Chapter 66 (First published on Jinjiang Literature City) 066 (1st update) Busy with spring plowing...

Ruan Yu rarely saw Chao Lu sleeping during the day, but now he was lying casually on the couch, clearly exhausted.

She tiptoed over and, before he woke up, teased him for a while—which was unusual for her.

There was a feather duster on the windowsill, so Ruan Yu picked it up and scratched herself.

Chao Lu was stiff all over; he was usually the one bullying her. Ruan Yu wanted to see if he was ticklish at all!

soles of feet, arms, sides of waist...

She tried to get past him, but he didn't move. Ruan Yu pouted. If that's how it is, then don't blame her. Ruan Yu placed the feather directly on Chao Lu's nose. Just as she was about to move, the man suddenly sat up, grabbed the feather, and pulled Ruan Yu into his arms!

Ruan Yu exclaimed in surprise! She met a pair of eyes that were wide awake.

"Is it fun?"

Ruan Yu: "...When did you wake up?"

Chao Lu: "When you came in."

"You're lying to me again! Let me down!"

"You tricked me first, and now you're accusing me of being the guilty party?"

"If you just open your eyes, I won't tease you!"

“Then I wouldn’t have known you had this side to you.” Chao Lu still held the feather duster in his other hand, examining it several times. “This thing… is actually quite useful…”

Ruan Yu's inner alarm bells rang: "Don't even think about playing tricks on me!"

She gritted her teeth in secret, regretting that she shouldn't have played the game; he ended up getting the good stuff! Ruan Yu pretended to snatch it again, but leaned back against Lu Chao and chuckled softly, "Yu Yu never learns her lesson. When will you ever be able to beat me? You might as well just beg and I'll give it to you."

Ruan Yu: "..."

Her eyes lit up: "Okay, my dear husband, give it to me, and I'll kiss you."

Chao Lu opened his eyes wide.

"real?"

Ruan Yu smiled and nodded immediately.

Without saying a word, Chaolu shoved the feather duster into her hand: "Here you go!"

After Ruan Yu grabbed it, she immediately threw it out the window!

Throw it far, far away, the farther the better!

Chao Lu: "Let's kiss."

After saying that, he leaned his cheek closer.

Ruan Yu rolled her eyes inwardly, but still slowly moved over, then circled around to Chao Lu's side and opened her mouth—

I bit him!

The sharp little white teeth grabbed Chao Lu's earlobe and used some force, leaving a tooth mark on Chao Lu's earlobe instantly.

Ruan Yu immediately took a step back triumphantly, "You're not allowed to get angry, you're not allowed to be annoyed!"

Chao Lu paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"Won't."

He looked at Ruan Yu, raised his hand and touched his ear: "The harder you bite, the better, then everyone will know that our relationship is good."

Ruan Yu: "..."

She tensed up and immediately grabbed Chao Lu's ear, looking it over from left to right. Thankfully... the bite mark wasn't deep; it should fade by tomorrow...

Chao Lu: "Let's deepen it a bit more..."

Ruan Yu went to pinch him.

Low laughter came from inside the room.

Xuan Niang and Qing Guo had been waiting outside the door for the meal. They exchanged a glance, smiled knowingly without saying a word, and waited a while longer.

After all the commotion, they finally got to eat dinner. Chaolu was clearly starving and couldn't stop eating.

Ruan Yu then asked about the important matter: "Why did you go to the fields today?"

Chao Lu: "It's not that we don't have enough manpower. I think they're just finding ways to make us work!"

Ruan Yu laughed and said, "Well, that depends on your strength. In the Central Plains, what's that called? A good farmer?"

Chao Lu: "Yes, that's what the farmers said today too!"

Ruan Yu smiled and served him another bowl of soup: "So, are you going again tomorrow?"

"Go! I won't go after spring planting is over, and I won't do anything half-finished!"

Ruan Yu nodded in agreement: "I also took a liking to two shops today. We'll go and discuss the prices later."

"Buy them all?"

"No, we'll buy a shop and do tanned leather business. Then we'll go to Yunqi Town to check out their tea business. Your Highness, after we get back, you can organize some manpower. We can hunt for furs and animal hides, but I don't know the limits. We can also raise some livestock, which will give us a stable source of goods. I plan to recruit some women on the grasslands to process tanned leather into boots and hats. I should be able to recruit them."

"Okay, I understand. I'll arrange it. What about the tea?"

Ruan Yu had already thought this through: "After the establishment of the Border Trade Supervision Bureau, won't there be brokers? You can take the opportunity to arrange a few to go in, and then just let them interfere with our tea trade."

Chao Lu smiled and said, "I thought you were very selfless."

Ruan Yu: "I'm doing this openly and honestly! You've put in so much effort for the border market supervision, what's wrong with putting a few people in? We're not sneaking around, we're following all the procedures and paying taxes in full!"

"That makes sense, I'll listen to you!"

"At that time, Third Brother and Sixth Brother will definitely have their own ideas."

“Third Brother definitely has it, but Sixth Brother probably doesn’t,” Chao Lu smiled.

While chatting, they finished off a whole plate of dumplings. Dumplings are filling and delicious, and Chaolu has been enjoying them lately. Afterwards, he drank a bowl of noodle soup to help with digestion, and Ruan Yu asked someone to remove the bowls and plates.

"Let's take a walk, are you still tired, my husband?"

Chao Lu: "I'm not tired, but I'm not going to turn around anymore. I'm thinking about something. If you have time, could you draw it for me?"

Ruan Yu: "What is that?"

"When I was in the field today, I saw someone using a plow. I thought it was pretty useful, and I can bring it back to the grasslands to popularize it."

Ruan Yu also became interested, "Really? What does it look like?"

"Let's go to the study, I'll tell you."

Ruan Yu's painting from yesterday was not yet finished; it was still being colored, but she still carefully put it away.

"My husband, please speak."

Chao Lu began to recall: "It was an old yellow ox with a plow and three wooden hooks behind it. The ox walked in front and dug behind, saving manpower."

Ruan Yu knew this was the most basic thing, so she quickly drew it.

"Then today I discovered that they put a wooden box on top of it, which seems to have holes dug in it and seeds inside. Does this mean they can sow seeds while plowing the land?"

Ruan Yu thought for a moment and then drew the wooden box on it as well.

"Yes, yes, that's it."

"Are you sure, husband?"

Chao Lu: "That's right..."

Ruan Yu thought for a moment and said, "But if we do that, how can we ensure that the seeds are evenly scattered in the furrows? Won't they just scatter everywhere?"

Chao Lu was stunned: "That's true..."

Ruan Yu pondered for a moment: "Actually, there is a way. If there are three holes at the bottom of this wooden box, insert three hollow tubes into it, like this... fix the tubes to the plow hook below, and the seeds can only fall down from the tubes, so they will only fall into the furrow."

Chao Lu's eyes widened: "That makes sense... Yu Yu, you're so smart!"

Ruan Yu smiled, looked at the drawing paper, and pondered for a while: "This tool is indeed quite good... Why don't we make one and try it out?"

"Okay!" Chaolu grinned happily.

"The family I helped today was an old lady. They didn't have any cattle. I'll go and get one for her tomorrow! Anyway, there are plenty of cattle and horses on the grasslands. We can return them to the imperial court later!"

“This is a small matter, no need to return it. If Pei Du doesn’t even care about this, he would be unworthy of being a local official. Husband, you can just ask him for it.”

Chao Lu was even happier: "I'll listen to you!"

He was clearly in a good mood because of those words, and Ruan Yu was also in a good mood because of this incident. She discovered some rare qualities in Chao Lu: simplicity, kindness, and diligence.

These are qualities that not everyone possesses; at least, she had never seen them in many young men in Chang'an.

Ruan Yu pondered the plow he mentioned for a moment, then drew it in more detail before handing it to Chao Lu so that he could use it the next day.

-

Hurile and Lady Qiu had already returned to the Chaha tribe.

Upon arrival, Hurile immediately went to the Golden Tent.

He drafted an edict abolishing Saren's authority.

Many ministers rushed over upon hearing the news, their beards bristling with surprise.

"Great Khan, you mustn't! Deposing Great Khatun is no small matter!"

"You wicked woman! Over the years, she has done countless shameful things behind my back, harming my women and children. How can she have the face to sit in the position of Great Khatun?!"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Although Da Khatun may have made a thousand mistakes, it doesn't matter how you punish her in private. However, if you remove Da Khatun from her position, our Chaha tribe will become unstable. Now, other tribes are eyeing us covetously, which is not good for us!"

Hurile laughed again: "What? Do you think I, the Khan, would expect a woman to go to the battlefield when traitors attack?! Ridiculous!"

"That's not the reason, Great Khan. There's an old saying in the Central Plains: 'Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things.' If you depose Great Khatun, other tribes will speculate that our Chaha tribe has recently experienced considerable turmoil, which will cause a lot of trouble. That's the main issue. Moreover, His Highness Damu is one of the capable Taijis. Your actions have unintentionally slapped the Great Prince in the face. With the tribe's foundation in turmoil, they will speculate whether the Great Prince made a mistake, and whether the Taijis are ambitious..."

Hurile paused for a moment, but he did take those words to heart.

"Great Khan, you have been wise all your life, and have always maintained an excellent balance of power among all parties! You must not make a wrong move at this critical juncture!"

Hurile narrowed his eyes: "I have spent my whole life balancing and measuring for this tribe, and I am truly exhausted... This wicked woman, Saren, I must not let her go!"

"Great Khan, even if we take a step back and say that you have deposed the Great Khatun, you must find a new candidate. Who do you want to support? No matter who you support, the position of Great Khatun must be beneficial to the tribe. You know this better than I do."

The ministers chimed in with their own opinions, and Hurile fell completely silent.

When Lady Qiu returned to her tent, she looked somewhat tired.

Qinggu brought hot water and then turned around to brew the medicine: "Madam, you've been working too hard lately, so I'll brew you some tonic."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Madam... do you think Grand Hadun will really be deposed?"

"No, it won't happen," Madam Qiu said calmly.

Qinggu choked for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but after a while, she sighed.

Perhaps the lady had the deepest understanding of the Great Khan.

...

The next day was another beautiful day.

As spring planting draws to a close, it is the most grueling and exhausting time for farming families.

Chao Lu got up early in the morning, but surprisingly, Ruan Yu said, "I don't have anything important to do today, so I'll go with you?"

Chao Lu suddenly turned around: "No! What are you going over there for!"

“I’m on the carriage, not on the ground. I want to go and see the farm cart we talked about yesterday.”

"That won't work either, it's not safe outside."

Ruan Yu stared at him without saying a word, then said to Lu Xinwei guiltily, "There are many refugees, it's chaotic!"

"With you here, I'm not afraid."

Chao Lu: "..."

Ruan Yu laughed: "What other excuse do you have?"

Chao Lu held it in for a while but couldn't get it out, while Ruan Yu had already dressed.

"Then it's settled."

After that, he went to instruct Qingguo and Xuanniang to prepare, bypassing Chaolu and ignoring the soreness in his body.

-----------------------

Author's Note: I was lazy yesterday and owe you all an update. I'll make it up to you during the National Day holiday, I mean it! [doge emoji]

Those who understand agriculture should be able to tell what I'm going to write about here: the seed drill, a wise agricultural tool from our ancestors.

It's still a work in progress.

The seed drill certainly didn't just appear at this time, but this story is fictional, so it can be considered as borrowing the wisdom of our ancestors. Just enjoy it for fun.