My stepmother is here, all the rebellious sons and evildoers should kneel down!

Wen Qiqi smiled slightly, she stood up and did not explain more to Die Jiu.

She had heard that the famine was severe there, and the people in Kyoto couldn't even get enough to eat, not to mention the remote countryside that was suffering from floods. Many villages had no harvest and could only rely on digging some wild vegetables from the fields to survive.

She really felt bad seeing the people suffering.

But if she returned to the court with Shantun's savings, apologized to the emperor, and donated all her belongings accumulated in the past year to the national treasury, the emperor would forgive her for leaving without saying goodbye and going on a long expedition. He would even reward her with a promotion for her efforts today.

But no matter how much silver the Shantun had, it could not withstand the disaster of famine years.

If this money were donated to the national treasury, even if it were all exchanged for food for the people, it would only be a drop in the bucket.

When my father was alive, he once said that after a famine year, there would be constant unrest, and the traitors in the court would usually be unable to sit still...

And those neighboring countries that are eager to try will surely seize the opportunity, salivating over the long-coveted "big piece of fat meat" and coming for the smell.

"Xiaojiu, it takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. One day you will understand why I pampered Brother Nian and let him spend his money wisely."

Die Jiu looked at the determination and solemnity in the young lady's eyes and nodded unconsciously.

Lu family.

"Aunt Mei, you ate half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge at noon, and even served yourself a bowl at night! Do you think we are all blind? Put down your bowls immediately..."

The third roommate slammed the wooden table and shouted loudly at Aunt Mei.

Aunt Mei held the bowl of rice and looked at the sticky wild vegetable paste, her saliva watering.

Nowadays, pork and beef are no longer available in the market, and food is also very scarce and ridiculously expensive.

There was only one gold ingot left of the four gold ingots given to them by the benefactor with the blue birthmark. If all of them were exchanged for rice, they could only be exchanged for a bag of rice. Old Madam Lu ordered that they had to wait until the end of the year to exchange the last gold ingot for corn. Now, apart from wild vegetables and rice bran, there was nothing else to fill the family's stomach.

Aunt Mei's eyes were dazed and her lips were trembling due to hunger, but she held the bowl of rice tightly and refused to let go.

"The master sneaked back to the capital and left us here... We may starve to death one day!"

Aunt Mei said weakly, "I had a stomach upset a few days ago. These past few days I feel like my appetite has been damaged, and I have no strength at all! Mother... Third Room, Fourth Room, Sheng Shi, please be kind and eat less, so that I can eat more of this half bowl of wild vegetable porridge!"

She begged, but saw Madam Lu's face sank: "No!"

"If you eat one more bowl, we will each eat one less bite! Why? Aunt Mei, you just got a stomachache, why should the whole family suffer with you! Your stomach is really useless... Not only did you give birth to a child who can't carry on the Lu family's lineage, but in this year of famine, you also wasted food in vain, and excreted everything at once!"

The fourth room looked at Aunt Mei with a sneer and deliberately mentioned Lu Xingcheng.

Ever since Lu Xingcheng entered the Cining Palace, no news has been heard.

Every time Lu Zhanyao sneaked back to Beijing, he wanted to find out some news about Lu Xingcheng, but he was worried about being discovered, so he was very cautious. After going back and forth several times, he still didn't get any news about Lu Xingcheng in the Cining Palace.

Aunt Mei was getting more and more worried. Eunuchs and maids in the palace always died for no reason. Xingcheng had been spoiled since childhood, and he was a few years older than others when he was castrated, so he would naturally suffer more...

Whenever Aunt Mei thought of this, her heart felt like it was being torn out!

But the third and fourth rooms just wanted to rub salt into her wounds. They had a huge fight in front of Madam Lu over half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge.

Finally, Lu Shengshi took the lead and poured out half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge from Aunt Mei's bowl and gave it to Old Madam Lu.

"Hurry up and finish eating, and get out to the yard. If you want to make a scene, just don't do it in front of me and my mother!"

Lu Shengshi roared with a dark face.

In this family, she is the one who has the final say now. Without the gold and silver accounts, they have no idea where to eat next. The job of the housekeeper is quite easy, except to judge lawsuits for Aunt Mei and the third and fourth wives every day.

The three were kicked out, while the four children from the third and fourth rooms sat in their seats and licked their rice bowls clean.

Madam Lu ate half a bowl more today and finally had some strength!

"Hey……"

She never dreamed that when she was old, she would have to save even wild vegetable porridge.

"Sheng Shi, I was so hungry last night that I dreamed about the days when we were in Lu Mansion in Kyoto. The roast goose, steamed pork with rice flour, and large chunks of donkey meat were all fresh out of the pot... I was so greedy that I wanted to get some to share with you, but I didn't expect that Wen Qiqi suddenly jumped out and woke me up from my sweet dream!"

Old Madam Lu felt extremely sorry.

"If I had woken up later, maybe I could have eaten..."

"Mom, after all, the suffering we are experiencing now is all because of Wen Qiqi! If we were in Kyoto, even if this year is not a good year, we wouldn't be so poor as we are now..."

The country people are capable after all. These days they go up the mountain to dig tree roots and look for wild sweet potatoes in the fields. The people of the Lu family have been accustomed to a life of luxury since they returned from Kyoto. Apart from getting some wild vegetables in the fields, they have no other way.

"Yes! If we were in Kyoto, we would definitely not suffer this much!"

Old Madam Lu sighed and cursed Wen Qiqi for a long time. Only after Lu Shengshi reminded her not to exhaust her strength did she nod repeatedly and lie down on the kang.

In the courtyard, Aunt Mei and the third and fourth wives were quarreling fiercely.

"Aunt Mei, if I were you, I would have already killed myself! You gave birth to a useless son, and now he's become a eunuch, and you don't even know whether he's dead or alive... When you were in Kyoto, you never took our children seriously!"

The third wife had always been arrogant. In the past, Aunt Mei had instigated discord between her and Wen Qiqi, so the two had already resolved their grudge.

If the man from the fourth room had a life of luxury, he wouldn't cause any trouble. But since returning to the Lu family's old house, Aunt Mei has realized that once the interests of honest people are shaken, they will have a hard time, and sometimes they can be more terrifying than arrogant people!

The fourth room said, "Who said it wasn't true? Our child is safe after all! There isn't much food to eat in this house, but the child is the most important thing... After all, if Lu Xingcheng is dead, then Aunt Mei is also an outsider!"

After hearing this, Aunt Mei was so angry that she grabbed the fourth wife's face like a madman.