The Princess of Northern Land

Thus, when winter arrived, the fields seemed to be all barren.

Lin Ziyin was quietly curious. In the past few days, she had secretly gathered some information, such as the fact that the country she was currently in was an era that never existed in history, known as the Daqin Empire. Of course, the emperor of the Daqin had also never existed in history. This emperor seemed to be a pleasure-seeking character, especially untrusting towards his own offspring and siblings, for fear that one of his relatives would seize his power. The village where the Lin Family resided was the fief of one of his sons.

Let's set all these aside for now, after all, the emperor is far away from here. What perplexed Lin Ziyin was that Shilitun, though known as a harsh cold area, differed from the modern understanding of cold. The soil of Shilitun, as Lin Ziyin had observed, was black and extremely fertile, ideally similar to the quality of soil in modern Northeast China.

However, the actual climate here was significantly different from Northeast China: though the winter was cold, it wasn't significantly long, it was, in fact, only about a month colder than Jianghuai region, other than that there was no major difference.

This land, blessed by nature, should have been an ideal place for crops to grow. Unfortunately, due to the harsh winter and outdated farming techniques, the villagers here could only depend on the sky for food. Every year, they mainly planted soybeans. Some households also planted rice, but not many.

"Grandpa, I'm coming," Lin Ziyin was deep in thought when Lin Changshu's voice was heard from outside the courtyard wall.

"Brother and Grandpa are back." Lin Changting happily went out to greet them with the little one.

"Dad." The little one got it right this time.

Then Lin Ziyin saw her elder brother, Lin Changshu, coming back carrying a heavy bundle of firewood, while their grandfather followed him carrying a knife.

Lastly, Guo Huiniang entered the gate, sandwiched between Lin Changting and the little one, holding a hoe and a shovel in her hand.

"Grandpa, Brother, Sister-in-law, you're back," greeted Lin Ziyin as she stood up.

"Did you manage to get out?" her grandfather asked her with concern.

"Sister, why aren't you resting in the room? Your health isn't fully recovered yet," Guo Huiniang spoke urgently too.

"It's okay, I'm much better. I took the medicine and have been resting for a while. I don't feel dizzy anymore," Lin Ziyin replied with a smile.

"That's good," Lin Changshu's face expressed happiness.

"Dinner's ready. Everyone, come into the room for dinner," Lin Zige came out to call everyone with the food.

"Second sister, let me help you in," Lin Changting came over to help her.

Lin Ziyin held his hand as she entered the room, "I'm good now. Stop treating me like I'm ill all the time."

"You haven't fully recovered," Lin Zige bluntly said.

Grandpa, Lin Changshu, and Guo Huiniang, who had washed their hands outside, also came in, "True, you must be careful. After losing so much blood, if you don't take care and leave a chronic health problem, you'll suffer."

"Grandpa, I'll be careful," Lin Ziyin promised with a smile, knowing that her family was concerned about her.

"Grandpa, sit," Lin Zige set a bowl of bean paste in front of Grandpa, then skillfully served rice to everyone else.

This was the first time Lin Ziyin had a meal together with her family. She noticed that everyone else had bean paste in front of them, while her bowl was filled with rice porridge. The basket on the table was filled with sorghum bread, and the plate was filled with wild vegetables that Zige had picked the day before.