Chapter 352 - Proving Him Wrong (2/2)

‘Well, it seems like nearly the entire imperial family has the gene of a foodie. The emperor emeritus is a long-time foodie, and Royal Prince Yang doesn’t lose out to him. I wonder if the emperor would also disregard his noble and elegant demeanor in front of his favorite food?’ Yu Xiaocao thought in her heart.

Zhu Junyang lingered at the Yu Residence and didn’t leave until he had lunch. Yesterday, Little White had caught a wild hare, which became the Yu Family’s lunch at noon. There were a lot of people eating together, so Yu Hai slaughtered one of the rabbits that they raised at home.

When the wild hare was slaughtered, the Yu Family’s little roe deer was still watched happily and ran around gleefully. But, when it saw Yu Hai choose one of its usual companions and skillfully slit its neck and skinned it, it was so scared that it hid in Yu Xiaocao’s room, trembling. It didn’t even take a single bite of its favorite grass mixed with mystic-stone water, for fear that his master would slaughter it for food like that rabbit.

She didn’t know if the little roe deer had a genetic mutation due to its frequent consumption of mystic-stone water, but it had never grown bigger since they brought it back three years ago. It maintained the size of a little roe deer that was less than a month old with a small and thin appearance. It was currently shivering like a fallen leaf blew by the cold wind. It looked cute yet pitiful.

When Yu Xiaocao noticed that the little roe deer hadn’t eaten for two meals and was curled up into a ball with a dispirited appearance, she thought that it was sick. After she got a reminder from the little divine stone, she realized that the little guy had been scared silly. She quickly hugged it and comforted, “Tiny, don’t be scared! No one will eat you. You’re so small and barely have any meat on your body, so you wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between one’s teeth. I promise you that no one in the family will dare to do anything to you without my permission!! However, you must stay alert outside the house. Be careful not to let others catch you and make you into soup!!”

The little roe deer seemed to understand its little master’s position in the family. Since she said that no one was allowed to touch it, it must be safe at home. As for the outside, there was no way that it would let strangers get close to it. It could now run as fast as the wind. Even Little Black and Little White couldn’t catch up to it, so who could catch it? But, for a long time after this, the little roe deer would make a detour when it saw Yu Hai. It was afraid that he would dislike it, and thus decide to slaughter it.

In a blink of an eye, it was already time for autumn harvest. Zhu Junyang followed Yu Hai and his daughter to the Yu Family’s farmstead. The vegetation on the hill behind the plantation had gradually begun to turn yellow. Occasionally, one or two maple leaves would display their dazzling appearance among the gold and green colors. The pods in the fields were golden and appeared bloated as if their bellies were about to burst. The tenant farmers working in the fields all had bright smiles on their faces.

With a sincere smile on his face, the supervisor, Wang Maocai, accompanied the owners and explained, “We have also planted soybeans in the past, but the pods were only about the length of a thumb. This year, the pods are even longer than one’s middle finger. Moreover, the beans are a size bigger than the seeds. With a modest estimate, I reckon that the output of the soybean fields will double the output of the previous years!”

In actuality, Yu Xiaocao didn’t deliberately help the tenant farmers cultivate the soybean fields. It didn’t rain a lot in the summer, so the hardworking farmers were afraid that the yield of soybeans would be affected. They were also afraid that the owners would have doubts regarding their abilities, and then not rent the land for them to farm next year. Thus, they all worked hard to tend the crops. They meticulously irrigated the fields, weeded the fields, and eliminated pests. There was spiritual energy in the well water, so the fields watered by the well water naturally had a higher output of soybeans.

After four to five days of hard work in the fields, all of the families sent all their soybeans to the granary. After being weighted, the household with the greatest yield had surpassed four hundred catties! The low yield of soybeans was the main reason why farmers were reluctant to cultivate the crop. In previous years, their best output in the fields was no more than 160 to 170 catties. But now, the output had more than doubled ah! The family with the least output had also gotten around three hundred catties! It was about the same as the yield of wheat!!

The tenant farmers, who were originally pessimistic about the owner’s daughter's request to grow soybeans, were sincerely convinced by her now. After they got new masters, except for the disaster during the first year, they had gotten a great harvest for the spring and autumn seasons. The tenant farmers believed that the master had good fortune, and thus also boosted the luck of the farmstead. If they continued to work for the master in the future, they would definitely be able to eat to their heart’s content, wear warm clothes, and live a fairly well-off life…

The farmlands that Zhu Junyang bought weren’t very far from the Yu Family’s plantation. After the autumn harvest, he planned on moving the fields next to the Yu Family’s fields. In this way, Yu Xiaocao could help him take care of the farmlands, which was much more convenient! Yes, Royal Prince Yang barely knew anything about farming. The steward that he sent to manage the land would consult the father and daughter of the Yu Family for everything, and thus he became a master who only asked others to work and didn’t do anything himself.

Right after the harvest of the corn, Royal Prince Yang had gone back to the capital to report the good news. Thus, the steward and Yu Xiaocao worked together to make decisions regarding the plowing, sowing, and management of the more than eight hundred mu of land. With Yu Xiaocao there, he was absolutely at ease that the output of his fields definitely wouldn’t be low! That’s right, Zhu Junyang was just that confident!

As expected, the average yield of the eight hundred or so mu of farmland was over three hundred catties per mu. People probably wouldn’t believe it even if they heard it! He had the steward to make detailed records, organize them into a memorial, and send it to the capital at the fastest speed.

‘Didn’t that old fogie with the surname Yang say that the rich harvest of corn had nothing to do with the Yu Family and Yu Xiaocao? I’m going to prove you wrong with the data right away! Have you ever seen soybeans with a yield of over three hundred catties per mu? The Imperial Plantation in the capital has also planted dozens of mu of soybeans. If there is a higher output than this prince’s eight hundred mu of fields, this prince will give up my title of royal prince!!’

[1] Xiaocao used an internet slang for dog.