"Benefactor, will your family's old lord be able to get used to eating this kind of wild vegetable soup?" Scholar Ni asked worriedly.
"Now that we don't have any more food, we can only eat this." Qin Yining's small face was so thin that it wasn't even as big as a grown man's palm, but her pair of almond eyes seemed even bigger and brighter.
Scholar Ni glanced at Miss Eight and Qin Huining, who were sitting not far behind them and silently crying, and couldn't help but sigh.
They were all daughters of the Family Qin, but Miss Eight and Qin Huining couldn't endure hardships. They couldn't go out to dig for wild vegetables, and they couldn't even hunt. When they were asked to do some washing and cooking, they looked helpless. They were simply two young misses who didn't do any household chores.
During this period of time, the servants that the Family Qin brought up the mountain were all busy with their own tasks. Most of the work fell to the men like Second Old Master, Third Old Master, Qin Yu, and Qin Han. Next to them were Qin Yining and her three loyal servant girls who could endure hardships the most.
At first, there was still some food stored up on the mountain, and Master Zhong had deliberately prepared a lot of food before coming up the mountain. But no matter how much food there was, it couldn't support the large number of people. The consumption was high, and there was no supply for a long time.
Now, not to mention ten taels of silver per catty, even if one offered a hundred taels of silver per catty, they probably wouldn't be able to buy it.
As the number of disaster victims increased day by day, hunting and digging for wild vegetables was no longer an easy task.
They had taken over the mountain, but the people in the city had dug out all the grass roots and eaten all the tree bark. At first, there were often people who accidentally ate poisonous grass and died from poisoning. But now, more and more people died, and it was hard to tell how they died.
Every time there was a famine, the first to die were always the elderly and children.
Who on the mountain didn't have a family to feed? Who didn't want their old father, mother, or children to live?
The food was bought with Qin Yining's money, so she had absolute authority.
Some people secretly harbored evil intentions, but most of the people around them were deeply grateful to Qin Yining. If they did not want to be condemned by the public, they could only suppress it.
However, to their surprise, the Qin Yining did not leave all the food for the Qin Family, nor did he abandon the elderly and children. After the food reserves gradually decreased, the healthy adults began to mainly eat wild vegetables and game to fill their stomachs.
There were so many people in the Family Qin. Other than Old Madam, everyone was learning how to work. The remaining food was given to the old Old Madam and the pregnant Han Second Young Mistress to eat.
Twenty days ago, when Qin Yining held a bowl of porridge that could reflect a person's figure and wanted to take a sip, she saw Doggy Li beside her, who was as skinny as a monkey. She saw the children's wide and watery black eyes. She saw that these children no longer had the energy to pick wild flowers for her. She couldn't swallow the porridge no matter how hard she tried.
From that day onwards, Qin Yining did not eat a single mouthful of food.
Bing Tang became anxious when she saw this. She told Miss Jiu, Lu Dehan, Scholar Ni, and the others about Qin Yining's recent injury.
"A few days ago, the Qin Residence met with a disaster and lost a large number of people. Everyone knows about this. Our Miss was seriously injured and barely managed to survive. However, due to excessive blood loss, her foundation was damaged. Before she could recover, she came up the mountain. I can give her medicine, but she can't just starve like this. If the blood loss can't be replenished, I'm afraid it won't benefit her lifespan. "
Although Bing Tang was young, her medical skills were outstanding. She was also a descendant of the Tang Family. Which person on the mountain did not have a headache or fever through her hands? Therefore, everyone on the mountain respected Bing Tang very much.
When they heard Bing Tang's words, they became anxious. When they hunted some wild animals or picked some sweet wild fruits, they would first give them to Qin Yining.
Scholar Ni was 72 years old this year. Before today, he was given a piece of mixed flour pancake every day. He also gave half of it to Qin Yining. However, Qin Yining refused, so Scholar Ni gave the other half of the pancake to the other children.
From today onwards, the elderly and children were also out of food. They had almost caught all the wild animals on the mountain. The weather was dry and it had not rained for a long time, so the wild vegetables grew slowly. The next step would be to eat the bark of the trees.
When Qin Yining saw that the soup was almost ready, he scooped a bowl for Scholar Ni.
Then, he scooped a bowl for Miss Eight and Qin Huining.
Miss Eight smiled gratefully at Qin Yining.
On the other hand, Qin Huining lowered his head expressionlessly. He was probably so hungry that he did not have the energy to smile.
Qin Yining did not mind. He asked Bing Tang, Ji Yun, and Qiu Lu to help him scoop up the wild vegetable soup and send it upstairs.
Unexpectedly, the door of the staircase, which was usually not closed, was closed today. Someone even bolted it from the inside.
Bing Tang knocked on the door. Not long after, the door was opened slightly. Mammy Qin opened the door.
"Miss Four." Mammy Qin looked a little embarrassed.
Qin Yining smiled and said, "The vegetable soup is ready. The people who went out to hunt are not back yet. Eat some soup to fill your stomach. "
Mammy Qin smiled and nodded. However, she did not have any intention of letting Qin Yining in. She reached out to take the bowl in her hand.
Qin Yining looked at her suspiciously. Then, he saw the bloodstains and white fur left under her fingernails. His heart skipped a beat. He pushed open the door, and his breath was immediately filled with the fragrance of stewed meat.
"Mammy Qin, the people who went out to hunt are not back yet. Why are you still hiding meat in the room?"
Mammy Qin lowered her head and did not speak.
Bing Tang, Ji Yun, and Qiu Lu also came in. Mammy Qin anxiously closed the door.
Qin Yining quickly walked inside and found that the windows were all closed. He couldn't help but sneer, "It's a hot day. Don't you think it's hot?"
He came to old madam's room and pushed open the door.
"Bang!" The old madam and Han Second Young Mistress in the room were shocked.
At this time, the two of them were each holding a small rabbit leg and happily gnawing on it. In front of them was a casserole. The soup inside was bubbling.
In the corner of the room, there were scattered bloodstains. The snow-white rabbit's fur was peeled off and thrown on the ground. The plum blossom-shaped ribbon that Pang Xiao had personally tied around Er Bai's neck was now soaked in blood.
Qin Yining's head buzzed, "You, you ate my Er Bai?"
Old madam drank a mouthful of soup and smacked her lips, "Come quickly. I originally wanted to ask you to come. Look at how thin you are. Drink some soup to nourish your body."
Han Second Young Mistress was not pregnant yet, but she no longer had morning sickness. It was the time when she could eat. She didn't even raise her head as she drank the soup.
Mammy Qin awkwardly said, "Fourth Young Mistress, old madam and second young mistress both need to eat nourishing food. This morning, old madam only ate a bowl of vegetable soup. She was really hungry. Coincidentally, the people who went out to hunt were not back yet. So, I said, I said …"
Facing Qin Yining's angry expression, Mammy Qin couldn't explain.
"Which day did I not give you meat to eat? When the whole family was eating vegetable soup, I also left the best for you. My little rabbit is not even as big as a woman's palm. After shedding its skin and removing its bones, can it still have two taels of meat? Just how heartless are you guys to not even let go of such a small rabbit?! The people who went out to hunt will be back soon. You can't wait for even a moment! "
Old madam didn't have time to be embarrassed. She threw the spoon into the bowl and sneered, "Is this how filial you are to grandmother? Now that there is a famine, only you would raise this food as a pet! Is two taels of meat not meat? Two taels of meat can nourish your second sister-in-law's body and also let her give birth to a son for your second cousin brother! "
Han Second Young Mistress drank the soup and said incoherently, "Sister Yi, later sister-in-law will compensate you with one hundred rabbits. Don't be angry. Come, come and drink the soup. The meat soup cooked in the big pot doesn't even have the taste of meat. Come and taste it."
Qin Yining's tears flowed down.
Even when she was starving, she never thought of killing Er Bai because it was personally given to her by Pang Xiao. He said that it was a token between them and also a token of peace between Da Zhou and Dayan. He even personally untied the plum blossom pattern on the jade pendant and tied it around Er Bai's neck.
At that time, they were so close that she could still remember the unique smell on Pang Xiao's body.
She understood all the principles and understood that in a war, everyone had to rely on their own ability.
However, she saw with her own eyes the commoners starving to death on the streets one by one. She saw with her own eyes the numb and empty eyes of the people who ate their children. When she was the hungriest, she thought of the bowl of cold noodles that Pang Xiao personally cooked for her. She really hoped that Pang Xiao would suddenly appear and save them from the abyss of suffering.
No matter how hungry she was, she didn't want to eat Er Bai. She hid Er Bai in the room and carefully took care of it. At night, she hugged it to sleep.
Because without it, there seemed to be nothing that could prove their pledge of eternal love.
However, now that Er Bai had been eaten …
Qin Yining felt that the nerves that had been supporting her all this time had suddenly snapped. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
When old madam saw Qin Yining like this, she also felt guilty. She put on a strong front and said, "Isn't it just a beast? As for you? Don't think that I don't know where that rabbit of yours came from! After the peace talks in Xi Hua City, you brought that beast back. Later on, that evil spirit with the surname Feng came to our country to flaunt his power. Let me tell you, that person with the surname Feng caused us to become like this. I only ate the rabbit that he gave you. I haven't even taught you a lesson yet! You have close ties with him. Don't tell me that you still want to rebel? "
She pinned a label on her because she felt guilty?
Qin Yining waved her hand. She didn't want to say another word to someone like old madam. She picked up the plum blossom net from the blood-stained rabbit's fur and turned to leave old madam's room.
"Miss," Bing Tang and Qiu Lu hurriedly chased after her and supported Qin Yining on her left and right.
Ji Yun sneered, "You've really broadened my horizons! There's actually such an ungrateful and shameless old woman like you in this world! Grand Preceptor Qin is such a glorious person. How can he have a mother like you! Truly, a wicked bamboo produces good bamboo shoots! Or did you steal a child from somewhere and raise him? Filthy! Bah! "
"You, you're rebelling! Someone come! "
"Someone come? You're now the biggest burden. You need people to serve you all day. Do you still think that you're in the residence? "
Ji Yun glared at old madam in disdain and turned to chase after her. She was afraid that something would happen to Qin Yining.
Ji Yun found Qin Yining, Bing Tang, and Qiu Lu beside a small stream outside Ning Yuan.
Qin Yining squatted by the stream and personally washed the bloodstains on the plum blossom net. She was no longer crying.
However, when she saw her squatting on the ground and her thin and weak back that seemed to be able to poke through her clothes, Ji Yun's nose turned sour and she almost cried.
Wang Ye, when are you coming! If you don't come, the future wangfei will be tortured to death. Not only will she starve, but she will also be tortured in her heart!
Ji Yun wanted to persuade her. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps was suddenly heard.
A slightly hoarse male voice suppressed his surprise and said breathlessly, "Yi 'er, i-is that you?"
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