Those with coarser skin texture, lighter bodies, and those that sank halfway in water, commonly known as "secondary grade," were considered substandard. Those with rough skin, light and porous bodies, that did not sink in water, and with brownish-yellow flesh, commonly known as "primary grade," were the lowest quality.
The best medicinal efficacy would undoubtedly come from the superior grade "fine grade."
"Second Sister-in-law, put the Black Spiritual Ginseng away properly. We'll continue up the mountain and start the competition," Huangfu Yue said.
Xu Yujing nodded, but she didn't know where to put it. She didn't have any cloth bags or bundles on her, so she had nowhere to store the Black Spiritual Ginseng.
After a moment's thought, she decided to hand the Black Spiritual Ginseng to Granny Song for safekeeping. However, as she looked towards Granny Song, her gaze fell upon Jiang Shangyun. Seeing Jiang Shangyun immediately made her change her mind.
She handed the Black Spiritual Ginseng to Jiang Shangyun, saying, "Hold this for me."
Compared to Granny Song, she felt entrusting it to Jiang Shangyun was more reliable.
Although Xu Yujing had been raised by Granny Song, at this moment, Xu Yujing felt that Jiang Shangyun was more dependable than Granny Song.
"Yes, I will carefully safeguard it for you," Jiang Shangyun said, accepting the Black Spiritual Ginseng with both hands respectfully, and then carefully placing it into a cloth bag.
Seeing that Xu Yujing had actually entrusted such a precious treasure as the Black Spiritual Ginseng to Jiang Shangyun's care, everyone realized that Xu Yujing trusted Jiang Shangyun deeply. Those with sensitive minds also sensed that their relationship was likely not ordinary.
Zhong Liangshu chuckled inwardly, "This is getting more and more interesting. I wonder if Consort Dowager Zheng and Huangfu Yue have noticed anything."
She looked towards Consort Dowager Zheng and Huangfu Yue, only to see that the grandmother and granddaughter had normal expressions, as if they hadn't noticed anything.
A flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes. Consort Dowager Zheng and Huangfu Yue should both be extremely perceptive; how could they not have noticed anything? It was truly strange!
Huangfu Yue noticed Zhong Liangshu's gaze directed at her and her grandmother, and observed the confusion in Zhong Liangshu's eyes. She chuckled inwardly, then looked up at Little Black flying above her head.
"Little Black, you join the competition too. If you place in the top ten, you'll receive a reward as usual."
Little Black hadn't expected to participate, but although it didn't need money, it was still very happy. It nodded happily at Huangfu Yue.
"Let's go, the competition begins." Huangfu Yue waved forward. Before her words had even fallen, she saw a black shadow flash ahead. She immediately kicked a pebble towards the shadow, which promptly fell to the ground.
"What is it?" someone in the group asked.
"It's a chicken! A chicken!" Huangfu Xuan's eyes were sharp, and he quickly identified the fallen shadow as a chicken, calling out with some excitement.
"I didn't expect this pheasant to willingly come to our door and fall into our trap," Huangfu Yue said with a slight curl of her lips.
She walked forward and picked up the pheasant. It was indeed six or seven pounds, a proper fat chicken.
Holding the pheasant, she walked up to several of the little ones. Pointing at the pheasant, she said to them, "Xuan'er, you and your sisters look closely. This is a pheasant, and those that look like this are pheasants. Pheasants taste very good. Do you want to hunt pheasants?"
Hearing their little aunt's last question, the not-so-slow little ones understood that their little aunt wanted to teach them how to hunt pheasants. They eagerly nodded with all their might and shouted in unison, "Yes."
"Good, I'll teach you. You few follow me, I'll lead you, and when we see pheasants or wild rabbits, I'll teach you how to hunt them," Huangfu Yue said with a kind smile.
"Thank you, Little Aunt!" The little ones were extremely happy, their eyes curved with joy.
Consort Dowager Zheng looked at her granddaughter and great-grandchildren, her own eyes curved with happiness, clearly very pleased.
Huangfu Yue led everyone to continue climbing the mountain. This time, instead of only looking ahead as they had done earlier, everyone scanned their surroundings, hoping to find items that would help them win a prize.
To make it easier for everyone to find things, Huangfu Yue instructed them to spread out. Everyone immediately complied, but the servants did not forget that finding items was important. However, they also couldn't forget their masters, and the servants from each household did not dare to stray too far from their masters while searching.
Feng Maoyuan and his subordinates also remembered their responsibility to protect the royal manor, and continued to walk at the very rear, not daring to wander far from the people of the royal manor.
Jiang Shangyun, as one of Feng Maoyuan's subordinates, still did not go with Feng Maoyuan and the others, but continued to follow Xu Yujing, staying close to care for and protect her.
Xu Yujing kept her eyes fixed on the ground, hoping to find more Black Spiritual Ganoderma. "Guard Jiang, please help me keep an eye out. If you see any Black Spiritual Ganoderma, tell me immediately."
Hearing this, those nearby couldn't help but want to laugh. Had she forgotten they were in a competition? If Jiang Shangyun saw Black Spiritual Ganoderma, why would he tell her? He would definitely dig it up himself to get a good ranking and win money.
"Alright." To everyone's surprise, Jiang Shangyun nodded in agreement.
Many people looked at him with surprised eyes, astonished that he would agree. But then they thought, could someone of his status refuse? Of course not. He must have agreed in pretense.
They didn't know that Jiang Shangyun's agreement was sincere. Moreover, even if Xu Yujing hadn't asked him to help search, he would have helped.
Although the prize money for the competition was high, in Jiang Shangyun's eyes, there were things more valuable and worth striving for than money.
"It's mulberries," Consort Dowager Zheng suddenly noticed mulberries not far to the north, which she had eaten before. She murmured softly and walked over immediately, intending to pick them.
"Old Madam, where are you going?" The servants attending Consort Dowager Zheng nearby called out anxiously.
"I've found mulberries, I'm going to pick them," Consort Dowager Zheng replied.
"We'll help you..."
"No need, I can pick them myself. Picking a few mulberries won't be difficult for me... Don't forget, this is a competition. You all go search for your own things, don't mind me."
Consort Dowager Zheng interrupted the servants who wanted to help her pick mulberries, waved her hand, and continued towards the mulberries.
The servants attending Consort Dowager Zheng hesitated for a moment before not following her. Instead, they listened to her and continued their own searches. They also wanted to win rankings and get money, as the rewards were high and the money plentiful.
Although Huangfu Yue was leading her nephews and nieces in search of pheasants and wild rabbits, intending to teach them hunting, she was also keeping an eye on the situation of the other people in the royal manor. Therefore, she immediately learned that Consort Dowager Zheng had gone alone to pick mulberries.
Huangfu Yue walked towards a small mulberry tree where Consort Dowager Zheng was heading. The tree was full of mulberries, likely no less than three or four pounds. Fearing that Consort Dowager Zheng might not have a place to store so many mulberries, she immediately took a basket from her space and sent it to Consort Dowager Zheng for storing the mulberries.
"Grandmother, here's this basket for you. It will be convenient for you to store things."
Consort Dowager Zheng nodded with a smile and took the basket.
Huangfu Yue noticed that many people in the royal manor did not have anything to store their findings in. So, she took out dozens of baskets and some cloth bags from her space and distributed them, making it easier for them to store items once they found them. This earned her a round of thanks.
"Little Aunt, look over there! There's a pheasant running!" Huangfu Xuan, who was running at the front, suddenly shouted.
Huangfu Yue immediately looked in the direction her little nephew was pointing. She indeed saw a pheasant. She was about to kick a pebble to shoot the pheasant, but just as she was about to reach for a pebble, she inexplicably stopped.