Chapter 1684: Chapter 1513: Female 17

After hiding and fleeing on foot for several days, Fang Jingyao and Fang Miaozhen could no longer endure the hardships and suffering of this difficult life.

After calculating, these two actually sold Liu Xi, who, despite her age, still possessed exceptional beauty, into the brothel.

Believe it or not, with Liu Xi’s allure and charm, they actually made a decent amount of Silver, and Fang Jingyao and Fang Miaozhen used the Silver they gained from selling their main husband and biological father to buy two donkeys and continued toward the border.

One had been willing to harm the original spouse just to marry their wife, and the other was their biological daughter, and yet they conspired to throw him into the pit!

Liu Xi never imagined he would be treated like this. If Fang Jingyao acted so, it wasn’t surprising to Liu Xi. After so many years together, he saw through what kind of person Fang Jingyao was: someone you couldn’t rely on.

But for his daughter whom he treated wholeheartedly to treat him the same way—that is the root cause of Liu Xi’s despair. On the day he was sent to the brothel, he couldn’t handle this blow and nearly went insane.

Unfortunately, even if he felt unbearable pain, he lacked the courage to end his life. At first, in his madness, Liu Xi considered bashing his head to escape, but at the final moment, he hesitated and weakened his strength.

As a result, the attempted suicide failed and instead angered the brothel owner, who dealt with him in a cruel way unique to the brothel, leaving him in a pitiful state. If not for Liu Xi’s beauty, the brothel owner might have beaten him to death.

In the end, Liu Xi couldn’t withstand the torment and succumbed. After enjoying a good life for half his life, he was ultimately abandoned entirely by his wife and daughter, ending up with a fate of living out his days in a brothel.

Initially, Fang Miaqing considered how to deal with Liu Xi. She couldn’t bring herself to harm her mother, but she wasn’t merciful toward Liu Xi.

However, upon learning about Liu Xi’s life in the brothel, Fang Miaqing thought it over and abandoned further actions, only setting someone to keep an eye on him, forbidding anyone from ransoming Liu Xi, then turned her focus away from him.

What is more important now for Fang Miaqing is to establish her own business, fortunately having a good grandmother who supports her everywhere, sparing her the difficulty of really starting from scratch.

As for Liu Xi, just like Fang Miaqing told Qi Guanshuang about before, who says death is the best punishment? Sometimes, living without hope is more terrifying than dying.

On the other side, knowing the fate of Fang Jingyao and Fang Miaozhen, Qi Guanshuang too stopped paying attention to these two people, having already bankrupted the Fang Family in both past and present lives—two acts of vengeance were enough.

Recently, Qi Guanshuang is purchasing a large quantity of grain, not for profit, but to prepare for the subsequent disaster.

Qi Guanshuang remembers that in three months, a severe drought will simultaneously strike two provinces around Yun City, plunging countless farmers into a desperate situation where no crops are harvested.

In the past life, during this time, Qi Guanshuang was still an idle playboy who had just lost both parents and didn’t bother thinking of anything else, just donated money to open a soup kitchen and left it at that.

But in this life, already aware of this event, Qi Guanshuang wants to do something for these disaster-stricken common people within her ability.

It is remembered after the drought in the past life occurred, the common people were devoid of grain, life became difficult from the start because the previous year was also a drought.

Though it wasn’t so dry as to have no harvest, it barely maintained subsistence, many places relying on government grain relief to make it through.

Even so, a minor drought plus this year’s seed money exhausted most people’s savings.

When the drought this year hit, the court reduced taxes, but the disaster relief grain needed to be brought from farther away.

Because of the previous dry year, the surrounding warehouses already had little stock left for emergencies, and successive droughts meant no new grain had yet been stored.

In such circumstances, the local government had no solution; the common people were forced to buy grain, and grain merchants took the opportunity to steadily raise prices, leaving people unable to afford it, ultimately having to sell their children.

By the time the court’s official relief grain reluctantly arrived, the people had been pushed to the point where they were penniless and resorting to child-eating!

After this drought, a nursery rhyme was sung in the streets: "The drought came before the year, grain prices changed daily, the people bankrupted themselves, couldn’t fill their bellies, yesterday children ran everywhere, today one hears no cries, for each house swaps sons for food."

Though not truly every house gave up its humanity so far in swapping each son for food that no cries were heard, this originless rhyme genuinely bluntly reflected the most brutal humanity during the drought.

Qi Guanshuang wasn’t a saint, thinking of sacrificing property to help these disaster victims. She didn’t have such high wisdom.

However, stockpiling grain cheaply ahead of time to stabilize and sell it not for profit once the disaster happens, not letting people become as desperate as trading children for food—she could still achieve this and was willing to do it.

Moreover, completing these tasks only lost some manpower and time; though the Silver truly spent on these things wasn’t a small amount either, Qi Guanshuang could still bear these losses.

Qi Guanshuang had people buy grain from a few major producing provinces and transport it to the towns worst hit by drought around Yun City, just waiting for the drought to sell the grain.

Qi Guanshuang drew some attention with these actions, but she needn’t worry about someone accusing her of being a demon for foreseeing the disaster beforehand.

The Astronomical Bureau had already sent people here to examine and several times sent memorials to the Emperor stating possible drought here, urging early prevention.

The Astronomical Bureau in this world was indeed competent, fully versed in astrological phenomena and geology, everything explained thoroughly, not weaving cloud-covered illusions, engaging any Feng Jian superstition.

However, it’s unfortunate that the Emperor of this dynasty is a ruler who neglects governance, favoring sensual indulgence in her harem of three thousand handsome men, totally ignoring how the common people live.

And in the court, power lies with a few ministers liking to flatter, along with a particularly favored bold Lin Guijun who colludes with courtiers, whispering sweet nothings in the Emperor’s ear—none of them cares about the people.

The matters about the incoming severe drought reported by the Astronomical Bureau were dismissed by the Emperor as nothing, viewed as mere unnecessary worry by the Historian.

Additionally, the Emperor’s beloved Lin Guijun disliked the Astronomical Bureau’s historian, led the Emperor to hear slander against her several times, and she eventually was thrown into the Heavenly Prison for alarmism and disturbing the court.

Only thanks to several loyal veteran ministers who knew the historian’s talents pleaded jointly for her was the historian of the Astronomical Bureau rescued, and afterwards, the veteran ministers insisted the Emperor deal with the calculated incoming severe drought.

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