The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

"That's great, isn't it? You can each buy a pair of blankets on credit, and then pay them back when the grain is harvested. Why put yourself through this?"

"No, it's impossible. There's a drought this year, and even the rented land can't produce much food. After paying for the rent and the seeds, I'm lucky to be able to make a living. I don't dare buy bedding on credit anymore, because I can't pay it back even if I do."

Cheng Feng was somewhat curious about this coming from a child of about eleven or twelve. "You're not that old, but you know how to farm? Who's doing the accounting?"

"I heard from the old man that none of us refugees from Dalang bought bedding on credit. We ran all the way and lost everything except our bowls. So, few of us had bedding. We all slept on the ground. When it was cold, we huddled together. When it was hot, we spread out. We couldn't get cold, and we couldn't get hot either."

Cheng Feng and Shang Xi thought, this is just leaving it to fate. However, they are in a hurry to work, and having these seven or eight children here is a bit of a hindrance, so Cheng Feng shooed them back: "It's getting late, it's already midnight. If you don't find a place to sleep, it will be dawn."

"We just want to sleep until daybreak."

"Isn't this a complete reversal of our schedule? Stop messing around and find a place to sleep. When the sun comes up, you can still help the adults with some odd jobs."

"We're not messing around, we're on patrol."

"Patrol? Why are people patrolling?"

"We refugees have united, and today happens to be our turn to be on duty."

Chifan was puzzled: "Do you have any property you're afraid of losing? Why are you mobilizing so many people?"

"We must carefully protect the grain and farm tools we borrowed from the court. Without the grain, we will continue to starve. If we lose the farm tools, we have no money or things to repay. We cannot afford to pay."

"This thing you're talking about can't be lost. Don't make a fuss about it."

"I can't lose it, I'm just afraid someone will snatch it away."

"If you don't rob yourselves, no one else will. There are no bandits in this area outside the North City. Even if there are bandits, they won't rob refugees like you. Go back quickly and stop being suspicious and scaring yourself."

"We can't go back, we can't go back. If we don't do our duty, the adults will scold us."

"Then you guys go patrol somewhere else. The Crown Princess and I have to get to work."

Cheng Feng tried hard to drive them away, but these little devils just had endless things to say and endless questions to ask.

"You have so many servants, why do you still go to the fields yourself? Besides, who would reclaim land in the middle of the night? Your method is wrong."

"Don't judge me and the Crown Princess about what's right or wrong. We came here secretly, so don't let my son know, and don't tell anyone else, or I won't bring you any roast chicken tomorrow."

"We definitely won't tell anyone and will keep our mouths shut. But we can't eat roast chicken for free either. Let us help you reclaim the land. Don't look down on us because we are small. Each of us can do half the work of a laborer."

"We don't need you. Leave now and don't make trouble, otherwise there will be nothing delicious to eat tomorrow."

The children were very greedy, and when they saw that Cheng Feng didn't let them stay here, they took the lanterns and left.

Soon, the land returned to darkness and silence. This time, Shang Xi was not afraid because she knew that there were many refugees sleeping on the ground around them and these people would not hurt her.

Cheng Feng not only reclaimed one acre of land as planned, but also exceeded the quota by a lot. Fearing that he would be exposed if he reclaimed too much land, at midnight, before the cocks crowed, Cheng Feng and Shang Xi grabbed their hoes and mounted their horses and ran back to Prince Pang's mansion.

Except for the servants in the palace, no one knew that Shang Xi and Cheng Feng had left the palace at night.

Just when the two of them were about to sneak back to their own courtyard to sleep without anyone noticing, they ran into Yuhua who was wandering around the mansion.

This wasn't the first or second time Yuhua had behaved like this. Shang Xi was very worried about her. "Yuhua, why don't you go back to your room and sleep? Did you have insomnia again?"

Yuhua lied that she had just woken up, but how could she fool Shang Xi? This person probably tossed and turned in the first half of the night and simply got up and didn't sleep in the second half.

"Yuhua, go back and take a nap."

"The rooster has already crowed, why are you still sleeping? Oh, you two, why are you up so early today?"

"I...we haven't slept yet."

"What?" Yuhua looked at the mud on their shoes and the tired looks on their faces and knew that they had left the house at night. "Where did you go last night?"

Shang Xi whispered, "I went to reclaim the wasteland for Youning."

"Why didn't you call me? I tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep. It was so painful." Yuhua couldn't sleep just because Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen died, and Niuniu died. Now it was the living people in the Chen family who tortured her and made her unable to sleep every day.

Only after dealing with the refugees for a long time did Yuhua realize that Dalang’s bad policies brought the people terrible pain, and Yatuo’s brutality made the people terrified and live a life worse than death.

She was worried that the Chen brothers would not be able to reach Fengqi alive. In front of them, the officers and soldiers of Dalang were conscripting able-bodied men, and behind them, the people of Yatuo were burning, killing, looting, and seizing slaves. Along the way, there were soldiers from Dalang and people from Yatuo everywhere, stirring up trouble and bullying the people.

Yuhua was so worried about this that she looked more and more haggard day by day. Even the nourishing bird's nest that Shang Xi gave her couldn't help her. This heart disease needed to be cured with a heart medicine.

"Yuhua, if you really have nothing to do, arrange for someone to buy some mats and bedding."

Cheng Feng added, "Send someone to Gaotou Lane to sell some roast chicken."

"I can arrange it, but my mind is in a mess right now. If I have something to do, I can distract myself from the tension. But you have to tell me what to buy and how much to buy. My brain is not what it used to be, and it's easy to make mistakes."

Shang Xi was anxious to go back to sleep. She was so tired that her back and waist ached. What she missed most was her own bed. "You can buy whatever you like."

Shang Xi turned around and tried to leave, but Bie Yuhua stopped her, "Shang Xi, please at least tell me who you're buying it for, so I can know what kind to buy."

"For the refugees outside the city."

"Then how much should we buy? We can't have one set of bedding for each person, right? That would be difficult."

"You can buy it if you like."

"It all depends on the situation. I'll have to take people to the streets to do the shopping myself."

"Whatever, just buy it back."

Shang Xi acted like a boss who didn't want to leave anything to chance, and was anxious to go back to sleep.

Just as the morning meeting was about to begin and a big red sun had just emerged from the horizon, Cheng Feng and Shang Xi were sleeping in bed, while the hardworking Cheng Youning had already started to dig out manure from the cowshed. He was skilled and his movements were quick and swift. In less than an incense stick of time, he had filled the small manure cart.