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

"Okay, just take care of yourselves. Money is important, but health is more important. By the way, now that you're all done, I'll take you into the space to wash up."

My eldest and second sisters-in-law have finished washing up and are currently in the space, working on a new trick. Would you like to go in and take a look?

Xiao Lan was incredibly excited when she heard that Chen and Li were researching new patterns.

"Yes, yes, I need to see my third sister-in-law! Please take me inside quickly!"

Ji Yunshu smiled and didn't hesitate. With a thought, she sent Xiaolan and Xie Lin into the space together.

This time she didn't go in with them. Li and Chen were in the space, and Xiao Lan and Xie Lin were already very familiar with the space.

Remembering the arrangements made in the space, Ji Yunshu got up and went to the kitchen. She took a piece of pork from under the wall, carried it back to the main room, and looked at Xie Moyao sitting by the fire.

"I'm taking this piece of meat to Aunt Wang and the others. Do you want to come along?"

She needed to give Aunt Wang and Wang Rong a heads-up about Wang Zheng's situation so they wouldn't worry.

"I won't go. You have a good relationship with them. If you go and deliver pork to them, it won't arouse suspicion. I'll just stay home and keep watch."

Ji Yunshu nodded without saying much. Xie Moyao's arrangement was correct. There was no one at home right now, so someone needed to stay and look after the house.

If someone actually comes and finds that the whole family is not there, the lie will be hard to cover up.

She took a cloak and put it on, then carried the pork out of the yard. It was still snowing lightly, and the road was covered with a thick layer of snow.

As she walked out of the courtyard, she left a trail of footprints on the road. Turning around to look behind her, she saw that everyone had disappeared from the riverbank.

When they returned earlier, there were still quite a few people waiting by the river. Now that the snow is falling heavier and heavier, many people probably can't stand it and have gone home first.

The several fires that had been burning by the river have mostly died down, leaving only a few scattered embers.

Ji Yunshu knew the way to Aunt Wang's house, and with the snow shining around, it wasn't too dark.

Before long, she arrived at Aunt Wang's yard. It was quite late at night, and she didn't know if Aunt Wang and Wang Rong were asleep yet.

She had originally planned to tell them about Wang Zheng during the day, but the thought that they would worry more if they didn't know about Wang Zheng made her decide to come over in the evening.

Standing outside the courtyard, Ji Yunshu, carrying meat in her hand, stood on tiptoe to look into the courtyard, where there was a faint light coming from inside the house.

"Aunt Wang, Aunt Wang, are you asleep?"

As soon as Ji Yunshu finished speaking, a slight noise came from inside the room.

A short while later, the door opened from the inside, and Wang Rong, wearing a coat, quickly walked out of the room.

He was somewhat surprised to see that the person who came was Ji Yunshu.

"Madam Ji, what brings you here?"

As he spoke, he quickly opened the courtyard gate and beckoned Ji Yunshu to come inside.

"Quickly, come in. It's very cold outside, but it's warmer inside."

What's wrong? Why didn't you come tomorrow? It's not safe for a woman to walk alone so late at night."

Ji Yunshu smiled but didn't rush to reply.

Is it unsafe for her to walk?

She's probably the safest person to walk at night.

Following the door Wang Rong opened, she entered the courtyard and then went into the inner room.

Neither Aunt Wang nor Wang Rong were asleep inside the house.

Aunt Wang was sitting in the main room warming herself by the fire. There was a fire in front of her with some wood on it, and the wood was crackling and popping. As soon as you entered the room, you were greeted by a pungent smell.

Ji Yunshu didn't seem to mind; the wood they used before was the same kind.

The wood she later took out from her space was all of the highest quality. Now, when she started a fire, although it was still a bit choking, it was much better than before.

However, the firewood that Wang Rong and his family were burning in their house was obviously not of very good quality. It was probably because Wang Rong had to go to work during the day, and Aunt Wang was too old for either of them to have time to gather firewood.

In the evening, they could only make do with using the slightly damp firewood to roast the food.

As soon as Ji Yunshu entered, she put the meat in her hand on the table next to her and said to Aunt Wang.

"Aunt Wang, I came here this time to bring you some meat."

During the day, I went into the woods and brought back a wild boar. We killed it together and got quite a bit of meat. I've brought some over for you to have a treat.

Aunt Wang looked at the meat on the table with a surprised expression and waved her hands repeatedly.

"No, no, Yunshu, you already helped us set up the fishpond, and you didn't even charge us for the fishing net!"

I showed our second son today, and there are already several fish in our fishpond. Those fish alone are enough to feed us for quite some time!

If we're having a treat, we can have the fish; you should take the pork back with you.

Wang Rong sat to the side without saying a word. He also felt that Ji Yunshu should take the meat back.

Ji Yunshu and her family contributed a lot to their fishing nets today, along with the fish they caught earlier while breaking the ice, and to building the fishpond.

They'd already gotten a huge bargain, and now they were getting the pork for free; he felt really embarrassed.

"Aunt Wang, I brought this over for you, so it's yours. And I'm giving it to you with peace of mind, so please keep it safe!"

There's not much meat, just enough for you guys to have a taste of meat. I've already salted this meat, so it'll keep for at least ten days. You can hang it in the kitchen and cook some whenever you want.

I didn't bring you much, so please don't mind.

Hearing this, Aunt Wang felt even more embarrassed.

"Yun Shu, what kind of talk is that? You're giving us meat to eat, how could we possibly complain!"

I just feel a little bad about always taking things from you for free...

"Don't talk about eating and taking for free. I already said we're all family. Your eldest son and my husband used to be good brothers."

We're as close as brothers, practically family. We can't just take what's our own.

Hearing Ji Yunshu's words, Aunt Wang hesitated for a moment before nodding with emotion and saying to Wang Rong beside her.

"Did you hear what Yunshu said? Quickly pick up that meat and put it away properly. Tomorrow, we'll get some to eat and try. I heard it's wild boar meat, and it tastes delicious!"

Wang Rong stood up excitedly and nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, yes, thank you very much, Madam Ji."

As he spoke, he walked to the table, picked up the meat on the table, and carefully carried it into the inner room like a precious treasure.

This is pork, it's precious!

Even more precious than fish and meat, they can only occasionally eat a little fish and meat in this Anjia Village because there is a river nearby, but pork is something they rarely eat, even once every few years.