In the blink of an eye, another autumn had passed.
With the new year, the new emperor proclaimed Bright Virtue as his era name, making this the first year of Bright Virtue.
This New Year was very different from those before.
Since the beginning of the previous year's twelfth lunar month, heavy snow had fallen for days on end across the northern provinces. Every province had suffered to varying degrees, and the disaster was severe. Grain prices soared, showing no sign of easing even through the Spring Festival, casting a heavy shadow over the new year.
Many elderly people had failed to survive that long winter...
A faint sound woke Yang Ge from his doze in the chair.
He rose and hurried to the bed, where he saw the Old Shopkeeper's clouded eyes open, his mouth gaping as he gasped rapidly, as though suffocating...
Yang Ge quickly pulled back the thick brocade quilt and helped the old man sit up. A hazy green glow shone from one hand as he slowly stroked the old man's skeletal back... A charcoal stove burned in the room, and a thick, soft Bear-Skin Mattress covered the bed, yet there was little warmth in the old man's body. His withered hands were as cold as rice left overnight.
The old man had fallen ill during the previous year's twelfth lunar month. Bedridden, his condition waxed and waned as he grew thinner by the day. Yang Ge had sought physicians and remedies far and wide, but nothing helped. He could only keep watch day and night, using supreme ultimate true qi to regulate the old man's bodily functions and sustain his vitality, praying for spring to arrive sooner.
Only after a long while did the Old Shopkeeper catch his breath and release a long, stale