Chapter 337 - An Eyesore (1/2)

In the spring, the mountain was lush with vegetation and had no lack of food. These wild hares and pheasants were very plump. At noon, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were also able to eat a sumptuous meal of game thanks to them.

In the afternoon, there wasn’t much that Yu Xiaocao needed to help with, so she walked around the Imperial Plantation like she was on a tour. Zhu Junyang was like a tour guide as he introduced her to the origin of the Imperial Plantation.

In the early days of the Great Ming Dynasty, the officials of the former dynasty either died or fled, and the farmsteads owned by those officials were returned to the imperial court. Most of the farmsteads were rewarded to meritorious officials. The former chief court eunuch, Chief Steward Cao, owned the largest plantation at that time. It had a total of over 18,000 qing [1]. It was difficult for the emperor emeritus to reward such a large plantation to others, so it was taken under the imperial treasury as the Imperial Plantation and managed by a trusted eunuch. In the Imperial Plantation, there were also a supervisor of the tenant farmers, low-ranking officials, and so on. Therefore, the eunuch was merely in charge of overseeing and hastening their work. The work in the fields still relied on the experienced supervisor and tenant farmers.

Along the way, corn and potatoes were planted in a small number of fields, and the rest were planted with spring wheat and rice. The Imperial Plantation had fertile soil, so the crops grew very well.

In the evening, most of the corn and potatoes had been irrigated with the ‘pesticide’. Thus, Yu Xiaocao and her father went back to the general’s estate on their horse carriage. Zhu Junyang didn’t want to go back to face that disgusting woman, so he stayed at the general’s estate for dinner and dawdled for a long time before returning home.

When he returned to the estate, Princess Consort Jing had already finished washing up and was preparing to go to bed. Disregarding the hints of Meixiang and the others, Jiang Zixian chatted with her paternal aunt with a flower-like smile. But, with an anxious heart, her eyes frequently looked towards the door.

Princess Consort Jing knew that her youngest son had gone to the Imperial Plantation for work, but it was weird for him to not return when it was already so late in the evening. She looked at her absent-minded niece and sighed in her heart, ‘Perhaps I was wrong and should not have agreed to let my niece stay.’

In the past, when her son came back from Tanggu Town, he would accompany her for at least half a day. Even if her son was not good with words and barely spoke for the entire day, she could clearly feel her son’s closeness to her.

But, when her son came back yesterday and saw Jiang Zixian, he looked as if he had just swallowed a fly. He didn’t say a single word for the entire dinner and immediately left after eating. She heard that he went to the study in the outer courtyard and played chess with his lord father for most of the night. Today, he had gone out before dawn. He rushed around in a hurry as if there was a vicious dog chasing him.

She looked at the chime clock in the room, which was a rare item that her son brought back from the west. It was very convenient to check the time with this. Ay, it was almost ten o’clock. It was long past the time she usually went to rest, but her youngest son still hadn’t returned. Moreover, this tactless niece of hers was still dawdling in her room…

“Zhuxiang, is Lady Mother asleep?” Just as Princess Consort Jing was feeling regretful, her youngest son’s low voice sounded from outside the door.

Jiang Zixian, who sat on the edge of her bed, suddenly jumped up. When she saw Princess Consort Jing’s surprised and discontented gaze, she embarrassedly sat down again. She said with slight embarrassment, “Older Aunt, Brother Yang’s work is too tiring, and only came back at this time…”

“The emperor believes in him, and thus entrusted him with the important task of growing corn and potatoes. Due to the natural disasters last year, many good crops were wasted. If it fails again this year, the emperor will probably put the blame on him…” There was a slight sense of worry within Princess Consort Jing’s tone.

Jiang Zixian’s eyes shifted and said, “I think Older Brother Yang can hand over the task. Aren’t there the officials of the Ministry of Revenue? Brother Yang is born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never done any farm work, so why does he need to take this thankless job?”

In her opinion, Zhu Junyang’s management of the Imperial Plantation’s experimental fields was just a job in which he had to deal with bumpkins. No matter how capable he was, there wouldn’t be a chance to show it. Moreover, he would become one of those lowly farmers that the nobles speak of. It was a degradation to his own status and a disgrace to the education class!

Zhu Junyang was slightly surprised when he heard that his lady mother hadn’t gone to bed yet. However, when he entered his mother’s bedroom and saw Jiang Zixian lingering inside, Zhu Junyang fully understood the reason. In his heart, he felt even more disgusted with this woman, who would do anything to achieve her goals.

“Lady Mother, why are you sleeping so late today? Didn’t the imperial physician warn you? With your health, you can’t stay up too late and can’t be too tired.” As if Jiang Zixian, who frequently winked at him, didn’t exist, he said in a slightly complaining yet caring tone.

“I’m not tired…” Before Princess Consort Jing had finished speaking, she yawned, and tears flowed out of the corners of her eyes. She smiled sheepishly.

“Older Brother Yang, it’s all my fault. I was chatting too amiably with Aunt that didn’t I realized that it was already so late…” Jiang Zixian took this opportunity to move closer and looked at Zhu Junyang with a pair of big eyes that were like a pool of clear spring water.

Zhu Junyang’s face turned cold. He looked at Meixiang and Lanxiang, who were serving in the room, and reprimanded, “Are you two dead? Certain people are tactlessly lingering here, yet you guys don’t know to drive them out? If anything goes wrong with Lady Mother’s health, will you be able to take responsibility?”

“Your Highness, please don’t be angry. These lowly servants know that we’re wrong!!” Meixiang and Lanxiang felt very aggrieved within their hearts. They had reminded Miss Jiang more than five times, but Miss Jiang kept diverging the conversation. She was a guest, so they couldn’t exceed their authority and kick her out, right?