"When Magistrate Qin's secret letter arrived, he praised Lili's abilities without reservation, and now that we've seen it, it's indeed true."
Lili turned her head to the side: "Does Your Highness want some grain seeds?"
She stared at him intently, as if she could read his mind.
It would be strange if she didn't understand. More than three months had passed since Magistrate Qin learned about the potato cultivation in Xinghua Village, and Gu Ziyi already knew about it.
It's understandable that she's specifically asking for seeds now, since she just said herself that this isn't the most difficult time yet.
“Yes, I want to buy some grain seeds from Lili and plant them at the border. The supplies from the capital arrive slowly, and they are becoming increasingly scarce. In the future, we cannot rely entirely on subsidies from the capital, so we must make our own plans as soon as possible.”
Gu Ziyi pursed his lips: "Firstly, it can provide some protection for the soldiers in the army. Secondly, if the worst situation really happens as Lili said, it's always good to have more food stored up."
Lili nodded, "That makes a lot of sense."
The more grain is planted, the more there is, especially at the border...
Compared to other places, it's usually sparsely populated, right?
With so many soldiers guarding the front lines, there's plenty of manpower.
Lili's eyes darted around, and she realized she had a better idea than buying and selling.
Lili straightened up, patted the dirt off her palms, covered her mouth with her hands and breathed on them to warm her cold hands.
"Your Highness, let's not talk about money since we're such good friends, shall we?"
Lili smiled, leaving a small dimple on her cheek. Gu Ziyi could tell at a glance that she was up to something mischievous again.
Gu Ziyi took his hand and subtly enveloped her small hand, the warmth of his palm transferring to her hand and relieving Lili's coldness.
"What kind of relationship do we have? Are we backers or allies?" Gu Ziyi smiled calmly, without any emotion, as if he were asking a very ordinary question.
Pear pouted, her eyes darting around unnaturally. The little prince really was something else, using the gentlest smile to say the most sarcastic things.
Lili decided to ignore his teasing and continued, "Your Highness, you've come at just the right time. I was just about to start researching vegetables other than potatoes!"
"Oh? What a coincidence?"
"Yes, what a coincidence! Now Your Highness can get not only potato seeds, but also many other kinds of seeds."
Gu Ziyi knew perfectly well that Lili was about to come up with some crazy ideas, but he wasn't afraid that she would say something outrageous. He kept smiling throughout and said, "Okay, whatever Lili says goes."
This level of trust made Lili a little embarrassed.
"Pear Pear won't accept Your Highness's money. How about Pear Pear provides Your Highness with grain seeds for free?"
"Hmm. What are Lili's conditions?"
Lili tapped her two index fingers together, lowered her head slightly, but looked up at him with her bright eyes blinking. "Let's cooperate? Lili will provide the seeds and all the planting methods, guaranteeing a yield per mu that's higher than Xinghua Village's! But... how about you get the harvest? Eight bushels and two grains? No, no, no, how about nine bushels and one grain?"
The border region needs to grow grain. If this cooperation can be achieved, wouldn't she have a continuous supply of grain?
You can sit at home and have food fall from the sky!
However, Lili knew that she was taking advantage of the situation, so she repeatedly assured him, "Lili won't take this for nothing. Besides increasing the yield, Lili guarantees that she can also improve the soil quality at the border. As for anything else, as long as Lili can help, Lili will definitely help Your Highness!"
Gu Ziyi straightened up, squinted slightly, and looked like he was considering something.
"Or, or what does Your Highness say? Could Your Highness offer a condition in exchange for Lili?"
She was determined to get Gu Ziyi's consent!
Otherwise, where would she find so much food?
The reason why Lili needs so much food is to prepare for the future.
Five years later, there will surely be a great cold.
At that time, the tragedy in Xixiang County will recur, and it will also endanger several other counties.
Gu Ziyi knew that she needed to stockpile food and make preparations, so she naturally had to make preparations as well.
It would be too difficult for her to do it all by herself. She doesn't have that much land, and even if she wanted to, it would be very difficult.
If we could get Gu Ziyi to agree to give her 10% of the border's annual revenue, we would have more confidence five years from now.
Lili couldn't help but feel a little anxious, her brows furrowing slightly.
Gu Ziyi shook his head, and Lili felt a chill in her heart, but then she heard the young man's gentle voice: "No conditions required."
"Um?"
“Lili, if your grains can achieve this yield per mu, that would be the greatest help to the border. Take this year’s rice yield per mu in Xinghua Village as an example, it’s already twice that of the border. What’s more, this is because you helped the border deal with the insect plague. If no one had a way to deal with that insect plague, the border might have had no harvest this year.”
Take potatoes for example. If your grain can really yield 30 shi per mu, that's ten times that of the border region.
Compared to these, Lili's demands are really insignificant.
So, no conditions required, I agree.
Lili blinked, then asked uncertainly, "Is Zun Du fake Du?"
Gu Ziyi paused, and although he didn't understand the meaning of the sentence, he guessed from the context that it meant "is it true or false?"
"Okay." Gu Ziyi added, "So it's settled then, Lili, will you help me increase the yield per mu?"
Upon hearing this, Lili patted her chest with relief: "Your Highness, rest assured, when it comes to farming, Lili is second to none!"
"good."
Lili raised her fist at Gu Ziyi: "It's settled then."
Gu Ziyi clenched his fist and gently touched hers: "Yes, it's a deal."
Lili was in a great mood, feeling as if the mountain of food was already beckoning to her.
He took Gu Ziyi for a few walks around the village, and although Gu Ziyi was traveling alone with Zhui Feng, he kept a very low profile.
However, Gu Ziyi's attire and demeanor immediately reminded the villagers that this was the Crown Prince who had helped them when Liu's mother brought people to cause trouble before.
More importantly, the fact that even Lili is close to this Crown Prince shows that he is a good person, or at least not a corrupt noble like the First Prince.
The villagers had a good impression of the Crown Prince, and although they were somewhat reserved, they would still muster up the courage to greet him.
Gu Ziyi smiled and nodded in response.
The villagers, having received a positive response, treated the Crown Prince even better.
Lili covered her mouth and chuckled, "It seems that His Highness is very popular with the people."
Gu Ziyi sighed helplessly, "Lili always makes fun of me."
Lili smiled and remained silent.
Before lunch, Shen Zhongzheng and Shen Jiahao, who had disappeared all morning, finally arrived late.
Shen Zhongzheng's face was serious, but a closer look revealed a hint of a smile.
In contrast, Shen Jiahao, who was always full of energy and seemed to have an endless supply of energy, was now panting heavily and weak. He drank a whole pot of water in one go and still wasn't satisfied. He sat down on the stool, rolled his eyes, and fell asleep.
Even in the dead of winter, he was sweating profusely, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Liu quickly took a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, afraid that he would catch a cold. She saw that Shen Jiahao had already fallen asleep in such a short time, and his heavy breathing indicated that he was exhausted.
This was the first time Liu had ever seen her son so tired, and she felt extremely distressed.
"Oh dear, what's wrong with this child? Didn't he sleep last night?"
It's no wonder that Liu found it strange. Shen Jiahao was incredibly strong and never complained of being tired even after a whole day's work. When had she ever seen Shen Jiahao look so exhausted?
Lili was also a little surprised. What kind of grueling training had her older brother gone through?
However, Shen Zhongzheng looked calm and even somewhat satisfied, so nothing serious should have happened.
"Uncle Chen, what happened to my older brother?"
Everyone cast curious and puzzled glances at him, but Shen Zhongzheng waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. I just tested his physical strength limit and took a look at other aspects as well."
"oh."
Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was necessary for martial arts training, it was nothing.
No pain, no gain.
"Since it was asked by you, sir, I'm relieved. However, this is truly the first time I've seen Jiahao so tired."
"Don't worry, Madam. He is a promising talent. Now that I have become his teacher, I will certainly teach him everything I know."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."
After saying that, Shen Zhongzheng vaguely felt a gaze fixed on him. He turned his head and saw a handsome young man in the room, with Zhui Feng following respectfully behind him. It was Zhui Feng, who had sparred with him that day.
Shen Zhongzheng was taken aback; his years of intuition instantly made him realize that this young man was no ordinary person.
Their eyes met; one smiled gently and elegantly, while the other responded with a slow and unreserved bow.
The Shen family members held their breath. This scene... Lili had told them before that the Great Jin Dynasty was currently undergoing a regime change, and the court was in great chaos. Who knew when the two countries might go to war again.
When decades of peace are broken, the Great Jin will become an enemy state.
It must be a bit awkward for the crown prince of one's own country to meet the general of an "enemy country."
His Highness the Crown Prince didn't have this reaction when he saw Chen Ye this morning.
Gu Ziyi nodded slightly, still wearing that same smile.
Lili looked at this and then at that, completely confused.
What are they doing?
Are all the big shots like this?
No wonder there's a saying, "killing without leaving a trace." The clash between big shots is like saying nothing yet seemingly doing everything.
Just as Lili was about to interrupt, Gu Ziyi stepped forward first and said in a gentle and refined manner, "I have long admired your name, General."
Shen Zhong remained unfazed, and his attitude did not change just because Gu Ziyi was a young boy: "I heard from Xiao Ye that you are the Crown Prince of Southern Jin?"
"Exactly."
The two stared at each other silently for a moment, their expressions seemingly calm, before they immediately looked away in tacit agreement.
"Let's have a meal."
Yang was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, Lili quietly tugged at her clothes, "Mother, Lili is hungry."
"Ah, the meal is ready, Your Highness, please wait a moment."
The eldest and third sons of the Shen family quickly followed to help, and Liu shook Shen Jiahao up.
Shen Jiahao sat at the dining table in a daze, and Gu Ziyi sat down next to Lili.
Shen Ye frowned and immediately sat down on the other side of Li Li.
Shen Jialuo: "..."
What should I do then?
This is my spot!
Shen Jiahao opened his eyes and immediately started eating. He already had a big appetite, so he ate five bowls of rice in one go, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Shen Zhongzheng was worried that he hadn't eaten enough, so he kept saying, "Eat more, and don't forget the vegetables."
"Yes, thank you, Master."
Liu hesitated for a moment, but eventually silently put a few pieces of meat on Shen Jiahao's plate, saying, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
"Yes, thank you, Mom!"
Then, they began to wolf down their food.
Lili bit her chopsticks, looking at him with some surprise.
What did you do, big brother? You're so tired and hungry.
Gu Ziyi chuckled as he looked at Lili's incredibly curious yet shy expression.
Shen Ye frowned and glared at him, as if to say, "What are you laughing at?"
Ignoring Shen Ye's gaze, Gu Ziyi smiled and said to Lili, "So curious?"
"Hmm, I've never seen my big brother so tired before."
Seeing that His Highness the Crown Prince had noticed her, Madam Liu was quite flustered. She knew that nobles had many rules when dining. Although she had eaten with His Highness the Crown Prince before, Madam Liu still apologized to Gu Ziyi and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. Jiahao is practicing martial arts with Mr. Shen, so he is inevitably a little tired."
Gu Ziyi: "It's alright. Mr. Shen is highly skilled in martial arts. Young Master Shen will surely achieve great things by following Mr. Shen."
Seeing that Gu Ziyi didn't seem to mind, Liu was relieved.
Unable to resist her curiosity, Lili bypassed Chen Ye and quietly asked Shen Jiahao, "Big brother, didn't you eat breakfast this morning?"
Shen Jiahao swallowed a large meat bun, took a sip of soup, and said, "I ate. I didn't have much of an appetite this morning. I only ate twenty dumplings today!"
"Why does my brother look so tired?"
Shen Jiahao frowned, quickly finishing the bun in his mouth. "You don't know, this morning, my master took me for a morning run. We ran for almost an hour, almost reaching the village in Guicheng next door! That was fine, just running. But then my master rode the horse ahead and made me chase after him on foot. At first, I managed, but then my master made the horse run at full speed, and I couldn't catch up even after chasing for a long time. That was fine, we stopped at a teahouse, had some tea and rested for a while. Then my master moved a big rock from the roadside and made me carry it to chase after the horse, and we ran all the way back."
Pear's pupils dilated in shock. Is this even human language?
After running for so long, the older brother only feels tired?
If it were Lili, she probably would have seen her great-grandmother by now!
Lili thought that was the end of it, but Shen Jiahao continued, "After running back, Master made me stand in a horse stance for half an hour. After that half hour, Master put a bowl of water on my head and asked me to stand in a horse stance with the bowl of water on my head and go up the mountain without letting a single drop of water leak out."
When we reached the mountaintop, the water hadn't leaked. My master said he'd reward me with a short rest, so he made me hang upside down from the tree for half an hour. And you know what? Aside from a bit of a headache, it was actually quite a comfortable rest.
After resting, my master taught me something else... the frog jump? Going downhill and uphill, uphill and downhill, repeating back and forth.
Lili: "……."
Goodness, special forces?
No, even special forces soldiers aren't that powerful, are they?
Is this the amount of exercise a human can accomplish? (Big socks)
No wonder he's a general; no one can become a general.
Lili expressed her admiration; after hearing that, she would have been dead, if not dead, just listening to it was terrifying.
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