Luo Xueyao held Lin Yue’s hand, trying to transmit her own confidence. "Mother, stay steady! As long as we are fully prepared, even Ningguta is nothing to fear. As long as we have enough coal, we can survive the winter just the same! Once we liquidate our assets, we must purchase a massive amount of coal. Whether it’s red-silk charcoal, silver-thread charcoal, black charcoal, or white charcoal—I don’t care about the grade, just get as much as you can, regardless of the price!"
Luo Qingchuan raised his hand, offering, "Let me handle this. I have wide-reaching connections; I guarantee it will be done before dark today!"
Lin Yue’s mood gradually steadied. "I will have people purchase a large amount of vegetables, flour, and meat. We will make buns."
Gu Fang raised her hand. "Mother, I know how to make dried meat! It serves as both a meal and a side dish, and it’s very filling. In my father’s military camp, the soldiers all kept dried meat tucked in their tunics!"
"And water skins!" added Luo Qingchuan. "There won’t be many water sources on the road to exile. Little sister, if there is enough room in your Goddess Space, we need to prepare many water skins."
"Third Brother is as thoughtful as ever." Although Luo Xueyao’s Goddess Space contained the Spiritual Spring and goods she had hoarded in her past life, she continued to encourage everyone to put their minds to work and prepare for the exile together.
"Second Sister-in-law, keep an eye on things and have people order more food and wine from the restaurants to be sent to the house on Cat Ear Lane. As for those sent outside the city, have them deliver their purchases to the estate on the outskirts of the capital."
The house on Cat Ear Lane was one Luo Qingchuan had bought for his sister as a dowry with his first pot of gold. It had remained vacant, and now it was the perfect place to stockpile supplies.
"Also, send someone to the mule and horse market. Whether it’s dairy cows, dairy goats, or egg-laying chickens and ducks, buy every single one you see!"
They couldn't just eat buns on the road to exile; milk and eggs had to be guaranteed. She had a pasture in her Goddess Space, and Mengmeng was the best sheep-herding cat in existence.
Mengmeng desperately wanted to protest. Even though the space had a self-cleaning function, it absolutely detested being around other animals! However, considering Luo Xueyao was currently in a bad mood, Mengmeng decisively chose to concede.
Luo Xueyao clapped her hands. "There is no time to lose. Let’s split up and take action! Third Brother, give me one of your outfits."
...
"Young... Young Master, what are we doing?"
Xiangtao and Cuiping had changed into servant boy clothes and followed behind Luo Xueyao, who was dressed in men’s attire. Luo Xueyao held a brush in her right hand and a notebook in her left, recording as she walked—the page filled with what looked like gibberish to the two maids.
Luo Xueyao did not answer them, instead continuing to walk street by street. Every time she passed a high-walled mansion, she would ask Xiangtao and Cuiping whose home it was and what official rank the owner held, recording it all in her notebook.
They stayed busy until dusk fell. After making one last stop at Cat Ear Lane and leaving the two maids to keep watch outside, Luo Xueyao went in to sweep all the purchased supplies into her Goddess Space. Only then did she drag her aching legs back to the Prime Minister’s residence.
Gu Fang greeted her at the main gate. "Oh, Little Sister! You’re finally back; you had Mother worried sick!"
As soon as Luo Xueyao stepped inside, the doorman bolted the gate shut. Gu Fang whispered nervously in her ear, "Word has come from the palace: the late Emperor’s edict names the Fourth Prince as his successor. Father, your eldest brother, and your second brother all have to stay in the palace today."
Even a battle-hardened woman like Gu Fang was shaking. If all the previous events had proven the "Goddess’s dream" to be true, did that mean their family was now just waiting to be sent into exile?
Luo Xueyao patted Gu Fang’s hand gently. "Don’t panic, Sister-in-law. When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road. We have our own ways to respond."
Gu Fang didn't know why, but after being comforted by her delicate young sister-in-law, she felt significantly less panicked.
Lin Yue was pacing back and forth in the floral hall while Xia Lan coaxed the children to sleep. Seeing Luo Xueyao return, Lin Yue finally let out a sigh of relief.
"You’ve been busy all day; you must be exhausted." Though she didn't know what her daughter was working on, she knew she had to be worn out. "Go wash your face and sit down for a meal."
Luo Xueyao felt as if she had returned to her previous life, the days when she was truly loved. She grinned, washed her hands and face, and sat down.
Dinner had been prepared, and while meat was supposed to be avoided during the national mourning period, there was still meat in the stir-fried dishes Lin Yue had made. Since they were going to be exiled anyway, who cared!
Only when she smelled the food did Luo Xueyao realize she hadn't eaten all day. After wolfing down a bowl of rice and regaining some strength, she asked, "Did everything go smoothly for everyone today?"
Lin Yue dismissed Xiangtao and Cuiping before speaking to her. "Today, following the list you gave me, I dismissed all the servants. Those on the list were all sold to the employment agency—two taels of silver each—which brought in several dozen taels. As for the others, I returned their contracts and gave each of them five taels of silver."
Five taels didn't sound like much, but a regular household’s annual expenses were barely five or six taels. If those servants had stayed in the manor, they would have been sold off by the government once the Luo family was raided and exiled, likely ending up in some filthy, degrading place.
"We shared a master-servant relationship, after all. Let them manage their own lives from here on out."
"As for the loyal servants on your list, I returned their contracts and gave each of them one hundred taels. They have all gone out to purchase supplies. We won’t know exactly how much they’ve bought until we get the report from the estate tomorrow."
The list Luo Xueyao had provided included only a dozen or so people, including her own two maids, the nanny who served Lin Yue, Xia Lan’s nurse, Gu Fang’s dowry maid, the estate manager Uncle Zhong’s family, and a few security guards. In the book, these loyal servants had refused to live dishonorably and followed the Luo family into exile, only to meet tragic ends. Good people should not be sacrificed; this time, that absolutely would not happen.
"I’ve already collected everything from Cat Ear Lane into the space. However, it’s still not enough." Luo Xueyao spoke solemnly. "Food is the key on the road to exile. Tomorrow, keep having people buy buns, pastries, and fruit. Since we can't buy cooked meat outside, we’ll buy raw meat and braise it ourselves."
Gu Fang said, "Today we bought four hundred catties of pork, three hundred catties of mutton, and twenty chickens and ten ducks. I’ve already finished prepping them, so they can be air-dried tomorrow."
Luo Xueyao frowned slightly. "Sister-in-law, there's no need to worry about air-drying the meat. The items in the Goddess Space won't spoil. As long as it's braised, it will be easy enough to eat on the road." Air-drying took too much time; she feared they didn't have that luxury.
Xia Lan said, "I also boiled a pot of tea-leaf eggs and a pot of hard-boiled eggs. They’re in the kitchen."
"Good. I’ll collect those in a moment. And the family treasury—everything that can't be taken, I’ll take it all!"
Since the Luo family couldn't escape the fate of exile, it didn't matter if the smell of meat wafted through the house during the mourning period.
Lin Yue took out a wooden box and a ring of keys and handed them to Luo Xueyao. "These are the keys to the family treasury, and there are over eighty thousand taels in banknotes inside."
Luo Xueyao was surprised. "The Luo family has been prestigious for generations—is the family fortune only eighty thousand taels? How will that be enough..." In those novels, didn't they always have millions in assets, with dowries alone worth hundreds of thousands of taels?
"It isn't enough," Lin Yue replied. "But there is still your Third Brother’s share."