Chapter 33 Wild Vegetables
When Xue Huai'an saw Song Yushu emerge from the tunnel covered in dust, the heavy feeling in his chest immediately disappeared.
"Master Xue? Did you bring the soldiers to rescue us?" Zhou Chengyu saw the familiar face as soon as he came up and quickly went over to pay his respects.
"The magistrate ordered me to come and apprehend the escaped bandits. Have you been studying hard at home?" Xue Huai'an didn't want to reveal too much to his student, so he simply changed the subject and asked about Zhou Chengyu's studies.
Zhou Chengyu had no choice but to answer Master Xue's questions honestly, until an official came to talk to Xue Huai'an and whispered a few words to him.
Xue Huai'an nodded and glanced at Song Yushu: "Madam Wei, I would like to ask you and your two children to go to the government office."
"What's going on? Why are we suddenly going to the government office?" Mother Wei's heart tightened upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, it's just that the magistrate got involved when he was interrogating those bandits. He'll release them after he's done," Xue Huai'an said, trying to reassure them when he saw they were frightened.
"Mother, you and my eldest brother can tidy up the yard. I'll take Chengyu and Chengzhu with me. Nothing will happen." The Wei family's place is in a mess right now, so they need people to stay and clean it up. They don't all need to come with her to the county government.
Driving the oxcart that the Wei family had recovered, Song Yushu, with his two children, followed the officials to the county.
"Master Xue, do you know how severe the drought is now? If the relief grain has not yet arrived, the villagers' stored grain may not last long."
These days, one can still encounter some refugees on the road from time to time. Thinking of the current drought, Song Yushu couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
"The imperial relief grain will take some time to arrive, and the county magistrate will distribute it as soon as it arrives. The county magistrate has already increased manpower to deal with the security issues, so Madam Wei doesn't need to worry too much," Xue Huai'an said after thinking for a while, picking out some information that could be shared.
Song Yushu felt a little relieved after hearing this. At least the county magistrate was doing something and wouldn't abandon the people. As long as she could get through the drought, she could still open her shop in town as usual.
After arriving at the county government office, Song Yushu and her two children parted ways with Xue Huai'an.
When Song Yushu saw Zhou Chengli being carried out with a pale face, Zhou Lao Er's hair was already gray, and the Zhao siblings also looked haggard.
She finally understood where the problem lay; it turned out that she and her two children were involved with the Zhou family.
The magistrate is currently interrogating the bandits, and Zhou Chengli's family has been implicated by Zhao the Cripple and villagers have pointed out that they had dealings with the bandits in the past. If they cannot explain themselves clearly, the whole family may have to go to jail.
Fortunately, Song Yushu and Zhou Lao Er had already divorced, so after a few interrogations and finding some witnesses to prove his innocence, he was released quickly.
"It's a done deal that Zhao the Cripple colluded with the bandits. He's already been convicted and imprisoned to await his fate. But it's hard to judge the Zhou family's second branch. Zhou Chengli's leg was also broken by the bandits, but because they had contact with those two bandits before, it's hard to say."
When Song Yushu was sent back to the Wei family with his children, he explained the situation to Wei's mother.
"A broken leg? Can it be healed?" Wei's mother asked in surprise.
"I don't know. It's still uncertain whether they can get out of here," Song Yushu said. He didn't care about their situation and only prayed that the drought would end soon. The water level in the well in the Wei family's courtyard was dropping every day. The water was a bit turbid and had to be filtered and settled before it could be used. It was clear that it was not far from being dry.
The few officials left in the village were still searching for Pang Hu. He had previously colluded with bandits, and when Xue Huai'an led his men to arrest him, he took advantage of the chaos to run into the mountains. The officials had been searching for several days but had not found Pang Hu. They had no choice but to go back and interrogate Wei Chunlan and others.
Wei's father was unmoved by Wei Chunlan and the others' pleas for mercy. After all, if Xue Huai'an hadn't arrived with the officials in time, his whole family would probably have died at Pang Hu's hands.
Although the villagers escaped death this time, their already meager food supplies were ruined by the bandits, making their situation even more difficult, and they could hardly even find water to eat.
The village headman didn't let them starve to death; instead, he organized the men to go hunting in the mountains, and everyone who went into the mountains got a share of the prey.
However, hunting is not an easy task. No one would be willing to go deep into the mountains unless they were out of food. The wild animals there are too ferocious, and you could lose your life if you were not careful.
The women in the village didn't just sit and wait to die; they went to the foot of the mountain to dig up some wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.
However, the villagers who had come from elsewhere had already visited the area, and very few of them could find any edible wild vegetables.
To avoid standing out too much, the Wei family, although not participating in the hunting, came out to look for wild vegetables with the villagers.
Seeing that all the non-toxic grass at the foot of the mountain had been stripped bare, Song Yushu had little hope for her trip. Zhou Chengzhu, on the other hand, was very happy to be able to come out, carrying a basket and following closely behind her.
After wandering around for a while, Song Yushu decisively took Zhou Chengzhu back, but saw a group of children digging mouse holes on the ridge of the field. She couldn't help but curiously go over to them.
The children became wary when they saw her coming. After scavenging all the grain from the rat hole, they prepared to leave.
"Why don't you want these?" Song Yushu called out to them, picking out a few roots from the pile of soil that had been dug up.
"Is this edible?"
“Of course,” Song Yushu said, wiping the houttuynia cordata clean and stuffing it into her mouth. A fishy taste immediately filled her mouth. It was really difficult for her to eat it raw without any seasoning.
Seeing that she was alright, the children immediately returned to dig up houttuynia cordata.
Song Yushu found a nearby field ridge and started digging. Since she had told the children that houttuynia cordata was edible, she didn't intend to hide it from the villagers. She knew that many people would come to dig it up from this field ridge, but she wanted to dig out a basketful first.
Zhou Chengzhu was surprised to actually find wild vegetables, and she was much more enthusiastic than Song Yushu. Soon, the mother and daughter had dug up a basket of houttuynia cordata.
"Let's go back," Song Yushu said, deciding not to dig any further. After all, the Wei family still had enough food, and the other villagers who were running out of food needed the houttuynia cordata to fill their stomachs.
"You actually found some wild vegetables? Why does this grass root taste so strange?" Sister-in-law Wei came back with an empty basket and saw Zhou Chengzhu's basket full of houttuynia cordata.
"Don't worry, it's edible, but I don't know if you can accept the taste," Song Yushu cleaned the houttuynia cordata, cut out a plate, and made a cold houttuynia cordata salad with the few seasonings he had.
"This taste is quite novel, I think it's good," said Sister-in-law Wei, who really liked the taste. However, Brother Wei couldn't bring himself to eat it. He was forced to eat one, and if he hadn't wanted to avoid wasting food, he would have definitely spat it out.
The cold-dressed houttuynia cordata was a rare treat for the Wei family, and Sister-in-law Wei wanted to dig up some more to store.
“There’s probably no room for anyone to stand on the ridges now, so you’d better not go and join the fun. We’re not short of food, let them dig for themselves,” Wei’s father called out to Wei’s sister-in-law.
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