Once a Noble Wife and Now a Rough man’s Beloved
Once a Noble Wife and Now a Rough man’s Beloved Chapter 40

Chapter 40 : She’s Going to Post

Led by the herbal farmer, the group arrived at the entrance to the dense forest on the back hillside.

“This is it.” Seeing that Song Ying was a woman, the herbalist kindly advised, “Boss Song, the mountain path here is muddy. Why don’t you wait here? I’ll go pick it for you.”

Song Ying had deliberately worn a short tunic with narrow sleeves for ease of movement.

“No need, just lead the way.” She turned to Faer and said, “You and the shopkeeper wait here. Xiaomi, come with me.”

Xiaomi carried a shovel and a medicine basket on his back. “Yes.”

Song Ying followed the herbalist into the damp forest, heading deep into the mountains.

Song Ying asked, “How long will it take?”

The herbalist replied, “We have to go a bit farther.”

After about the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, they arrived at a flat area near a cliff.

The herbalist said, “We’re here. This is the spot.”

Song Ying squatted down, parted a clump of green grass, and found several slender, light red grass blades growing upright.

That was it.

Unfortunately, this batch hadn’t grown long enough to be very useful.

Song Ying asked the herbalist, “Is it only found here?”

The herbalist replied, “Yes. I already gathered the amount you needed. There isn’t much left.”

Song Ying walked around, carefully inspecting the area.

If she picked all the remaining plants and dried them in the sun, she could just meet the promised quantity.

But she had hoped for a surplus to sell.

Once the imperial physician realized this herb could be used as a substitute for palace-grade medicine, the entire capital would know, and she would lose the advantage.

Forget it, it was fate. She’d just earn a little less.

Luckily, she had other alternative herbs she could use to stay ahead.

Song Ying turned around and headed back with Xiaomi, a bit disappointed.

As they passed through a valley, a gust of wind blew by, carrying a strange fragrance.

“Wait!”

Xiaomi and the herbalist stopped.

“What is it?”

Song Ying sniffed the air again. “Do you smell anything?”

Xiaomi took a deep breath. “No, just the scent of soil.”

Song Ying said to the herbalist, “Please take the herbs back to the shopkeeper. We’ll come out later.”

The herbalist asked, “What do you want to do? I can help. I know this place well.”

Song Ying said, “No need, just go ahead. We won’t be long.”

Seeing she didn’t want to say more, the herbalist didn’t press the issue. He hoisted the medicine basket on his back and left.

Once she was sure he was out of earshot, Song Ying lowered her voice and said to Xiaomi, “This way.”

Song Ying had been working with medicinal herbs for many years, so her sense of smell was far more sensitive than most.

She followed the strange fragrance down a narrow path, memories surfacing as she walked.

She had encountered this fragrance once before while studying under Master Yu.

It seemed to be called Phoenix Eye so named because it resembled a bird’s eye and was extremely rare and valuable.

If her guess was right, and this really was Phoenix Eye…

Song Ying’s eyes lit up, this could make her famous!

“Miss, how much farther do we have to walk?” Xiaomi asked from behind.

Song Ying paused to sniff again. “That way.”

The scent was even stronger now, it had to be nearby.

“Xiaomi, help me search for a dark red bud that looks like a bird’s eye. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Okay, got it.”

The two of them squatted down, searching carefully inch by inch.

Xiaomi couldn’t smell the fragrance, so he had to rely on appearance and constantly asked for confirmation.

“Is it this one?”

“No, not this…”

“This one?”

“Still not it…”

Song Ying was getting tired, so she stood up and stretched. As she did, she noticed a dark red plant peeking out from under a moss-covered rock.

Song Ying’s heart leapt with excitement. She hurried over but in her excitement, she slipped and fell hard to the ground.

“Miss!” Xiaomi cried out.

Song Ying had sprained her ankle and sat on the ground, pointing in a direction as she said to Xiaomi, “Go and pick that plant for me.”

Xiaomi did as he was told and brought it over. “Is this it?”

Song Ying took a closer look and sniffed it again. Her excitement momentarily dulled the pain. “That’s it. If you run into the herbalist later, don’t mention this to him. Got it?”

Xiaomi nodded repeatedly. “Understood. I’ll carry you out on my back.”

Halfway down the mountain, the herbalist returned and, seeing Song Ying, asked, “Boss Song, what happened to you?”

Song Ying replied, “I slipped. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

The herbalist walked alongside them, eyes scanning Song Ying curiously. Unable to resist, he asked, “Boss Song, did you find something just now?”

Song Ying answered, “I found some fungus. I didn’t expect you to have so much of it here.”

To make her story believable, Song Ying pulled a few fresh wood ear mushrooms from her waist pouch and showed them.

The herbalist took a look, saw it really was wood ear, and said “oh” in disappointment, dropping the matter.

When Faer saw Xiaomi carrying Song Ying on his back, she looked worried. “Miss, what happened to you?”

Song Ying replied, “I sprained my ankle. Has the pharmacist left yet?”

Faer: “Yes, he already delivered the herbs to your house.”

“Good, then let’s go too.” Song Ying turned to the herbalist and said, “You worked hard collecting those herbs, even the ones that ended up spoiled. I’ll make sure you’re fully compensated.”

The herbalist was touched, he’d thought the deal was lost.

He said gratefully, “Boss Song, you’re really generous. Don’t worry, I’ll never let this happen again.”

Song Ying replied, “Let’s wait until the herbs in the mountains are fully grown before picking them next time.”

Herbalist: “Understood!”

When the promised day came, Yue Shaozhi didn’t receive the medicinal herbs but instead received three hundred taels of gold.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

Xiaomi lowered his head and said to Yue Shaozhi, “The young lady said the herbs will be delivered in two days. This is compensation for the delay.”

Song Ruoer asked, “What happened?”

Xiaomi: “Princess, the previously prepared herbs got damp and were unusable. This time, the young lady went herself to pick and dry the herbs. They’ll be sent to you as soon as they’re ready.”

When Song Ruoer heard that Song Ying had gone personally to pick and dry the herbs, she was shocked and a little disbelieving. ‘This is Song Ying?’

Wasn’t she supposed to be jealous of me? Why would she go to such a remote place herself?

“What’s wrong?”

By the time she came back to her senses, Xiaomi had already left. Song Ruoer turned to Yue Shaozhi and said, “It seems my sister still cares about me and Mother after all.”

Yue Shaozhi’s face was expressionless. “You’re family. This is what she ought to do.”

Song Ruoer nodded. “Once Mother recovers, I must thank her properly.”

“She doesn’t need your thanks.”

As Yue Shaozhi stood and began walking away, Song Ruoer asked, “Shaozhi, where are you going?”

Yue Shaozhi: “To the palace.”

Two days later, Yu Liang came knocking early in the morning.

“What are you doing here?”

Seeing Song Ying limp into the room, Yu Liang placed the three hundred taels of gold on the table and said, “The Prince said you don’t need to refund the money. Just give me the herbs so I can take them back to the palace.”

Song Ying said, “Then wait a bit, it’ll take some time.”

Yu Liang: “Alright.”

With Faer’s help, Song Ying returned to the backyard.

These medicinal herbs had to be prepared fresh and couldn’t be packaged in advance.

At lunchtime, Faer came to Yu Liang and asked, “Miss wants to know if you’d like to eat something?”

Yu Liang was momentarily stunned. “No, thank you.”

“Alright then, please wait just a little longer.” With that, Faer left.

An hour later, Faer returned with a package of medicinal herbs.

“Here, it’s all ready. Miss said the imperial physician should inspect it first. Once he confirms the herbs, there’ll be no returns.”

Yu Liang: “Thank you.”

Back at the palace, Yu Liang handed the herbs to the imperial physician who had been waiting eagerly.

The physician took the herbs in both hands, sniffed them, tasted a little, and was astonished. “Heavens! Who came up with this? To actually find such a perfect substitute, our Great Yin is truly blessed.”

Song Ruoer said proudly, “It was my sister.”

The imperial physician Chen blurted out, “The princess?!”

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