Chapter 113: World Three [27]

After Luo Yuezhu returned, the New Year’s atmosphere within the Luo Residence grew richer by the day. Little Mu and the other servants also changed into festive new clothes, undertaking a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning of the residence before redecorating it.

Jing Ke wasn’t idle either. Because her handwriting was quite good, the task of writing the Fortune Characters and Spring Couplets fell upon her.

After Luo Yuezhu helped paste the Fortune Characters and Spring Couplets, she picked up scissors and studied how to cut beautiful Window Paper-cuts from red paper.

Although her research ultimately only yielded the simplest Double Happiness Character, this result was enough to make Luo Yuezhu happy for a long time.

Learning to cut the Double Happiness Character was already impressive, right? Perhaps in a year or two, this skill could come in handy!

Chinese New Year’s Eve should be lively, so Jing Ke tacitly allowed the neighbors—Yin Honglian and Ye Wenxin—to join in the festivities. Not only did they have the New Year’s Eve dinner together, but two jars of fine wine were also, unusually, placed on the table.

“We won’t drink much this time, just two jars. One jar for you, Master and disciple, and one jar for us two. We’ll share, just have a taste.” Yin Honglian added this caveat.

Her alcohol tolerance was quite good. Just half a jar wouldn’t make her drunk; she could still steadily walk back to her own room.

“Alright, one jar it is then.” Jing Ke opened a jar and sniffed. It wasn’t very strong liquor, but the aroma was extremely rich. It was probably the kind with a long, lingering aftereffect.

Hmm, considering her little disciple’s alcohol tolerance, she seemed to be a guaranteed one-cup knockout.

“Master, you’re right by my side now, so I should be able to drink two cups, right?” Luo Yuezhu held her small wine cup, looking at her Master with pitiable, eager eyes.

“You may, but just two cups.” Jing Ke ultimately didn’t refuse.

After all, she had already experienced her little disciple’s boldness and stubbornness. The worst-case scenario was just half-heartedly yielding tonight.

Jing Ke’s very firm principles had become increasingly shaky since her little disciple returned smoothly from Jiangnan, the degree of wavering growing larger each day.

And now, several days past the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Jing Ke had been prepared to half-reluctantly yield for several days now.

“Come, cheers!” Yin Honglian started warming up the atmosphere, proactively pouring wine for herself and Ye Wenxin.

“I won’t say anything else, just cheers to us being able to sit together today!” Yin Honglian said. After clinking cups with everyone in turn, she downed her cup in one gulp, very straightforwardly.

Compared to the other three’s cups, the cup in Luo Yuezhu’s hand was exceptionally small. It was estimated that the so-called two cups’ worth of alcohol would barely equal one cup for the others.

But Luo Yuezhu didn’t mind. After joining in to down one cup together, she left the remaining cup to savor slowly.

After a lively and bustling time reaching Hai Hour (9-11 PM), Yin Honglian and Ye Wenxin, without needing a reminder from Jing Ke, got up to leave on their own. After offering early New Year’s greetings, the two walked away shoulder to shoulder.

Judging from their retreating figures, they seemed to be whispering some private words to each other, but neither Jing Ke nor Luo Yuezhu had the mind to listen; their attention was focused solely on each other.

“Yuezhu, do you have any New Year’s wishes?” Jing Ke asked.

Luo Yuezhu certainly did, but she didn’t say it out loud. Instead, she looked at her Master. “Master, what wish do you have?”

“Me?” Jing Ke pondered for a moment.

“As for me, I probably just wish that every year to come, we can spend it safely and smoothly, without any unexpected changes or disasters.” Jing Ke said.

She didn’t have many wishes. Her little disciple just needed to live happily and smoothly. After accompanying her little disciple through this lifetime, she would leave this world and go to another place to collect another piece of her true self.

“My wish is that Master’s wish comes true.” Luo Yuezhu said cleverly.

“Oh, you.” Jing Ke pinched her little disciple’s cheek.

“Master, they’ve all gone back. Shouldn’t we retire for the night too?” Luo Yuezhu said. Her Master’s wish coming true—that was indeed her wish.

“Mm, let’s go back and sleep. Start the new year by sleeping in.” Jing Ke said, standing up and extending her hand toward her little disciple.

Luo Yuezhu smiled and grasped it, proactively walking forward and pulling her Master straight into the bedroom.

–

As someone who had been spending day and night with Jing Ke for over five years, Luo Yuezhu considered herself relatively knowledgeable about her Master.

After she proactively offered to help her Master undress, Luo Yuezhu observed her Master’s reaction.

Her Master not only tacitly allowed it but also proactively spread her arms, making it easier for her to remove the cumbersome clothing.

Jing Ke and Luo Yuezhu had bathed together before. From another perspective, they had already been completely frank with each other many times.

Sensing her Master’s indulgence and tacit consent, Luo Yuezhu began transforming her learned book knowledge into practical, hands-on action.

There was a custom of keeping lights on during Chinese New Year’s Eve. Neither the candles nor the oil lamps were extinguished.

The doors and windows blocked prying eyes from outside, and the bed curtain blocked the candlelight from further invading the bed.

But the bed curtain only draped them in a thin veil. Under the illumination of the candlelight, the constantly shifting silhouettes remained exceptionally distinct.

The younger party seemed to possess inexhaustible passion, constantly using body language to pour out her love for the elder.

The elder, positioned below, seemed to wrap her arms around the younger’s neck and say something, causing a brilliant smile to bloom on the younger’s face, who then responded with even more fervent body language.

Hmm, it seemed she had saved herself a New Year’s gift.

Giving herself as a gift… her little disciple seemed quite happy about it.

A certain elder couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander slightly after it was over. Finally, with just a second of insincere repentance, she cheerfully hugged her little disciple and went to sleep.

What’s done is done; no need to quibble about age anymore.

She wasn’t some old fogey, just following local customs, following local customs, that’s all.

–

New year, new outlook. These five words perfectly described Luo Yuezhu.

From the first day of the first lunar month, the corners of her mouth were upturned, and they didn’t drop even by the fifteenth day.

Just like when she was still a child, she pulled her Master’s hand to go see the Festive Lanterns. She put the Tiger Mask on her Master, then had her Master put the Piglet Mask on her.

Playing the pig to eat the tiger—it seemed to have been successfully realized in a certain way.

After the Lantern Festival passed, Peace Offering City welcomed another heavy snowfall. This snow was intense, falling for seven days and seven nights, blocking all the roads.

Fortunately, most people had anticipated the snow disaster and had prepared grain and charcoal in advance, so there wasn’t excessive panic.

But the heavy snow showed no sign of stopping. Even after the first lunar month ended, it continued falling incessantly, burying all the farmland under thick snow. Even when the Start of Spring arrived, cultivation still couldn’t begin.

For the nobility and wealthy, losing a year’s harvest wasn’t a big deal; it was just a superficial loss.

But for farmers whose lives depended on the land, losing a year’s harvest was a devastating blow and nightmare. It meant they would have no income for the entire coming year and could only survive on their savings.

The chain reaction triggered by the snow disaster was also terrifying. With roads impassable, many goods rose in price along with it.

Zero income, yet increased expenditure—this pushed many families living on tight budgets to the brink of desperation.

The Yamen’s response was somewhat timely. After reporting the situation to the higher authorities, news of tax and corvée labor exemptions quickly arrived, and the corresponding disaster relief supplies were already en route.

As long as the heavy snow melted, the supplies issued by the Imperial Court could be smoothly delivered to Peace Offering City.

Jing Ke and Luo Yuezhu had also anticipated this situation. The grain brought back before the New Year now became a lifeline for some people.

After taking inventory of the grain reserves in the Armory, Luo Yuezhu didn’t follow other merchants in raising prices. Instead, she maintained the original selling price, but each person could only buy three catties of rice at a time.

The purpose of the purchase limit was easy to guess: simply to allow more people to buy grain at a relatively low price.

When the County Yamen realized the disaster relief supplies hadn’t arrived, they could only continuously dispatch their most capable personnel to report the situation upwards, hoping for the opportunity to open the granaries for relief.

Under normal circumstances, approval to open granaries for relief couldn’t be obtained so quickly.

But after the Imperial Court heard of Luo Yuezhu’s actions, they immediately dispatched a Special Envoy via fast horse with an imperial decree. They not only permitted Peace Offering City to open its granaries for relief but also instructed surrounding towns to begin disaster relief simultaneously and provide affected commoners with certain silver subsidies.

In the past, this would have been absolutely impossible. The saying “Heaven is high and the Emperor is far away” wasn’t just empty words. After a snow disaster, receiving even half of the relief supplies was considered good; things like early granary openings with silver handouts were unheard of.

The ordinary people didn’t understand the reasons behind this. They simply believed the Emperor was sagely and mindful of his subjects, granting them such preferential treatment.

But a few people in the know guessed the answer with a simple thought. It was nothing more than the Imperial Court fearing that certain orphans of the Former Dynasty remaining in Peace Offering City would use the disaster to win over the people’s hearts, turning Peace Offering City into their territory.

If the commoners around Peace Offering City were bought over, this centrally located area, almost bordering the Devil Sect and Jiangnan, might escape the Court’s control and instead align with the Devil Sect.

This was the absolute last thing the Imperial Court wanted to see. For this reason, they didn’t mind using some iron-fisted measures to curb the persistent culture of corruption and let the disaster-stricken populace feel the spring breeze-like warmth of the court.

Jing Ke and Yin Honglian were happy to see this outcome. They had no ambitions to begin with. The Court prioritizing disaster relief in this area was also a good thing for them.

If the disaster was handled well, they could go on spring outings once spring began, smoothly buy delicious snacks, and peacefully enjoy the suburban scenery.

–

Luo Yuezhu’s sixteenth birthday wasn’t celebrated grandly. Because of the ongoing snow disaster, Jing Ke hadn’t had time to prepare a special gift, only managing to find time to carve a Small Wood Carving for her little disciple.

But upon receiving the gift, her little disciple was quite happy. She placed the Small Wood Carving in her study and would handle it affectionately several times a day.

After the snow disaster passed without major incident, Luo Yuezhu grew somewhat restless and began studying land reclamation and farming.

Purchasing large amounts of farmland might attract the Imperial Court’s attention, so Luo Yuezhu only bought one hundred acres of land to satisfy her sudden whim.

Personally farming one hundred acres of land wasn’t impossible for Luo Yuezhu, but doing so seemed to put the cart before the horse and lose the fun. So, she chose to hire some farming households in difficult financial straits, paying them wages to manage the land for her.

All Luo Yuezhu needed to do was direct them to plant her preferred crops in designated areas, artificially creating a pastoral scene she liked.

Jing Ke didn’t overly interfere in her little disciple’s hobby but did personally plant a loquat tree and a tangerine tree, waiting for them to one day blossom and bear fruit, so she could taste purely natural, unpolluted fruit.

But this year seemed destined to be somewhat troubled. After the snow disaster, summer brought a drought.

At least half of the one hundred acres of fertile land Luo Yuezhu had purchased dried up and cracked due to insufficient water sources. The crops planted there were on the verge of completely losing their vitality.

“In principle, we can draw water from another location, but it would require artificially creating a water channel.” After studying a hand-drawn topographical map, Jing Ke tapped her finger on a large river about fifty li from Peace Offering City.

“Hiring laborers to dig a channel is within our budget, but such a method is too time-consuming and labor-intensive.” Jing Ke paused before continuing, “Didn’t you once ask me whether, when martial arts are cultivated to the extreme, one could move mountains and fill seas?”