Chapter 419 - Her Secre (1/2)
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Minister Liu suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at Yu Xiaocao, who had her head lowered in an attempt to receive less attention. He laughed and said, “Fantastic!! The secret to having high-yielding crops must be here! Last spring, Miss Yu had gone to the Imperial Plantations once to look at the experimental fields. At that time, she had also given us a pesticide and said that it could prevent pestilence and bugs from harming the crops. That autumn, we had an immense harvest of corn and the ears of corn were larger than the previous year by a great magnitude. The kernels of corn were also large and plump. The fields had surpassed one thousand and five hundred catties per mu. Miss Yu, do you still have any of that pesticide left? We’ve already planted the corn now but it shouldn’t be too late now, right?”
Yu Xiaocao raised her head to look at this old man. Minister Liu’s head of hair had gone completely white and his skin seemed somewhat rough and tanned from going to the Imperial Plantations often and getting sun exposure. A few wisps of admiration rose in her heart. She lightly nodded her head and replied, “This subject did bring some of that pesticide along this time. It’ll be the same as last year. One bucket of water mixed with one drop of the pesticide should do the trick. The mixture should be sprayed on the corn seedlings and should have the same effect.”
Director Bai of the Imperial Court Clan noticed that Royal Prince Yang was protecting the Yu father and daughter pair. His eyes whirled quickly and he stepped forward to say, “Your Imperial Majesty, you often say that ‘the court must work for the people and food is the God of the people’. The country will only be stable and prosperous if the common people do not have to worry about starving and dying from the cold. This subject has already heard that Miss Yu has made contributions to medical science but I didn’t know that by combining her medicinal skills and farming knowledge that it could make such a great benefit! Emperor, if Miss Yu can publicize the recipe for her pesticide, then that would be a great contribution to the whole country!”
Yu Xiaocao’s eyes flickered when she heard the official’s proposal and she looked down. Uneasiness bubbled up inside of her. She definitely had the recipe for the pesticide! However, the problem was that the most important ingredient wasn’t something that could be found normally in this world. If she told them that the pesticide required mystic-stone water that was full of spiritual energy as its main ingredient, then it was likely that the emperor and all the officials would think she was a raving lunatic. On the other hand, would they think that she was trying to fool them? She was screwed, what should she do now?
Zhu Junyang could minutely tell from the little lass’s stiff demeanor that she was feeling very nervous and anxious. The little lass clearly had a big secret. This was something he had known for some time. Was this pesticide one of those secrets that she was hiding?
“Your Imperial Majesty, this official believes that forcefully taking someone’s personal recipe is harming their livelihood! Yu Xiaocao spent many months slaving over this to create such an efficacious pesticide. If your majesty does as Official Bai says, using your imperial authority to take her recipe, wouldn’t that be an abuse of your power to force the common people ah?” Zhu Junfan found Zhu Junyang’s every word and act to be very hilarious. His younger cousin had finally grown up and he now knew how to protect the person he admired the most.
Official Bai was the person in charge of the Imperial Court Clan, so he was very aware of who had the most prospects within the imperial clan. It was clearly that the juniors from Imperial Prince Jing’s estate were the future stars. Prince Jing had three sons. His eldest son was steady and calm and would inherit the estate in the future. His second son was talented at martial arts and had gone to the northwest two years ago. His talents had shone on the battlefield and caught General Zhao’s eyes. It was clear that his future would definitely be boundless.
As for Prince Jing’s youngest son, the rumors said he was cold and unfeeling with an explosive temper. However, in the past two years, the emperor had been regarding him with increasing importance. Furthermore, he consistently finished all of the tasks assigned to him by the emperor. Thus, he had been given the title of Royal Prince Yang before the age of twenty and had also been awarded with feudal lands. In the future, it was likely with his continued hard work, the youth may easily become a titled imperial prince. A family that had two imperial princes in it was definitely something to look out for within the extended imperial clan!
Official Bai was a shrewd man. After the last few court sessions, how could he not tell that Royal Prince Yang regarded the Yu Family in a different light? He had originally tried to get on the prince’s good side by reminding the Yu Family to give up their recipe for the good of the country. That way, the emperor would be pleased and reward them with sinecure titles in the court. Yu Xiaocao would naturally become the daughter of an official’s family then. Thus, in the future, if Royal Prince Yang wanted to, he could easily take her into his back courtyard without anyone quibbling about her status.
However, his attempt at flattery had utterly failed as the first to object to his proposal was Royal Prince Yang. Since it was like this, he couldn’t continue to persist and instead hurriedly said, “Royal Prince Yang is right! The emperor loves his people as if they were his own children. It was this official who was not thinking things through!”
Zhu Junfan had been an emperor for almost a decade so he naturally spotted the minute change in the little lass’s demeanor. He couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild. Wasn’t it just the recipe to a pesticide ah? Why was the lass so nervous all of a sudden? Was it...perhaps his previous suspicions were right and the little lass had gotten a separate dimension to use when she transmigrated over? Thus, the so-called pesticide was just a way to disguise her usage of the spiritual water from the separate dimension?
The more he thought down those lines, the more he decided this made sense. By giving up the recipe for the pesticide, it would be of great benefit to the country and the people. Even without Official Bai’s reminder, a dummy would also know that giving it up would be advantageous in all ways. However, this Yu Family’s lass, who was clearly a sharp one, didn’t open her lips at all. When Official Bai started hinting, she also pretended to hear nothing and only lowered her head more.
Furthermore, his younger cousin had immediately jumped out as soon as the lass started to become uncomfortable to help her get out of this situation. In fact, he used the excuse of abusing one’s imperial power to bully the commoners to stop him. For the sake of giving the common people enough to eat, would he, the emperor, care about gaining the reputation of bullying one person ah? Hmph! Did that fellow, Zhu Junyang, also know something that made him want to protect the little girl so much?
After thinking a bit more, Zhu Junfan started to become angry. This old transmigrator friend was truly too blatant about things. How could she so easily tell someone else the secret of her separate dimension as well as a spring full of mystic-water? These were extremely valuable possessions! Furthermore, if she had to tell someone, why didn’t she tell him, her fellow transmigrator? Was she afraid that he would kill her to gain her treasures? Was he, the emperor, truly such an evil person? However, if this little lass truly had these treasures on hand, then he needed to pay more attention to her. That way, he could prevent someone else from suspecting her...