In the cart filled with New Year gifts, in addition to the festival gifts that Mr. Jiang helped her pick out, there were also several family letters she wrote to the people in the palace. Those who had a favorable impression of her greater than zero, such as the Prince of Zhenbei, would find her kind, warm, and sincere after reading them, while those who had a favorable impression of her less than zero, such as the Princess of Zhenbei, would find her insincere and sarcastic after reading them.
Mr. Jiang was no longer surprised by this. He had seen clearly that Yu Zizhen's actions were intentional but unintentional. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to use similar content every time to make the King of Zhenbei so happy and make others so angry that they would secretly stab her.
Mr. Jiang was very suspicious that Yu Zizhen had used all her talents in literature to become eloquent and manipulate other people's emotions with words.
On the ninth day after the Zhenbei Palace's annual gift-giving procession left the capital, the annual Wanshou Festival arrived on time.
Yu Zizhen put much more effort into preparing birthday gifts for the emperor. Of course, she did not show her efforts openly.
As early as December 16, the day before the emperor's birthday, Yu Zizhen asked Xiao Yuanjin to secretly hand over a universal detoxification pill produced by the system to the emperor.
As for the birthday gift she gave the emperor, "Your Majesty, this is a new composting method that I and my farmers have spent a year researching and testing to find the best way to increase yields. I am now presenting it to Your Majesty, and I hope Your Majesty can promote it before the beginning of next spring."
Everyone's minds were suddenly in turmoil when they heard this. If it weren't for the two baskets of fruits and vegetables that Yu Zizhen had presented to the empress, no one in the court of the Great Qi Dynasty would have believed that a child from a noble family like Yu Zizhen could cultivate the land well, let alone grow something new that was not available in the dynasty, or even develop a new method of composting.
But after seeing with their own eyes the large watermelons that Yu Zizhen had painstakingly preserved, as well as the seemingly natural patterns and words on the fruits and vegetables, everyone no longer doubted Yu Zizhen's talent in farming.
After no longer having doubts about her agricultural talent, the large landowners who owned the most land in Da Qi would inevitably be interested in her latest achievements.
Everyone stared intently at the booklet that Yu Zizhen presented to the emperor, and was quickly thinking about how to get a glimpse of its contents as quickly as possible. Princess Anqing, the troublemaker, struck out again.
She sneered, "For the Empress Dowager's birthday, you gave her a picture of a hundred years of longevity that you drew yourself. For the Empress' birthday, you gave her fruits and vegetables that you grew yourself. For the Emperor's birthday, you gave her some new method of composting that you researched yourself. Are you sure you were really raised in the Zhenbei Palace? Could it be that the Zhenbei Prince and his wife adopted the son of a farmer from nowhere?"
Princess Anqing did not attend the birthday banquet of Queen Xiao Lu. She had never thought highly of her cousin, so she had not seen with her own eyes how novel the things Yu Zizhen brought out were.
Although it was mentioned in the rumors, Princess Anqing wishfully believed that it was actually Yu Zizhen who exaggerated first, and then the rumors greatly distorted the truth.
Now seeing that Yu Zizhen had given the emperor another crudely made handwritten booklet as a gift, Princess Anqing could no longer control her mouth.
Yu Zizhen was not at all angry that this eccentric princess questioned her bloodline. She smiled and negotiated with her, "How about you write a letter to ask the Zhenbei King and his wife?"
She was very willing to negotiate, but the Princess Anqing thought she was being sarcastic and flew into a rage, "You..."
"Anqing!" Empress Dowager Da Lu shouted, interrupting Princess Anqing's second half of the sentence that was about to come out.
Her expression was more stern than ever before. "This is the Emperor's birthday banquet. If you don't want to stay here, go back to your princess's residence."
Princess Anqing's eyes immediately turned red. "Mother, you yelled at me? You actually yelled at me for an outsider?"
The Queen Mother's expression showed no sign of softening. Her voice was cold, "Agriculture is the foundation of a nation. The Crown Prince of Zhenbei has been able to grow new crops not previously available in our dynasty and to develop new fertilizers that increase production. These are all great achievements that benefit both the nation and the people. As the eldest princess of Da Qi, you actually questioned his bloodline because of this. You are truly being overly pampered. After the Emperor's birthday banquet, you will stay in the Princess's Mansion for three months to reflect on your actions."
When Princess Anqing heard that Da Lu was going to punish her, she looked at Yu Zizhen with an even more hostile look. She begged Da Lu in a long tone, "Mother~~~"
Madam Lu remained unmoved. She looked at Yu Zizhen kindly and said, "You are a capable child. You have achieved so much in farming at such a young age. If your father and mother knew about this, they would definitely be proud of you."
Yu Zizhen smiled slightly and said, "I am just doing my duty."
After a pause, she continued, "Last year, many areas of Da Qi suffered from poor harvests, and this year is no exception. If my new composting method can be widely spread, Da Qi's grain production next year will definitely be greater than this year's."
She did not directly say how much it would increase. After all, she was not a fortune teller, nor was she God's biological daughter. She had no way of predicting whether Da Qi would face natural disasters such as droughts and floods next year.
In the absence of natural disasters, her new method of composting can help people increase their yields by at least 15%. But if there is a natural disaster, I'm sorry, she can't guarantee it.
Furthermore, the current court of Da Qi is completely corrupt from top to bottom. With their staggering speed of information transmission, Yu Zizhen doesn't know whether his new method of composting can spread throughout all the territory of Da Qi before the spring.
She bowed to the protagonist of today's event, His Majesty, and said, "I know Your Majesty is always concerned about the suffering of the people. Therefore, after compiling this booklet, I presented it to you as a birthday gift. I only hope that my humble experience in farming can alleviate Your Majesty's worries and benefit the people of the world."
The emperor felt a little guilty about what she said. Although he felt a bit embarrassed, he had never really worried about the people. But it had to be said that Yu Zizhen's flattery really touched him deeply.
He was an emperor, even if he was just a puppet emperor like a mascot, he hoped that he could leave a positive reputation for himself in the future generations, rather than being cursed from head to toe by future generations.
And now, Yu Zizhen gave him this opportunity.
He went along with it and said, "My dear minister, your intentions are good. I will have this new method of composting announced immediately."
He was very happy, and the powerful people of Da Qi, who owned the most land, were also very happy and would benefit as well. However, Princess Anqing, who had no trust in Yu Zizhen at all, spoke again at this critical moment when everyone was so happy, "Royal brother, you should have someone test it to see if it really works. Don't let your boasts get out and you lose face along with it."
Everyone: ...
Yu Zizhen clicked her tongue twice. Wow, this woman is so rude, yet she hasn't been beaten to death yet. Her status as the eldest princess must have helped her avoid a lot of disasters.
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