The northwest was desolate. The land was poor for farming, and people struggled to survive. What was more, it lay on the front lines of war. Though it was not as barren as the northwest around Gansu, the chill was the same.
Yan Prefecture belonged to Fuyan Circuit, and most of the population here clustered around Jingzhao Prefecture. There were not many people in places on the front lines of war. The most numerous were soldiers. Life was not easy for the common folk here. They had to worry about Western Xia raids while enduring the oppression of countless penal troops.
"I heard that in Bianjing, people call those penal troops rednecks right to their faces. But around here, they're all military lords..." The old man sighed as he took boiling water from the fire and poured it into the delicate little silver canister before the young nobleman.
Wang Yan had finished frying the jerky over the pot. He picked up two pieces with his chopsticks and gave them to the two little children, a boy and a girl, squatting beside him and watching eagerly. They were filthy, but at least they had clothes to wear. Unafraid of the heat, they accepted the jerky with their grimy little hands and slowly ate it, hissing through the heat.
"Little Pillar, bring out two pieces of candy and make them some sweet water."
"Yes."
Little Pillar answered from the side. He took a large box from the satchel he carried, removed three yellow sugar lumps, then found three broken bowls in the room. He put one lump in each bowl, steeped them in hot water, and made a bowl for each of the grandfather and grandchildren.
"You mustn't, you mustn't..." Seeing what Little Pillar was doing, the old man tried to stop