Fortunately, Xiao Wei is usually inseparable from Min Yueqing; otherwise, if he were left in the courtyard, I'm afraid none of the servants would dare to go out.

If Min Yueqing were to speak, she would think that everyone is overthinking things.

Despite its aloof and unapproachable demeanor, Xiao Wei, according to Min Yueqing's observation, already knows everyone in the courtyard. Therefore, when it sees people in the courtyard, it usually just glances at them lazily without showing any aggression.

Little Wei is not like this when it's in the mountains. Once it hears the slightest sound, its alert eyes and body movements are completely different from its usual self.

By early June, Min Yueqing estimated that the potatoes were ripe. Early that morning, she said to Pei Han, "Jinzhi, I want to go to the potato field today. According to the foreign merchants, the potatoes should be ripe."

Pei Han readily agreed, "Then I'll go with you. To be honest, I've been curious about what potatoes look like once they're ripe."

He then turned to Amo, who was waiting nearby, and said, "Go to the front yard and inform them that the jailer will take the prisoners with him in a bit."

Although he hadn't seen it with his own eyes yet, Pei Han believed Min Yueqing's words wholeheartedly and was ready to harvest the potatoes.

Min Yueqing and her group soon arrived at the potato field. Such a special moment naturally attracted Pei Ji and Shi Tou, who spontaneously followed.

Pei Ji hadn't come to check on the potatoes since they were planted, so he was quite surprised to see long seedlings growing where the potatoes had been planted.

Pei Ji was the first to exclaim, "Mother, these potato chunks have all turned into seedlings, but why are the leaves on these seedlings all different colors? Some are green, and some are yellow?"

Min Yueqing replied with a smile, "The seedlings were green when they first sprouted, but now the roots and stems have turned yellow, which means our potatoes are ready to be harvested."

Pei Ji first suddenly realized, then immediately said excitedly, "Then we can make something delicious with potatoes right away, right?"

Pei Ji had been piquing her interest for a long time because of the list of dishes Min Yueqing had mentioned some time ago, and her curiosity about potatoes was almost overflowing.

Min Yueqing looked at the little cub with shining eyes and secretly rejoiced, saying, "Shall we go to the fields and take a look?"

Pei Ji readily agreed. He took Min Yueqing's hand and walked into the potato field, with Xiao Wei following closely behind, his bright, dark gold eyes looking around.

Although the jailers and constables kept their heads slightly lowered, not daring to look at Min Yueqing, they couldn't ignore the large, glistening tiger cub right in front of them. They were all taken aback, exchanging glances to express their shock.

The bandits who were further away did the same, and some even became so audacious that they began whispering among themselves while the constables were distracted.

"Look, isn't that a tiger walking ahead?"

"How could it not be? I saw it clearly. That thing clearly had a king written on its head. Besides a tiger, what other wild animal has a king written on its head?"

"Was that tiger following a woman? That woman seemed to be...?"

Although this man was handsome, after spending several months in jail, he had become much more discreet. Although he guessed Min Yueqing's identity, he didn't dare to say it out loud.

The bandits surrounding the man exchanged glances, and they all understood what was going on, inevitably starting a new round of speculation.

"Don't you think this official is a bit too powerful? He didn't even grow up in these mountains in the southwest. He was just sent from the capital to be a local official. He's been here for over a year, and apart from running around to those villages every day, I've never heard of him investigating us in a big way. How come he arrested us all right away?"

"Who says otherwise! We've been careful enough. Ever since he recruited so many soldiers, we haven't been active in the county or robbed anyone. Who knew he would still find out!"

A man with a long beard standing next to him chimed in, “Isn’t that a god? We’ve been behaving ourselves all year, and this time we didn’t hear a thing beforehand. We were sleeping soundly in the village when we were suddenly woken up by a loud crash. As soon as we opened our eyes, countless soldiers rushed in. Tell me, what did we do to deserve this?”

The bandits around them nodded repeatedly, sighing and wishing they could turn back time; they would never have stayed in the village that day.

The man with the long beard sighed softly twice, then couldn't help but look at the black and white tiger cub in front of him. "We've heard of tigers around here, but no one has ever actually seen one alive. Didn't those who did end up feeding the tigers on the spot? How come this lord dares to keep a tiger by his side?"

The man next to him suddenly hissed, and the long-bearded man looked up and saw that it was the yamen runners coming over. He quickly swallowed back the words he was about to say and stood obediently.

Min Yueqing had already walked to the side of the potato seedlings. She pointed to one of the seedlings and said to Pei Ji and the others, "The potatoes are growing at the base of this seedling. You can see them when you pull it out."

Pei Han immediately stepped forward, grasped the rice seedling that Min Yueqing was pointing to, and asked to confirm, "Are we just going to pull it up like this?"

Min Yueqing nodded and said, "Just pull them out, it's fine. I heard that only a small number of potatoes are hanging on the seedlings, and most of them are buried in the soil below the seedlings."

Pei Han pulled the potato seedlings out with force, and sure enough, there were four or five potatoes of different sizes hanging at the bottom of the seedlings.

Pei Han glanced at them; there were four large ones and one small one. The largest one was as big as Pei Han's fist, while the smallest one was about the size of an egg, only much rounder.

Pei Han temporarily put the rice seedlings aside and began to feel around the spot where he had just pulled them out. He carefully brushed away the surface soil, and sure enough, several plump potatoes appeared underneath.

It was like a treasure hunt. Pei Ji and Shi Tou were immediately intrigued. They walked over to Pei Han and squatted down to dig in the dirt with him.

Soon, the group realized they couldn't dig any more potatoes, so they stopped.

The potatoes that everyone dug up were placed in the same spot. Pei Han quickly cooked them and discovered that this one potato vine had grown a total of ten potatoes, seven of which were quite large.

Pei Han couldn't help but smile. He looked at Min Yueqing and was not surprised to find that Min Yueqing's face was also full of joy.

Pei Han grasped Min Yueqing's hand, unable to contain his excitement, and said, "Madam, we have truly done a great thing for the country and its people this time. This is all thanks to you!"

Min Yueqing jokingly said without any modesty, "Okay, I deserve the most credit, you can only be second." As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh until her eyes crinkled.

Pei Han couldn't help but chuckle, then squeezed the soft hand in his palm again before letting go of her. "I'll go make some arrangements; we'll start packing today."

Pei Han stood up, ready to leave, but suddenly remembered something. "Madam, are these potatoes easy to store?"