After Zhao Xian finished speaking, he invited the group into the house. Li Xue then spoke:

"You guys go in first, I want to watch for a while longer."

Zhao Xian had no choice but to lead Li Ru and the princess into the room first. As soon as they sat down, someone brought them tea.

Zhao Xian immediately sent someone to inform Li Guang that the princess had arrived with General Li Ru and the princess.

Soon someone went to inform Li Guang, who was working in the field. Upon hearing that Li Ru had arrived, Li Guang hurriedly put down his work and rushed to the village.

In Zhao Xian's old house, Li Guang met Li Ru and the princess. Li Guang had met Li Ru when he was very young, but after many years, Li Ru's memory of him was very vague.

“Li Guang, Xue’er has told me about some of your experiences. You’ve had a very difficult few years. Fortunately, the storm has passed and the worst is over. Now is the time for you to make your mark,” Li Ru said.

“We are in the same boat. Li Ruge has gone through ten years of hardship. Good things come to those who wait. He has finally returned to the country with the princess. Now we will work together to build up the Great Northern Dynasty and serve the country.”

After admiring the succulents in the yard, Li Xue came indoors and saw the group chatting excitedly. She then asked:

"What are you talking about? You seem quite excited."

Seeing this, Zhao Xian spoke up:

"When Li Guang returned from the capital last time, he originally wanted to have a proper celebration, but since the princess was not there, he gave up and planned to wait until the princess came to have a proper celebration."

We were just discussing what to eat for dinner when the princess came in and helped us decide.

Upon hearing this, Li Xue immediately said, "Braised potatoes, sweet potato dumplings, stir-fried water chestnuts, and spicy crabs—Brother Li Ru and the princess have never tried these dishes before. You must try them!"

"These are not problems, it's just that there are no crabs in Shuixian Village, so we can't make spicy crabs."

However, there are many wild stone crabs in the small ditches by the lake, but they don't grow very big.

At this time, the stone crabs are full of roe, and the spicy crab dish made from them tastes similar to spicy mud crab. We can arrange for someone to catch some.

Upon hearing that small stone crabs could be caught in the stream by the lake, Li Xue became interested and said:

"Catching small stone crabs is so much fun, I want to go too."

"Xue'er is going to catch crabs. We'll go with her. With so many people, we can catch more. There will be many people eating tonight, and we can't afford to have too few stone crabs," Li Ru said.

At this point, Li Xue looked at Li Guang and said, "Li Guang, let's go catch crabs. You take the grill and sweet potatoes and go to the pavilion by the lake to grill them. We can catch crabs and eat roasted sweet potatoes at the same time. What do you think?"

“No problem, I’ll go and prepare now. See you by the lake later.” Li Guang said and left.

"What is a sweet potato? This is the first time I've ever heard of one," Li Ru asked.

"Sweet potato is a crop that Brother Zhao introduced from Southeast Asia. It has a very high yield and has been planted in Shuixian Village for three years. It is now being promoted in Dabeichao."

Sweet potatoes have become an important food crop in China, not only filling our stomachs but also being processed into a variety of foods.

I love roasted sweet potatoes the most; they're sweet, delicious, and very tasty. My brother and sister-in-law can try some later.

"Really? Now that Xue'er has said that, I'm really looking forward to it."

The princess was going to catch stone crabs, and she was bound to get covered in mud. Zhao Xian had no choice but to arrange for someone to take Li Xue and the others to the small stream by the lake.

Afterwards, Zhao Xian arranged for a banquet to be prepared. This trip to the southwestern Xinjiang region had been incredibly fruitful, filled with joyous occasions, and it was time to celebrate properly.

It was afternoon, and everyone got busy. Grandma Zhao and her family came, and Zhao Xian's aunt and her daughter-in-law also came to help. The workshop's dining room and kitchen suddenly became lively.

On a pavilion by the lake, Li Guang set up a roasting oven and started roasting sweet potatoes.

There were many small streams and ditches along the lake. Li Xue led several guards to start catching stone crabs, and Li Ru also rolled up his trousers and started catching stone crabs.

These little crabs are very alert. They forage in the grass, and once they detect danger, they immediately crawl into the water and disappear quickly.

The visitors told them that to catch these small crabs, one should look for dry streams and ditches, as the stone crabs here usually seek out burrows to hide in when fleeing danger.

If you find a stone crab hiding in a burrow, simply dig the burrow open with a shovel, and the stone crab will have nowhere to escape, making it easy to catch.

Be careful when catching stone crabs. These stone crabs have very strong pincers, and it can be very painful if you get pinched by one.

This method of directional catching can indeed catch stone crabs, but it's too slow. Even if several people try to catch them until dark, they won't catch many.

Li Xue was very clever. She discovered that stone crabs liked to hide in the grass. Once startled, they would crawl out of the grass and look for a burrow to hide in.

Li Xue quickly came up with a solution. She used a stick to poke some holes next to the grass, which startled the grass. The startled stone crabs quickly crawled out of the grass and searched for the holes.

They discovered the cave that Li Xue had made and crawled inside. However, the cave that Li Xue had made was not very deep, so the stone crabs could not completely crawl in, and a few of their legs were still sticking out.

Catching stone crabs at this point is very easy. Just grab the crab legs that are sticking out and pull them out. There's no need to worry about getting pinched.

This method worked very well, and others followed suit, catching half a bucket of stone crabs in no time.

The man who brought them here to catch stone crabs was stunned. The princess was too clever; she had actually come up with this method to catch stone crabs. Why hadn't he thought of it?

Li Xue knew that there would be a lot of people eating tonight, and half a bucket of stone crabs would definitely not be enough; she had to catch more.

Just then, a fragrant aroma wafted over, and Li Xue knew the sweet potatoes were ready, so she said:

"Brother, sister-in-law, the sweet potatoes are ready. Let's go and have some."

At this moment, Li Ru and the princess also smelled the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes. The aroma was rich and mellow, so one could imagine that the roasted sweet potatoes must taste amazing.

A few people walked over, and the roasted sweet potatoes were being taken out of the oven and placed on a lotus leaf.

"Brother, sister-in-law, roasted sweet potatoes taste best when they're hot."

After Li Xue finished speaking, she picked up a roasted sweet potato and handed it to the two of them. This was the first time the two of them had eaten roasted sweet potatoes.

The taste was good, sweet and delicious. The two praised it highly. Li Guang roasted more than ten sweet potatoes in the first batch, and each of them ate one. There were hardly any left.

Li Guang added some charcoal to the oven and continued roasting the sweet potatoes.

After finishing the roasted sweet potato in his hand, Li Ru picked up a raw sweet potato and examined it.

Sweet potatoes are spindle-shaped with red skin. They feel very hard and heavy when held in the hand, but become very soft when roasted.

This is indeed a very good crop variety, no wonder the imperial court attaches great importance to sweet potatoes and vigorously promotes them.