The peasant woman quickly calculated that the entire village had been preparing for a mass exodus th

This time, she spent three taels of silver to buy the talisman from the old Taoist priest, and she had to secretly burn it and give it to Yan Zhenzhu to drink.

Only in this way can she and Shengde be safe, and the evil spirit on Yan Zhenzhu be removed!

Yan Zhenzhu happened to meet Cao Shi's furtive gaze and felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She thought Cao Shi was afraid of her, which was why she was acting this way.

Grandma Feng tugged at Yan Zhenzhu's arm, reminding her:

"Pearl, you can't let your mother-in-law do whatever she wants. Peach Blossom's words are trustworthy. Last time she said it would snow heavily, and it snowed for three days and three nights."

The roof of Shenglin's house collapsed, and Xu died as a result. Those in other villages who built sturdy brick and tile houses were unharmed.

Yan Zhenzhu nodded gratefully: "Thank you, Grandma Feng, I understand."

Actually, even without the heavy snowfall last time, Yan Zhenzhu still believed in Zhao Taohua.

In the past six months, everything Zhao Taohua mentioned has happened.

Thanks to Zhao Taohua, their family was able to become wealthy and go to the foot of the mountain to cut a lot of firewood to cook.

After the village chief finished speaking, everyone dispersed, some going back to get machetes, while others stayed home to tie straw mats.

Zhao Shenglin planted the medicinal herbs after the heavy snow. The weather was cold, and the herbs had just sprouted. So, he only needed to cover the field with a layer of herbs to help them keep warm.

After finishing his work in his own fields, he would go to work for the village chief.

I borrowed two taels of silver from the village chief to repair the roof, and I have been working for him ever since, and I have already paid back most of it.

Zhao family.

Zhao Ershu, the argumentative guy, and the snail spirit were cutting bamboo together in the bamboo forest, while Qian Shi, the menstrual spirit, the durian spirit, and Zhao Taohua were making straw blankets at home.

Once the frame is set up, cover it with a straw mat to keep out the cold and protect the herbs from being hit by hail.

……

In Zhao Shengde's kitchen, Cao took out a talisman, quickly lit it, put it in a bowl, added three spoonfuls of brown sugar, poured hot water over it, and quickly stirred it with a spoon.

To prevent Yan Zhenzhu from smelling the burning talismans inside, she specially chopped some ginger and added it in to stir.

Just then, the courtyard gate made a sound, and Yan Zhenzhu and Shengde returned.

Cao immediately took the bowl out and said to Yan Zhenzhu, "Zhenzhu is back. It's cold outside. Come and have a bowl of brown sugar water."

Cao smiled, trying her best to appear gentle.

Yan Zhenzhu looked at Cao Shi with some surprise. This was the first time she had seen Cao Shi act like this since she married into the family.

In the past, apart from the medicine for inducing pregnancy, Cao had never brought me anything on her own initiative, let alone been as good-tempered as she is now.

"Pearl, drink up, it'll warm you up."

Cao had already walked up to Yan Zhenzhu and pushed the bowl in her hand towards Yan Zhenzhu.

Fearing that Yan Zhenzhu would refuse to drink it, Cao Shi emphasized again: "It's not medicine, it's ginger and brown sugar water."

After saying that, she winked at Zhao Shengde, asking him to help persuade Yan Zhenzhu.

Zhao Shengde, who was standing to the side, belatedly realized what was happening and said, "Pearl, your mother loves you and is afraid you'll catch a cold, so please drink it!"

Yan Zhenzhu took the bowl, smelled it, and confirmed that it was not medicine soup, but rather the smell of ginger and brown sugar water.

Despite her suspicions, feeling like the sun had risen in the west, Yan Zhenzhu drank it after realizing it wasn't ginger tea.

However, after drinking it, she noticed that it tasted like something else, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Just finish drinking it, then you won't catch a cold."

After Yan Zhenzhu finished drinking, Cao Shi quickly took the bowl from her hand, overjoyed.

According to the old Taoist priest, she should drink one talisman a day, and the evil spirit inside her would be removed in just three days!

Yan Zhenzhu felt that Cao's smile was a bit inexplicable, but now was not the time to ponder why she was smiling. The most important thing was to build a straw shed in the medicinal field to protect the herbs.

"Mother, we also need to build a straw shed for our medicinal herb fields. Otherwise, if the herbs freeze to death, all seven acres of our medicinal herb fields will be wasted."

You and Shengde must come with me to build the thatched hut!

Yan Zhenzhu's attitude was firm. She thought that Cao would disagree as firmly as she had at the village entrance. Unexpectedly, she agreed right after she finished speaking.

He even took the initiative to pick up a machete and go to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo.

Zhao Shengde also looked at Cao with a puzzled expression.

When the mother and son arrived at the bamboo forest, they saw that other villagers had already cut down a lot of bamboo.

Cut off the branches, tie them into bundles, and then drag them to the medicinal herb field.

Zhao Shengde leaned closer to Cao Shi and asked in confusion, "Mother, didn't you say we wouldn't build a thatched hut? Why did you change your mind?"

Cao reassured her, "Just do it for three days. After three days, we won't have to pretend anymore. Then, our family will be at peace, and the obedient and submissive Yan Zhenzhu will come back."

"Alright, stop asking. Leave everything to Mother. Go and chop the bamboo."

Zhao Shengde didn't understand Cao's meaning, but he still started cutting bamboo.

Because one acre of land is too large, everyone can only build three long thatched sheds per acre.

First, dig a deep pit to set up the pillars. Then, bury relatively thick bamboo in the pit to make the pillars, and then fill it with soil and tamp it down.

Cut the bamboo into strips to make arch frames, fix one end to the pillar, and insert the other end into the ground, ensuring that the spacing between the arch frames is about one meter, and that the curvature is consistent and smooth.

The repetitive work was done repeatedly, and after three days, everyone was exhausted, whether it was setting up sheds or tying straw mats.

That day, Yan Zhenzhu saw Cao Shi bring over a bowl of ginger and brown sugar water with a smile: "Zhenzhu, it's cold, drink a bowl of ginger and brown sugar water to warm yourself up."

For some reason, she noticed that Cao's smile had become increasingly radiant over the past three days, as if some joyous occasion had occurred.

Recently, everyone has been busy building thatched sheds to protect the medicinal herbs, and they are all exhausted and worried, but only Cao is happy all the time.

A bad feeling suddenly arose in her heart, and she stared at the ginger and brown sugar water that Cao had brought over with suspicion.

Previously, she felt that the ginger and brown sugar water given by Cao tasted wrong.

Could Cao have drugged her inside?

“Mother, I’m still young, I can handle this cold. Besides, I’m just tying straw mats at home, it’s not as hard as you and Shengde working outside to build the shed. You should drink this bowl of ginger and brown sugar water.”

Upon hearing this, Cao's smile froze, and she quickly said, "I'm not cold, I'm warm. If you don't believe me, touch my hands."

Seeing that Cao insisted on making her drink it, Yan Zhenzhu became even more certain that there was something wrong with the ginger and brown sugar water. Her face immediately turned cold, and she stopped being polite and evasive with Cao.

She went straight to the kitchen, took out a clean bowl, and put brown sugar and minced ginger in it.

Madam Cao frowned deeply: "Pearl, what are you doing?"

"I'll make myself a bowl of ginger and brown sugar water, then you can drink the other bowl yourself, Mom."

Upon hearing this, Cao panicked. Just as she was about to stop her, Yan Zhenzhu had already drunk the freshly brewed bowl of ginger and brown sugar water.

Yan Zhenzhu carefully savored the taste and found that it was indeed different from what Cao Shi had given her before!

What did Cao put inside before?

She actually drank it for two days in a row!