Hong Luo set down the clothes in her hands in confusion, standing up to say, “My name is Hong Luo, I am Miss Jiang’s personal maid. Who are you?”
Ying Tao angrily placed her hands on her hips, “Liar! I’m the young lady’s personal maid!”
She had only taken a nap—how could her mistress have acquired another personal maid? This must be an imposter!
Hearing the commotion, Jiang Suihuan walked to the backyard and saw Ying Tao’s furious expression. Realizing the misunderstanding, she explained how she had rescued Hong Luo.
Only then did Ying Tao understand that Hong Luo wasn’t a fraud. Feeling both guilty and too embarrassed to apologize directly, she hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to take Hong Luo’s hand. “You’re so thin, you probably can’t wash clothes properly. Let me show you around the residence first.”
Hong Luo obediently nodded and followed Ying Tao to familiarize herself with the house.
Returning to her bedroom, Jiang Suihuan changed out of her male attire when a streak of red on her undergarments caught her eye.
Her heart trembled as she reached to check her own pulse. Relieved to find nothing seriously wrong, she sighed.
It was probably just the fetal disturbance from the street fight earlier. Some prenatal medicine and proper rest would set things right.
Since her laboratory didn’t contain prenatal medicine, she decided to prepare some herself.
Jiang Suihuan sent Ying Tao to the herbal shop with silver to purchase all necessary ingredients for the prenatal medicine, but they were missing one crucial herb.
This herb was Du Zhong, made from the dried bark of the Du Zhong Tree, known for strengthening bones and stabilizing pregnancies.
Without this key ingredient, her prepared prenatal medicine wouldn’t achieve its full potency.
Staring worriedly at the pile of herbs, Jiang Suihuan suddenly remembered seeing Du Zhong Trees near the cave where she had been held captive by the dwarves.
After much deliberation, she decided to return there herself to harvest the bark. After all, the three dwarves were dead—the place should be safe now.
Moreover, being deep in the old forests, the area likely contained many other medicinal herbs.
After resting overnight, Jiang Suihuan took a sickle early the next morning and hired a donkey cart at the gate.
Ying Tao and Hong Luo, having bonded like sisters over the night, saw Jiang Suihuan off together. They handed her a cloth bundle containing snacks.
Though they wanted to accompany her, Jiang Suihuan found them cumbersome and decided to go alone.
Though slow, the donkey cart provided a stable ride. After three hours, they reached the mountain foot. Paying the driver one tael of silver, Jiang Suihuan suddenly realized—why not just buy a horse carriage? That would make future travels much more convenient.
A horse carriage would cost one to two hundred taels, and she had more than enough money.
Mulling over this, Jiang Suihuan began ascending the mountain, periodically marking trees to ensure she could find her way back down.
After about an hour’s walk, she finally reached the area around the kidnapping cave based on memory, immediately spotting a Du Zhong Tree growing beside it.
Delighted, Jiang Suihuan approached with her sickle, carefully peeling off strips of the Du Zhong Tree’s bark and storing them in her laboratory.
After collecting sufficient bark, she exhaled wearily, planning to rest before descending.
It was only noon—plenty of time remained as long as she returned home before dark.
Jiang Suihuan took off the cloth bag slung over her shoulder, pulled out some pastries from inside, and began eating.
Carrying the bag was inconvenient, and she had considered using her laboratory to store some items. After several attempts, she concluded that her laboratory could only store medicines and medical equipment—herbs were also acceptable, but nothing else.
After finishing the pastry, she brushed the crumbs from her hands and stood up to descend the mountain.
On her way down, she found several types of herbs that could strengthen the body and boost immunity. Without hesitation, she gathered them all and stored them in her laboratory.
In two days, there would be a family banquet at the Houfu. She planned to prepare some health-boosting pills to present then, lest Jiang Meier whisper in the ears of the Hou Furen and Houye, making them think she was an unfilial daughter.
“Ow-woo! Ow-woo!”
Faint sounds came from a nearby thicket. Gripping her sickle tightly, Jiang Suihuan cautiously approached the grass.
As if sensing someone drawing near, the sounds from the thicket grew louder. Jiang Suihuan parted the weeds with her sickle and was startled to find an injured wolf cub lying inside.
The cub’s front paw appeared to have been caught in a animal trap, leaving a deep gash. The pain made it whimper incessantly.
Jiang Suihuan remained on high alert—where there was a cub, a mother wolf was surely nearby. And with the cub injured, the mother wolf would be even more aggressive.
Holding the sickle in front of her chest, she retreated step by step, hoping to leave quickly before the mother wolf noticed her.
The cub gazed at her pitifully. She paused, unable to bring herself to abandon it.
If the mother wolf wasn’t around, the cub wouldn’t survive till the next day with such a severe injury.
Jiang Suihuan scanned the surroundings. If there were any traces of the mother wolf, she would leave without looking back.
Noticing some bloodstains on the grass near the cub, she followed the trail to behind a large tree. There, she found a mother wolf lying motionless on the ground, a gourd-sized animal trap clamped on her front leg. Blood had pooled around her—it was clear she wouldn’t survive.
Jiang Suihuan quickly pieced together what must have happened: the cub was injured first, and the mother wolf, in an attempt to save it, had thrust her own paw into the trap. Fearing the cub would be discovered by hunters, she had dragged herself with the trap still attached to behind the tree.
The mother wolf had been injured for too long; the wound had begun to fester, and she was beyond saving.
Kneeling down, Jiang Suihuan said, “I will save the cub. Don’t worry.”
As if understanding, tears streamed from the corners of the mother wolf’s eyes before she slowly closed them.
Returning to the thicket, Jiang Suihuan gently picked up the cub. She retrieved a bottle of hemostatic powder from her laboratory, sprinkled it on the cub’s paw, and wrapped it with gauze.
The cub was only as big as a full-grown cat, curled motionless in Jiang Suihuan’s arms, remarkably docile.
“Come home with me. From now on, I’ll be your owner.”
Jiang Suihuan tapped the cub’s nose—it was damp. The cub seemed to understand, letting out a soft “Ow-woo.”
Seeing how well-behaved it was, Jiang Suihuan decided to give it a name. “What should I call you? How about Xi Zhi?”
The cub responded with another “Ow-woo,” nuzzling its furry head against her arm. Jiang Suihuan smiled, her expression as refreshing and gentle as a spring breeze in March. “It seems you like it. From now on, your name is Xi Zhi.”
She placed Xi Zhi into the cloth bag and cradled it as she continued down the mountain. Softly, she murmured a few words that vanished almost instantly into the wind.
“Suddenly craving jelly.”
…
By the time they returned home, it was already dusk. The sun hung suspended in the western sky, neither fully set nor fully present, casting scarlet clouds across the heavens that even tinted the roof tiles with a faint reddish glow.
Ying Tao and Hong Luo had already prepared dinner. Noticing the bulging cloth bag in Jiang Suihuan’s arms, Ying Tao exclaimed in surprise, “Miss, you found so much Du Zhong bark!”
The next second, a furry little head emerged from the bag, shaking its ears.
“Wow! Such an adorable puppy! Did you pick it up, Miss?” Ying Tao’s eyes sparkled with heart shapes as she patted Xi Zhi’s head.
“Mhm,” Jiang Suihuan nodded, then added, “It’s a wolf.”
“…”