Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

Aunt Wang walked up to Ling Yun with a smile and told him about the money Ji Yunshu had given her. She said she planned to go to the street to buy some food and cook for Ji Yunshu and her group, and told Ling Yun to take care of the rest of the group.

After saying that, she went to the street with Old Man Wang.

Only the officials and exiled prisoners remained in the courtyard.

"Alright, we'll settle here for the next few days. If you have any extra silver, you can give some copper coins to Aunt Wang and Uncle Wang so they can get a room to rest in. If you don't have any extra silver, just make do in the courtyard for the next few days and don't go out unless necessary."

Although everyone was somewhat dissatisfied with Ling Yun staying in a room while they stayed outside, they didn't dare to say anything and resigned themselves to finding a place to stay in the courtyard.

Although there is no house to shelter from the wind and rain, this little courtyard is much better than the wilderness.

Ji Yunshu asked Xie Lin and Xie Mohuan to bring a few quilts from the carriage, and then went in to make the beds.

She then returned to the carriage she shared with Xie Moyao.

Xie Moyao was awake and not asleep. Seeing her serious expression, he asked, "What's wrong? You don't look well."

Ji Yunshu shook her head, initially thinking that she might be overthinking things, but after a moment's thought, she couldn't help but say something.

"Xie Moyao, I have a feeling that something big is about to happen, and I'm a little panicked."

Xie Moyao raised his hand, lifted the carriage curtain, observed the situation outside for a while, and his expression did not change much.

"What's wrong? You look perfectly normal to me, it doesn't seem like anything's going to happen. Have you been too tired these past few days and are you a little tense?"

If you're worried about tomorrow's surgery, don't worry. If you're not feeling well, we can postpone it. There's no rush.

Ever since he learned that Ji Yunshu would be performing surgery on him tomorrow, Xie Moyao had been on edge. He assumed that Ji Yunshu was just as worried about the surgery.

Ji Yunshu sighed, her expression grave.

"It's not about the surgery. To tell you the truth, I once read in an ancient book about a type of natural disaster called an earthquake."

She didn't know if earthquakes had ever occurred in ancient times, or if the names were the same, so she continued...

An earthquake is a violent shaking that occurs in a certain place, causing the ground to tremble violently and collapsing all the plants, trees, and buildings on the surface. The earth will crack, and rocks on the mountains will collapse.

Moreover, earthquakes occur at extremely high speeds, giving people no time to react—it's just a blink of an eye.

I read in that book that some phenomena can be predicted before an earthquake occurs, such as...

Do you remember the fish we saw in the river yesterday? They all jumped out of the water and struggled all night. And then there was today's sunset, so red it looked like it was about to bleed, and the birds in the sky, a dark mass that lingered for a long time, circling overhead.

Even the water in those wells, according to that ancient book, sometimes during earthquakes, the water underground would surface, and some of it would change temperature, while some would become turbid.

At first, I thought it was all a coincidence, but now, putting it all together, I feel these phenomena are similar to what I read in that book. However, I haven't personally experienced an earthquake, so I don't know if it's true or not.

She blurted out all her thoughts, not knowing whether Xie Moyao would believe her.

Her statement is indeed quite far-fetched; few people would believe that an earthquake might occur based solely on these facts.

Xie Moyao lowered his head in thought. He had not experienced the earthquake that Ji Yunshu mentioned, but just from Ji Yunshu's description, he could imagine how much disaster it would bring to the people if an earthquake really happened.

Could an earthquake really be happening?

But if it doesn't happen, then all these events seem to perfectly match what Ji Yunshu said.

"Besides these, is there anything else written in that book?"

Ji Yunshu thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"There doesn't seem to be anything else. That book is full of prophecies, but it doesn't say for sure that an earthquake will definitely happen as long as these things happen."

Oh, and besides these, there are also poultry. The book also records that before an earthquake, the poultry in the house will become restless.

But when we arrived, the poultry didn't seem restless at all; perhaps I'm just overthinking it.

Moreover, even if they really had a premonition of an earthquake, what could they do?

They were just exiled prisoners; even if they said there might be an earthquake, no one would believe them.

The two were in silence when they suddenly heard a constable shouting outside the carriage.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you standing there for? Come help! The horse looks spooked, quickly pull it back!"

"Quickly close the gate to the yard! If the horses run away, it'll be a disaster! Quickly bring all the horses over and tie them up. Running around like this, they'll trample people!"

Outside the carriage, the shouts of officials rang out incessantly, and the faint sounds of screams could also be heard.

Their hearts sank; they suddenly felt their own carriage begin to shake.

Ji Yunshu quickly lifted the carriage curtain and saw that the horse in front of her had its head raised high, its head shaking wildly, and its hooves were constantly pawing the ground, looking somewhat restless.

Ji Yunshu didn't have time to think. She quickly went outside the carriage, grabbed the horse's reins, and tried to calm the horse down.

Seeing this from inside the carriage, Xie Moyao couldn't help but call out, "Be careful!"

His expression was somewhat solemn. Could it really be a coincidence?

He had just finished discussing the earthquake with Ji Yunshu when the horse seemed startled. It seemed that everything he said was similar to what Ji Yunshu had said.

It was such a coincidence that he had no choice but to believe it.

However, given their current status and circumstances, even if they were told that an earthquake might occur, no one would believe them.

The only one who could possibly convince everyone was the eldest prince, Chu Jinsheng.

Ji Yunshu gritted her teeth and held onto the horse's reins tightly. It took her a long time, until her hands were covered in bloody marks, before she finally calmed the horse down.

The others also did their best to calm their own horses down.

Ling Yun, holding a horse by the hand, frowned as he looked at Ji Yunshu.

"Your Highness, what's going on? Why did our horses suddenly get startled?"

Could it be that the horse doesn't like this place?

Ji Yunshu hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself. The earthquake was just a speculation between her and Xie Moyao, and she didn't know if Ling Yun would believe her if she brought it up now.

She calmed the horse down and looked at Ling Yun with a serious expression.

"Lingyun, the Prince and I just discussed this in the carriage. We feel that something is unusual today; many things that happened are strange. We speculate that this may be a precursor to an earthquake!"