Yan Qingqing quickly stepped forward and helped them up, saying, "Oh dear, uncles, what are you doing? You are all my elders. You are making me feel so ashamed."
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was still kind to them despite being granted the title of fifth-rank imperial consort, Li Kaishan was pleased, but said aloud, "You are an imperial consort appointed by the Emperor, and you even have an official title. This courtesy cannot be disregarded, so we naturally have come to pay our respects to you."
Besides, not everyone has the honor of entering the residence of the Mingzhao Emperor.
Please let us worship, otherwise we won't feel at ease.
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing could only helplessly say, "Alright, I accept this gift. Consider it a proper greeting. But please don't do this again when we meet in the future."
Li Kaishan and the others naturally agreed, and Yan Qingqing had no choice but to stand aside and accept their deep bow.
After they finished their prayers, Yan Qingqing asked them to take their seats and then had Ruyi and Ruxue serve tea.
Li Kaishan spoke first, saying, "You are the pride of our village. With this status, we are no longer afraid of those rich women making things difficult for us."
Li Kaishan stayed in bed for two days to avoid Madam Shen.
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Actually, Madam Shen's matter is the trouble I caused for everyone."
Back then, because my family's embroidery workshop was collaborating with Jinsheng Pavilion and blocking Chen's path to wealth, they instigated Tie Tou to poison my family's chickens and ducks.
Later, when the truth came out, Chen's restaurant closed down. I thought that was the end of it.
Who knew that when they arrived in the prefectural city, they would run into the second young lady of the Chen family and have some conflicts with her.
The eldest and second young ladies of the Chen family were both concubines of Magistrate Shen.
I don't know what Madam Shen was thinking, coming here so excitedly to stand up for her two concubines.
So I've dragged everyone into this. I have to apologize to everyone.
Li Kaishan quickly waved his hand and said, "What are you saying? How can this be blamed on you? Some people are just wicked and used to bullying others."
We're all family. If anyone tries to pin this on you, I'll be the first to stand up for them.
Several other respected elders echoed this sentiment.
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "I appreciate the kindness of all my uncles and elders. Since we are all family, please stop calling me 'Ringling'. It sounds too formal."
You can still call me Qingqing or Xiangping's mother, just like before.
Li Kaishan and the others readily agreed.
One of them joked, "Oh dear, we can't call Xiang Ping that anymore. He's an eighth-rank official now."
After saying that, the group burst into laughter again.
The group then exchanged auspicious words.
Finally, Li Kaishan rubbed his hands together and said, "Qingqing, I have a favor to ask, but I don't know if you can agree."
Yan Qingqing glanced at him and said, "Uncle Village Chief, please tell me what you need. If it's something I can do, I will definitely do my best."
Li Kaishan then spoke up, saying, "Uncle would like to enshrine the imperial edict of your bestowal in the ancestral hall for two days, or even one day."
I just wanted to comfort the spirits of my ancestors in heaven and let them know that their descendants have made something of themselves.
Do you think this will work?
Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and replied, "It's not that it's impossible, but this imperial edict represents the Emperor, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose it, otherwise we will all suffer the consequences."
Li Kaishan repeatedly assured him, "Don't worry about that, I know."
"When the ancestral hall is opened, I will send people to guard it day and night. There will absolutely be no loss whatsoever."
Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this and said, "The people in the palace are still here. Let's wait until Uncle Village Chief leaves before we start working on this matter."
As long as Yan Qingqing agrees, Li Kaishan naturally doesn't care whether it's a day earlier or later.
After Li Kaishan finished speaking, someone suggested that since Yan Qingqing and Li Xiangping had both been granted official positions, shouldn't they hold a banquet to share in the joy?
In fact, Yan Qingqing had the same idea, but she had a lot of things to do at home and the people in the palace were still there, so even if she wanted to invite everyone to dinner, she had to wait until Eunuch Xiang and the others left.
The people of Canghe Village didn't care when Yan Qingqing held the banquet; as long as she did, they could brag about it later. After all, they were people who had eaten at banquets arranged by Ming Zhao.
After saying all this, Yan Qingqing remembered that there was still something important she hadn't mentioned.
Then he spoke again: "Do you all know why the Emperor bestowed an imperial title upon me? It's because of the potatoes and sweet potatoes we grow. Their high yield has solved the problem of food and clothing for the people of Great Yan."
I naturally dared not disobey the order to transport my imperial concubines back to the capital.
"But you all grew these yourselves with great effort. I've already spoken with Magistrate Ling, and the county government will buy them at five coins per pound. Go back and prepare; the county government should send someone to transport them away in a couple of days."
Everyone was naturally overjoyed to hear this, especially Li Kaishan, who had cultivated four mu of land. Assuming a yield of three thousand jin per mu, that would be fifteen taels of silver per mu, so four mu would be sixty taels.
Li Kaishan gasped when he did the math. His family was considered wealthy in the village, but they could never save more than ten taels of silver a year. Now, they had suddenly earned sixty taels. He felt like he was dreaming.
Not only Li Kaishan, but also others had the same reaction. Because they trusted Yan Qingqing, their families planted some crops, some planted one or two acres, and some planted half an acre.
Planting more brings joy, while planting less brings regret.
If they had known it would be so profitable, they would have planted sweet potatoes and potatoes even if they had pulled up the wheat.
But it's too late to regret it now. They're wondering if they'll be able to catch up with the next season's multiple releases.
Yan Qingqing seemed to have noticed what some people were thinking, and said with a smile, "These are the first batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes, which are to be saved for seed."
In the future, it will likely be planted as a regular high-yield crop, and once it's widely adopted, its price will only be lower than that of ordinary grains.
Everyone was somewhat disappointed, but at least they had made it this year. After all, one shouldn't be too greedy.
Only after seeing them off did Yan Qingqing have a chance to rest.
Yan Qingqing was exhausted after a busy day.
But then he remembered that he hadn't visited Li Xinniang yet, so he mustered his spirits and went to her courtyard.
Li Xin's mother was in pretty good condition; she was in a daze when Yan Qingqing arrived.
Upon seeing Yan Qingqing, she quickly stood up and called out "Mother." Yan Qingqing pulled her down to sit and asked, "How are you? Were you frightened?"
Li Xinniang shook her head and replied, "Apart from swallowing a couple of mouthfuls of water when I first fell into the water, I'm fine."
It was all thanks to Mu Xi's timely intervention. Otherwise, that bastard Yuan Huicong would have ruined our daughter.
"How could someone as good as my sister-in-law have such a scoundrel of a brother?"
Yan Qingqing was completely relieved to see that Li Xinniang was only angry and did not seem frightened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com