Chapter 2717: Together

If it’s Jian’an City…

The Emperor tapped the table and said, “Continue besieging Anshi City, think of other ways to attack and enter the city.”

If Feng Liang indeed went to Jian’an City, then if they break through Anshi City, there will be no fortress to stop them from heading south. He plans not to go around Jian’an City but directly attack Jian’an and Pyongyang. By then, Jian’an City will be isolated and unsupported, so what’s the difference whether it exists or not?

Thus, everyone began sitting daily opposite Anshi City, pondering how to break it.

Manbao ignored them, checked the condition of the injured soldiers daily, then looked at the medicines in the pharmacy. After confirming everything was fine, she turned to go and dig for medicinal herbs.

Bai Erlang followed behind her, puzzled, “We have medicine now, why are you still digging?”

Manbao wasn’t about to tell him she was being sly, and said directly, “We don’t know when the next batch of medicinal herbs will arrive, better dig a bit more, just in case.”

Bai Erlang said, “You mentioned earlier about lacking scorpions and such. You’re not going to catch scorpions, right?”

Manbao: “…Not to mention whether there are scorpions here, even if there are, it’s cold now, where would I catch them?”

Manbao paused and turned to ask him, “Do you want to go?”

Bai Erlang hesitated, “I’d love to go, but recently His Majesty has been gathering everyone to think of strategies for attacking the city…”

Manbao: “What’s it got to do with you?”

Bai Erlang: “…Occasionally, I’m called to be questioned.”

Actually, he just listens in. The Emperor doesn’t expect them to provide any advice, just stands there listening to how the generals discuss matters.

Manbao then turned and walked away, “Alright, I’ll go by myself.”

Bai Erlang followed behind her, muttering, “Is it fun in the mountains? I heard people say there are many precious medicinal herbs in the Goguryeo mountains, like ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, lots of them.”

Manbao felt a bit guilty and said, “Not many. If there were so many, people would have already gotten rich digging ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms.”

Bai Erlang looked at her suspiciously, “Not many, so that means there are a few. Have you found any?”

Manbao shushed him and said, “Keep your voice down, come by my tent later, I can show you.”

Bai Erlang’s eyes lit up, lowered his voice, and said, “I want to dig too, take me with you.”

“Didn’t you say His Majesty would summon you?”

“Don’t worry, since I’m managing the pharmacy for you, following you to dig medicinal herbs is normal.”

Manbao found it reasonable, so the two took their own guards and snuck away, leaving Bai Shan to come and find them after finishing his task, only to find them gone.

Once in the forest, Manbao remembered there were outsiders this time and kept glancing at Bai Erlang’s two attendants.

Bai Erlang also glanced backward and quietly said to her, “These were given by the Princess. His Majesty told them to stay by my side without leaving a step. It’s okay in the camp, but once outside, they have to follow me. I can’t shake them off.”

Manbao whispered, “Will they report back to His Majesty?”

“No,” Bai Erlang said, “I told them not to report, but this matter can’t be hidden from Mingda.”

Manbao nodded, “It’s okay, Mingda can know.”

The two attendants:… Although the voices were low, they still heard.

With Keke guiding the way and Manbao’s keen eyes, many medicinal herbs weren’t spared once spotted.

Bai Erlang followed, digging plenty but his interest wasn’t in these herbs; he just wanted to find ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms.

No lingzhi mushrooms were found, but there was indeed ginseng.

Especially in such sparsely populated forests, there are quite a few treasures.

Bai Erlang followed Manbao, holding onto a tree, sliding down into a small valley, and found a clump of ginseng.

He swallowed, gave Zhou Man a thumbs up, “You’re incredible, the locals didn’t find this, but you did.”

Manbao humbly said, “It’s alright, just alright.”

Daji and the four guards watched the surroundings nervously. After scanning nearby areas and ensuring no major threat, they stood guard around them.

However, one attendant found some small piles of excrement, Daji came up, looked, sniffed, and said, “Better be quick, we can’t stay here long; this is bear excrement.”

The attendant said, “We’ve come too deep.”

Upon hearing this, Manbao immediately asked Keke which ginseng root was biggest, then aimed to dig it out, also getting Bai Erlang to dig another one.

“But no need to be too afraid. The army is stationed outside the mountain, many animals have fled further inside.”

No choice, even with rations, everyone was still hungry, lacking meat!

So, soldiers not involved in the siege, freer ones, couldn’t help but hunt in nearby forests for game. Moreover, with the army camped outside, the place was crowded with human scent, which naturally drives animals away.

The attendant crushed the excrement and said, “It’s old, at least seven days, no fresh ones nearby, seems they’ve left.”

Manbao didn’t slow down, having plenty of experience, she quickly dug. Before long, she unearthed a complete ginseng.

She was thrilled and then looked at Bai Erlang.

Bai Erlang was sweating profusely, digging and wiping his sweat, so Manbao guided him, “A bit further to the side, dig deeper and then extend over.”

Manbao went to dig another root, Daji also joined in, seeing this, the other attendants and guards were eager too, but without their master’s command, they didn’t dare act.

Manbao thought the location was unfortunate this time. If they encountered a bear, it would be disastrous as they surely couldn’t beat it. So she waved and said, “This root, that one, and this one are good, you can dig them, consider them yours, distribute amongst yourselves.”

When everyone heard, their eyes lit up and they immediately stepped forward.

Manbao continued digging another root.

Once everyone dug theirs, Manbao planned to leave the remaining small ginseng.

The attendant wanted to dig them all, he said, “Leaving these things, we won’t come back here to dig later.”

Manbao said, “We can’t dig, but there are others who can; this is nature’s gift to locals, we took the good ones, we should leave the seeds for others.”

She said, “Moreover, small ginseng has little medicinal value, can’t fetch much money.”

Then everyone let it go and hurried to climb up.

Daji and one attendant went up first, tied the rope to the tree, threw it down, and they climbed up holding onto it.

Exiting the valley, Manbao glanced back with a sigh, “Looking at the fertile valley, lush with vegetation, surely there are more medicinal herbs.”

Bai Erlang dragged her along, “Come on, we found ginseng, what if the bear really returns? Doesn’t the book say rare treasures have guardian beasts nearby? This bear might be the ginseng’s guardian beast.”

Manbao: “You’ve been reading too many messy books. Bears don’t eat ginseng; why would they guard it? Besides, they aren’t guardian beasts.”

“However, living here, might there be ant nests or honey around?”

Daji didn’t care about their chatter, grabbed each with a hand, and hurried away, the two quickened their steps to follow him.

After running for about half an hour, the group slowed down, letting out a big sigh of relief.