The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 34: Gathering the Medicinal Ingredients

The next day, Third Uncle and Xu Dahu went to town as usual to deliver bean sprouts, each driving a cart.

The bean sprouts from all three families were grown by Xu Zhizhi using spiritual spring water.

Now that there was no need to hide anything, the baskets were left uncovered.

Seeing the white, tender bean sprouts peeking out from the baskets, the villagers finally believed that the Xu family could earn a lot of silver in a day.

Second Uncle brought most of the village’s strong men to help the Xu family dig the foundation.

Xu Chunhua and Xu Lanhua were responsible for cooking, while the younger ones helped out.

Xu Honghua, as usual, only showed up at mealtime.

Xu Zhizhi took Xu Daniu to check the traps for game.

Luck was on their side—they found a few pheasants. Xu Zhizhi handed them to Xu Daniu to take back first.

“Sister, aren’t you coming back?” Xu Daniu asked, puzzled.

“The girls at home are cooking. Hurry and take the pheasants back. Tell Chunhua to cook them the way I taught her last time.”

“Alright, but don’t go into the deep mountains!” Xu Daniu knew he had to deliver the game first so the cousins could cook.

“Don’t worry. I’ll just look around nearby to see if there are any wild vegetables to dig up. I haven’t been out to gather them lately.”

“You go home and help kill the pheasants and set the table. Don’t save lunch for me—I brought my own.”

Xu Daniu walked down the mountain, looking back every few steps, clearly worried.

Xu Zhizhi thought to herself: Sister is going into the deep mountains, which is why I sent you away.

The deep mountains were full of dangers, so she couldn’t take her brother with her.

But she had to go. No risk, no reward.

She couldn’t guarantee she’d find a tiger on her first try.

But if she wanted tiger bone, there was no avoiding danger.

In this era of strict social hierarchy and male dominance, one either needed money or power to live freely.

People bustled about, all for a few pieces of silver. Yet those few pieces could solve countless worries.

Her interest in Xiao Jingheng was largely due to his striking features.

As for his temperament, it was hard to judge given how disheveled he had been.

Most importantly, as a beggar far from home, he didn’t have the burden of filial piety, which was a deadly threat in this society.

Since not having a husband would lead to gossip, she decided to trust her instincts. Xiao Jingheng seemed like a good choice.

Originally, she had planned to take the risk for her future husband. Danger also meant opportunity.

But now, he might not end up being her husband! Still, she could claim the title of his savior.

She hadn’t planned to venture into the deep mountains so soon.

But now that Nangong Yunhao was looking for him, if he found Xiao Jingheng first, all her efforts would be wasted, and she’d have worked for nothing.

That was something Xu Zhizhi couldn’t accept.

According to Nangong Yunhao, Xiao Jingheng was the son of a duke.

She had to gather the medicinal ingredients and cure him before Nangong Yunhao found him. Securing the role of his savior would be a powerful advantage.

Besides, she had her portable space to hide in, so there was no real danger.

If there were real danger, things like future husbands or savior titles would be the least of her concerns.

Xu Zhizhi prepared enough knockout powder to subdue a tiger. It was unrealistic to expect her to kill a tiger single-handedly.

She walked deeper into the mountains, spotting a leopard and a few rabbits along the way. She didn’t chase them, not wanting to waste energy.

After walking for an hour, she reached the heart of the mountains. She still only saw small animals, but at least she hadn’t encountered any wolves.

After walking a bit further, she thought she’d head back if she didn’t find anything. But then she noticed a trail of blood on the ground.

Xu Zhizhi decided to follow the blood trail, hoping to find some game to bring back.

After a while, she saw nothing and was about to turn back.

Suddenly, she heard a roar—it sounded like a tiger. The thought of actually encountering a tiger made her nervous.

She looked ahead and saw a tiger about two meters long, covered in wounds, gnawing on a large wild boar. The sight was horrifying.

Such a large, living tiger deeply shook her young heart.

She crouched in the grass, trembling, clutching the bag of knockout powder.

She wondered whether to wait for the tiger to finish eating the boar before sneaking over to sprinkle the powder or to act before it was done.

The tiger suddenly turned its head and looked in her direction, clearly more interested in the prey it had smelled. It began slowly moving toward her.

Xu Zhizhi’s heart stopped for a moment, then seemed to leap out of her chest. She jumped up and ran.

Even injured, the tiger was the king of the forest. It caught up to her in two strides.

Instinctively, Xu Zhizhi threw the powder and hid in her portable space.

The tiger looked around, confused.

*Thud!* The tiger collapsed.

Xu Zhizhi watched from her space for a while. When the tiger didn’t move, she assumed it was knocked out.

She took out a sharp knife she had prepared and stabbed the tiger in the heart.

She pulled the knife out and stabbed repeatedly until the tiger was dead.

Xu Zhizhi stored the dead tiger and the remaining wild boar in her space, then hurried back.

With so many people at home digging the foundation, the boar would make a good meal for everyone.

Not far from the deep mountains, she saw Xu Daniu and Xu Erhu walking toward her.

Xu Zhizhi quickly took the bloodied boar out of her space and placed it on the ground.

“Daniu, Erhu, over here!”

“Sister Zhizhi, what’s this?” Xu Erhu asked, running over.

“Sister, are you hurt?” Xu Daniu asked, seeing the blood on Xu Zhizhi’s clothes.

“I’m not hurt. I followed the smell of blood to the edge of the mountains and found this half-eaten boar. I got covered in blood.”

Xu Zhizhi added, “Let’s drag the boar down the mountain quickly before wolves show up.”

Xu Daniu and Xu Erhu each grabbed a leg of the boar and started dragging it down.

Even half a boar weighed over a hundred pounds.

Fear gave them strength, and they dragged it all the way to the foot of the mountain before stopping to rest.

Xu Erhu said enviously, “Sister Zhizhi is amazing. She just stumbled upon over a hundred pounds of wild boar meat.”

“It’s nothing. Just luck,” Xu Zhizhi said modestly.

Xu Daniu felt it was safe now that they were at the foot of the mountain. The village paths were hard to drag the boar on, and they were out of strength.

He went back to call Second Uncle and two others to carry the boar.

Soon, Second Uncle and Xu Dazhuang arrived with ropes and carrying poles. They were shocked to see the bloodied boar.

“You three are so bold to have dragged this down,” Second Uncle said reproachfully.

“Hehe! Dad, I didn’t know I had so much strength. Maybe it was the fear!”

Xu Daniu added, “We were afraid of wolves and didn’t want to waste the meat, so we dragged it down in one go.”

Soon, Xu Dazhuang and Second Uncle tied up the boar and carried it back to the Xu family’s home to prepare.

The sun had set, so they decided to cook dinner for everyone with the boar meat.

Xu Zhizhi taught her cousins how to make braised pork. With bean sprouts at home, they made a large pot of boiled meat slices.

They also prepared a cold dish of lettuce.

Everyone ate until their faces were shiny and left happily, promising to come early the next day to work.

(End of Chapter)