"Your Excellency, is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?"

Ever since the magistrate's wife learned that Lin Xue had asked her for leave to go deep into the mountains to catch wild horses, she told the magistrate about it.

Sure enough, the county magistrate assigned Lin Xue a dozen or so elite soldiers, saying that the county government didn't have many horses and that Lin Xue should take them along to catch wild horses.

Furthermore, the county government promised to take care of the Zhou family's children and ensure that they would not be in any danger during Lin Xue's absence.

The Zhou family boys, who originally wanted to go along, were dissuaded by the county magistrate.

“Your sister-in-law and the others are going to do important things. If you go, you'll only be a hindrance. Instead of being a hindrance now, you should stay home and hone your skills so you can help your sister-in-law when you're able to protect yourself!”

None of the children were able to go with them. This trip was led by Lin Xue, assisted by Constable Zhang, and with Mr. Mei bringing up the rear!

Because they were heading into the deep mountains and forests, no one rode horses; they proceeded directly from the woods outside the city into the mountains.

After entering the forest, Lin Xue gave 629 a wink.

Upon seeing the look in her host's eyes, 629 immediately understood what she meant.

"Come on, I have a few speed talismans here. Each of you stick one on your body. We'll be traveling quickly in a bit, so don't fall behind!"

629 gave everyone a Swift Travel Talisman, and then had Lin Xue lead the way while he covered their retreat.

After the group finished affixing the teleportation talisman, they only saw Lin Xue lift her leg and disappear without a trace.

The head constable, Zhang, immediately followed, only to find that his speed had also reached an unbelievable level.

As the constables began to move, they all discovered that their speed had become extremely fast, faster than they could even run at their usual pace.

At first, everyone was a little cautious, but eventually they all began to enjoy the feeling of chasing the wind, and soon they entered the deep mountains.

"stop!"

Lin Xue waved her hand from the front, and everyone stopped.

"There's plenty of game around here, and no large predators. Let's go hunt some game to fill our stomachs before continuing our journey!"

This place is actually a gentle slope, and there is a mountain stream just a hundred meters away, making it the perfect spot to rest.

"Guard Lin, you can rest here for now. Let us brothers show off our skills!"

Although Officer Zhang often asked Lin Xue to take him hunting, he was simply too busy with his work to find the time.

Even when he encounters Mu Xiu, he has to take care of family matters during his free time, so it is rare for him to be able to come out on paid leave like this.

"Alright then, my master and I won't do anything. What we get for lunch depends on your skills!"

Since everyone was already quite familiar with each other, Lin Xue didn't stand on ceremony. She found a clean spot for Mr. Mei to sit down, while she went to find some dry firewood nearby to start a fire.

"Wow, I didn't expect there to be such a large patch of ginger growing in these deep mountains and forests. If we bring all of this back, it will be enough for our entire county government to use for the whole winter!"

While gathering firewood, Lin Xue discovered a hillside covered with ginger.

Moreover, these ginger plants were all very large, much larger than those sold in the market, almost the size of ginger plants in later generations.

"Guard Lin, this patch of ginger is growing really well. Why don't we try to bring it all back with us when we go back?"

“Ginger isn’t cheap in the market. If we take all of this back, we can share it with our colleagues in the county government, and we won’t have to buy ginger this winter!”

In this era, ginger was still considered a medicinal herb, and few people used it as a condiment.

Only wealthy families were willing to spend money to buy some for making soup or similar dishes.

The county government also employed Jiang, a wealthy man, because these constables and yamen runners had to go out on patrol every day, regardless of whether it was cold or hot, rain or shine.

Therefore, the county magistrate's wife would often purchase a batch of ginger to stew in soup, in order to prevent the people in the county government office from catching a cold.

"You guys remember to pick these ginger when we come back from catching the wild horses!"

Lin Xue had the same idea, so she told the young constable next to her and continued gathering her firewood.

"Don't worry, I've written it all down in my little notebook, I definitely won't forget!"

"Even if we forget, we can just find another time to go out and bring them all back!"

Upon hearing the other person's words, Lin Xue realized that this young constable was actually their team's living map.

Wherever he went, there was nothing he couldn't find.

Moreover, this kid is very good at drawing maps, and he is currently carefully marking the location of the ginger.

"This person is truly talented. People with a skill can thrive anywhere. We should also consider teaching our kids some skills!"

Mr. Mei looked at the young man who was drawing a map and spoke to Lin Xue, who was starting a fire.

"So far, we've only noticed that Zhou Xiaohai wants to be a constable; we haven't discovered the interests of the others yet."

"Master, you'd better keep an eye on them for me. If you have time, you should also teach them some skills. That way, they can grow up and better take care of you in your old age!"

The two main families often joked about the topic of retirement.

Although the children were the ones who said it first, both of them found it quite amusing and would bring it up from time to time.

"Haha, the kids are all so filial. I'll think about what to teach them later!"

There were many constables around, so the two of them didn't bother to lower their voices.

They wouldn't say a word if their identities were exposed.

When you're out having fun, you should definitely be casual, relaxed, and happy.

After Lin Xuesheng lit the campfire, people gradually returned with their prey.

Some were carrying a wild rabbit, while others were carrying a pheasant.

They quickly gathered a bunch of prey, and Lin Xue told them to go to the stream to clean it and then bring it back.

Because they didn't know how long they would be staying in the deep mountains, Lin Xue and her group brought some simple cooking utensils.

A medium-sized iron pot and a ceramic jar.

The remaining items were bowls and chopsticks made of bamboo, so that they wouldn't break while traveling.

Lin Xue prepared all the seasonings; if Zhang Butou and other big men were to prepare them, they probably wouldn't bring anything except salt.

"We've cleaned the two pheasants and are going to make soup, and we'll just roast the rabbit!"

Lin Xue took out a large bag of pancakes from her pack. After the pheasant soup and roasted rabbit were ready, she sliced ​​off some roasted rabbit meat and ate it with the pancakes.

Officer Zhang and his men also brought their own provisions, some of which were flatbread, some were cornbread, and others were steamed buns and pancakes.

Everyone took out some dry food, which they ate with the dishes, and it tasted quite delicious.