Famine and Chaos: Weaving Cloth in Exile to Escape the War

"Knock knock knock!"

Jing Zhichun pounded on the door, "Xiaoman, open the door, it's your mother."

"I'm here, Mother!"

Xiaoman's voice immediately came from inside the house, and then the door opened a crack, revealing Xiaoman's nervous and confused face. "Mom, why are you back so soon?"

Jing Zhichun slipped into the house, quickly closed the door behind her, and scooped up Xiaoman in her arms. "Xiaoman, I've been thinking about it, and I'm really worried about leaving you and your brother alone at home. I'm going to take you with me now, but not to Grandpa Yang's house. I have a very special place where I'll settle you down first. I'll come pick you up when I'm done with my work."

"A special place?" Xiaoman's eyes were filled with curiosity and a hint of unease. "Mother, what's a special place? Is it in the mountains?"

"It's not in the mountains, it's a much safer place than home. When you get there, you must take good care of yourself and your younger brother, just like you would at home. Mom will come to pick you up as soon as I'm done with my errands, okay?"

"Yes, I understand, Mother!"

"Good boy."

After Jing Zhichun finished speaking, she quickly redeemed three steaming hot meat buns, a bottle of mineral water, and a small wooden bucket with a lid from the system. She also sent the blankets and other items from the tent directly into her spatial storage.

Then, she picked up the still-sleeping baby with one arm and held Xiaoman in the other, silently saying, "Go inside."

In an instant, a subtle, dizzying sensation came over me.

Xiaoman felt a blur before her eyes, and when she opened them again, the surrounding environment had completely changed!

They were no longer in a dark and cold hut, but in a bright, white, and strangely beautiful large white cabinet. The cabinet was surrounded by a hazy white atmosphere, and it was not cold at all.

Also, her family's wooden chest is in this big cabinet, along with blankets, steamed buns, water...

"Mother!" Xiaoman exclaimed in shock, clutching Jing Zhichun's robe tightly. Her mouth gaped open, wide enough to fit an egg. "We...how did we get here all of a sudden? Where is this? Why is it already light?"

"This is the special place that Mother was talking about, but I'll tell you about it slowly when Mother has some free time."

As Jing Zhichun spoke, she quickly put down the two children, spread the blankets in a relatively spacious corner of the cabinet, carefully placed the baby on them, and then pulled Xiaoman over to sit down.

"Xiaoman, look, it's very safe here. There are no rats, no bad people, and not even the wind can get in." Jing Zhichun placed the meat buns and water next to Xiaoman. "If you're hungry, eat the buns and drink the water. This bucket..."

As she spoke, she pointed to the small wooden bucket, "If you need to relieve yourself, use this. And afterwards, make sure to close the lid tightly, okay?"

Xiaoman was overjoyed to hear that there were no rats or bad people here. "Yes, Mother, I'll remember!"

"Good girl, stay here obediently. If you get tired, take a nap. No one can come in except your mother, and no one can find you." Jing Zhichun kissed Xiaoman's forehead and then touched the baby's little face. "Your mother will be back soon to take you home."

"Mother, be careful."

"Don't worry, Mom knows. Take good care of yourself and your brother."

Jing Zhichun glanced around the cabinet one last time, and with a thought, her figure vanished from the spot.

After leaving the space, Kyoto Haru quickly folded up the tent and put it back into the space.

After carefully locking the door, she hurried to the Yang family's house.

A short while later, outside the gate of the Yang family compound.

Jing Zhichun stood in front of the Yang family's tightly closed wooden door, raised her hand and knocked on the door knocker, "Sister-in-law Gao, Brother Erniu, open the door."

Yang Erniu's voice came from inside the courtyard very quickly, and then the courtyard gate was opened.

"Ah! You...who are you?!"

Yang Erniu was so frightened by the completely black, ghost-like figure outside the door that his heart almost jumped out of his throat, and his hand instinctively reached for the wood-chopping knife by the door.

"It's me, Kyoto Haru. Where's your father?"

"Ah, Madam Shen... Madam Shen?!"

Yang Erniu's eyes widened suddenly. It was indeed Jing Zhichun's voice. He had thought it was some thief. "Oh my god...you scared me to death! I thought it was...that unclean ghost passing by..."

As he spoke, he hurriedly stepped aside, "Madam Shen, please come in quickly. My father is inside. I'll take you there."

"Okay, sure."

Immediately afterwards, Jing Zhichun followed Yang Erniu into the courtyard.

The people inside the main house also heard the commotion, and the entire Yang family came out.

When the Yang family saw the figure standing in the courtyard, shrouded in black from head to toe, everyone was stunned, especially the children, who shrank behind the adults in fear.

"Madam Shen? Is that you?" Gao Xiuqin stepped forward and asked nervously.

Kyoto Haru sensed the surprised and uncertain looks on everyone's faces, realizing that her outfit was indeed a bit frightening, especially at night.

She explained, "It's me, Sister-in-law Gao. This outfit is specially made to protect me from illness and poison, making it easier for me to treat Uncle Yang and preventing me from spreading the illness to others."

"Oh...oh, I see." Gao Xiuqin's tension eased slightly, and she nodded as if she understood.

The other members of the Yang family also breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Jing Zhichun's explanation.

As Jing Zhichun walked towards Yang Dawang's door, she saw that the Yang family members had followed her, so she stopped. "I'm going in to see Uncle Yang. The rest of you should go back inside. Erniu, don't go in either. Just wait outside. I'll call you if you need anything. My clothes can ward off illness, so it's safest for me to go in alone."

Before Jing Zhichun could finish speaking and before the Yang family could reply, Yang Dawang's weak voice came from inside the closed door.

"Madam Shen! You...you wait! Maybe you shouldn't come in! I'm burning up, and I have blisters."

As you said yesterday, the observation period should be three to five days before symptoms appear, but I was bitten by a rat and symptoms appeared in less than a day.

I've been thinking about it... and I reckon I wasn't infected just yesterday.

This illness has probably been in my body for a long time, but it didn't show up until today!

If that's really the case, then my family members who ate from the same pot and slept in the same room as me a few days ago, and you, Mrs. Shen, you all came to my house for dinner a few days ago, so... so you've all been implicated by me already?!

Kyoto Spring was silent for a moment.

Yang Dawang's speculation was correct.

Everyone in their courtyard has likely contracted the plague.

However, the length of the incubation period varies from person to person; Yang Dawang simply experienced an early onset of symptoms.

"Yes, Uncle Yang, you guessed correctly."

As soon as Jing Zhichun finished speaking, Old Mrs. Yang burst into tears, "What? We're all sick?"

"No, husband, you've never been bitten by a rat before, you were bitten just yesterday. How did you get sick so early?"

As Old Mrs. Yang finished speaking, the other members of the Yang family were also puzzled as to why Yang Dawang had fallen ill prematurely.

Yang Erniu also became nervous. "Madam Shen, didn't you say that you only get sick from being bitten by rats? But my father hasn't been bitten by rats before; he was bitten just yesterday. How could he possibly be sick?"

Seeing that the Yang family members were all looking at her, Jing Zhichun knew that she had to explain the truth about the spread of the plague immediately, and could not let them continue to live in the deception spread by the imperial court.

Moreover, if the plague has broken out here, then it should have broken out in the city as well.

In this way, someone will eventually expose the court's lie, the lie that eating rats will cause you to get the plague.

Moreover, it wouldn't hurt for her to tell the Yang family the truth now, but to prevent any unnecessary trouble, she also wanted to remind them that it was enough for them to know, and they shouldn't tell anyone else.

"Actually, this disease is the plague. The plague is not only caused by being bitten by a rat, but also not by eating a rat as the court claimed."

The main source of plague infection is fleas and lice on rats. These fleas and lice contract the plague after sucking the blood of infected rats. Then, these fleas and lice jump onto people and suck their blood, causing the people to become ill.

People who have contracted the disease can then transmit it to others through droplets or other means.

Uncle Yang's plague was probably transmitted by lice and fleas, or perhaps by someone already infected with the plague.

Jing Zhichun's words startled the Yang family.

"What?! Fleas and lice on rats... can transmit diseases?! And this disease is the plague? Is the imperial court lying to us?" Yang Erniu gasped, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Why would the imperial court do this? Why are they hiding the truth about the plague? We are citizens of the Great Zhou..."

The faces of the others were also filled with disbelief and a deeper despair.

So this is the plague.

It turns out that the imperial proclamation was false.

Why would the imperial court deceive them?

Moreover, if even those invisible insects can kill people, how can we prevent the plague?

"Madam Shen, are you... are you telling the truth? Is this really the plague? And those invisible little insects can kill people? What should we do?" Gao Xiuqin was also trembling with fear.

Listening to the Yang family's barrage of questions, Jing Zhichun nodded. "Yes, it's true, it really is the plague, but don't panic, and don't ask so many questions. The most important thing right now is to treat Uncle Yang's illness."

However, you should not speak of what I have said today about the ways in which the plague spreads, or anything else about the plague, to anyone else for the time being.

Since the imperial court posted such a notice, it meant that they did not want the people to know about the transmission methods of the plague.

If you were to spread what I said today about the spread of the plague, some people would be unhappy, and their lives might even be in danger.

As Jing Zhichun finished speaking, Yang Dawang's voice rang out.

"Madam Shen, does the imperial court no longer care about the lives of the people, so it resorts to deceiving them like this?"

"How could they do this!" Old Mrs. Yang choked back tears, trembling with anger and nearly fainting. "My son, Da Niu, just went to fight, to guard the border, and now the court is turning around and deceiving us common people to death!"

For a moment, only the old lady's heart-wrenching cries could be heard in the Yang family courtyard, and everyone else's eyes were red as they silently wiped away their tears.

Jing Zhichun sighed, "Uncle Yang, Aunt Yang, this is not the time to talk about this. We should focus on getting medical treatment first."

"Father, Mother, Madam Shen is right," Gao Xiuqin wiped away her tears and advised, "Let's get the doctor treated first, and we can talk about other things later."

Old Mrs. Yang quickly stopped crying. "Alright, alright, let's see the doctor first. Madam Shen, please take a look at my old man first."

"Hmm." Jing Zhichun nodded, walked to the front of Yang Dawang's house, pushed open the door and went inside.