Mu Shuangshuang returned home to find her family already out of the courtyard, standing on the open ground in front of it.

Lu Yuanfeng was holding Yuanbao and Little Zhi by the hand, while Xiao Han stood beside Xing Beichen.

As soon as Mu Shuangshuang was spotted, Yu Si Niang came forward to greet her.

"Shuangshuang, where’s your father?"

"My father’s still over there discussing solutions with the village chief! I reckon he won’t be back for a while. Let’s wait for him here!"

Hearing this, Yu Si Niang felt a sense of relief.

As long as he’s safe, as Shuangshuang says, he’s on a piece of open ground somewhere.

Xing Beichen was different from the others. He had read about "earthquakes" in some books, though the books called it earth movements, much like the situation Mu Shuangshuang described.

However, the books recorded that "earth movements" happened very suddenly, sometimes occurring once in hundreds of years, and sometimes every few years.

How exactly did Shuangshuang know about this?

Xing Beichen was puzzled, but of course, now was not the appropriate time to ask such questions.

He sighed, "If this place keeps trembling like this, something bad is bound to happen!"

Mu Shuangshuang shook her head, "I have a feeling the earthquake might not have happened here with us."

Mu Shuangshuang had read some reports on earthquakes and suddenly felt that maybe the earthquake didn’t actually occur on Er Gui Village’s land.

In fact, her guess was indeed correct.

The entire village of Er Gui waited outside throughout the night, experiencing three shakes in total.

Aside from that, there was nothing more severe.

Nor did anyone blame Mu Shuangshuang and Mu Dashan at all.

At first light, Mu Shuangshuang made a simple breakfast and hurried to town with Lu Yuanfeng, originally intending to gather information.

But this era was nothing like the modern day, where news could spread throughout the country instantly.

However, there were still many people in town discussing last night’s tremors.

More people believed it to be divine punishment for evil deeds.

Mu Shuangshuang couldn’t gather the information she was looking for, which was a bit disappointing.

But as soon as she reached the restaurant, she instructed Yu Dahai to buy a three-month supply of rice from the rice shop.

Mu Shuangshuang was still certain that there must have been an earthquake somewhere the previous night.

Rice and medicine prices might soar because of this incident.

Because new rice would soon come onto the market, the rice shop gave Yu Dahai quite a few discounts for buying so much at once.

Mu Shuangshuang shared her plan with Lu Yuanfeng.

Lu Yuanfeng quickly said, "Shuangshuang, do you remember the five hundred silver notes we retrieved from Gao Tiezhu’s house back then? We haven’t used them yet. I think we can do quite a lot with that money now."

Mu Shuangshuang immediately nodded, "Let’s go to the several medicine shops in town and buy more medicine."

After saying so, the two of them went to the major pharmacies together.

The medicines they bought were mainly for treating epidemics and heat-induced illnesses, as well as some healing ointments.

All the medicines were piled up in the house Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng owned in the county.

They spent over a hundred taels of silver in total.

But Mu Shuangshuang still felt it wasn’t enough; she asked the storekeepers of the pharmacies to procure more medicine, promising to come back with payment the next day.

They also bought some flour and other necessities.

With the new harvest coming in, not only had rice prices dropped a bit, but flour and other essentials had become cheaper as well.

After a full day of hustle and bustle, it was nearly dark when the two finally returned to Er Gui Village.

This time, they encountered a few villagers who were on their way back from work. Seeing Mu Shuangshuang, each wore a grateful expression.

As if the tense standoff from the previous night had not involved them at all! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Mu Shuangshuang didn’t hold it against them, greeting them amicably as she returned home.

——

Five days later, the court announced a proclamation.

An earth movement had occurred in Yulin County, causing numerous buildings to collapse, and the injury and death toll was still being counted.

In order to solve the problem, the court immediately allocated a substantial amount of funds.

The price of grain began to rise in several nearby counties, and medicine prices skyrocketed.

The medicines Mu Shuangshuang had bought earlier for over three hundred taels of silver had now risen in value three to four times, or even five to six times, based on Qianzhou Prefecture’s market price.

Let alone in Yulin County, where it was practically impossible to find grain or medicine even if one was willing to pay a fortune.

But these matters had nothing whatsoever to do with the other people in Qingshan Town.

Because all the medicines had ended up in Mu Shuangshuang’s hands.

Several landlords in the town, realizing belatedly they ought to stockpile some medicine, were informed that all the supplies had been bought out.

No one knew who said it, but word spread that Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng had purchased the medicines.

Everyone flocked to Chengfeng Restaurant.

Their aim was nothing more than to buy the medicines from Mu Shuangshuang and resell them at higher prices!

Unfortunately, by this time, Mu Shuangshuang had already hired an escort agency to transport the medicines and grain out of town.

Five days was certainly not a short period for Mu Shuangshuang.

During these days, she kept waiting to see exactly where the earthquake had occurred.

She had made up her mind to donate all the grain she had purchased.

As for the medicine, initially she hadn’t intended to make money off it, but then those people had hyped up the prices too much.

Mu Shuangshuang feared that if she gave it away for free, those looking to profit off others’ misfortune would benefit.

Moreover, since the court had allocated funds, if those people didn’t do some actual work, she feared the funds would end up being embezzled.

It was better to liaise with the court and sell them the supplies.

That way, the court’s money would be put to good use, and she wouldn’t suffer a loss.

Mu Shuangshuang discussed this with Xing Beichen, and he agreed with her.

The three of them set out for Yulin County the very day they received the news!

This place wasn’t unfamiliar to Mu Shuangshuang; the first she had heard of it was from Xing Beichen, who mentioned that Xing Ningtian had some old forces there.

If they were brought together to the Northwest, their odds in battle might improve.

Plus, Yulin County wasn’t far from Qingshan Town.

The three rode swiftly, and after a day’s journey, they finally reached Yulin County.

As for the medicines and grain, they were expected to arrive in Yulin County the following afternoon.

As a civil servant, Xing Beichen proved quite useful at critical moments.

The three of them entered the city smoothly, and at that moment, the scenes inside were indeed alarming.

Refugees lay sprawled here and there, from the city gates stretching all the way into the city.

Some had bloody head wounds, while others stared blankly, still seemingly frightened by the recent earthquake.

The weather was scorching, yet those people had not even a patch of shade.

The stores along the streets were all closed, and whenever a pharmacy was open, the medicines were exorbitantly priced.

People gazed longingly at the medicines but, constrained by their meager wallets, dared not step forward.

Xing Beichen was in charge of the negotiations, while Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng found a spot to stand and waited for him.

Dusk slowly descended, yet Xing Beichen had still not returned!