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In the imperial court, young laughter echoed as Princess Chang Le darted to the side of the Empress, reaching out to touch the tender face of her little brother, Hong Yi. “Mother Empress, little brother is so cute.”
Observing the joyful interaction between Chang Le and Hong Yi, the Empress smiled at the harmonious scene. Su Yu spoke, bidding farewell, “Imperial Brother, I’ll be taking Xiao He and the two children home.”
“Very well. Bring Xiao He and the children to the palace for a visit soon.”
“Uncle Emperor, can I come to your place and play? I want to play with my brothers.” Chang Le rarely had playmates in the palace, so having two brothers made her ecstatic.
“In a couple of days, you can come. For now, spend time bonding with your little brother,” Su Yu fondly expressed his preference for Princess Chang Le.
Meanwhile, Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but be charmed when he saw Chang Le, the adorable little princess.
“Su Yu, she’s so cute! The little dresses I showed you before, I’m sure she’ll look adorable in them.” With no young girls in the household, the Hanfu children’s clothing Wang Jinhe had designed had yet to find a wearer.
Now, whenever She sees an adorable little princess, Wang Jinhe can’t help but want to make those dresses for her.
“Why don’t you make them for Chang Le when we get back,” Su Yu said while secretly hoping for a daughter after returning home.
“Okay.”
After chatting for a while, Su Yu took Wang Jinhe and the others and left.
Back at home, Wang Jinhe selected some good fabrics and began making clothes for Chang Le.
In just one day, he made two pieces, one adorned with cute little rabbits, and the other with small goldfish—both styles that Chang Le liked at her age.
The next day, during the early court assembly, the Emperor revealed the news of Wang Jinhe achieving a yield of a thousand catties of rice per mu.
Upon hearing this, all the ministers were amazed, while the Minister of Agriculture was particularly excited.
“Can this rice be popularized throughout the country?” the Minister of Agriculture asked eagerly.
“She harvested nearly two hundred thousand catties of grain this time, leaving fifteen thousand catties to the court. The local magistrate requested thirty thousand catties, and the rest will be reserved for those acquainted with her family. I discussed this matter with her a few days ago. Later, people will be sent to bring back the seeds. With her improved planting methods, the yield can reach over nine hundred catties per mu. These are the results she obtained after experimenting with different seeds herself,” the Emperor explained.
“If that’s the case, won’t the entire country’s grain supply depend on a mere woman? It might be better to let her hand over the method to the court.” Some began scheming to claim credit for themselves.
Hearing someone trying to snatch the credit from his sister, Su Jiu sneered and said, “Lord Lu, your words are quite casual. Hand it over to the court? Can you cultivate things that nourish the body or produce high-yield crops?”
“If I’m not mistaken, the planting methods for both of Wang Jinhe’s varieties are the same as those for the health-Improving fruits and vegetables she grows,” Su Jiu bluntly stated.
Lord Lu, feeling uneasy after being teased by Su Jiu, asked, “Lord Su, what do you mean by that?”
“Literally speaking, some people are shameless. Others have finally managed to cultivate high-yield crops, and you’re so eager to claim credit. Things aren’t that simple.”
Su Jiu turned to the delighted Minister of Agriculture, “Minister of Agriculture, can you and your people cultivate such high-yield crops?”
The Minister of Agriculture shook his head, “Impossible. Five hundred catties at most. Lord Lu, just giving us the method doesn’t mean we can do it. We can’t even achieve this yield ourselves. You, an outsider, what do you have to plant with?”
“Minister of Agriculture is right. Things aren’t done that way.”
“Lord Lu, don’t be so calculative in your actions; it’s not good.”
The Emperor, with a mocking look in his eyes, intervened, “Enough, no need to argue. A yield of a thousand catties per mu is nothing for Wang Jinhe. She told me that next year’s yield will exceed five hundred catties. If she fails, she’s willing to accept any punishment I deem fit. Can any of you pledge such a military order? If any of you can, I might consider handing this matter over to you.”
Upon hearing the Emperor’s words, everyone fell silent, including Lord Lu, who had been clamoring just moments ago.
More than five hundred catties, exceeding the current yield—wouldn’t that be One thousand and Five hundred catties per mu? This seemed utterly unbelievable.
“Your Majesty, I request to take on the challenge. I want to work alongside Wang Jinhe in cultivating high-yield crops,” the Minister of Agriculture stepped forward at this moment.
“This matter needs to be discussed with Wang Jinhe before I can agree to your request. Also, there’s another matter. Wang Jinhe, for the Empress and the Empress Dowager, specially prepared canned health-improving fruits and vegetables. She improved the health of the Empress Dowager and nurtured the Empress, who was unwell during her pregnancy, allowing her to safely give birth to the Second Prince.”
“In addition to cultivating top-quality watermelons to maintain the country’s reputation, researching and developing a threshing machine for the benefit of the nation, and now achieving high-yield crops, after discussing with the Empress Dowager, I have decided to confer the title of County Princess upon Wang Jinhe, with the honorary title Changning.”
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback. Could this really be happening?
Members of Concubine Ling’s faction were anxious and spoke out, “Your Majesty, please reconsider; this is against the rules.”
“Who I choose to confer a title upon doesn’t concern you. If anyone else can achieve as much as Wang Jinhe has, I’ll promote them too. But have any of you accomplished that?” The Emperor’s words were cutting, and the faces of those who opposed him turned green and purple.
Seeing their silence, the Emperor sneered, “So be it.”
“Dismissed.”
After the Emperor left, Su Jiu looked at the people who had opposed and spoke with a mocking smile on his face.
These people really thought highly of themselves.
After leaving the court, Su Jiu didn’t rush to find Su Yu and the others; instead, he went to the imperial study.
“Are you still angry?” Seeing his displeased expression, Su Jiu asked.
The Emperor coldly said, “These people truly disappoint me.”
“Knowing this was going to happen, what’s there to be disappointed about? Now, we need to prepare our people. Once the Xie family is taken care of, we’ll replace them with our people. Xiao He’s older brother and a few others around him are talented. They should be taking the imperial examination next year, around the same time.” Dealing with the Xie family required careful planning, and for now, they couldn’t eliminate them immediately.
In at most two years, they would likely succeed in the imperial examination.
According to Xiao Yu’s suggestion, Wang Jingyu was likely to be among the top three, and those around him were also expected to excel.
“A-Jiu, are you suggesting…”
“Yes, once they pass the exam, we’ll send them directly to the lower ranks. With Xiao He’s help, achieving good results won’t be a problem. Then, we can bring them to the capital. For the next five years, we won’t be able to deal with the Xie family, so it’s an opportune time to let our people gain experience.” Su Jiu laid out his thoughts.
Sending people to the capital could make them targets for the Xie family; that wouldn’t be ideal.
“Is it really as good as you say?”
“Xiao Yu said those who enter the top three in the palace examination, do you believe it?” Su Jiu raised an eyebrow.
If they didn’t trust his words, they should at least trust Xiao Yu’s, right?