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“We don’t have much to offer if there’s no war, so we thought that after the grain is harvested, we’ll sell it to you at half price. This is the only way we can help Xuan Empire,” Luo’s father and the others said. They had learned a lot over the years.
Their Emperor was a good one, and they wanted to make things easier for him. They would keep their money to handle other matters.
Wang Jinhe turned to Su Yu, unsure of what to say about their decision.
“Su Yu, what do you think…”
“It’s okay. I’ll talk to His Highness about it when the time comes,” Su Yu said. Even in this remote place, there were people genuinely willing to help.
“Alright,” Wang Jinhe felt relieved.
Then, Mr. Song spoke up, “We have the grain, but what about medicinal herbs? War means casualties, and we can’t just prepare food. We also need to prepare medicinal herbs.”
“You don’t need to worry about medicinal herbs. Su Yu has an herb shop, and he’s better equipped to prepare medicinal herbs than we are,” Wang Jinhe explained briefly, without mentioning their plans to cultivate medicinal herbs. The fewer people who knew about this, the better, to prevent any unexpected incidents.
Upon hearing Wang Jinhe’s assurance, Luo’s father and the others felt reassured. “Since you say so, Your Highness, we can rest easy.”
After a lengthy discussion in the study, they finally emerged for dinner. The grain matters were settled, and Wang Jinhe was preparing to visit Huang Qi.
“Why are you going to see Huang Qi?” Su Yu asked.
“Hasn’t Nan Qiao already written out the list of medicinal herbs? I want to buy the seeds and start planting the medicinal herbs,” Wang Jinhe explained to Su Yu.
Su Yu thought Wang Jinhe had something important to discuss with Huang Qi.
“Why do you need to do that? I’ll give the list to Yuan Bao and have him take it to Huang Qi. That should solve it, right?” Su Yu said, concerned about Wang Jinhe running around with her big belly.
Wang Jinhe coughed lightly. She had overlooked the fact that there were others in the household who could help.
“You don’t need to worry about these matters. You just need to give instructions. Let others handle the rest, and focus on taking care of yourself and the baby,” Su Yu said. Sometimes, he found Wang Jinhe’s gait a bit alarming.
Wang Jinhe muttered, “You’re just too worried about me.”
“From now on, take it easy and no more jumping around,” scolded Su Yu with a stern face.
Wang Jinhe glared at Su Yu. “When did I jump around?”
“This morning.”
Wang Jinhe was speechless. Okay, she admitted that she did indeed do that today, and she was in the wrong.
Seeing Wang Jinhe looking so aggrieved, Su Yu began to doubt if he had made her feel wronged.
“Don’t always make me worry. Seeing you running and jumping with a big belly makes my heart ache. You’re scaring me. You act as if nothing is wrong,” he expressed his fear. Wang Jinhe looked at Su Yu and realized that she had truly scared him. She innocently said, “Husband, please rest assured. You have to believe me this time. I won’t do this again in the future.”
Wang Jinhe’s soft and coquettish demeanor made Su Yu even more skeptical.
Seeing Su Yu’s skeptical look, Wang Jinhe suddenly felt embarrassed. “Do you not trust me?”
“I trust you, but Xiao He, can you really do it?” Su Yu asked seriously.
Wang Jinhe hesitated and then coughed lightly before saying, “I think it shouldn’t be a problem.”
But why did that response sound so hesitant?
Seeing Wang Jinhe’s obvious insincerity, Su Yu felt even more troubled.
He decided that he couldn’t control Wang Jinhe and would have to stick by her side at all times.
“From now on, wherever you go, I’ll go with you, so I won’t worry,” he said. This way, he could be informed of any situation immediately.
“Okay,” Wang Jinhe replied very decisively, which only added to Su Yu’s headache.
That evening, Yuan Bao took the list of medicinal herbs and went to find Huang Qi.
Looking at the list of medicinal herbs, Huang Qi furrowed his brow. “Young Master, what’s wrong? Why do you suddenly want to stock up on so many medicinal herbs?”
After speaking, Huang Qi’s expression changed. “Is there going to be a war?”
Only a war would require so many medicinal herbs.
It had to be said that Huang Qi was also a very astute person. He could deduce so much just from the list of medicinal herbs.
“Indeed, that’s the case. The Qi Empire has started frequent military drills, and in addition, they have increased the burden of taxes on the people.”
“An increase again? This is the second time in recent years that the Qi Empire has raised taxes. Now the tax rate in the Qi Empire has reached sixty percent. What future do the people have? It’s as if they want to make the people of the Qi Empire destitute,” Huang Qi said with some dismay.
Yuan Bao shook his head. “For now, there’s not much we can do about it.”
After all, it wasn’t Xuan Empire’s affair, and even if they were angry, there wasn’t much they could do about it.
Huang Qi was just venting, and he wouldn’t actually take action. If the Emperor of the Qi Empire didn’t care about his people, what could outsiders like them do?
“Let’s not dwell on these matters. We need these medicinal herbs, and the seeds are also needed. Xiao He plans to cultivate some better medicinal herbs, so that we can send them to the battlefield for better results,” Yuan Bao said.
“No problem. Give me half a month, and I’ll have the seeds sent over,” Huang Qi replied.
“Good.”
Although Wang Jinhe couldn’t go to the fields often, she still guided others at home on how to proceed with the spring plowing.
At the same time, she also had the agricultural officials and the laborers on her side undergo training, especially those who were teaching others from different regions how to cultivate cotton.
The agricultural officials listened attentively each time, feeling neither embarrassed nor wronged to be here. Their primary task was to produce better crop varieties as agricultural officials.
Wang Jinhe, seeing the lack of airs from the agricultural officials, discussed with the laborers about the sowing and seedling-raising process.
After a few days of training, the agricultural officials learned a lot from the laborers. Having followed Wang Jinhe for two years, they were inspired by her planting methods, habits, and procedures.
“Your Highness, you are truly amazing. How did you come up with all of this?” the agricultural officials marveled.
Wang Jinhe found it difficult to explain their question. Should she say that it was a skill brought from her past life?
“You don’t need to call me Your Highness. Just call me Madam or County Princess. The people here don’t know that Su Yu is a prince,” she said. Few people knew, and if the villagers heard them being addressed this way, it would likely cause trouble.
“Understood, Madam.”
Su Yu arrived to find Wang Jinhe. “Xiao He, it’s time for you to rest.”