Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Even before their departure, the Emperor, in front of these secret guards, personally acknowledged that Xia Yu was a person of great fortune, protected by the gods. He also stated that Xia Yu had been taught by the gods that she could store items in the void and retrieve them at any time. He instructed them to protect the princess well throughout the journey, and that upon their triumphant return after the matter was successfully resolved, the Emperor would grant each of them one reasonable wish.

The people at that time were very devout believers in the gods. After seeing Xia Yu make all the items on the table disappear with a wave of her hand right in front of them, they felt both respect and fear towards her. They were afraid that if they did something wrong, the princess could make them disappear from the world with a wave of her hand.

With the Emperor's words as a prelude, Xia Yu, though rarely using her spatial ability along the way, still managed to store everyone's luggage in her space when she saw the sudden change in weather. Now, Xia Yu took the luggage out of her space, opened her own, found a clean set of clothes, and then took out a large towel to wrap her wet hair.

Then she opened the door and came out of the room. There were already quite a few people standing in the outer room, and several others were boiling water in the kitchen. Xia Yu said to them…

"Go inside and change your clothes, so you don't catch a cold."

After hearing Xia Yu's instructions, everyone took turns going to their rooms to change into clean clothes.

"Grandma, I don't know what the situation is like in the village now. We can't even sleep at night. Are there any people still in the houses of our neighbors on both sides? If possible, we would like to borrow their houses to stay for the night." Xia Yu looked at the house, which was so small that there was barely enough room to stand or sit, let alone sleep.

After Xia Yu finished speaking, Shijiu took out two handfuls of loose silver from his pocket and put them on the table, which must have been about ten taels.

"We don't want to put your mother-in-law in a difficult position. We're willing to pay for the room, but everyone's being so careful, so we'll need your help to put in a good word for us," Xia Yu said with a smile to the mother-in-law.

The old woman looked at the small pile of loose silver on the table and kept muttering to herself.

“Amitabha, it is truly the Bodhisattva’s blessing that such a distinguished person has passed through our little village. However, there is far too much silver, which is far too much for us to use. Each family only needs to give two pieces of silver. There are still two elderly people at home on the left side of my house, and only a blind old woman on the right side, who is my sister-in-law. I will go and talk to them, and I guarantee they will be happy to help.”

As he spoke, he picked up the raincoat from the corner of the wall and prepared to put it on before going outside.

"Oh, Grandma, please take this money. It'll make things easier to talk to her later." Seeing the look Xia Yu gave him, Nineteen grabbed the silver from the table and stuffed it into the old woman's hand.

“Young lady, this is too much. Just listen to me, each family only needs to give two coins. We’ve already overcharged you. It’s just a dilapidated house, and I’m ashamed to have taken so much money from you, young lady. But we’re really struggling financially, so I had to swallow my pride and take your money.” As he spoke, he casually picked up six silver coins from Nineteen’s hand.

"Grandma, you..." Before Nineteen could speak again, the old woman put on a straw hat, picked up a lantern, and went out of the room.

"Nineteen!" Xia Yu called out.

Nineteen turned to look at his master

"Since she insists on not accepting it, we can just leave it in the house when she leaves tomorrow. There's no need to argue about it now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Meanwhile, the ginger soup in the kitchen was ready. The two of them poured the ginger soup into two earthenware pots, covered the mouths of the pots with bowls, and carried them over to the table.

"Miss, this is freshly made ginger soup. Please drink some to warm yourself up." As she spoke, she ladled out a bowl and handed it to Xia Yu with both hands.

"Alright, you should all have some to warm yourselves up." As he spoke, he waved his hand on the table, and the dry rations they had brought from the inn appeared on the table.

Everyone was amazed by Xia Yu's incredible abilities, but no one dared to speak out. Lord Shen had already instructed them to keep everything they saw around the princess to themselves, and even among themselves, they were forbidden from discussing the princess's affairs.

Everyone stepped forward to take a pancake, intending to eat it with the ginger soup. But as soon as they received the pancakes, they discovered that they were still warm, as if they had just come out of the pan. Those who received the pancakes dared not show any surprise and silently ate their scallion pancakes.

Just as we were eating, we saw the old woman who had gone out earlier return with a lantern. As we walked to the door, we saw them eating, and then our eyes fell on the golden-brown pancakes on the table.

She didn't go any further into the house; her steps stopped at the threshold.

“Miss, I’ve already spoken to both families, and each family will have a room for the girls. I’ll go over there now and help my sister-in-law tidy up the room so the girls can be comfortable.”

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.

"Take care, Grandma," Xia Yu called out to her.

"I have something I'd like to ask you. Please come over and say a few words to me."

The old woman swallowed hard before slowly walking into the house. At Xia Yu's prompting, she carefully sat down on the bench opposite her.

"Grandma, have a pancake. We brought too many to finish." Xia Yu took out a pancake from the oil paper package and handed it to her.

“I’ve already had dinner and I’m still quite full. Please have some, Miss.” The old woman kept her head down and didn’t look at the pancake Xia Yu offered.

Xia Yu smiled. If she hadn't swallowed, she might have believed her more. Although the swallowing motion was subtle, she still noticed it.

"Grandma, just eat. We have brought enough dry food."

"Thank you for the meal, Miss."

In the end, the old woman couldn't resist the fragrant aroma of the scallion oil and wheat flour mixture in the pancake and reached out to take it. She took a bite, chewing it slowly, reluctant to swallow. The last time she ate fried pancakes was during the Chinese New Year last year.

"Grandma, from what you just said, are we left with only the elderly and weak in our village? What about the young people and children?" Xia Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.

Hearing Xia Yu mention this, she sighed.

"They were mostly old and weak, and not every family had any. There are probably only a dozen or so elderly people left in the village. The others who could still walk went to escape the war. Before, I don't know where a group of soldiers in armor appeared from, and they came into the village and started looting. They looted grain, money, and even the chickens and ducks that people raised. If they didn't give them what they wanted, they would beat them up." As she spoke, the old woman fell into reminiscence, as if she were back in the chaotic scene of those few days of war.

"They came on horseback and stole all the chickens and ducks in the village. The village chief went up to argue with them, but the leader said, 'Don't even mention lending you a few chickens and ducks to eat; we could even lend you all the men in your village to fight.' Hearing this, the village chief didn't dare to say anything and just let them loot the village. Fortunately, although they stole things, no one in the village was harmed. After they left, the village chief gathered everyone together and felt that it was no longer safe there. Those people might come back at any time, so it would be better to go to the city to hide."