"It's summer now, and there should be plenty of mushrooms and wild berries on the mountain... You might not have tried the mushrooms and wild berries on the mountain, but they're delicious," Zhu Jiayi said with a smile.
She used to love finding mushrooms and wild berries when she went hiking, but after getting married, she never had the chance again. She often reminisced about the delicious taste of the mushrooms and wild berries she picked on the mountain before her wedding.
Now that she had a rare opportunity to climb the mountain again, she was determined to find more mushrooms and wild berries.
"What a coincidence, I was also planning to look for wild berries and mushrooms. Just as you said, Sister-in-law, it's summer, and there are plenty of mushrooms and wild berries on the mountain," Huangfu Yue said with a smile, surprised that she and her elder sister-in-law had the same idea.
She had no intention of sitting around either, thinking of finding some wild berries and picking up some mushrooms along the way.
"Grandmother, you don't know how fresh and delicious these wild mushrooms are. Some can be considered delicacies," Huangfu Yue said to the Grand Consort Zheng. "Grandmother, you and Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law can sit and rest. My elder sister-in-law and I will go find wild berries and mushrooms."
The Grand Consort Zheng nodded, "Alright."
"Sister-in-law, let's go." Huangfu Yue walked to Zhu Jiayi's side.
Zhu Jiayi nodded, instructed the servants who had been injured and needed rest to find places to sit and rest, and then, with the unharmed servants, followed Huangfu Yue to find mushrooms and wild berries.
"Boss, since we're down the mountain, should we try to find some wild rabbits or pheasants to roast? Roasted wild rabbits and roasted pheasants are very tasty." Lu Danian didn't want to rest and wanted to go hunting.
Lu Danian's companions were all martial artists, and like him, they were not tired at all and didn't want to rest. As soon as they heard him wanting to go hunting, they immediately nodded in agreement.
Not hunting or catching wild rabbits and pheasants when going up the mountain—wasn't that a waste, a desecration of natural resources!
"But we have to stay and protect the Old Madam and the others." Feng Maoyuan, though tempted by his subordinates' words, did not forget their duty.
The Grand Consort Zheng, who was sitting nearby, overheard Feng Maoyuan's conversation with his subordinates. She looked at them and said, "There shouldn't be much danger here. Just leave two people to protect us. Let the rest act freely and catch whatever they want."
Feng Maoyuan and his subordinates all smiled happily, "Thank you, Old Madam."
Feng Maoyuan arranged for two steady and highly skilled guards to stay and protect the Grand Consort Zheng and the others, then led the rest of his subordinates to go hunting.
Seeing that Feng Maoyuan seemed to have forgotten to assign him, Jiang Shangyun chose to stay.
"Those who want to rest, please sit down and rest. Those who want to look around for wild berries, mushrooms, or catch wild rabbits and pheasants, you may go," the Grand Consort Zheng said, looking at the guards waiting around.
They were sitting here resting and didn't need a crowd of people serving them.
"Yes." The guards of the prince's mansion happily agreed. Then, the more energetic ones immediately went to find wild berries and mushrooms, or catch wild rabbits and pheasants, while those who wanted to rest found places to sit.
All the servants from the Grand Consort Zheng's chambers stayed, as did all the servants from Xu Yuqing's chambers. Only the older nannies from Zhong Liangshu's chambers who didn't want to move stayed. The other servants, after obtaining Zhong Liangshu's permission, left.
As for the other servants of the prince's mansion, except for the older ones who didn't want to move, they all ran off to find wild berries and mushrooms, or catch wild rabbits and pheasants.
Although Huangfu Yue was with Zhu Jiayi looking for wild berries and mushrooms, she didn't go far and kept a close eye on the movements of the Grand Consort Zheng and the others, so she was fully aware of everything that happened on their side.
She curled her lips. Her grandmother's arrangement was excellent.
She wondered who would find more things in the end.
It would definitely be her.
Huangfu Yue was full of confidence. When it came to experience in the wild, no one here could compare to her. Naturally, no one was as good as her at finding wild berries, mushrooms, wild rabbits, and pheasants.
She looked to the west, where there were several pine trees. Around the base of each pine tree, mushrooms could be seen.
Zhu Jiayi also saw them. She thought her sister-in-law hadn't noticed and quickly called out to her, "Yue'er, look there quickly. There are mushrooms under that pine tree."
"I see them. Those are Matsutake mushrooms. They're all good stuff," Huangfu Yue said with a smile.
Matsutake mushrooms generally refer to Matsutake fungi, abbreviated as Matsutake, hailed as the "king of fungi." They are a rare and precious edible fungus and one of the top wild delicacies.
Matsutake mushrooms are umbrella-shaped, with bright colors. The caps are brown, and the stems are white, both covered with fibrous scales. The flesh is white, tender, and thick, with a fine texture and a rich, special aroma, making them exceptionally delicious.
In modern times, inferior Matsutake mushrooms sell for several hundred yuan per jin, while good ones can fetch thousands of yuan per jin.
However, mushrooms are light. The Matsutake mushrooms under those trees looked like eight or nine in total, but they probably didn't even weigh half a jin.
"Sister-in-law, you go pick those Matsutake mushrooms. I'll go look elsewhere," Huangfu Yue said to Zhu Jiayi.
There were only so many Matsutake mushrooms, not enough for her and her elder sister-in-law to pick. She would go find mushrooms elsewhere; there should be quite a few mushrooms on this mountain.
"Okay." Zhu Jiayi nodded and walked towards the pine trees.
Huangfu Yue went in another direction. After walking for a short while, she looked around and, seeing no one following her, said to Xiao Hei, "Xiao Hei, you can come out now."
Xiao Hei had been following them from high above.
Xiao Hei immediately flew down and circled around Huangfu Yue.
"Master, are you looking for Matsutake mushrooms? I know of a small pine forest about 150 zhang east of here, and there are many Matsutake mushrooms there. You'll definitely find enough mushrooms to pick."
Huangfu Yue nodded, "Good, lead me to them."
Xiao Hei immediately flew ahead, leading the way for Huangfu Yue. After Huangfu Yue followed Xiao Hei for a few minutes, she saw a small pine forest. Even without Xiao Hei's words, she knew they had arrived.
"Let's go into the forest," Huangfu Yue said, quickening her pace towards the small pine forest.
Upon entering the pine forest, Huangfu Yue found that although the forest was not large, there were Matsutake mushrooms everywhere, just as Xiao Hei had said, enough for her to pick.
Huangfu Yue's lips curved happily. She began picking Matsutake mushrooms. Xiao Hei wanted to help, but it had no hands and couldn't pick Matsutake mushrooms like Huangfu Yue. It thought of using its mouth, but then it considered that the mushrooms were for eating, and if it used its mouth, Huangfu Yue and the others would have to eat its saliva later. It could only give up helping.
Huangfu Yue knew what it was thinking and smiled gently at it, "Xiao Hei, thank you. If you want to help, you can go look for wild berries nearby and also check if there are any wild rabbits or pheasants in this area. After I finish picking Matsutake mushrooms, I want to pick some wild berries and catch a few wild rabbits and pheasants."
"Okay." Xiao Hei immediately agreed and flew away enthusiastically.
Huangfu Yue took a large basket from her spatial storage and began to pick Matsutake mushrooms in abundance, putting all the picked mushrooms into the basket. While picking mushrooms, she saw pinecones falling from the pine trees and picked them up as well, putting them all into her spatial storage.
Pinecones contain pine nuts, so these pinecones were not to be missed; they had to be collected. Later, she would take them out and extract the pine nuts to eat.