Zhao Qianci smiled when he mentioned Zhao Qingyan, as if he was recalling something interesting.

Lord Duan was very excited.

The grain yield in Shenlong Kingdom was too low; a yield of two to three hundred catties per mu was now considered a high yield.

Regardless of what the sweet potato looks like or how it tastes, the fact that it can yield thousands of kilograms per mu makes it the best grain.

I never expected to learn about such a good thing from this old guy today. How could I miss it? My political achievements are secured.

Lord Duan, having already made his plans, had a gleam in his eyes, looking incredibly eager.

"Humble excuse, when will your sweet potatoes be ready for harvest, and how many kilograms will they weigh? Could you sell them all to Lingnan Prefecture?"

Zhao Qian declined:

"My lord, when was the second crop of sweet potatoes planted, and how many were planted?" The woman in the household replied that she did not know, as the women in the household were in charge of it.

He humbly assured that after the harvest, he would leave enough seeds for Zhao Family Village to cultivate, and the rest would all be given to the adults, would that be alright?

What could Lord Duan say?

“That’s good, of course it’s good. Even if you leave me only three or five hundred catties, I can still use it to try my luck in the future.”

Having figured it out in his heart, Zhao Qianci was unsure about the change in Lord Duan's attitude.

Lord Duan was overjoyed. After ordering men to escort Zhao Qianci back to the abandoned garden, he happily went to deal with the Zhao family's snake den.

Perhaps because I was in a good mood, I wasn't even afraid of snake nests anymore.

On the tenth day of the tenth month, the scheduled provincial examination was not held as planned. The reason was simple: the chief examiner was nowhere to be seen, there were no exam questions, and there was no point in holding an exam.

Furthermore, there are road blockages, landslides, and collapsed houses everywhere; there are too many things to deal with.

A major event has occurred in the prefectural city.

The prefect was doing something inexplicable; he actually burned down a private residence for two days and two nights straight, with flames soaring into the sky and visible throughout the entire prefectural city.

Countless people helped to splash water on the wall, and countless others helped to transport firewood.

The smell of burning emanated continuously from the courtyard.

The neighbors who had previously helped gather medicine and firewood finally learned what had happened at the Zhao family's house.

Finally, the Zhao family's wall was also burned down.

When the entire Zhao family courtyard was revealed to everyone, no one could help but be shocked.

The ashes and remains of snake corpses can be seen everywhere.

The snake's den under the main house was covered with firewood and burned for three days.

Three days later, specialized snake catchers arrived, all wearing the thickest protective gear, such as leather boots and gloves, and those with better conditions even wore leather pants.

They were all fully armed as they dug through the ruins.

The sight of the snake's lair in its entirety was breathtaking.

The snake eggs were piled up like mountains, and the roasted snake carcasses were tangled up, making one feel nauseous just looking at them.

Continue burning and digging. Lord Duan's principle is to eradicate the problem completely.

These dangerous entities are not allowed to exist within the city.

Because of the continuous fires, some people couldn't control their tongues and said that Lord Duan had violated the laws of nature. He almost got verbally abused to death.

"This is against the natural order! Did you eat excrement? Otherwise, how could you utter such beastly words?"

Those were tens of thousands of worms. Not to mention the unhatched ones, do you know how many of them had already hatched?

If it weren't for Lord Duan's decisive action, you'd probably be snake food by now.

Do you know that the ground beneath that house has been dug several feet deep, and it is said that there must be a huge creature inside?

Since you're so kind-hearted, why don't you go dig now? It would also save the common people of our prefecture.

I'm sure the Prefect will add your name to the monument commemorating your achievements.

This is what people who have read a little bit of books say; those who haven't read much will say something much more unpleasant.

"When your mother and father gave birth to you, why didn't they do their research properly? They gave birth to you with a hole in your head, and it leaks water when you squeeze it."

Don't wander around when you have nothing to do; stay home and calm down.

"Your family still needs to support your son and grandson's education. Don't be so foolish; your descendants won't amount to anything. Even if they become officials, they'll only bring harm to the common people."

It took almost ten days to completely clear out the snake nest.

The whole city breathed a sigh of relief.

This is different from the earth dragon turning over.

Once the earth shakes, it's over and done with; it generally won't repeat itself several times in a short period.

But snakes and insects are completely different; they are venomous. If you were to be bitten while sleeping in the middle of the night, or at some other time when you weren't paying attention, you could die.

I heard that the Zhao family found snakes and insects in their bedroom in the middle of the night; they were really lucky.

Some people say that the Zhao family should be responsible for the snake's nest, since it was their house.

Because of their family's actions, the entire city's residents suffered as a result.

Fortunately, such people who act out of their minds are still in the minority.

The day the Zhao family came out of the back garden of the prefectural government office happened to be the day the men of the Zhao family went to take the imperial examination.

Huang and Zhao Qingyan strolled back to the vicinity of the house, intending to take a look.

"Wow, they really dug quite thoroughly. How deep is it?"

This place is no longer suitable for building. After clearing it out, sprinkling some quicklime, and leveling it properly, you could dig a fishpond and plant some lotus flowers.

Surrounded by a fence, it's quite a beautiful sight.

Zhao Qingyan suggested that this was the only option available.

It's impossible for a huge, unexpected pit to just be left there.

Even though there was plenty of soil to backfill, Lord Duan was still worried, fearing that there might be something bad in the soil.

Sure enough, the excavated soil was transported out of the city by truckload and piled up at the foot of the mountain or in low-lying areas.

“My dear girl’s idea is good. This place can’t just be left empty. It’s not only unsightly, but it’s also dangerous. The house is ours, and the land is ours too.”

Nobody's saying anything now, but if anything goes wrong here in the future, they'll definitely blame it on our family.

"Do you think we should donate this place to the government?" Huang suggested.

Zhao Qingyan smiled.

"Donate it. If you don't, are you planning to build a water park here? That would be too costly and unnecessary."

"Later, our family will donate a few hundred taels of silver to turn this place into a fishpond; that will make it a scenic spot."

The provincial examination consists of two sessions, each lasting two days. You enter today and exit the next day.

As the exam approached, Zhao Qingyan worried that something might happen to her grandfather, so she resolutely cut off a lock of his hair and burned it.

Zhao Qianci really did make a good impression this time. He didn't encounter any bad luck, he didn't bump into anything, and he wasn't assigned to a latrine.

With good luck, exams will naturally go smoothly.

While others were still struggling with their pens, the old man had already finished answering the questions and was now munching on boneless chicken feet that his granddaughter had prepared for him.

While others were preparing to hand in their papers, Zhao Qianci had already taken several naps, as if his purpose in entering the examination room was simply to sleep.

Every time the yamen runners in charge of supervising the exam passed by, Zhao Qianci was either eating or drinking; his mouth seemed to never stop.