Xiling Mountain

Looking at the results of the past few days, Mu Qing felt a sense of relief. After arranging the sweet potato planting a few days ago, he remembered the ear of corn that the little monkey had given him in the Green Mountain Forest. The people of this world did not know about corn as a food. Thinking that corn was easy to grow, could be stored for a long time, and had a high yield, he thought it was a good staple food, so he took that ear of corn to Xiling Mountain.

He found a secluded hillside and used the first corn stalk as a seed, cultivating and growing it to produce seeds, repeating this process for several days until he finally planted two acres of corn. Looking at the corn covering the hillside, the tall stalks, and the ears of corn scattered on the branches, a surge of pride welled up in his heart. He thought to himself, "Once the cultivation of sweet potatoes and corn is promoted throughout the dynasty, the people of the dynasty should no longer have to go hungry."

Mu Qing: "Big Brother An."

An Yi: "Yes."

An Er also joined in: "Young Master Mu, please feel free to give us any instructions. It is our honor to serve you."

An Yi: "Hmm."

Looking at their sincere and earnest eyes, Mu Qing smiled and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you two."

Mu Qing pointed to the cornfield in front of him and said, "This is corn, a kind of grain that can be used as a staple food. You should arrange for people to harvest all of this, remove the leaves from the corn cobs, dry the corn, and then separate the kernels. It can be planted next spring."

"I'll write to Ayu later about the specific planting methods. You guys should arrange for someone to collect the seeds first."

Upon hearing that these were grain seeds to be planted next spring, An Yi said cautiously, "Young Master Mu, rest assured, we will make the arrangements immediately."

Mu Qing: "There's no rush. We can collect them in the next few days and dry them as soon as possible while the weather is good to save them for seed."

An Er reached out and stroked the corn cob beside him, asking in surprise, "Young Master Mu, is this really food? Is it delicious?" His eyes sparkled.

Seeing his envious look, Mu Qing thought for a moment, broke off a few ears of corn, roasted them on the spot, and shared them with An Yi and the others.

With a mouthful of roasted corn, An Er mumbled, "This is delicious, really fragrant. Don't worry, Young Master Mu, we will definitely take care of this for you."

An Yi: "Hmm."

An Yi glanced at An Er, who was wolfing down his food with black marks around his mouth, and then looked at Mu Qing, who was peeling off the food one by one and chewing it slowly. He then moved away from An Er with some disgust.

Beijing

Mu Qi entered the examination hall to participate in this year's imperial examination.

Prince Fu's Mansion

For the past month, Murong Yu had been assisting Murong Zhi in arranging the imperial examinations. Upon returning to his residence, he heard that he had received a letter from Jiangnan, written by Mu Qing. Murong Yu was overjoyed to hear this.

He hadn't seen the boy for a month and longed to go find him, but the crown prince had just ascended the throne and had many things that needed help with, so he simply couldn't spare the time.

Holding the letter from the boy in his hands, he was filled with excitement, a sense of unreality washing over him. He eagerly opened the letter, quickly skimming through it. He said, "Someone, prepare the horses; we're going to the palace."

Royal Palace

Murong Zhi: "Why are you here again? Didn't you just go back? Is something the matter?"

Murong Yu: "It's a letter from Mu Qing."

Murong Zhi: "Have a cup of tea, speak slowly, don't get agitated."

Murong Yu was a little embarrassed, but after calming himself down, he handed over the letter and said, "Brother, please take a look."