Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 146 Disaster of War

The painter employed by the county government, in addition to receiving a salary for his official duties, was also entitled to a portion of the bounty as reward money. Typically, this reward money would be about ten to thirty percent of the bounty offered for the wanted criminals.

But most of the portraits were not accurate likenesses, making it difficult to capture the fugitives. Even when a capture was made, they would at most receive ten percent of the offered bounty. If someone brought in portraits like the ones Gu Jin’an had, which would likely lead to high chances of capturing the fugitives, his father-in-law would definitely give out thirty percent of the bounty as reward money.

Gu Jin’an was well aware that his family had neither money nor power. If he wanted to make a name for himself, he could not let this opportunity slip by. He immediately nodded: "Sir, I am willing."

Scholar Shang smiled, "Good, I’ll arrange this matter. You should spend the next few days refining your skills in this particular style of painting."

The two paintings brought in today were clearly the work of two different artists. One was fluent and natural, while the other featured more stiff lines—a soulless kind of work, likely by the hand of Gu Jin’an.

Gu Jin’an stood up and bowed, "I understand, sir."

Scholar Shang raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit down, and knowing that Third Grandpa and the others had come to ask him to locate someone, he inquired about the circumstances of both Gu Fuya and Gu Daya’s families.

Third Grandpa said, "Fuya married Xie Pingzi from Changping Town of Xie Family Plain. Pingzi is thirty-five this year, the third son of the old Xie family, and he and his wife have two sons and one daughter. The eldest son is fifteen this year, named Xie Jingxian; the second son is thirteen, named Xie Jingmin; and the daughter is ten years old, called Xie Jianing..."

Third Grandpa narrated Gu Fuya’s family situation in great detail, from how old Gu Fuya was, which family she married into, where they lived, and what occupation they had—all clear and concise.

"When the famine occurred, we went to Changping Town to look for them, but the townspeople said they had returned to Xie Family Plain, and that grocery shop had been closed long ago."

Third Grandpa had only this daughter, and all he wished for in his life was to marry her off to a good family; he never considered having his daughter marry in and carry on the family lineage.

They had picked out a family for Gu Fuya early on, and finally, when Gu Fuya was fifteen, they married her off to Xie Laosan of Xie Family Plain.

Xie Laosan’s father and Third Grandpa were good brothers. When they were young, they often traveled together to various places to drill wells and work. Trusting the Xie family, Third Grandpa married his only daughter to the Xie family’s third son.

Third Grandpa had a good eye; the Xie family treated Gu Fuya well, and Xie Pingzi had known Fuya since they were young. The couple had a good relationship, and together with Third Grandpa’s family, they even pooled money to open a grocery store for Xie Pingzi in Changping Town. The couple attended the shop with their children, and life was very pleasant.

But then a drought came, and there was no more good life to speak of. The wells in Changping Town dried up, and Xie Pingzi and Gu Fuya had no choice but to take their children back to Xie Family Plain.

By the time Third Grandpa and his companions arrived at Xie Family Plain, everyone had already fled due to the famine.

"We originally thought that by moving quickly, we could catch up with them, but along the way, we asked around without hearing any news," Third Grandpa said, his eyes going red with the effort to hold back tears.

Scholar Shang wrote down everything Third Grandpa had said. After Third Grandpa finished speaking, Scholar Shang asked him a few more questions to fill in any details he might have missed, then turned to Gu Dashan: "Brother Gu, what is the situation with Gu Family’s eldest daughter and her family?"

Gu Dashan took out a yellowed letter from the cloth bag he carried and handed it to Scholar Shang, "This is a letter that Daya had someone bring me back then; her family’s situation is all written in it."

Gu Dashan always carried this letter with him, fearing that he might one day forget the situation of Daya’s family and later be unable to find his younger sister.

Scholar Shang opened the letter and saw that the handwriting had been blurred by moisture. It took him more than a quarter of an hour to read the contents of the letter.

Gu Daya married into Mingshan County’s Huaizi Town, in the impoverished Daaozi Village. Just by the name, one could tell it was a poor and remote place. The man she married was surnamed Qi, without a formal given name, and was known by the nickname Qi Panzi.

This letter was received by Gu Dashan when he was seventeen years old. By that time, Gu Daya had already run off with Qi Panzi for almost two years, had given birth to a son, and was pregnant with another child, not knowing whether it would be a boy or a girl.

The situation was just that, quite limited.

Scholar Shang, following the content of the letter, wrote down the situation of Gu Daya’s family. After recording these details, he said, "I will have Old Luo deliver these messages to my father-in-law in the prefecture so he can help check the disaster survivors’ news. You all stay calm at home and wait; as soon as there is any news, I will inform you."

Third Grandpa and the others were immensely grateful, and Third Grandpa asked further, "It’s nearly March now, why haven’t these disaster survivors been settled? Hasn’t the drought in the Northwest eased yet?"

They were currently in He’an Prefecture of Jianghuai, thousands of miles away from the Northwest, and had no idea about the situation there. They did not know if the devastating drought that caused everyone to be displaced had been resolved; if not, Great Chu would truly be in danger.

Scholar Shang said, "In early February, the official gazette reported that a heavy snow had fallen in the Northwest, and the drought was somewhat alleviated. The disaster survivors being redistributed now are not those fleeing from the drought, but from military turmoil."

Because of the drought, from the Northwest to the Northeast, and even in Central State, numerous military upheavals occurred. The people who had initially escaped the drought were trapped once again in the midst of military calamity and had no choice but to keep fleeing southward.

The court issued a strict decree prohibiting the disaster survivors from crossing the water to Jiangnan, leaving only several prefectures in Jianghuai to accommodate them, leading to the emergence of new disaster survivors that needed to be settled.

Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan were appallingly shocked: "Military turmoil, truly!"

For peasants, nothing is feared more than military turmoil. Natural disasters can sometimes be weathered through, but military disasters can claim lives on the spot.

Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan, terrified, asked with trembling hands, "What shall we do now?"

If Gu Fuya and Gu Daya’s family encountered military turmoil, what could be done?

Watching Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan’s distressed appearances, Scholar Shang consoled, "Third Uncle Gu, Brother Gu, don’t be anxious. The court has already dispatched a large army to quell the turmoil; several victories have been won. The military upheaval in Central State has been put down, and there have been successful reports from the northeast. However, Northwest is a bit more troublesome."

The Northwest was Duke Wei’s territory, but Emperor Jingyuan, wary of Duke Wei, took advantage of the suffering from the drought to annihilate Duke Wei Mansion, seized the military power Duke Wei held in the Northwest, resulting in many of Duke Wei’s former subordinates rebelling. To pacify the military turmoil in the Northwest, it is estimated that some time is still needed.

"However, the two Gu sisters left the Northwest during the drought, so they should be unaffected by the military turmoil."

As long as they did not flee to the Northeast, they would be safe.

But Scholar Shang didn’t say this; saying it would only cause Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan worry.

Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan knew that military turmoil was not something ordinary folks could contend with; they could only resign themselves to fate.

After talking about the matters concerning Gu Fuya and Gu Daya’s families, they left Shang Family Village and returned to Da Feng Village.

After they departed from the Shang Family, a person leaped out from the bamboo forest, straightened his clothing, approached the Shang Residence’s gate, and knocked at the Shang Family’s large door.

This person was none other than Gu Dexing, who had always wanted to take Scholar Shang as his teacher.