His eyes were darkened with unease, tormented by worries about the supply of grain and fodder.
As far as Feng Yun knew, the food supply problems the Beiyong Army was about to face were far more serious than what Tan Dajin had described...
A daring idea suddenly sprung into Feng Yun's mind.
"I can lead people up the mountain to gather mushrooms, to find food for your esteemed army."
Tan Dajin's face turned pale, and he immediately rejected the proposal.
"Absolutely not, absolutely not, I cannot bear the blame should the Great General take issue."
No matter Feng Shi Er Niang's past or future status, she was currently a female prisoner of the Beiyong Army, and without the Great General's command, who would dare let her leave the camp?
Feng Yun smiled, "Why not report this to the Great General and see what he has to say?"
The road was waterlogged, and the hastily marching supply train was exhausted. Feng Yun had not seen Pei Jue and knew nothing of his thoughts until the troops arrived at the Jieqiu Mountain campsite, when Tan Dajin finally brought good news.
"The Great General has ordered that the lady may choose four maids from the twenty beauties and lead a squad of soldiers up the mountain to gather mushrooms."
This outcome was unexpected.
The concubines looked at each other in disbelief, not daring to believe it.
Being a female prisoner, what did it mean for the Great General to specifically grant Feng Shi Er Niang four maids? Though the General didn't verbally claim her as a concubine, he was treating her as one of his own.
The moment the General's command was delivered, Feng Yun distinctly felt a change in the attitudes of the soldiers escorting her. The previously brazen gazes were retracted, and some dared not look at her any longer.
Feng Yun was expressionless, her beautiful eyes pitch black, her gaze flitted over the faces of the concubines as she spoke indifferently.
"Who wishes to accompany me to the mountain?"
In times of chaos, women are like driftwood.
Feng Shi Er Niang herself could barely ensure her safety, so what good fortune could follow from her? But with the General, there would be someone to rely on...
Being a concubine or a maidservant was not a difficult choice for a beautiful woman...
Initially, only Daman and Xiaoman stepped up to Feng Yun's side, being servants of the Feng Family, they were simply following orders.
As for the others...
It took quite a while before two more responded.
"I am willing to serve by Shi'er Niang's side."
"And me..."
One was the singer Wen Hui, who had finally given up on her faithless lover.
The other was named Ying Rong, a seamstress who had fled from Wanning County to Andu County, seeking refuge with her maternal uncle and a childhood friend she was betrothed to.
This time, to offer a beauty, her maternal uncle had traded her for two bolts of Qiujuan fabric and twenty stones of millet from Feng Jingteng.
Feng Yun nodded, took a crescent knife from the small donkey cart to hang at her waist, and then tossed a baby alligator into the carrying basket.
"Let's go."
—
After several days of rain, there were many mushrooms in the mountains.
When Feng Yun saw edible mushrooms, she would stop to carefully teach the squad leader how to recognize them, and explain the differences between edible mushrooms and poisonous ones.
The group was astounded.
People would harvest mulberries, locust flowers, elm seeds, willow buds, and other tree-grown fungi for food, but such unfamiliar items were strictly avoided in the camp.
Why did the Feng Family girl know about these?
She didn't seem like a lady who was pampered and delicately raised from a noble family...
The squad leaders were excited, busily foraging for mushrooms, digging wild vegetables, and hunting game.
Ao Qi and a guard named Zuo Zhong followed Feng Yun.
At first glance, they looked like attendants to Feng Yun, rather than her guards.
Xiaoman was more lively than Daman, joking and laughing loudly.
"The Great General favors Shi'er Niang greatly."
"Shi'er Niang will have great blessings in the future."
"Following the lady, we too shall share in good fortune."
Xiaoman was very optimistic.
Daman, however, was pessimistic about Xiaoman's optimism.
Most boys in the world are fickle, and even though Shi'er Niang was beautiful, there would come a day when she aged. In such chaotic times, one's appearance was merely the different price one could fetch when selling wives and daughters...
Feng Yun remained silent, as if she couldn't hear Xiaoman's words.
She used a curved knife to chop through the thorns in front of her, moving quickly towards the deep mountains on the soggy grass.
Ao Qi, not knowing when, had leaped from the basket onto the tree.
Like a small wild beast, he disappeared before one's eyes in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, his head popped out from the other side of the tree.
His mouth held a small pheasant.
Thump! The bloody little pheasant fell down, flapping on the ground.
Xiaoman turned pale with fright, "Ah——"
Feng Yun shushed, "Crouch down! There's big game."
The two Mans immediately tensed up and stayed close to her.
Feng Yun gripped the curved knife, her beautiful eyes determined.
A clump of lush big-leaved plants grew amongst the weeds in the forest, resembling fields that had been cultivated and then abandoned by farmers. A wild boar that had been rooting in the soil for food noticed someone approaching and took off running...
Whoosh! Ao Qi leaped from the woods with a single swipe of his paw.
The soldiers excitedly grasped their weapons and closed in...
There would be pork to eat!
Howls and cheers echoed through the woods.
But Feng Yun's gaze was not on the wounded wild boar but rather on the big-leaved plants in the weed forest.
"What is this?" Ao Qi asked curiously.
Feng Yun's face had returned to normal, "Taro."
"Taro?" Ao Qi's eyes shone, "Is it edible?"
Feng Yun didn't answer but put down her basket, walked over, and picked up the taros that the wild boar had rooted out to inspect.
They were red taro, a large patch of it.
Ao Qi watched her thoughtfully, growing anxious.
"Lady, please tell, can it be eaten or not?"
Ao Qi from Northern Jin had never eaten taro, but in the south of Qi Country, people had been cultivating it as a food crop for a long time.
Feng Yun said, "It can be eaten, and also it cannot."
Ao Qi asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Feng Yun said, "If prepared properly, it can be consumed. Otherwise, it is highly toxic. I'll speak more when I meet the Great General."
She put the picked taro into her basket and called out for Ao Qi.
Ao Qi dropped precisely into her basket from the tree, his paws obediently climbing onto Feng Yun's shoulders, looking satisfied from some delicious taste as he licked his mouth.
Feng Yun gently stroked its head, "Today you must feel quite proud..."
Ao Qi looked on, feeling inexplicably jealous of that ugly cat.
The group returned loaded with wild pigs and baskets full of wild mushrooms.
Just as they got back to camp, they heard that the Great General had arrived. There were soldiers secretly betting, guessing what position the General would give to the lady of the Feng Family.
Unexpectedly, Feng Yun put down her basket and took the initiative to seek an audience with Pei Jue.
She bowed outside the tent and then spoke astonishingly.
"The lady of the Feng Family is willing to be the strategist for the Great General, to help procure provisions for the army's needs."
Not to be a concubine in the tent, but to be a staff officer in front of it?
Could the lady of the Feng Family have lost her mind?
Since ancient times, when has there ever been a woman strategist?