Is the beginning of a catastrophe? The little farm cook is raising a family with a full warehouse.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, Shen Shulan and Xu Ranyuan have lived in Yaowang Valley for half a year.

Whenever a letter was delivered by wild geese to the Peach Blossom Courtyard, Shen Shulan's elegant handwriting would always be seen on the plain paper. In her letter, she said that after living in Yaowang Valley for a period of time, she was infected by the atmosphere of traditional Chinese medicine in the valley and became interested in medical theory, so she began to study with Xu Ranyuan.

At first, those medical books and theories were obscure and difficult to understand, but fortunately she refused to give up, and studied day and night and humbly sought advice. Now she can identify many herbs and has her own insights into diseases.

Shen Shulan recounted the interesting stories of identifying herbs as if they were treasures, and his obsession with medicine was reflected between the lines. At the end, he always remembered to attach a few pieces of dried gentian flowers as embellishments on the letter.

At the end of the year, Junhua City should have been decorated with lights and colors, but the festive atmosphere was suddenly torn apart by the sound of funeral bells.

The old city lord Shen Aoqiong passed away suddenly on a cold night in December. On the day of the funeral, carriages and horses from various noble families entered the body one after another, stepping over the thin ice. When Shen Linfeng took over the city lord seal that symbolized authority, there was no sadness in his eyes.

At that time, Cheng Yuntao was holding a new letter from Shen Shulan, leaning against the window of the warm room. The crackling sparks in the charcoal basin illuminated her smiling eyes.

Grandma poured osmanthus honey on the freshly steamed rice cakes, and the younger brothers and sisters chased and played in the corridor holding sugar paintings. Jiang Yu, breathing out white air, ran in from outside the yard in a hurry, holding two wild rabbits.

I thought my life would go on peacefully and happily, but I never expected that changes would come so quickly.

During the Waking of Insects season, the ice spikes that should have melted grew wildly into sharp blades on the eaves. The late spring cold turned into an invisible giant beast crawling on the territory of Daqi. All capitals suffered from the cold disaster to varying degrees. Even the glazed tiles of the imperial palace were covered with three feet thick frost, shining with a cold light.

Warmth has yet to arrive, and the bitterly cold frost, like the claws of the underworld, spreads its wings and imprisons everything in the world. The delicate young buds are imprisoned by the frost, buried deep in the cold earth. Though they might flourish, they seem trapped in a cage, unable to break through the ice and bloom.

For a time, the entire Daqi fell into a quagmire of panic.

"This is a punishment from heaven!" The old scholar in the teahouse pointed tremblingly at the gray sky. The inferior tea with ice chips floating in the teacup had already gone cold.

His voice trembled, tinged with fear and anger, and he raised his voice, drawing the attention of the tea drinkers around him. "The current monarch is incompetent and has no idea how to govern the country. He indulges in luxury and pleasure, disregarding the lives of the people. He allows corrupt officials to manipulate power, causing chaos in the court and the decline of people's livelihood. Such evil deeds have finally angered the heavens, and therefore this terrible punishment has been sent down to punish this foolish world!"

"What should we ordinary people do?" After saying this, he sighed heavily, his face full of sadness and helplessness, as if he had foreseen the tragic fate in the future.

The old scholar's remarks spread like wild weeds, and within just a few days, they had spread throughout the streets and alleys.

On the streets and alleys, women, children, old and young were all talking about it, and their words were full of fear and confusion about the unknown disaster. What's worse, many children's songs also quietly appeared.

"Frost and snow are cold, a punishment from heaven has fallen. The king is incompetent and the people are suffering. The earth is frozen, all things are hidden, and the days of hardship are long and long..."

The tender voices of children echoed in the corners, adding a bit of gloom to the already panic-stricken world. Passersby who listened to it all had solemn expressions, some shook their heads and sighed, while others had sad faces. The whole Daqi was shrouded in a depressing and desperate atmosphere.

In this difficult time when severe cold is raging, the ones who suffer the most are the poor families.

They were short of food and clothing, lacking sufficient charcoal fires and thick clothing to ward off the biting cold, nor enough food to replenish their bodies. In the dark corners of Junhua City, people continued to collapse from hunger and cold, their lives like candles in the wind, quietly extinguished by the merciless winter.

Freezing rain, mixed with ice chips, hit the bluestone street. The beggar's curled-up straw mat was frozen to the base of the wall. In the morning, the corpse collectors could always peel out the blue-purple body, curled up like a shrimp, from the ice shell.

Cheng Yuntao also vaguely realized that her peaceful life was about to be completely disrupted by this sudden cold disaster.

A thousand miles of fertile fields were covered with a three-foot-high armor of ice. When the hoe was smashed down, there was a clang, and the frozen soil, as hard as black iron, only showed an inch-long white mark. The hoe blade hit the ice surface, just like forging iron in a blacksmith shop.

The rice seeds that should have been soaked in the spring rain were covered in mold in the ceramic jars. A few stubborn seedlings that tried to stick their heads out were smashed to pieces by hail. The old farmer squatted on the edge of the field, his turbid tears rolling into the frozen soil.

It is really like this - calling to heaven, heaven does not answer; calling to earth, earth does not respond.

The water diversion ditch had long since frozen into a glacier. It took half a day of digging with a pickaxe before the dark mud underneath was revealed. Several young men took turns digging and suddenly heard a cracking sound. What seeped out from under the ice was not sweet spring water, but dark red icicles with a fishy smell, as if the earth was weeping blood.

At this time in the past, the green rice seedlings should have been like waves and the frogs should have been croaking. But now, when I look around, I only see crows flying over the cracked fields, hooking up a few strands of dry grass with their claws.

A woman from some family was humming a staccato tune about transplanting rice paddies. The trembling sound floated up to the clouds and startled the sun so much that it hid within the leaden gray clouds.

Spring plowing has been delayed for a whole month. Seeing such an unusual scene, even the most slow-witted person would come to his senses - this year is probably going to be really difficult.

In Junhua City, the wealthy businessmen were the first to take action.

The pawnshop in the east of the city had taken down its doors before daybreak. The shopkeeper's fingers turned white as he gripped the gilded abacus. "Hurry! I'm going to sell this house with three courtyards in the south of the city even at a 30% discount!" His hoarse voice startled the spring swallows flying from under the eaves. The accountant wrote quickly with a wolf-hair brush, and the ink splashed on the words "urgent sale", leaving a blood-stain-like mark.

Ten copper-clad carriages rolled over the bluestone slabs, and the ruts carved deep marks on the thin ice that had not yet melted. The owner of the money shop lifted the brocade curtain and caught a glimpse of the withered and yellow weeds on the roadside being twisted by the cold wind. Finally, he looked back at the place where he had lived for many years, and swallowed a sigh with a rolling throat.

When the night watchman struck the third watch, the back door of the Li Mansion in the south of the city creaked. When Boss Li got into the car, his old eyes swept over the broken magnolia branches in the courtyard. He felt reluctant to leave, so he turned back, picked up a branch and placed it in his arms, praying that in the new place, the magnolia would take root and sprout again and bloom brilliantly.

They knew very well that the impact of this cold disaster would not be temporary. Except for some farms, houses and properties that could not be sold in a short time, they hurriedly packed up the rest of their gold and silver and began to move their families to find another place to live.

To the south of Daqi, there was a country called Nanzhao.

Nanzhao Kingdom is located in a humid land, enjoying year-round sunshine and a pleasant climate. Its land is lush with mountains and rivers, crisscrossed by fertile soil, and rich in all sorts of rare and exotic fruits. Among the many destinations, Nanzhao Kingdom, with its warm climate, abundant resources, and relative stability, has become a top choice for wealthy merchants.

As the golden sun sets in the west, a few wisps of fallen leaves swirl across the bluestone slabs. The red doors on the long street of Junhua City are locked, and the mansions and houses that were once bustling with carriages and horses are now covered with dust.

A few common people stood at the street corner with their sleeves rolled up, their eye sockets shrouded in sorrow, and sighs rolled in their throats as they whispered to each other.

"Oh, what should we do? The rich ones have all run away, and we poor people can't even grab a straw." A hunchbacked old man spoke first, his voice full of helplessness and despair.

A middle-aged man nearby smiled wryly and said, "We can't plant crops this year. I'm afraid there's no hope of growing food. There's really no end in sight for the days ahead."

Another younger man frowned and said anxiously, "I heard that this cold disaster is not just here, it's everywhere in Daqi. Why can't God calm down and have mercy on us ordinary people?"

A few people were talking to each other, and their sighs echoed in the increasingly deserted street.

……