Chapter 445 Harvesting Wheat
After chatting with the three men for a while, the King of Chu looked into the distance at the wheat field beside him. When he saw his close generals and officials from Taiyuan arriving one after another, he led a few people down the ridge of the field and walked towards where the Taiyuan officials had gotten off their carriages.
Today, the wheat harvest will not be done by the people below. The King of Chu will bring a few of his sons and his generals and officials from Taiyuan to harvest the wheat together, to show that the people of Taiyuan are united and pray for a bountiful harvest.
The military officers were alright, as most of them were used to doing rough work. But the civil officials in Taiyuan suffered terribly. Standing by the wheat field under the scorching autumn sun, these were all delicate and tender scholars who had never experienced such hardship before. They were already covered in sweat after standing there for only a short while.
Old Ma stood in the line and sneered at the civil officials gathered in twos and threes by the carriage. Today was the wheat harvest, and he wondered what help these weak civil officials could be. He was afraid they might faint in the wheat field and need to be rescued.
The King of Chu led a few people to the makeshift platform, glanced indifferently at the guards beside him, and the guards, receiving the glance, quickly went down and notified someone. The Taiyuan officials, who had been somewhat scattered, quickly straightened their clothes and gathered around the platform.
The King of Chu sat in the middle of the grand chair, with Li Mingxiu on his left, Qi Rong on his right, and Li Mingde and Lin Changning behind him. The four of them stood upright, guarding the King of Chu.
After the officials of Taiyuan bowed to the King of Chu, Qin Zhong stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, this year the weather has been exceptionally good, and the harvest on our land should be excellent. The brothers are all ready and waiting for your order to begin the harvest."
The King of Chu looked at Qin Zhong and nodded slightly, then ordered, "Alright, let's begin. Be sure to be careful and cautious, and don't waste this year's hard work."
As he spoke, the King of Chu stood up, took the sickle from the eunuch beside him, and opened his arms to let Li Mingxiu and Qi Rong roll up his sleeves behind his back.
After straightening his clothes and gripping his sickle, the King of Chu rose and led the way toward the wheat field.
Lin Changning also took the sickle, tied his robe around his arms and back, rolled up his trousers, and followed the King of Chu into the wheat field.
Watching the group go down into the field, bend down, and skillfully harvest the wheat, Lin Changning thought to himself, if he remembered correctly, these people must all be members of the imperial family.
Leaving aside Qi Rong and his second brother, who often went to the fields with them to harvest wheat and cultivate land when they were at the border, how come Li Mingxiu and Li Mingde were also so skilled at cutting wheat?
While cutting wheat, Lin Changning looked at Li Mingxiu and Li Mingde with a strange expression.
Seeing the suspicion on his face, Li Mingxiu couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. He straightened up, gripped his sickle, and looked at Lin Changning: "Little Six, what kind of look is that?"
Lin Changning looked away somewhat embarrassed, coughed lightly, and said, "I just didn't expect that my elder brother and my eighth brother would be so skilled at farm work."
Li Mingxiu snorted coldly: "We're not some lazy, good-for-nothing playboys. We just do some farm work and harvest wheat."
Li Mingde wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained with a smile: "When the Taizu Emperor was conquering the country, he suffered from a lack of grain. At that time, many powerful families would rather let the grain rot in the warehouse than give it to the common people. Later, when the Great Xuan was established, in order not to let the royal family members enjoy a life of ease, he made an order that all members of the royal family must participate in the cultivation of the fields after they turn seven years old."
Lin Changning nodded slightly: "I see. So that means all the princes will be working in the fields."
Li Mingxiu snorted softly, "Of course not. There is a difference between actually doing the work and just pretending. Most of the royal family members only work in the fields for one day during the autumn harvest or on special holidays. It's mostly just for show. We are naturally different from them."
Li Mingxiu talked as he worked hard.
The King of Chu, who was in front, wiped the sweat from his brow and couldn't help but laugh when he heard Li Mingxiu's words.
He straightened up, turned around, and looked at the group, replying, "That's right. I wonder who it was when they were eight years old, they cut their hand on wheat while working in the fields and cried their eyes out, humph!"
The King of Chu laughed and teased Li Mingxiu.
Li Mingxiu, who was bending over to harvest wheat, couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard his father teasing him like that: "Father! You said it yourself, that was when I was a child, I was still young then! Don't keep bringing up my shortcomings at times like this, okay?"
The King of Chu chuckled softly twice and continued bending down to harvest the wheat. The officials around him couldn't help but laugh along with the father and son, who were laughing and joking.
Li Mingxiu had just bent down to cut the wheat when the sharp wheat leaves cut his hand again, causing him to gasp in pain and hiss.
Qi Rong and Lin Changning both looked at Li Mingxiu behind them. Lin Changning raised an eyebrow: "Big brother? Who is this?"
Li Mingxiu looked at the bright red bloodstain on the back of his hand and waved his hand at the two of them: "Tsk, got cut again."
Hearing Li Mingxiu speak, Li Mingde looked up and asked, "Are you alright? Mingxiu, why don't you go to the back and get your bandages bandaged?"
Lin Changning grinned, showing off his big teeth: "Yeah, big brother, if we don't bandage the wound soon, it'll heal! Hahahaha!"
Upon hearing this, both the King of Chu, who was still harvesting wheat in front of him, and the officials behind him all burst into laughter.
Li Mingxiu, his face full of black lines, pointed at Lin Changning: "Lin Xiaoliu, don't think that just because Shu'er is protecting you, I can't do anything to you."
Qi Rong raised an eyebrow at Li Mingxiu: "Oh? So, what's your plan, Big Brother? A one-on-one duel with Little Six?"
Lin Changning looked at Qi Rong and couldn't help but grin mischievously at Li Mingxiu, revealing a set of bright white teeth: "Big brother, I couldn't ask for more."
The four of them joked and laughed as they cut wheat. As the sun grew stronger, the sun moved directly overhead when the wheat field was almost completely harvested.
Lin Changning's robe was completely soaked with sweat. After wiping the sweat from his forehead again, he looked at the King of Chu, who was silently cutting wheat in front of him.
Qin Zhong straightened up, rubbed his back, hissed a few times, glanced at the midday sun, and shouted to the King of Chu in front of him.
"Your Highness, it's noon. Would you like some food before we continue?"
King Chu, who was so engrossed in harvesting wheat that he forgot all about it, only straightened up slowly when he heard Qin Zhong's shout. After wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he turned to look at the group of people behind him, took a few breaths, and then spoke.
"Wow, it's already noon. You've already harvested quite a bit. Let's stop here, go downstairs for some food and drink some herbal tea to cool off, and continue in the afternoon."
Upon hearing this, many civil officials breathed a sigh of relief; if they had continued working any longer, they feared they would have been half-dead.
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