Chapter 300: Sacrificial Ceremony ( 2 )
Yao Zhi let out a sigh when she saw Xi Yi like this. "Ah Yi, if you want your children to have a good future, you have to get used to your new identity."
Xi Yi thought for a long time before she nodded. "I understand."
Hearing this, Yao Zhi dropped the topic and said, "Tomorrow is the sacrificial ceremony day. Today, we need to clear the house and prepare the dishes. I will need your help preparing the sacrificial ceremony."
Xi Yi nodded and woke up her daughter. After they tidied up, they went to the kitchen. With another person helping her, Yao Zhi didn’t have to tire herself.
While Xi Yi and Xi Si went to get water, she took out some fruits, meat, and eggs. Then, she filled the rice jar before she went to harvest some vegetables.
As the sun rose, she prepared Ye Ying and Bai Xue’s food. Then, she prepared breakfast for everyone. Today, she made scallion pancakes, steamed eggs, tofu pudding, and fresh milk.
After breakfast, everyone started cleaning the house.
Xi Yi was a Marchioness for years, and her capability in organizing things and managing people was top-notch.
Under her management, Ling Yi and his brothers worked efficiently. Not only did they finish cleaning the houses, but they also tidied up the woodshed and the vegetable gardens.
Yao Zhi knew nothing about the sacrificial ceremony rules at all. Since she couldn’t help, she rode her donkey and went to check her land, followed by her wolf cubs.
At first, she wanted to plant crops that could improve the soil quality. But after she scanned the land and saw the information, she changed her mind.
Thanks to the customized fertilizer her system prepared before, her land was ready for planting. Although it still couldn’t be counted as high-quality land, it was no longer low-quality land. It was possible for her to plant sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes only need 90 to 120 days to mature. If she planted them in March, she would be able to harvest them in June. Then, she could start planting an early-maturing rice variety. This way, there would be a few months for her to replenish the soil’s nutrients for the next planting.
After she made up her mind, she went to check the pond. Perhaps because the water was from the mountain spring, the ponds were not frozen solid. There was only a thin layer of ice on the surface.
Seeing this, Yao Zhi took out a hammer and broke the ice. Afterward, she threw in some fish from her system’s lake. To avoid causing trouble by taking out new varieties, she only dared to take out grass carp, silver carp, black carp, and crucian carp.
These varieties were native to Huaxia. Although she didn’t know if these were available in this world, at least they were common fish.
After she put the fish into the ponds, she also took out some water plants growing in her system’s lake and threw them into the ponds.
When she was done, she went to the mountain to gather some medicinal herbs. With Ye Ying and Bai Xue leading the way, she found a lot of common and rare medicinal herbs, which she planted in her system’s grassland.
It was only when the sun slanted to the western horizon that they left the mountain and returned home.
An hour after they left, a group of people arrived. They looked around, and one of them said, "Second Brother, look. There are footprints here."
A man in his early thirties walked over and checked the ground. "These footprints are new." After a moment, he added, "From the size, these footprints should belong to a young woman and a wolf."
"Second Brother, how can you be so sure that it’s a young woman?" another man asked.
"Look at this. The depth of the footprints is even, and the length of the steps is longer than an older woman’s."
They thought for a while and nodded in understanding. As people grow older, they will eventually develop health problems. Therefore, most of the depth of their footsteps was uneven. Also, as people grow older, they walk more slowly. Therefore, their steps would be smaller.
Unlike those who knew martial arts or were very healthy, it was impossible for an elderly person to be able to walk on a mountain path so stably.
After a moment of silence, a younger man asked, "Second Brother, do you think this person is the same person who saved the Heir?"
"I don’t know, but we have already investigated several towns and villages near this mountain. There is only one village we haven’t investigated."
"Should we go now?"
The Second Brother shook his head and said, "Tomorrow is the sacrificial ceremony day; it’s not appropriate to visit the village. We will wait until they start the plowing season."
"I heard that one of the villagers bought some land, and this person might need to hire workers to help with the planting. We can go investigate under the cover as workers."
When the group heard this, their eyes lit up, and one of them praised him.
"As expected of the Second Brother. Smart!"
The Second Brother waved his hand and said, "Alright, we should go back and inform the Heir." He turned to the youngest in the group and added, "You go to the town and buy some supplies."
"Understood."
Before they separated, the Second Brother gave him a pouch full of money.
Not knowing that someone was looking for her, Yao Zhi returned home and took a warm bath. When she finished, dinner was ready.
Xi Yi served the food and said, "Yao-shi, my cooking skill is average. I hope you won’t dislike it."
Yao Zhi shook her head and looked at the beautifully plated dishes on the table. She was curious about the taste and picked up her chopsticks.
She picked a piece of vegetables and tried it. Unlike the familiar modern dish taste, this dish was not as flavorful, but it had a unique taste of the vegetables. With less seasoning, the original taste of the ingredients was more prominent.
"How is it?" Xi Yi asked nervously.