks stacked high.

With a wave of her hand, she stored everything in her spatial space.

Luckily, her space was large enough, so there was no need to worry about storage capacity.

After storing all the grain, she locked the courtyard gate and returned to her rented house, changing back into her original outfit.

As she drove her mule cart out of the county town, she saw that Master Liu San was already waiting with his ox cart.

Seeing Shen Qingwan approaching, he was startled.

“Oh my, eldest daughter-in-law, did you buy a mule cart?”

A mule cart wasn’t cheap; most families couldn’t afford one. Yet this girl had just bought one outright.

“Third Master, take a look. How do you think my cart is?” Shen Qingwan asked cheerfully as she drove the cart closer.

Master Liu San inspected it and couldn’t help but nod in approval.

“Not bad! That’s a fine mule. Must’ve cost quite a bit, right?”

“Yeah, it cost more than twenty taels of silver. If I hadn’t sold that fox fur for a good price yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it.”

As she spoke, she and Master Liu San rode their carts back home together.

Master Liu San was the most senior of the Liu family elders.

Although he was only in his forties or fifties, everyone in the village called him Third Master Liu out of habit.

Shen Qingwan’s mule cart was also loaded with a lot of grain and bedding.

If it weren’t for the impending famine, she would have replaced everything in her house.

But for now, she could only stock up on essentials for the journey.

Since they finished early today, they arrived back at the village before the late afternoon.

As soon as Shen Qingwan’s mule cart entered the village, it drew a lot of attention.

She thought people were just curious, but then she saw the village head, and that’s when she noticed a group gathered in the middle—Aunt Zhao, Zhang Qiao’er’s family, and several other households who had returned the grain yesterday.

“Shen Qingwan, you’re back just in time. Hand over the grain we ordered yesterday!” Zhang Qiao’er demanded as soon as she saw her.

Shen Qingwan was baffled. “What grain? I haven’t seen any grain belonging to you.”

Auntie Zhao scowled and shouted at her, “Stop pretending! The grain we ordered yesterday, didn’t you take it all? Hand it over! We still need it!”

Now Shen Qingwan understood.

These people must have gone to town to buy grain today, only to discover that the price had doubled overnight.

Now they regretted returning the grain and wanted it back.

She crossed her arms and looked at them leisurely. “That grain was bought with my money. It’s mine now. You wanted to return it yesterday—too late to regret it now. If you think today’s price is high, it might be even higher tomorrow.”

“Shen Qingwan! We’re all from the same village! How can you be so heartless, hoarding the grain that could save our lives?” Zhang Qiao’er twisted the truth.

Shen Qingwan laughed in anger. “Unbelievable! Zhang Qiao’er, do you have no shame? That grain is mine now. If you want it back, forget it!”

“Village Head, everyone saw what happened last night. My daughter-in-law bought that grain out of goodwill, but now they want to go back on their word? That’s ridiculous!”

Old Madam Lu, Shen Qingwan’s mother-in-law, immediately stepped forward to defend her.

Her protective stance warmed Shen Qingwan’s heart.

“We never asked for her so-called goodwill! Less talk, more action! Hand over the grain, or we won’t leave! We’ll die anyway without it!” Auntie Zhao started making a scene, her shamelessness giving the village head a headache.

“Lu Tiezui!” The village head suddenly called out.

Lu Tiezui quickly responded, “Hehe, Village Head?”

The village head glared at him. “Are you going to control your wife or not? Are you just going to let her cause trouble?”

Lu Tiezui chuckled sheepishly. “Of course, I’ll control her, but Village Head, you can’t just let us starve, right? Our family is running out of food, and the price keeps rising. We really can’t afford it!”

Lu Tiezui was a cunning man, and his wife, Zhao Caihua, was even more shameless—together, they were a nightmare to deal with.

“Fine. If you need grain, I’ll sell you some coarse rice for thirteen wen per jin. But if you cause trouble again, don’t blame me for being harsh.”

The village head was tired of arguing, so he simply sold them some of his own grain.

The families, seeing that the price was half of what it was in town, immediately rushed to buy it.

After all, they had no better choice.