Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2692 Still Vigorous in Old Age 76.0
The snow fell for seven days and seven nights, covering the entire Jiaping Pass in white. In the deepest places, the snow was two feet thick.

Although Shen's army kept shoveling and clearing snow, and the city's residents later joined in, the snow continued to fall for too long.

By the time the unexpected heavy snow finally stopped, everyone in the Duke's Mansion, the Marquis's Mansion, and the Shen Family Army was exhausted.

To borrow Bai Meng's words, these past few days have been like fighting a war, or even more exhausting.

The generals, seasoned veterans of countless battles, wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. During wartime, they at least had time to eat, sleep, and catch their breath; at the very least, they could sleep for two or three hours a day. But these seven days, aside from the first two days when they could get a good night's sleep, were spent in constant hustle and bustle. Sleep was out of the question; even a meal or a nap was a luxury. They were often on the go all day, constantly dealing with problems, only to have another arise.

Because no one expected the snow to fall so heavily and last for so many days, the Duke's Mansion, the Marquis's Mansion, and the Shen Family Army's camp had ample reserves, and there was no shortage of food, drink, or charcoal.

The teahouses, restaurants, snack shops, and inns in the city, as well as shops that sell rice, flour, and cooking oil, all have plenty of stock and are not worried about going hungry. But it's different for ordinary people; some of them are not willing to store too much food at home.

Every winter, people in Jiaping Pass and the surrounding towns would almost starve to death because of the heavy snowfall and insufficient food. Therefore, every year as winter approached, the Shen family army would go door-to-door to persuade people to stock up on more grain and meat, since the New Year was just around the corner and it was essential to have a prosperous New Year.

But now that spring has arrived and the Awakening of Insects has passed, it should be the season of warm weather and blooming flowers. Although it is a bit colder in the north than in the south, and spring arrives a bit later, and there are occasional strong winds and snowflakes, it is almost impossible to have a situation like this year, with such a long period of heavy snow that makes it impossible to go out at all.

The third great-grandfather also exclaimed that he had never seen such heavy snowfall for so long in this month; it was probably a once-in-a-century event.

The same was true for Madam Ning, Ning Cheng, and Ning's sister. Having lived in Jiangnan for many years, this was the first time they had seen such heavy snow. After the initial surprise and excitement, they were also very worried about the huge impact of this heavy snow. Madam Ning, in particular, told Shen Cha, who came to visit, in the first two days to pay close attention to the situation in the city and not let it turn into a disaster.

The disaster did not materialize, but after visiting the city, it was confirmed that many families did not have much food stored. At that time, they did not know how long the snow would last. Therefore, Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian took the lead and discussed with the generals of the Shen family army, Bai Meng, Ying Bao, and Ying Jun. They decided to allocate some supplies to support the people in the city, at least to get through this most difficult period.

Not only that, they also collected herbs from all the pharmacies in the city, and together with Third Grandfather, Jin Miaomiao, and the doctors of the Shen family army, they developed a prescription to prevent typhoid fever. Every day, they delivered the medicine to every household in the city so that they could drink it and avoid catching a cold due to the sudden drop in temperature.

With the herbal decoction taken three times a day, most people in the city got through the seven days without any illness or disaster. However, some people still fell ill. Fortunately, Jin Miaomiao and Third Grandfather had other preparations and had prepared enough medicine to treat colds, which would surely cure them.

Finally, the snow stopped, the sky cleared, and the sun hung high in the sky, its rays shining upon the entire Jiaping Pass. Only then could everyone finally breathe a sigh of relief. "We've won this battle!"

Wrapped in a thick cloak and holding a hand warmer, Shen Cha stood on the steps of the Duke's mansion gate, watching almost the entire city rush out to sweep snow and tidy up their shops, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Don't talk about others, take care of yourself first!" Jin Miaomiao pulled her and started to walk back. "Look at your face, do you even look human? I told you to eat properly and rest properly before, but you refused, insisting that you had to wait for the snow to stop. Now that the snow has stopped, you're letting others handle everything. You just need to eat properly, take your medicine, and sleep. You're not allowed to get out of bed until you've slept for three days and three nights!"

"What do you mean I can't get up?!" Shen Cha was both amused and exasperated by Jin Miaomiao's words. She patted Jin Miaomiao, yawned, and said, "I'm not very sleepy right now, and I don't feel unwell. Let's see if there's anything else that needs to be taken care of. If not, I'll go back and rest properly. I'll do whatever you say, okay?"

Before Jin Miaomiao could speak, she saw the Third Grandfather, wrapped up tightly, walk over and, without saying a word, grab Shen Cha's arm to take her pulse.

Shen Cha was wondering who was so bold, but when she turned around and saw that it was the Third Grandfather, she swallowed back the words that were already on the tip of her tongue.

"That one!" The Third Grandfather said coldly, gesturing to Shen Cha's other hand. After gesturing, he looked at Shen Cha's face, then beckoned to Shen Haolin who was not far away. When Shen Haolin came over, he said, "The situation is not good. She needs to rest now." He looked at Shen Cha, who still wanted to say something, and said, "Don't be stubborn. At this crucial moment, you can't get sick, unless you want the plan to fall apart."

"Be good, listen to me." Shen Haolin put his arm around Shen Cha and entered the Duke's mansion with Jin Miaomiao and the Third Grandfather. "It's nothing serious, everyone can handle it. Just rest quietly, okay?"

"I see."

Shen Cha sighed softly. She had indeed been putting on a brave face. After all, with this once-in-a-century blizzard, if anything went wrong and the news got back to the capital, it would be like handing a knife to those useless censors.

"Don't worry, they're already overwhelmed with their own problems." Shen Haolin immediately saw what Shen Cha was thinking. "Mei Zhu and Dai Yi have sent back messages from the capital. There's a blizzard in the capital, and many mansions in the city have collapsed, exposing a lot of things. His Majesty is furious."

"The dirty deeds that some upright families wanted to hide have finally been exposed?" Shen Cha sneered. "They deserve it. They are corrupt themselves, yet they are always looking for faults in others. What goes around comes around, and it's their turn to suffer."