Wild eggs?
Shen Qingru’s face lit up with surprise.
“Where?”
Jiang Wanyue pointed toward a patch of bushes not far away.
“Mother, look over there.”
Shen Qingru looked in the direction Jiang Wanyue was pointing, scanning it several times before shaking her head.
“I don’t see anything.”
The nest was well hidden. An ordinary person would never have noticed it.
“Let’s go over and collect them.”
Jiang Wanyue parted the bushes.
“Look, right here.”
“Oh my! There really are some!”
Shen Qingru beamed with delight.
“Yueyue, you’re amazing!”
As Jiang Wanyue gathered the eggs, she said,
“Mother, make a pouch with the hem of your skirt so we can carry them.”
Afraid that Shen Qingru, a noble lady, wouldn’t know how, Jiang Wanyue demonstrated.
“Like this.”
“Oh, I understand now.”
As she picked up the eggs, Jiang Wanyue checked each one.
Any egg whose contents sloshed around when shaken had already gone bad and couldn’t be eaten.
There were twelve eggs in the nest altogether.
Unfortunately, three were spoiled.
Just as Jiang Wanyue was about to head back, Xiao Jin’s voice sounded again.
“There’s another nest up ahead.”
“Mother, wait here.”
“I’ll go look a little farther.”
“Yueyue, be careful.”
It was Shen Qingru’s first time carrying so many eggs in the fold of her skirt.
Hearing her daughter’s instructions, she barely dared move, afraid she might break them.
Soon, Jiang Wanyue called out again.
“Mother! I found another nest!”
This one contained two more eggs than the first.
After throwing away the spoiled ones, fifteen good eggs remained.
It was a huge harvest.
Adding the previous nine edible eggs to these fifteen, they had collected twenty-four wild eggs in total.
Watching Jiang Wanyue skillfully gather the eggs, Shen Qingru’s eyes reddened once more.
How much hardship has my daughter endured?
I don’t even know how to do something like this.
After tucking the fifteen eggs into her skirt as well, the two of them returned to where the eldest branch was resting.
The men stared wide-eyed when they saw how many eggs they had brought back.
“Mother, Yueyue… where did you find so many eggs?”
“Yueyue spotted them.”
“Hehe, Little Sister really is our lucky star.”
Lin Xiuran’s son, Lin Muyang, was a chubby little boy with plump cheeks.
Since birth, he had never suffered a day in his life.
Back home, even his nanny had chased him around trying to get him to eat eggs, but he had always refused.
Now, however, he swallowed hard at the sight of the wild eggs.
He tugged on Lin Xiuran’s sleeve.
“Father, can I have an egg?”
Lin Xiuran lifted him into his arms.
“Your aunt found these.”
“Your aunt is still weak.”
“She needs to eat more eggs.”
Lin Muyang nodded obediently.
“Alright.”
“I’m a boy.”
“Boys should let girls have them.”
“What a good boy.”
Still unfamiliar with his newly found aunt, Lin Muyang didn’t say anything else.
He simply thought,
My aunt is so pretty.
She’s just as beautiful as Grandma.
Jiang Wanyue placed the wild eggs into the arms of her eldest and second sisters-in-law.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, I found these by accident.”
“Let’s each have one.”
Both women immediately waved their hands.
“Yueyue, you found them.”
“You’re still weak.”
“You should save them for yourself.”
“I already had meat buns.”
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Even so, you should keep them.”
Seeing that they refused, Jiang Wanyue continued,
“These eggs won’t keep.”
“They could break with the slightest bump.”
“Besides…”
“Would you dare eat them raw?”
The two women both shook their heads.
“No.”
“But we don’t even have a pot to cook them.”
“The guards do.”
In the past, the Lin family had never paid any attention to lowly guards.
But their circumstances were very different now.
“Don’t worry.”
“I have a plan.”
“I’d like to keep one egg for each member of the eldest branch.”
“As for the rest, I’d like to give them to the guards.”
“Do you have any objections?”
“…”
Lin Jingyuan could see that Jiang Wanyue handled things with remarkable composure and maturity.
She clearly understood that getting on good terms with the guards would make their journey into exile much easier.
He turned to his two daughters-in-law.
“Listen to Yueyue.”
“She found the eggs.”
“She has the right to decide what to do with them.”
“Alright.”
After everything was settled, Jiang Wanyue wrapped the remaining eggs in a cloth and walked toward the guards.
The guards would be escorting them the entire journey.
Building a good relationship with them was the first step.
The guards themselves were eating white steamed buns.
However, whatever was simmering in the blackened pot beside them looked utterly unappetizing.
They all sighed as they ate.
“Officers.”
Jiang Wanyue stepped forward and offered them the bundle of eggs.
“I found these wild eggs in the roadside bushes.”
“I brought a few over for you to enjoy.”
Li Dashan raised an eyebrow.
“You’re quite thoughtful.”
“Thank you for looking after us, Officer.”
Her words carried a deeper meaning, and Li Dashan understood exactly what Jiang Wanyue was implying.
Li Dashan accepted Jiang Wanyue’s goodwill.
“Just leave them there.”
Now that they had eggs, he figured they could at least boil a few later since dinner hadn’t filled them up.
Watching the guards eat as though they were attending a funeral, Jiang Wanyue said,
“Officer, near the place where I found the wild eggs, I also found a patch of wild scallions.”
“You could stir-fry them.”
“Stir-fry them?”
“Forget it.”
“Too much trouble.”
The guard responsible for cooking that day, Liu Dazhu, waved his hand dismissively.
After marching all day, they were already exhausted.
Even if they went through the trouble, they doubted it would taste any good.
“What a pity.”
Jiang Wanyue turned to leave.
Just then, Liu Dazhu called after her.
“Can you cook?”
Then he quickly added,
“But you’re an official’s daughter.”
“You probably don’t know how to cook.”
Jiang Wanyue smiled and pointed at the bloodstains still covering her clothes.
“Officer, do I look like an official’s daughter?”
“What noble young lady knows how to slaughter pigs?”
“Or ends up covered in blood like this?”
“Besides, I only found out today that I was the Marquis’ real daughter.”
“Then the estate was confiscated, and somehow I ended up being exiled with everyone else.”
Several of the guards had already heard the gossip surrounding the Lin family’s downfall.
They looked at her sympathetically.
“So… you really know how to slaughter pigs?”
“Then can you cook?”
“If you don’t mind, Officer…”
“I can give it a try.”
Liu Dazhu’s eyes lit up.
“I’ll go gather the wild scallions!”
While someone went to collect the scallions, Li Dashan handed Jiang Wanyue a large bowl.
He pointed out the pots, utensils, and seasonings.
The girl really was clever.
Instead of eagerly volunteering, she had subtly guided the guards into asking for her help.
Even after showing her where everything was, Li Dashan didn’t leave.
It was obvious he still didn’t fully trust her.
Jiang Wanyue didn’t mind.
Under Li Dashan’s watchful gaze, she cracked several wild eggs against a stone with practiced ease.
She poured the eggs into the bowl, added a pinch of salt, and beat them thoroughly with chopsticks.
A large handful of freshly picked wild scallions was roughly cleaned and finely chopped.
There was no chance to wash them properly.
The place where they had stopped for the night had neither a stream nor a river nearby.
She scooped a little pork lard into the wok.
Once it melted, she poured in the beaten eggs and quickly stirred them.
Finally, she added the chopped wild scallions.
In an instant, the rich aroma of eggs and fresh scallions filled the air.
Liu Dazhu immediately started salivating.
The girl really had skills.
Swallowing hard, he grinned.
“Boss…”
“I haven’t smelled food this good in ages.”
“Look at you.”
“So easily satisfied.”
Wild scallion scrambled eggs cooked quickly.
It wasn’t long before the dish was ready.
The irresistible aroma made every guard drool.
As soon as Li Dashan took the first bite, the others eagerly rushed forward to grab the rest.
Within moments, the entire pan had been wiped clean.
Each of them smacked their lips in satisfaction.
“So this is what real food tastes like.”
“We’ve been eating pig slop all this time.”
“Why does she follow the exact same steps we do…”
“…yet somehow ours always tastes awful?”
“It’s so delicious.”
“If only we could eat food like this every day.”
The guards enjoyed a fragrant, satisfying meal.
The exiles, however, could only suffer.
Each prisoner stretched their necks toward the delicious smell, practically drooling with envy as they gnawed on their hard black buns.
Watching Jiang Wanyue, Lin Shutong ground her teeth in frustration.
“Grandmother, look.”
“Jiang Wanyue practically threw herself at those guards.”
“And they didn’t even give her a single bite of the food.”
“How shameless.”
Suddenly, Old Madam Lin’s eyes lit up.
She had figured out exactly how to deal with Jiang Wanyue.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jin finally returned after wandering around for quite some time.
Sliding up beside Jiang Wanyue, it whispered animatedly,
“Woman!”
“That old hag is planning to harm you!”