In the tent, General Xu was thinking about what He Xiyuan had asked. He was injured, and his wife would certainly be sad. Basically, General Xu didn't mention any minor injuries he had.

People of General Xu's status and position, their children and parents stayed in the capital. This was to prevent them from making other moves outside and to prevent them from committing treason.

After some generals got married, their wives and children stayed in the capital, while they took concubines outside.

General Xu did have his own problems, but he and Madam Xu had a very good relationship. Madam Xu even left her children behind to accompany him to the northwest, so how could General Xu treat his wife badly?

"It's just a minor injury, so don't nag me." General Xu said, "After a while, you'll realize that there are many accidents on the battlefield."

Even a general may encounter danger.

"Go, have some rest. Tomorrow you can go see your brother," said General Xu.

"Let's go tomorrow." He Xiyuan was helpless. It was indeed not appropriate to go at this time.

The next day, before daybreak, He Xiyuan set out. He didn't know where He Xichen lived, so the first thing he thought of was to go to Liu's house.

Early in the morning, when the Liu family opened the door, Mrs. Jiang saw He Xiyuan squatting at the door.

Mrs. Jiang had never met He Xiyuan before, and she thought this young man was very strange, sitting at their door.

"you……"

"I am Sister Lian's fiancé." He Xiyuan didn't feel shy at all. This was the reality.

When Liu's father went to the military camp to deliver food to Liu Yanjing, he mentioned that he had bought servants. Liu Yanjing mentioned it to He Xiyuan, and He Xiyuan took note of it.

Mrs. Jiang had not heard from her master that the county lady had a fiancé, but she thought the young man in front of her looked quite noble, so she went back to report to her master.

When Father Liu heard this, he knew it was He Xiyuan who came.

"Let him in." said Father Liu.

"Yes." Mrs. Jiang responded.

He Xiyuan successfully entered the yard. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Liu Yulian fiddling with silk threads.

During this period of time, Liu Yulian has been getting up early to make these silk threads. She has to consider the time and also wants to finish them quickly.

"Have you had breakfast?" Liu Yulian asked.

"Not... not yet." He Xiyuan didn't feel very hungry at first, but when he heard Liu Yulian's question, he felt hungry.

"It's just right. We haven't had breakfast yet, so let's eat together." Liu Yulian said with a smile.

It was so early, and the Liu family hadn't had breakfast yet. They said breakfast hadn't been served yet. Since the portion wasn't big, they'd make some more.

"Okay." He Xiyuan thought of his brother, "Has my brother been here? Did he say anything?"

He Xiyuan carefully observed Liu Yulian's expression, afraid that his brother would say something he shouldn't. Ever since his brother's legs were crippled, his parents had inevitably focused on training him as the second son. He Xiyuan sometimes felt sorry for his brother, as he had never thought about inheriting the throne.

He Xiyuan was somewhat afraid of his brother, a formidable figure. He hadn't discussed his coming to the Northwest with him much, fearing his brother, overly filial, would refuse him permission. He spoke to his mother, fearing these people might try to dissuade him.

He didn't want to listen to the persuasion and ran away early.

"He is him, and I am me." He Xiyuan said quickly, "My marriage is not something he can decide."

"Yes, I can't make the decision." Just then, someone came pushing He Xichen in a wheelchair.

He Xichen originally thought that his younger brother would come over soon after he knew about his arrival. So, he asked someone to keep an eye on the Liu family, and within two days, his younger brother showed up and squatted at the door for a long time.

"Brother." He Xiyuan said.

"You still remember that I am your elder brother. You came here, but instead of going to my place first, you thought that I would help you break off the engagement, right?" He Xichen asked.

"You can't blame me for this, that's not..." He Xiyuan looked at Liu Yulian again, "Sister Lian, grandma doesn't like your family anymore, but I do, so there's no way I can cancel the engagement."

He Xiyuan knew that this matter could not be hidden from the Liu family. Sooner or later, the Liu family would know that the old lady of Chengguo Mansion was not satisfied with Liu Yulian. The old lady wanted to cancel the engagement, but He Xiyuan could not think of canceling the engagement.

"By the way, did you come here to find a miracle healer to heal your leg?" He Xiyuan looked at his elder brother again, "You should find one. Your leg will definitely be healed."

By then, the old lady would take care of He Xichen instead of following him, the second son. He Xiyuan thought to himself that his brother's leg must be healed.

"You are still the same as when you were a child." He Xichen said with a smile.

This younger brother used to like to say: I have my brother here.

Of course, this doesn't mean He Xiyuan didn't work hard. On the contrary, He Xiyuan studied very hard. Because He Xiyuan knew that the Chengguo Mansion was not his, even if he was the second son, he would not get much in the end, so He Xiyuan worked very hard.

He Xichen once thought that He Xiyuan would sooner or later pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar for his family, but he did not expect that He Xiyuan would give up literature and pursue a military career.

"Don't worry, as your brother, I can't interfere with your marriage." He Xichen said.

Because He Xiyuan and his brother were coming, Liu Yulian simply took out the flour she had prepared before to make cakes. She had prepared the flour in advance, which made it easier to steam the cakes. Liu Yulian steamed some crystal clear osmanthus cakes, and some cakes were filled with dried strawberries and raisins.

The Liu family had just started growing grapes, and grapes didn't grow and mature that quickly, so they bought raisins from a shop outside.

After breakfast, Liu Yulian went to get the silk threads again.

He Xiyuan wanted to help Liu Yulian, and Liu Yulian taught He Xiyuan what to do.

"Tug hard, or try using a pair of scissors to see if you can cut it," Liu Yulian said. "You have to look at the pot over there. The threads in the other pots aren't ready yet. Some threads might only have a small part that's good."

"Can't the scissors cut it?" He Xiyuan was surprised. These silk threads looked very ordinary.

"Yes." Liu Yulian nodded. "We used so much potion to soak it, but only a small amount of silk thread was produced. Be careful with it and don't let it fly away."

He Xiyuan's elder brother He Xichen sat by and watched the two men fiddling with the silk threads. He saw his younger brother pull the threads apart with force, saw his younger brother frown, and there was a lot of smile on his younger brother's face.

What this younger brother wanted was never the Chengguo Mansion.

Wait a little longer, those who went to the capital to buy medicine should have brought it back.

He Xichen looked down at his legs. If they could heal, that would be the best. If not, that was fine. After all these years, he had already prepared himself mentally.

He Xiyuan looked at the pots on the ground, and he sat obediently next to the pot that Liu Yulian mentioned.

"It really can't be cut." He Xiyuan opened his eyes wide, "Isn't this just an ordinary silk thread?"

"Yes, it's just ordinary cotton thread." Liu Yulian nodded. "My mother and I made cotton thread from cotton. You can also make it with other silk threads, such as hemp thread or silk. It's just that it needs to be soaked in these potions, and the success rate is not very good. Can you guess how much silver these threads cost?"

"More than one hundred taels?" He Xiyuan didn't understand. He just knew that silk threads outside were not that expensive.

"That basin of silk in front of you, not counting the previous ones, did cost over a hundred taels," Liu Yulian said. "But this amount of silk isn't enough to make armor. To get enough, we have to make silk repeatedly. So far, we've spent over a thousand taels."

“…” He Xiyuan stared at the silk threads in the wooden basin. He really didn’t expect that these silk threads were so expensive.

In the capital, the eldest Huo was finally betrothed to Lord Ouyang, the Imperial College's chief academic officer. She listened to her mother's analysis. If she married Lord Ouyang, she would be the mistress of the household, and her mother-in-law wouldn't dare interfere with her, as she was married into the Earl's mansion after all.

If the illegitimate son of another baron's mansion had a daughter born to a concubine, then Da Huo would have to face two mothers-in-law. Other people in the baron's mansion might not be kind to Da Huo, and Da Huo's family background might not give her an advantage in the baron's mansion.

That bastard was only a juren, not an official. If Da Huo had married into the family, others would have accused her of being obsessed with power and wanting to marry into a marquisate or baronial mansion. The baronial wives wouldn't have been very kind to Da Huo, and her life there would have been difficult. It would have been different if Da Huo had married Lord Ouyang, the Imperial College's chief academic officer. If others had criticized her, they would have said she knew how to navigate life, and no one would have said anything more. How could those noble ladies constantly criticize the wife of a chief academic officer?

"The wedding is set for a month from now," Mrs. Huo said. "Neither of you is a first-time bride, so there's really no need to wait. You're both not young anymore, and they have children to take care of. You should marry sooner and have a child of your own."

"It's about having a child." Mrs. Huo thought that she must make her child closer to herself. In her previous life, her child was closer to Liu Yulian, Liu's father and Liu's mother. The child was good to Liu Yanjing, but not to her, his biological mother.

Her biological son even said: I was raised by my aunt.

This made Mrs. Huo very angry. Yes, Liu Yulian was an excellent embroidery worker and had made many embroidery pieces to sell, which also supported Liu Qingyun's education. But Liu Yulian was still single and staying at home also cost money. Everyone had work, but Liu Yulian earned more.

Mrs. Huo thought that in her past life, she had to cook a lot and sometimes even chop firewood, but Liu Yulian didn't have to do such rough work. They all said that Liu Yulian could only do embroidery, and her hands shouldn't be too rough when doing it. If Liu Yulian started embroidery late, they would not let her do it.

This made Mrs. Huo very unhappy. With so many people in the family needing money, Liu Yanjing's legs were not good and he couldn't do much work. His parents-in-law were old and couldn't do much work either. The embroidery made by his mother-in-law couldn't be sold at a high price, mainly because Liu Yulian's embroidery was good.

In that case, shouldn't Liu Yulian do more? Her parents-in-law are also her biological parents. Mrs. Huo thinks her own children are also Liu Yulian's nephews and nieces. What's wrong with Liu Yulian helping out a little more at home?

Mrs. Huo's attitude towards Liu Yulian was not very good. If she saw Liu Yulian taking a short rest, she would indirectly criticize Liu Yulian, saying that she only cared about eating.

Mrs. Huo still believed that while she was doing the rough work, Liu Yulian had coaxed her parents-in-law and Liu Qingyun and the others. She did so much, but they didn't know how to communicate at all. They paid others to wash clothes, so why didn't they just pay for a maid?

And that old lady Xie, who was clearly a servant, treated her, the young lady, rudely.

"I need a son," said Mrs. Huo. She wanted her son to inherit the Ouyang family, not her husband's first wife's child. If it wasn't her biological child, those people would be even less likely to respect her.

But when she gets married, she still has to put in some superficial effort at first.

"If you can give birth to a son, then give birth to a son." Mrs. Huo also hoped that her daughter could give birth to a son. "I don't know how Brother Yun is doing."

"Brother Yun?" Mrs. Huo heard her mother talking about her son and said, "His life... should be okay. They always have work to do and can even eat meat occasionally. They will always support him in his studies so that he can take the imperial examinations in the future."

Even if this son could pass the imperial examination and be on the list of successful candidates, Mrs. Huo didn't even think about it. What good was a son who always went against her? She let her son get married, and he even said she had poor taste.

"That's right. Even if you two divorced, Yun Ge'er is still the only legitimate grandson of that family," Madam Huo said. "Even if Liu Yanjing remarried, and the wife she married wasn't as prestigious as you, they probably wouldn't mistreat Yun Ge'er too much."

"Yeah." Mrs. Huo wasn't worried about her children. The Liu family would definitely find food for them, so they wouldn't starve. It was just that things were a little tough right now. They wanted to find a way to treat Liu Yanjing's leg, but the money they spent was useless and would only make their lives worse.

In the northwest, Father Liu was going to the wheat field, intending to watch those people harvesting the wheat, and also to see how much wheat there was.

Prince Su not only went with Liu's father, but also took a sickle to cut wheat.

"It's quite a lot." Prince Su seldom does farm work and is always bending over, so he feels really tired.

Father Liu watched Prince Su cut wheat, then followed suit. He felt tired. He felt the weight of the wheat in his hands and thought, "I'll put more weight on it so they can be closer to the capital."

The Liu family hired a number of people to harvest the wheat fields. With so many people and the fact that the wheat from other families wasn't ripe yet, they could borrow some tools. Those people were able to harvest the wheat quickly, removing the grains from the ears.

Prince Su had someone bring a scale long ago, just in time to help with the weight of the wheat. This un-dried wheat would be heavier, and someone had weighed this kind of wheat before, so they could use it for comparison.

"It is indeed much heavier." Prince Su had it weighed and someone recorded it.

The wheat yield per acre of wheat field is 500-600 kilograms, which is much more than the wheat yield in other fields. This is really doubled. After drying, the weight will indeed decrease, but it will not shrink very much.

Widow Zhang saw how much wheat the Liu family's main wheat field had produced and was once again thankful that she had bought the culture medium from the Liu family. Several other families in the village had also bought it, but the amount they bought was small, and some hadn't dared to use it much yet.

So much wheat is real food that can feed people.

Village Chief Zhang was also there, having come to see how much grain the Liu family's wheat fields could produce. When he saw how much grain the fields could produce, his eyes welled up. Why hadn't he thought of buying some culture medium? Now all he could do was wait for the spring wheat.

Village chief Zhang looked at Widow Zhang, whose family had made a fortune.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and buy the culture medium," Widow Zhang said. "The spring wheat has been planted, so we have to use it, right? Or should we test it to see if it's edible? Is it only for animals and not humans, or can humans eat it?"

Village Chief Zhang was furious. What was Widow Zhang talking about? Didn't she see that someone else had bitten the wheat? Aren't those people still fine?

"I really have to buy this good culture medium," Village Chief Zhang thought. "It might cost fifty coins a jar, but that jar can cover an acre of land." The increased wheat yield would more than offset the fifty coins. If my family's fields could produce this much food, then my children would have more to eat.

Prince Su stood there. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that a single acre of wheat field could yield so much more. Fortunately, the cost of this culture medium wasn't as high as the silk thread used to make armor. If it had been very expensive, it would have been difficult for them to make any money.

"Very good." Prince Su was in a very good mood. The emperor intended to make him the crown prince and sent him to the northwest so that he could take advantage of this momentum to improve his reputation.

Later, when the people can grow more food, the soldiers of our dynasty will surely be able to eat better and their horses will be stronger. It will not be so easy for other countries to invade them again.

Father Liu had long known that the wheat was growing well, and he'd heard from his daughter that the yield could double. Even after seeing it with his own eyes, he was still shocked. The Liu family's rise to prominence was thanks to his daughter; otherwise, they would have had to wait a long time.

Now, the Liu family doesn’t have to wait long.

The wheat yield in the Liu family's wheat fields had doubled. This news quickly spread throughout Shiyuan Village, and then others spread it. Many people went to the town overnight, hoping to buy culture medium from the Liu family's wheat fields.

Liu Yulian had been mainly busy making silk threads for armor these days, so she hadn't prepared that much culture medium. She didn't have that much culture medium to sell, so she could only let them wait.

"How long do we have to wait? Tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow?"

"Can you make more so they don't sell out all at once?"

"I want five jars, no less."

…

Those people stood at the door of Liu's main house and said that Liu's mother had known that her husband had gone to the wheat field, but she didn't expect someone to come to the house so soon and say they wanted to buy culture medium.

"Everything is available. Don't worry." Liu Yulian said, "Wait a few days."

Liu Yulian thought that if Prince Su came, he would definitely ask someone to prepare the culture medium, and there would be no need for the Liu family to prepare it. The Liu family only had a few people, so how could they prepare so much?

Besides, they already have the formula and steps, and there must be someone in the court who can prepare those nutrient solutions.

Prince Su was indeed thinking of having more culture medium prepared, and he had to have a memorial sent to the emperor quickly so that the emperor could know the wheat yield. If the culture medium was used early, they would be able to harvest a lot of grain in the fall, without having to wait until next year.

After the news of the Liu family's eldest house spread, Su Qiuya thought that even if the yield of an acre of wheat field doubled, it would not make a lot of money. She should just focus on making delicious food and not think about farming.

But... I'm afraid that the eldest branch of the Liu family is about to rise.

"Fate is so unfair." Su Qiuya muttered. The people in the first house didn't like to work so much, so how could they make something like culture medium?