The next day, Li Kaishan heard from somewhere that Magistrate Ling had come to inspect Canghe Village.
With a mix of trepidation and excitement, he found Yan Qingqing, the village head. Logically, if Magistrate Ling wanted to know about the village's situation, he should have consulted Yan Qingqing.
Now that you've bypassed him to find Yan Qingqing, is it because you did something wrong?
But thinking back on how diligently she had worked during this time and hadn't made any mistakes, and knowing that Yan Qingqing would definitely have told the magistrate immediately if he had any complaints about her, she was certain that he would have done so.
When Yan Qingqing saw Li Kaishan, he looked absent-minded, which startled her. She thought something serious had happened.
So he quickly asked, "Uncle Village Chief, what's wrong?"
Upon seeing Yan Qingqing, Li Kaishan felt reassured and said, "Qingqing, I heard that Magistrate Ling came to our village yesterday, but he didn't summon me. Is it because I did something wrong?"
Yan Qingqing chuckled upon hearing this. So that's what Li Kaishan was worried about. She smiled and said, "Uncle Village Chief, you're overthinking it."
I think Lingxian came here for fun, wanted to go to the peony garden but didn't want to spend money, so he contacted me.
He probably didn't make a fuss because he was afraid of alerting everyone.
Li Kaishan was finally relieved to hear this.
About ten days later, the sweet potatoes and potatoes were ripe.
In order not to interfere with the next season's crops, Yan Qingqing and Li Xiangping discussed and decided to start digging up sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Of course, Magistrate Ling would have to be notified before digging.
When Magistrate Ling learned of this, he took it very seriously. On the day the sweet potatoes were dug up, he led several agricultural officials to the site in person.
Because this concerned the people's livelihood and the future of the Li family, Yan Qingqing also attached great importance to it, and she and Li Xiangping brought a few people to the manor.
Yan Qingqing and Magistrate Ling had met several times and were quite familiar with each other, so there was no need for formalities.
Magistrate Ling simply asked, "Shall we begin digging now?"
Yan Qingqing replied, "Dig!"
So the two sides started fighting. It was unclear whether those agricultural officials were genuinely passionate about agriculture or simply eager to make a name for themselves because of Ling County.
They all rolled up their sleeves, picked up their farm tools, and got to work.
Because the land on this estate is quite fertile, and because Li Xiangping has been taking meticulous care of it for the past few months, with timely irrigation and fertilization, the sweet potatoes and potatoes this time are exceptionally large.
Upon seeing this, Magistrate Ling's eyes lit up even more, realizing that the production output would definitely need to be increased further.
Meanwhile, when the villagers of Canghe Village learned that Yan Qingqing's family had started harvesting sweet potatoes and potatoes, they also began harvesting.
They plant less, mostly one or two mu, and at most four or five mu, so it's easier to harvest.
Although Yan Qingqing's family had a lot of land, they also had a lot of people. In addition, Li Xiangping hired several villagers, and they finished harvesting in five or six days.
After all, it's fifty acres of land, so Yan Qingqing's warehouse definitely can't hold it all.
So Yan Qingqing had two warehouses in the food processing workshop vacated to barely fit the food.
The agricultural officials recording the yields were incredibly excited. They had never seen such high-yielding crops in their lives, especially two different kinds.
They would never have believed it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
Yan Qingqing also felt that this year's sweet potatoes and potatoes were very good, because the yield of sweet potatoes reached 4,000 jin per mu and potatoes reached about 2,800 jin per mu.
That same day, Yan Qingqing had the kitchen prepare a sweet potato and potato feast so that everyone in the family could eat their fill.
Even Li Xiangping and his group hadn't eaten there for more than half a year, so naturally, it received unanimous praise from everyone.
After receiving accurate data, Magistrate Ling immediately wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital along with the data recorded by the agricultural official via express courier.
Magistrate Ling even sent a message to Yan Qingqing, instructing that no one could touch the sweet potatoes and potatoes until the order from above was issued.
Yan Qingqing rolled her eyes upon hearing this. She felt that she had no say in what her family had worked so hard to grow.
However, Yan Qingqing also knew the importance of these sweet potatoes and potatoes, so she only ate them a few times in secret and left the rest untouched in the warehouse.
Yan Qingqing didn't dare touch these things, let alone the others in Canghe Village. They wouldn't even dare to taste them.
Yan Qingqing decided to put the matter aside for the time being.
She hadn't finished making the sand table she promised Xiao Mochen and the others, so she'd been working on it at home lately.
After finishing, Yan Qingqing sent someone to the mountain to find Xiao Mochen and Li Xiangjian and bring them back.
When Ah Da returned, his legs were trembling, and Li Xiangjian had to help him back.
Seeing this, Yan Qingqing asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Xiangjian looked at A'da apologetically and said, "He was acting suspiciously in the mountains and almost got..."
Before Li Xiangjian could finish speaking, he made a throat-slitting gesture.
Ah Da dared not refute and could only say aggrievedly, "I wasn't acting suspiciously. It was Madam who said that the Third Young Master might have settled in a tree, so I thought I'd see which tree he was in."
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you that if you can't find anyone inside, just shout loudly?"
Ah Da lowered his head and said, "I didn't even have a chance to call out yet."
Yan Qingqing understood; he was just being curious, so she waved for him to go and rest.
Yan Qingqing glanced at Li Xiangjian and then asked, "Where's Mo Chen? Why did you come alone?"
Li Xiangjian replied, "He's a little tied up with something, but he said he'll be here in a bit."
After saying that, Li Xiangjian looked at Yan Qingqing with a hint of hesitation.
Having been mother and son for so long, Yan Qingqing naturally knew what Li Xiangjian was thinking.
So he quietly led him to his room and sent all the servants away.
He turned to Li Xiangjian and said, "Tell me, what important matter is making you so distracted?"
Li Xiangjian knew that nothing could be hidden from Yan Qingqing, but this matter was truly of great importance, and he didn't know whether he should tell Yan Qingqing or not.
But seeing Yan Qingqing's all-knowing gaze, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask, "Mother, do you know Mo Chen's identity?"
Yan Qingqing looked at her son with some surprise. Was he starting to doubt Xiao Mochen's identity after spending so much time together, or had he already confirmed it?
Seeing that Yan Qingqing remained silent, Li Xiangjian gritted his teeth and said, "He is the Ninth Prince, the legitimate son of the current Emperor, and the son of the Empress Dowager."
This result did not surprise Yan Qingqing much. Although Yan Qingqing was not quite sure what Xiao Mochen's identity was, he was surnamed Xiao, so he was definitely related to the imperial family. However, the status of the Empress's eldest son was really high.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing showed no surprise, Li Xiangjian asked, "Mother, did you already know his identity?"
Yan Qingqing glanced at him and said, "Third brother, remember, no matter what his identity is, before he clarifies his identity, to our family he is Mo Chen, a nephew of my maternal family."
How will you treat him in the future, just like you treated him before?
Li Xiangjian took a deep breath and nodded. He was still not calm enough. After learning Xiao Mochen's true identity, he had been somewhat absent-minded. But looking at his mother, it was clear that she had known all along.
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