She stepped forward and took the things, acting like a wife concerned for her husband: "Are you tired? I'll pour you a bowl of water to drink, and dinner will be ready soon."
Saying this, she poured a bowl of water and handed it to Mo Lingxi.
Mo Lingxi glanced at her indifferently, drank the water in one gulp, and said, "No offense, but you're being overly solicitous."
Tao Lengshuang's smile faltered. She gritted her teeth. To expand the area of her spatial medicine garden, she would endure!
"Look at what you're saying. We're husband and wife, after all. It's only right that I care about you."
Mo Lingxi became even more suspicious. This woman had previously seemed intent on poisoning him, and yesterday she had transformed into someone who wanted to live in peace with him.
Coupled with her various strange behaviors, was this woman some kind of spy?
Unlikely.
If this woman were a spy, she wouldn't be acting so passively.
If she wasn't a spy, how could her peculiar actions be explained?
"Stop causing trouble."
Tao Lengshuang thought to herself, *I'm not causing trouble; I'm trying to build a good relationship with you to expand my spatial medicine garden.*
"Mo Lingxi, look at us. This situation isn't good for Xiao Feng's growth."
She appealed to his emotions and reason: "For Xiao Feng's sake, let's live in peace. What do you say?"
Mo Lingxi's eyes sharpened. He gripped her face with one hand, "Put away your petty thoughts and schemes, or you know the consequences."
Tao Lengshuang felt like her bones were about to be crushed. She gritted her teeth, "I just want to live in peace with you. What petty thoughts or schemes do I have? Can't you stop judging a gentleman with the heart of a villain?"
If things continued like this, when would she be able to expand her spatial medicine garden, acquire more medicinal herbs, and earn enough money?
Just as Mo Lingxi was about to say something, a knock suddenly came from the door, accompanied by the angry voice of Aunt Shen Er.
"Mo family, are you home?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Tao Lengshuang pushed Mo Lingxi away and quickly opened the courtyard gate, smiling as she asked, "Aunt Shen Er, what happened?"
Aunt Shen Er wiped away tears, her voice a mixture of anger and fear, "The constables just came to the village. They said they're increasing the taxes by twenty percent this year, and in the future, they might conscript young men to build some villa for the current emperor."
"What!?"
Tao Lengshuang's voice rose a notch, her expression a mix of shock and deep worry. "The taxes were already heavy enough. Now they're adding another twenty percent. How are we common people supposed to survive?"
For families like Aunt Shen Er's, who owned land, nearly seventy percent of their year's hard work in farming had to be handed over.
For families like hers, who didn't own land, they either paid in silver or bought grain to pay the taxes.
Everyone's life was already a struggle.
Now, with the taxes increased by another twenty percent, how could people possibly live?
"Who says not? The village is shrouded in gloom right now."
Aunt Shen Er cried like a heartbroken person, so worried she felt like throwing herself to her death. "Mo family, I've come today to ask you for a favor."
Tao Lengshuang understood Aunt Shen Er's pain and sighed, "I wonder what favor Aunt Shen Er needs."
"If I can help, I will certainly help."
The king and his officials truly didn't care if the people lived or died, and they were pushing the people towards death.
Something big was bound to happen sooner or later.
Aunt Shen Er wiped her tears, but they continued to flow. "I want to ask your husband to take my husband and son up the mountain to hunt, so they can earn something."
She sighed repeatedly, "The grain from the fields this year is barely enough to pay the taxes. The rest for sustenance has to be managed by each family."
Tao Lengshuang glanced at the gloomy sky and pulled her clothes tighter. "It would be better if it were spring or summer, but it's almost winter now."
"In winter, there's less food to eat, and the temperature is so low. How are we supposed to live?"
Aunt Shen Er repeatedly agreed, "When I came, many people from the village, with their families, had already gone into the mountains, hoping to find more food and supplies to get through this harsh winter."
Even in years when the taxes were not heavy, a few people in the village would die every severe winter.
Not to mention this year's heavy taxes, the number of people who would die in the severe winter would likely be even greater.
Tao Lengshuang could see that Aunt Shen Er was so worried she felt like dying. After asking Mo Lingxi, she returned to the main hall to inquire.
"Can you take Uncle Shen Er and his son to the mountains to hunt?" she asked with some trepidation.
A sharp glint flashed in Mo Lingxi's eyes, and he nodded in agreement. "I'll head into the mountains later."
Tao Lengshuang quickly informed Aunt Shen Er, telling her to remind Uncle Shen Er and his son to prepare the necessary items.
She also planned to take Xiao Feng into the mountains in the afternoon to prepare as much as possible for winter.
No matter what, they had to survive this cold winter.
Once spring arrived, things would be better.
...
In the afternoon.
Mo Lingxi took Uncle Shen Er and his son into the mountains to hunt, while Tao Lengshuang, her son, Aunt Shen Er, and Liu Shi and her son, carrying baskets, went into the mountains to search for usable items.
As soon as they entered the mountains, they saw dense crowds of villagers, with their families, holding various tools, digging inch by inch, even turning up the soil.
This scene made Tao Lengshuang frown. She signaled Aunt Shen Er and the other two to follow her.
They wouldn't find anything by digging here, and they might even have their hard-won findings snatched away. They needed to find a different spot.
Tao Lengshuang had been to the mountains a few times, so she ventured deeper.
However, she was surprised to find that it was also densely packed with villagers, though these were mostly young and strong men.
Like the villagers on the hillside, they were digging up the soil, and many villagers were fighting over usable items.
"This..." Aunt Shen Er was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. "We're too late, too late!"
"Why are you only arriving now?"
Wang San's wife, carrying half a basket of items and holding a sickle, said, "I consider myself late. Many people came in the morning and haven't even eaten."
Aunt Shen Er wiped away tears, filled with regret, "How could I have known it would be like this? If I had known, I would have come earlier."
Given the current situation, it was unlikely they would find anything.
Wang San's wife sighed, "You should try looking elsewhere."
"No one will have an easy winter this year, and the taxes have been increased again. If this continues, they're truly forcing us common people to death.
I heard that several people in the neighboring village have committed suicide, and two of them were driven to death by their own families. There's nothing that can be done about it."
Tao Lengshuang frowned at these words but didn't say much, leading Aunt Shen Er further away.
"Aunt Shen Er, are there any places in the mountains that are more dangerous and rarely visited?" she asked in a low voice.
Aunt Shen Er hesitated for only a moment before leading Tao Lengshuang and her son to the place she mentioned.
"Our back mountain is very large and deep. There are many places that no one has ever visited, or very few people go to. It is said that there are bears and other wild animals inside."
Hearing the tremor in her voice, Tao Lengshuang comforted her with the opposite: "Aunt Shen Er, if we're all going to starve to death, why worry about that?"