In the Capital

The Emperor was reading a letter from Du Ke, the first he had received since Du had gone to Yunxiang County.

In the letter, Du detailed the progress of the medicinal herbs, and he also mentioned a vegetable called Hu Gua, along with various crafts associated with it.

This surprised the Emperor.

After all, they had never valued the barbarian tribes, seeing them merely as a collection of small ethnic groups.

However, after receiving Du Ke’s report, the Emperor’s perspective shifted.

Each ethnic group had its own unique crafts, specialties, and skills.

If these crafts, specialties, and skills could be unified, they would be immensely beneficial to the Qi Kingdom.

For instance, Hu Gua was easy to cultivate, and since the Hu tribe often migrated, it indicated that the vegetable had low requirements for soil quality.

If it could be grown along the borders, it could also be cultivated in various military camps.

The so-called military land policy wasn’t just about growing grain.

It referred to the allocation of land to military camps; how the land was used was up to the camps themselves.

For example, Qin Fang’s camp could grow grains and vegetables.

The Emperor found great benefit in Du Ke’s report.

As he surveyed the vast imperial palace, he felt a sudden urge to go out incognito.

Grand Eunuch Chi, observing the Emperor, knew he was reading Du Ke’s report and noticed the Emperor appeared to be in good spirits.

Eunuch Chi said, “Your Majesty seems happy. Has something unusual occurred in Yunxiang County?”

He chose to phrase it as an “unusual occurrence” rather than a state matter, which didn’t breach etiquette.

The Emperor was quite tolerant of this eunuch who had served him since childhood.

Moreover, this wasn’t a secret, so when Eunuch Chi asked, the Emperor replied, “Du Ke reported that Yunxiang County has discovered a new crop that can be eaten both as a vegetable and a fruit.

When consumed as a vegetable, it can be seasoned with various spices, and when eaten as a fruit, it has a light flavor and is very juicy.

He also mentioned that this vegetable is easy to grow, with a growth cycle of only two months. Yunxiang County… no, this Qin Fang family is indeed remarkable.”

Du Ke’s report was more sophisticated; he didn’t mention that this was discovered by Yang Haiyan, instead stating that it was a gift from the Hu tribe to the General’s residence.

He understood that credit for a woman could sometimes be a double-edged sword.

If a woman received too much credit, it could easily attract unwanted attention.

Moreover, using Hu Gua as a gift was a simple gesture and wouldn’t raise any suspicion with the Emperor.

Since Du Ke did not mention Yang Haiyan, the Emperor naturally wouldn’t attribute it to her.

In the Emperor’s eyes, the Qin family’s achievements were solely attributed to Qin Fang.

Thus, the Emperor felt that Qin Fang was indeed fortunate.

Eunuch Chi smiled and said, “In my view, Your Majesty is the true Son of Heaven. It is because you have valued Qin Fang that he could discover these things. This is Heaven’s recognition of you through Qin Fang.”

The Emperor burst out laughing, “You old rascal, your words are always so sweet.”

Eunuch Chi replied, “Not at all, what I said is the truth.”

In the Du Residence

Madam Du also received a letter from Du Ke.

After reading its contents, she was first surprised that her husband had taken in an adopted daughter on her behalf.

However, upon learning the background of this adoption, she felt disgusted.

Madam Du truly found the Wei family’s behavior repulsive.

Regarding the Wei and Yang families, no matter how the Wei family portrayed themselves as innocent, who didn’t know the truth?

Unfortunately, the Wei family had obtained intelligence from the Yang family to assist the Emperor, so no one dared to speak against them openly.

Now, the Wei family wanted to adopt Yang Haiyan as a goddaughter.

Regardless of the circumstances, Yang Haiyan had come from the Yang family.

If the Wei family adopted her, two outcomes could arise:

First, when Qin Fang came to the capital in the future, people would say that Yang Haiyan was an ingrate.

Even if they didn’t dare to say it openly, who would respect Yang Haiyan behind her back?

Second, people would say Yang Haiyan was seeking personal gain at the expense of her family.

The information the Wei family had gained from their betrayal of the Yang family might include contributions from Yang Haiyan.

Besides that, there was no benefit to the Du family either.

After all, Qin Fang was her husband’s student.

If Yang Haiyan became the adopted daughter of the Wei family, wouldn’t that link the Du family with the Wei family?

Mrs. Du found the Wei family’s behavior quite disgusting.

Holding the letter, Mrs. Du went to find Mr. Du.

Upon learning about it, Mr. Du didn’t say much, allowing Mrs. Du to make her own decision.

So, Mrs. Du went out.

She planned to return to her maternal home to tell her mother about this matter, especially since there was also the issue of the red jade hairpin.

She wanted to set the stage well with her mother.

Although it was a minor issue and might not be exposed, Mrs. Du preferred to be cautious.

Furthermore, this matter had also been brought up by Du Ke.

Yunxiang County

Recently, Qin Fang had been taking Du Ke around different places in Yunxiang County.

They not only visited the new citizens but also the local residents.

Du Ke felt that not only should they bring the various ethnic products to the entire Qi Kingdom, but they could also promote Yunxiang County’s “special products” to the whole country.

Of course, this didn’t just refer to Yunxiang County; if they went elsewhere and found good things or good practices, Du Ke also planned to record them.

In the past few days, Du Ke was quite happy, but Qin Fang was not as cheerful. Because… he was getting darker.

Qin Fang was quite worried; every night, he diligently and secretly used his wife’s skincare products on his face, but he still couldn’t withstand the blazing summer sun and was getting darker and darker.

That day, during dinner, Qin Fang asked, “Yanyan, is there anything I can apply to my face to make it a bit whiter?” He was really afraid that when his daughter was born, she would look just like him—a black coal.

Yang Haiyan was taken aback.

This man usually didn’t care about his appearance, but now he was asking if there was any whitening product.

Wait… Yang Haiyan suddenly remembered something.

She had been using her water essence and lotion up much faster recently.

At first, she had found it puzzling, but didn’t think much of it.

In her courtyard, there were only Lian Mama, Aunt Yu, and Qin Fang.

Granny Lian and Aunt Yu wouldn’t touch her things, and as a man, Qin Fang wouldn’t either.

So she thought maybe she was mistaken, or perhaps her memory wasn’t as good since getting pregnant.

But hearing Qin Fang ask about whitening products now made her suspicious again.

Yang Haiyan said, “I put some stuff on my vanity. If I apply it a little each day, it will make my face whiter. If you want to be really white, you have to apply a bit more. Husband, do you want to apply it?”

Qin Fang hurriedly replied, “No need! I’m a man; what do I need that for?”

What he was really thinking was to apply a bit more at night.

Yang Haiyan looked at his disgusted expression, wondering if she was overthinking it.

Qin Fang changed the subject: “The imperial grain factory has been completed. Lord Liu from Hedo Prefecture sent a letter; the city has already announced it. Soon, potatoes and sweet potatoes from Hedo Prefecture will be delivered here for sale. Lord Liu will also prepare a list of agents from each county. I’ll send Kunshi to investigate locally; what do you think?”

Hearing him talk about this, Yang Haiyan put aside her previous thoughts and replied, “Sure, recently, my mother and father have been busy with the factory. They’ve worked hard.”

Mrs. Qin couldn’t manage alone, so Mr. Qin had come to help, and Mr. Qin was overseeing the fields with Qin San Shu taking over.

Seeing the topic change, Qin Fang breathed a sigh of relief. “My teacher said that once the agent matters in the county are sorted, he’ll be leaving Yunxiang County for the next stop.”

At the mention of this, Yang Haiyan felt a bit reluctant. “I initially wanted to go with the teacher, but now it seems there’s no hope.”

She had wanted to disguise herself as a man and see this world properly.

Now… she subconsciously touched her belly.

Being pregnant was indeed a miraculous thing, granting women endless strength.

For instance, if she didn’t like a certain dish, but it was nutritious and beneficial for pregnant women, she would strive to eat it wholeheartedly.

That was the power of motherhood.

Noticing her touching her belly, Qin Fang couldn’t help but worry and asked, “What’s wrong? Is your stomach uncomfortable? I’ll go call Doctor Li.” He put down his chopsticks and was about to run outside.

Yang Haiyan hurriedly stopped him, saying, “I’m fine. I was just thinking, in the future, there will be someone connected to my bloodline; I won’t be… alone anymore.”

Qin Fang felt a pang of pain upon hearing this.

He thought Yang Haiyan was recalling the time she was sold by her parents, so he held her hand and said, “You’ve never been alone. Since we married two years ago, you’ve had me by your side.”

Yang Haiyan held his hand back, “Mm.”

But it was different.

In her past life, she didn’t know who she was or who her parents were; she only had her great-grandmother as a relative.

However, her great-grandmother passed away when she was fifteen.

She, as a young girl, managed to live to twenty-eight, graduated from university, and achieved success, yet didn’t know why she woke up one day only to find herself in a book.

Could it be because of that message she left behind?

This child, connected to her by blood, held a different significance for her.

It seemed to help her understand her own existence and allowed her to let go of the sting of being an orphan in her past life.

But she didn’t share this with Qin Fang. “Thank you, husband. With you and the baby, I feel my life is already complete.”

Qin Fang said, “Silly girl, we’ll have grandchildren in the future, and many children will surround you, pampering you.”

Thinking about it, having a son would be nice; he could teach his son martial arts and instill in him the importance of being filial to his mother and listening to her.

Like the previous days, after Yang Haiyan digested her food, she rested for a while and then went to sleep.

Qin Fang returned to the study to read military books and planned to take a bath after Yang Haiyan fell asleep.

Perhaps because she thought of her great-grandmother today, Yang Haiyan didn’t go to sleep as early as usual.

She lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, counting sheep.

As a result…