Chapter 31

The farm supervisor glanced coldly at Old Lady Liu, his fingers flicking the beads of the abacus. “Have you finished your work?”

Old Lady Liu nodded quickly and repeated herself, “That Madam Xiao vanishes every time she’s supposed to work. She has no respect for authority and doesn’t take you seriously, Supervisor!”

As soon as the supervisor recalled the sweet potatoes Madam Xiao had planted, he stood up and strode toward the threshing ground.

Old Lady Liu smirked and eagerly followed, anticipating Xiao Wanling’s downfall.

Cheng Qiao’er nudged Xiao Wanling with her elbow. “The supervisor’s looking for you again—must be that old woman stirring up trouble.”

The supervisor walked over and stopped in front of Xiao Wanling. “Madam Xiao, come with me.”

She followed him to the stone bridge by the village entrance. After checking that no one else was around, the supervisor asked, “Have your sweet potatoes started growing yet?”

Xiao Wanling shook her head. “Still two more months at least—they just sprouted two weeks ago. Wasn’t a massive amount of grain just sent into the city?

The supervisor sighed, regretting not having listened to her earlier and planting more. “Madam Xiao, to be frank, we only have enough grain left for ten more days.”

Xiao Wanling’s expression changed. “What happened to all the harvested grain?”

“It was all requisitioned by Madam Ji for military supplies.” His face was drawn with worry. They had planted crops across the entire mountain, and yet they had nothing to eat.

Xiao Wanling recalled how a palace guard once mentioned that Madam Ji was heading to the capital next month. If she kept taking grain like this, the entire mountain village—women, children, and elders—would starve to death. The thought chilled her to the bone.

With no immediate solution, the supervisor waved her off. He wanted a moment alone.

At sunset, Xiao Wanling noticed Sister-in-law Lu’s stomach growling. Thinking she was ill, she offered,
“Sister, go take a break—I’ll cover for you.”

Sister-in-law Lu pressed her hand to her belly, cheeks flushed. “It’s not that—I’m just hungry. I didn’t get enough to eat at lunch.”

Only then did Xiao Wanling realize that in just a few days, Sister-in-law Lu, the two wives from the Xue family, and Sister Shi had all visibly lost weight. Only Cheng Qiao’er seemed unchanged.

Some villagers speculated Xiao Wanling must be hoarding food—she didn’t eat in the public kitchens, and it had been months since Shen Qing’s game meat ran out. They suspected she had a secret stash.

Cheng Qiao’er bit her lip, determined not to reveal anything. Whether or not her little boy would get to eat depended on how tight-lipped she stayed. To avoid slipping up, she ran off, pretending she needed the toilet.

Even after dark, Cheng Qiao’er hadn’t returned home. She hurried to the Shen household, closed the door behind her, and whispered to Xiao Wanling, “Someone suspects you’re hiding food!”

Xiao Wanling replied calmly, “I was—but it’s long gone now.” Thanks to the Grey Wolf and the occasional leftovers from Madam Ji’s provisions, she could still stave off hunger by foraging in the mountains.

Cheng Qiao’er warned in a low voice, “You better hide everything well!” With that, she turned and rushed back down the mountain.

Each day, Xiao Wanling prepared low-fat meals for Madam Ji. The ingredients sent by the household were carefully measured—there was never extra.

That day, Xue Cui crept to the Shen house, knowing Xiao Wanling was out picking silkworm cocoons. She found a weak spot in the bamboo fence and began tearing at it.

Behind the kitchen, the doghouse rustled. The Grey Wolf poked its head out, saw a stranger, and darted out the front, circling around behind Xue Cui and barking.

“Awoo!”

Just as Xue Cui tried to squeeze through the gap, the wolf’s howl startled her. She shrieked and ran, tripping down the hill, limping all the way back to the Xue house.

Inside, Xue Zhengyang lay exhausted with back pain, and Old Lady Liu was too weak from hunger to get up. They both groaned when they saw Xue Cui return empty-handed.

Xue Cui herself was starving. She had assumed there was still food left at home, given how her sister-in-law and nephew seemed plump.

She tore through the house and found twenty-some wens. Eyes gleaming, she tucked the money away and shouted, “Father, Mother, I’m going to buy grain!”

Xue Zhengyang wheezed, “Come back!” That won’t even buy a single piece of rice!”
He was terrified something would happen to her; they were all too weak to deal with an emergency.

With all three daughters-in-law out working and her grandson in school until dark, Xue Zhengyang broke into a cold sweat as he tried to inch closer to the bed.

Old Lady Liu panicked. “Old man, don’t move!”
She tried to slide off the bed, nearly fainted, and needed a long while to get back up. She thought about going to the supervisor to beg for food. Someone was going to starve to death.

With fewer and fewer workers each day, the tea supervisor spoke to the farm supervisor.
“This can’t go on. People are too hungry to work—the fields will go fallow.”

The farm supervisor, whose hair was nearly all white, sighed, “I’m out of options. We’ve even cooked all the vegetable seedlings—including the sweet potato leaves from Madam Xiao’s plots!”

Even the Mulberry Supervisor had quit drinking. Without any grain, how could there be spare for brewing?

Sister Shi ran over in a panic. “Supervisors! It’s bad—some of the sisters have fainted from hunger and can’t get up!”

The farm supervisor clenched his fists. “I’m going to the city to beg for grain!”

Just as he finished, another supply cart from Prince of Jin’s household arrived. He was furious—eyes filled with despair.

Jin Jiaran, dressed in a pale blue brocade robe and a black cap, dismounted and respectfully greeted the three supervisors. “I’ve come to collect grain by His Grace’s order.”

The farm supervisor sneered. “Grain? Look around—where do you see any left?”
He flung his sleeve. “Get it yourself, then.”

The granary had been empty for days. Crops like rice and beans barely made it into storage before being snatched by the Jin household.

Jin Jiaran wasn’t ignorant of the situation. He thought his father had gone too far, blindly serving Madam Ji without limits. After surveying the fields, he sighed.

Then he spotted a girl in pale green sleeves and a light onion-colored skirt, bent over picking weeds.

Xiao Wanling sensed someone staring and straightened up. Turning, she saw a young man in a black cap—clearly one of the grain collectors. She didn’t hide her displeasure. With the communal kitchen out of food, she was out gathering grass jelly herbs for lunch.

Jin Jiaran was baffled when she glared at him. He rubbed his nose and returned to his horse. A laborer asked, “What are we going to report?”

Jin Jiaran snorted, “Just tell them the truth. Let’s go.” He rode at the front, three empty wagons trailing behind.

Seeing them leave, Xiao Wanling waved to Cheng Qiao’er in the distance. “Sister-in-law Xue! Are these the right ones?”

Cheng Qiao’er’s basket was full of herbs. She was thrilled—this was the secret to Madam Xiao’s famous herbal jelly.

The two of them emptied their baskets and sorted through the leaves before washing them at the river. Xiao Wanling also picked a bundle of stevia. Glancing toward the back mountain, she once again felt like someone was watching her.

In the main kitchen, elderly women sat slumped, elbows propped on chairs.

Xiao Wanling lit a fire and boiled stevia to make syrup. She blanched the jelly herbs and squeezed out the juice, mixing in hot water and wood ash to cool and set it into jelly. Her hands moved deftly—it had been months, but she hadn’t forgotten a step.

Cheng Qiao’er watched in awe, mouth agape. She was worried she’d miss something, as there were so many steps. Xiao Wanling poured the thick green syrup into earthen jars and placed them in a basin of cool water.

A sweet scent filled the air.

One woman stirred on her chair and murmured, “Am I dreaming?” I smell sugar water…”

Meanwhile, Xiao Wanling boiled mulberry leaves, strained them, and mixed in pea starch to make a version of jade tofu.

Finally, she had met the farm supervisor’s challenge—using half a bowl of pea starch to make lunch for more than thirty people. Normally, over a hundred mouths were fed.

After eating the jade tofu and the “immortal tofu” jelly, many of the fainting women recovered.

Xiao Wanling took a bowl of jelly to Aunt Wu’s house. She called out several times—no answer. Entering the courtyard, she found Aunt Wu, her daughter-in-law, and her grandson collapsed on the ground.

She knelt quickly and poured sugar water into Aunt Wu’s mouth. When the old woman stirred, Xiao carried the boy to the bed.

After all three had recovered, Aunt Wu clutched Xiao Wanling’s hand with tears in her eyes. “Madam Xiao, you saved our family!”

The daughter-in-law hugged her child and sobbed. “There’s no food left—our pot’s been empty for days…”

Xiao Wanling comforted them. “No rice? Then we eat wild greens. We live near the mountains—let’s use them!” She left to check on others.

Aunt Wu forced herself upright. “I’ll come help. Daughter-in-law, you stay with the boy.”

Thanks to timely sugar water, most fainting women recovered. But many of the elderly had already fallen ill.

Back home, Cheng Qiao’er saw Gu Yaofang and Han Hui crying beside the elder couple’s bed. She thought Old Lady Liu had died and felt… conflicted.

She rushed forward and handed over a large bowl.

Old Lady Liu was weeping, scolding the daughters-in-law for not coughing up money for medicine.
“You’re just going to watch him die? Think of something!”

Cheng Qiao’er rolled her eyes and left. She’d already given her savings to Xue Cui. Now they wanted more? She was done.

Seeing her leave, Old Lady Liu shouted, “Go check on Xue Cui!”

Without turning back, Cheng Qiao’er muttered, “She’s a grown woman. Can you control her?”
Xue Cui had run off and hadn’t returned in over a day. Who knew if she was even alive?

Better to spend her energy learning from Madam Xiao. If she could earn money and live separately one day, she might just live a long and peaceful life.

Since there was still daylight, Xiao Wanling gathered a group of women to forage for wild vegetables. Purslane grew everywhere, and though pigweed was coarse and seedy, it was still edible.

When others saw her picking greens, they followed her example.

Sister Shi asked, “If we pick too much, won’t it spoil?”