Chapter 11
Following the method provided by the system, Qingyun checked the other saplings. There were indeed sawdust piled up on the surface of the trunk. She squatted down and tapped it. If she listened carefully, she could hear a hollow sound. Many branches of the plant had turned yellow, the leaves were sparse, and some saplings had powdery mildew.
Powdery mildew is caused by large temperature differences between day and night and high humidity. Powdery mildew greatly affects photosynthesis, but it can be cured by spraying some sulfur suspension and other pesticides. The difficulty is that their jujube trees are now facing the same problem as those in Inner Mongolia at that time, which is longhorn beetles!
This insect causes branches to wither, and the adults are difficult to control, while the larvae are hard to kill.
There were no obvious lesions or scars in the early stages, which explains why it went undetected.
While Qingyun was still thinking of a solution, the news had already reached Song Chaoyun's ears. She immediately consulted several experts who were proficient in pest control. They all shook their heads and sighed, saying that the dozens of acres of trees and fields had to be burned and could not be saved. By the time Qingyun heard the news, the foreman had already led people to heat oil and prepare to light torches.
Upon hearing this, a figure stumbled down the sand dunes of Xishan Mountain and headed towards the city. She fell into the sand but forced herself to get up again. Even though her throat was about to burst into flames, Qingyun did not stop.
Damn it! If you burn all the saplings I painstakingly planted, when will I ever finish this task?
Qingyun pounded on the door and shouted. When the servant arrived, she was panting heavily and tried her best to express herself clearly, "Quick! Quickly go... quickly go and report to the princess that I have a cure for this ailment! I want to see her!" Only after she finished speaking in one breath did she feel relieved and take a good breath.
The servant was still somewhat confused by the sudden tug, but upon hearing that it concerned saplings, he hurried inside to report it.
"Nonsense! If this isn't controlled, the foundation laid by our ancestors will be lost forever!" A loud crash echoed in the main hall as the leading old man slammed a teacup down, shattering it into pieces that rang out with a clear, melodious sound.
He pointed at Qingyun, who was still outside, with a snort and glaring eyes, "How could Your Highness believe the words of a mere young woman?!"
"Yes, we must not believe a woman's words! If we don't hurry, it will be too late to regret it!"
"Your Highness must make a decision now. We cannot allow the fate of our nation to be lost because of the words of a woman."
The entire hall was filled with a chaotic noise. Several people kept saying that a woman's words could not be trusted, while Song Chaoyun, who was also a woman, sat calmly on the high platform. Her face was blank, and she was obviously annoyed by the noise. After the old men finished speaking, they waited for her to speak. After a while, Song Chaoyun said, "Let Qingyun in."
"Your Highness!"
"This...this..."
The group looked at each other, especially Liu Ruo, who was at the front. He had worked diligently to control desertification for over fifty years, and no one knew better than him what to do when encountering longhorn beetles. Right now, they could only sacrifice the enemy to save the general and avert this disaster. However, they never expected that the princess would be so stubborn. He immediately sat back down in his armchair, pounding his chest and stamping his feet in anger.
Seeing this, Song Chaoyun could only force a smile and comfort Liu Ruo, "Master Liu, that woman is the one who found the well a while ago. Since she has this ability, why not listen to her humble opinion?"
Upon hearing this, the old man, over sixty years old, looked somewhat better. He flicked his sleeve and said irritably, "Since the princess has spoken, I really must see what kind of person she is."
The person in the light blue linen robe stepped forward. Although she was covered in sweat and looked travel-worn, with her face flushed red from the sun, she could not hide the fearless burning deep in her eyes. Qingyun knelt and bowed, speaking resolutely, "This tree must not be burned!"
She glanced at the people present, and without beating around the bush, she got straight to the point and stated her solution.
"Have the blacksmiths in the city forge several kinds of extremely fine iron wires. Use these fine iron wires to probe the insect tunnels at the worm holes on the seedlings. After confirming the location of the insects, pour the solution I prepared onto the seedlings, then seal the holes with mud. Finally, send people to capture the adult insects. This method can save most of the seedlings!"
"Nonsense!" Liu Ruo shouted, his voice spittle flying as he stood up. "Leaving aside the cost of blacksmithing! Just this potion you're talking about is utter nonsense! If such a wonderful potion truly existed, it would have already been made famous and benefited the people!"
"I'm not lying! I said I'm confident I can save these seedlings!" Qingyun stood in the hall, his body still slightly hunched, but he was not to be outdone. His eyes were cold and resolute as he loudly and firmly refused.
"You, you, you!" Liu Ruo's face turned red, and he staggered while clutching his collar. Seeing this, the people around him quickly pulled him back and comforted him.
“Your Highness, we should follow Lord Liu’s advice. This tree must be burned! This person…” A man standing next to Liu Ruo glanced back at Qingyun with disdain and frivolity in his eyes, “This person should also be dragged away and given a good twenty lashes! Let her remember not to come forward and spout nonsense!”
"If we delay the pest control period and cause a major disaster, I'm afraid this young lady wouldn't have enough heads to go around, and we would all become sinners for all eternity!"
Another person scoffed and echoed, immediately giving the order, "Hurry up and drag him out!"
Staring at those people, Qingyun was filled with rage. They were all so stubborn and unyielding. She shouted, word by word, "If you burn any hopeful talents to the ground, you will be more than just criminals!" Her words were deafening, and for a moment, everyone else was speechless.
"Enough!" Song Chaoyun roared, slamming her hand on the table and standing up, instantly stunning everyone present. The maid standing beside her was so frightened that she knelt down with a thud, trembling. Song Chaoyun's gaze was like a sword. "I called you here to come up with a solution, what kind of behavior is this, making such a racket!"
The others shrank back and dared not speak. Only Liu Ruo continued to move when he saw this. Song Chaoyun raised his hand to signal him not to say anything more and turned his gaze back to Qingyun. "Since that's the case, tell me about your potion and give Old Master Liu an explanation."
Song Chaoyun sat down and straightened her clothes, then asked, "How is it made? What are its ingredients? How is it measured?"
Qingyun's palms were sweating. Having come this far, she had to be firm, but she really didn't know what excuse to use to answer this question. After a long while, she seemed to have made up her mind, and knelt down on the ground, cupping her hands in a righteous manner, and said, "I can't say right now."
"I can't say, I think it's simply impossible for them to do it." Liu Ruo's emotions had also calmed down. He snorted, showing disdain and contempt.
"My lord, with my past reputation and merits, am I not worthy of your trust?" Qingyun was not flustered. She looked up and stared directly at Song Chaoyun without fear, revealing her intention to flatter him.
Song Chaoyun felt overwhelmed. All the eyes around her were fixed on her, demanding that she make a decision. Song Junwu had not yet returned to the city, so only she could decide Qingyun's fate.
After a while, Song Chaoyun coughed a few times, but still said, "Qingyun, please continue."
The group's gaze fell on him again, but this time it carried a mixture of suspicion and anger.
Qingyun addressed these ill-intentioned individuals again, saying, "The red-eyed wasp and the swollen-legged wasp are both natural enemies of longhorn beetles. Introduce them into the seedling colony first, and then conduct regular inspections to check their condition."
Song Chaoyun said, "Both of these bees are hard to find, and I'm afraid there won't be enough time."
Qingyun: "These bees are just a supplementary measure; the real solution is to treat the pests according to my method."
Liu Ruo, who was standing to the side, spoke up again, "A woman's opinion is only good for bewitching Your Highness. What use are these bees?"
Qingyun chose to block the old man directly and then talked about other methods one by one. She had been too careless before and had not planted different saplings alternately, so they were wiped out when pests occurred. In the future, timely cross-planting will reduce the connectivity of the longhorn beetles for food.
Doing these things can at least save 70% of the lives.
Of course, she still needed to dig irrigation ditches to obtain pesticides. Despite being watched closely by several people, she brought up the matter with Song Chaoyun. The old men were furious when they heard this. Instead of addressing the most pressing issue, they were focusing their attention on digging irrigation ditches.
“This is a witch, Your Highness, are you still allowing her to spout nonsense?” one of the men stepped forward and pointed at Qingyun.
Qingyun lowered her head silently, not uttering a word. Others assumed she was backing down. Because of those inexplicable words she had said earlier, she was indeed not on her own, and asking Song Chaoyun for help would not be very successful.
However, Qingyun remained silent because he was discussing with the system how to minimize the losses and was bargaining with the system.
"You may all leave now." After a long pause, Song Chaoyun took a sip of the now-cold tea before slowly speaking. Her tone was calm, and she put down her teacup and looked at the others sitting there, her meaning quite clear.
The person who reacted the most was Liu Ruo. He was the one who cared the most about desertification control and the Miao people's condition. He was just too stubborn. But if he hadn't been determined, he wouldn't have been able to do something like desertification control.
Seeing this, Liu Ruo, despite his advanced age, knelt down and kowtowed, solemnly saying, "Your Highness, please do not believe this witch! The insect plague is urgent, and a decision must be made immediately! Burning the seedlings is the only righteous way, Your Highness!"
He held the crucial strategy of desertification control and afforestation in his hands, and even the emperor would treat him with utmost respect. As soon as he knelt down, several others followed suit and knelt before Song Chaoyun, shouting in unison, "Your Highness, withdraw your order!"
Looking at Qingyun, she remained calm. Upon hearing Song Chaoyun say that someone should leave, she didn't care who was being told to leave. She simply bowed, strode away, and actually left. The old men had originally planned to put Song Chaoyun on the hot seat, but with Qingyun gone, the effect of their performance was reduced by half.
Just now, Song Chaoyun gave Qingyun a look, and she immediately understood what it meant. Sure enough, as soon as she came out, she saw the little eunuch beside her. The eunuch smiled and whispered, "Miss Qing, please wait in the side hall. His Highness will be here soon."
Qingyun nodded and thanked him. As the little eunuch pushed open the door, he saw that face that looked exactly like Song Chaoyun's.
Song Chaohua's lips twitched involuntarily. He still vividly remembered the story of her romance with the Taoist priest. However, Song Chaohua was not as imposing as when they last met; she seemed like a completely different person.
He put away his coldness, put on an affectionate smile, and when he saw Qingyun come in, he quickly stepped forward and took her arm.
"I really have to thank you for last time," Song Chaohua said.
Qingyun walked all the way from such a far place, her body soaked with sweat and then dried repeatedly, so the smell was quite strong. Seeing that Song Chaohua didn't seem to mind at all, she really admired her.
Song Chaohua pulled her to sit down, and Princess Lin Gui personally served her tea. The side hall was elegantly decorated, with many calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls. A jade cabbage was placed on the half-table, and the most popular seasonal flowers were placed in the vase next to it.
It was worlds apart from Qingyun's house, which was like a latrine.
Qingyun: I hate rich people... in any era!
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