The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

When the Zheng Xiaoqi brothers came back, they both looked unhappy. Seeing this, Mrs. Zheng asked, "What happened to you two brothers?"

Zheng Xiaoqi sighed and said, "There's nothing wrong with the Zhang family, but when I went to the village chief's house, he said there might be a snowstorm."

Zheng Xiaocheng also sighed. They were really unlucky. It had only been a short time since they arrived, and there was another snowstorm. Village Chief Liu said that it was the heaviest snowfall in the north that had not been seen in ten years. Families that were not very wealthy would either freeze to death or starve to death.

Old Madam Zheng looked solemn, "Does Village Chief Liu have anything else to say?"

Zheng Xiaoqi said, "They asked us to prepare more food and warm supplies, and to sweep the snow frequently. Also, our family is relatively far from the village, and we are all elderly, weak, women and children. Village Chief Liu asked us to be alert to prevent people from other villages or refugees from stealing things. In the north, there has always been a shortage of food, and I am afraid that many people will not survive."

Mrs. Zheng thought for a while and said, "Mianwan, what do you think?"

Xia Mianwan shook her head and said, "Grandma, the situation in the north is understandable, otherwise why would His Majesty exile us here? It seems like he is letting us off the hook, but in fact, it's just because the Zheng family is full of loyal and brave people, and he doesn't want us to be ridiculed by the world after the matter of my father-in-law is clarified."

"In your opinion, His Majesty will send someone..."

Xia Mianwan smiled at this time, "No, the emperor will definitely not send anyone, otherwise we would not be able to reach the north and would have died on the way. But, it's hard to say about my second uncle..."

Zhou sighed and said, "Mianwan is right."

"But even if Second Uncle wants to take action, he can't be too blatant, so it's impossible to send people to hunt us down. At most, they will add fuel to the fire when we start a commotion."

Zheng Xiaoqi thought for a while and said, "Although this is the case, we cannot leave the Northland openly. Wouldn't that mean we are like fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others?"

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "That's not the case. Second Uncle is a fool, and Second Madam is not a smart person either. I'm afraid they are now immersed in the pleasure of stepping on us. If their plan fails, they won't come again, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"He will only take action again if he feels threatened. But what threat can we pose to him now?" Xia Mianwan said.

Everyone felt that what Xia Mianwan said made sense.

"The most urgent thing is that we should come up with a set of rules. We have to find people to keep watch day and night this winter." Xia Mianwan said.

Zheng Xiaoqi and Zheng Xiaocheng said: "We can handle this matter, you are not needed."

Xia Mianwan shook her head and said, "I know what you are thinking, but it's not possible. Although you two have some skills, you are not made of iron after all. If you keep watch day and night, you will not be able to fight if something really happens. Therefore, we have to do the surveillance work. In addition to grandma and the two children, we will take turns to keep watch at night, two people in a group."

Old Mrs. Zheng thought of the key point and nodded in agreement.

"Now is not the right time. If the situation is really serious, I'm afraid that everyone in the village will make a fuss. So after a while, Xiaoqi will come forward to give advice to the village chief. There should be someone on night duty in the village." Xia Mianwan said.

"Sister-in-law is right. This year has been too difficult."

"It's still because of poverty." said Mrs. Zheng.

Zhou said, "The common people live just for food, but the environment in the north is too harsh, and there are foreigners harassing us from time to time. It is too difficult for us to survive here."

"Don't worry. Opportunities come in crises. Let's just wait and see. The first thing is to survive." Xia Mianwan said.

……

As they were talking, Zheng Lingwan and Zhu had already served the food over. "Let's not worry anymore. Let's eat first. Eating is the most important thing in the world."

Zhu smiled and nodded, "Ling Wan is right. The world is big, but eating is the most important thing!"

After dinner, Xia Mianwan found some spikes from the space and asked Zheng Xiaoqi and Zheng Xiaocheng to reinforce the wall. He took Zheng Lingwan and Zhu to reinforce the gate.

At this time, Aunt Zhang from the village came over.

"Are you busy?" Aunt Zhang smiled a little flatteringly.

Xia Mianwan didn't like this person very much, so she asked, "What's the matter with Aunt Zhang?"

"It's like this. The village chief said there might be a snowstorm. We don't have that much food, so I want to borrow some money from you. I'll pay you back after the snowstorm is over."

Xia Mianwan frowned and said, "Aunt Zhang, since it's a snowstorm, our family is not immune. How can we afford to borrow money from you? We don't have any preparations!"

"You are all exiles, how come you don't have money? The Chu family has lent you all the money." Aunt Zhang said something unpleasant when she saw that Xia Mianwan was unwilling to lend her money.

When Zhu heard this, her face turned ugly. "Since they have the money, why don't you borrow from them? Why are you asking us for money?"

Aunt Zhang said, "The Chu family took out fifty taels of silver and said that they had given it all. I have no more silver, so I came to ask you for help."

Xia Mianwan felt that the Chu family was really stupid. Even if they had money, they couldn't do this. If they continued like this, they would be eaten alive and would also implicate them.

"We really don't have any silver. I went out two days ago and brought back a lot of things. I didn't know there would be a snowstorm here. We are different from the Chu family. There are many people in the Chu family who are safe and sound, so naturally they have silver. But we really don't have much silver left, and we can't give it to you and then starve and freeze ourselves!" Xia Mianwan refused to give in.

Aunt Zhang saw that Xia Mianwan was so difficult to talk to, and gave her a gloomy look, "How dare you not lend it to me?"

Seeing that Aunt Zhang was so confused, Xia Mianwan was even less likely to give in. She sneered and said, "Humph, who do you think my Zheng family is? Although my family was exiled, we were not registered as military households. Do you know what this means?"

How could Aunt Zhang, a village woman, understand this? She asked hesitantly, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, we are just ordinary people, not criminals. If you threaten us, I can talk to the village chief, or even report to the police!"

You still dare to report to the police?" Aunt Zhang was stunned.

"Why not? The emperor hasn't allowed us to become military households, so how dare you rob us? Moreover, although we have settled here, there are still people at home. If you don't believe me, go and ask the government if our second uncle is still in the capital." Xia Mianwan's voice was not loud, but his aura was strong enough to scare Aunt Zhang so much that she left in shame.