Chapter 101 The Real Treasure
In the icy pool of the underground palace, a white dragon thrashed and splashed water everywhere.
The enormous white python, as thick as a water bucket, opened its blood-red maw, bringing with it a nauseating stench, and lunged at the two people on the shore. Its scales gleamed with a cold, metallic light under the illumination of the luminous pearl, clearly impervious to blades and spears.
"You beast! How dare you be so insolent!"
Shen Jin's eyes turned cold. He poured all his internal energy into the soft sword in his hand, and his figure moved like lightning as he thrust towards the snake's head.
"bite--!"
A crisp sound.
The sword, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud, pierced the white dragon's scales, leaving only a white mark, but the shock made Shen Jin's tiger's mouth go numb.
"roar--!"
The white dragon, in pain, became even more ferocious. Its enormous tail swept across the battlefield, shattering the surrounding ice pillars with a whistling sound.
"Your Highness, be careful!" Yingyi and the others wanted to rush up to help, but they were forced to stay away by the terrifying cold air.
Jiang Mianmian stood to the side, still holding the unused fire extinguisher in her hand, her brows furrowed.
[This snakeskin is quite thick!]
[It seems physical attacks can't penetrate the defense? Then we'll have to use some unconventional methods.]
Snakes are cold-blooded animals and afraid of the cold... wait, this thing is soaking in ice water, so it's definitely not afraid of the cold.
So... you're afraid of electricity?
Jiang Mianmian's eyes lit up.
She reached into her sleeve and groped around for a while.
[Found it! My stun gun! The upgraded version!]
[This is something used to deal with mutated beasts in the apocalypse, with a voltage of ten million volts! I refuse to believe it won't stun you, you big mudfish!]
At this moment, the white dragon opened its mouth wide, wanting to swallow Shen Jin whole. Although Shen Jin had superb lightness skills, he was inevitably struggling to cope in this confined space while protecting Jiang Mianmian.
"Get out of the way! Let me do it!"
Jiang Mianmian shouted, took a running start, and jumped.
Like a nimble monkey, she leaped into the air on a piece of broken ice, landing right above the white dragon's head.
"Try your sister's—100,000 volts!"
"Sizzle—!!!"
The stun gun in her hand slammed into Bai Jiao's vital spot.
Blue arcs of electricity exploded instantly, spreading throughout the snake's wet body.
"hiss--!!!"
The once majestic white dragon instantly stiffened, letting out a shrill scream. Its massive body began to convulse violently, writhing wildly in the water like an electrified noodle.
Water can conduct electricity.
The water in the icy pool instantly turned into an "electric bath".
The white dragon rolled its eyes back, and finally collapsed weakly, splashing into the water with a "plop," creating a huge wave.
She fainted.
"call……"
Jiang Mianmian landed, blew away the black smoke coming from the stun gun, and said smugly, "Little brat, you think you can mess with me? Don't you even know who I am?"
The entire venue fell silent once again.
Yingyi and the others looked at the enormous creature floating on the water, which twitched from time to time, and then at the princess holding a "little black stick" in her hand.
That's... that's it?
That's a mythical beast guarding a treasure! It just... got electrocuted like that?
Shen Jin sheathed his sword, looked at her, and a helpless yet indulgent smile flashed in his eyes.
Whenever she encounters danger, she always manages to pull out some strange and unusual things, and then solves the problem in the most outrageous way.
but……
As long as she's alright, that's all that matters.
"Your Highness is truly magnificent." Shen Jin walked over and tidied her slightly messy bangs.
"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile."
Jiang Mianmian chuckled, her gaze instantly locking onto the lone wooden box in the center of the ice pool.
[Obstacles cleared! Next up is the exciting unboxing!]
[The former crown prince's treasure! The fund to overthrow the dynasty! Here I come!]
What could be inside this box? A legendary martial arts manual? A treasure map? Or a box full of large diamonds?
She rubbed her hands together, eagerly stepping onto the floating ice and jumping onto the central stone platform.
Shen Jin followed closely behind. Although he was also curious, he was more worried that there might be a trap inside the box.
"I'll drive."
Shen Jin pressed her hand down, gesturing for her to step back.
He gently pried open the copper clasp on the box with the tip of his sword.
“Clatter.”
The lid of the box slowly popped open.
There was no poisonous smoke, no hidden weapons, and not even any dazzling special effects.
There was only a faint... earthy smell?
Jiang Mianmian peeked out.
Her previously excited face instantly froze.
There was no gold or silver jewelry, nor any magical weapons in the box.
There were only a few dusty, even slightly moldy... "clods of dirt".
There were also a few dry, corn-cob-like things.
And a yellowed booklet wrapped in oiled paper, with the four large characters "Complete Treatise on Agriculture" written on the cover.
"this……"
Yingyi couldn't help but lean closer to take a look, only to be greatly disappointed. "That's it? A few broken potatoes? A few rotten ears of corn?"
"This is the treasure left behind by the former crown prince that brought about the downfall of the dynasty? That crown prince was far too poor!"
"Did we make a mistake? Or... has someone else beaten us to it?"
Everyone felt a huge sense of disappointment, like, "We went all out, and this is what we get?" All that effort, fighting monsters, breaking through mechanisms, and it was all for a few pounds of rotten vegetables?
Shen Jin picked up a clod of earth and frowned as he examined it: "This thing...I've never seen anything like it before. Is this the treasure?"
Just when everyone was greatly disappointed and felt they had been tricked.
Jiang Mianmian stared intently at the contents of the box, as if struck by lightning.
Her breathing became rapid, her eyes widened, and finally she let out a wild scream of joy:
"Aaaaaah—!!!"
"We're rich! We're rich! We've really struck it rich this time!"
She snatched the "clod of dirt" from Shen Jin's hand and kissed it like she was hugging her own son, not caring at all that the dirt on it was dirty.
[Potatoes! It's potatoes!]
[And that one! That's a sweet potato! That's corn!]
【My God! This isn't rotten vegetables! This is real gold!】
In ancient times, when productivity was low and starvation was rampant, what did these high-yield crops mean? They meant yields of a thousand catties per mu! They meant no more famine! They meant countless riches and lives!
[The former crown prince is amazing! He's trying to overthrow the country by farming!]
What are gold and silver treasures? They're inanimate objects! Once they're gone, they're gone! But these seeds... they're a treasure trove that can multiply endlessly and bring immeasurable wealth!
Jiang Mianmian was so excited that she was incoherent, clutching the sweet potato tightly.
"Your Highness! This is the real treasure!"
She held up the sweet potato like it was a trophy, exclaiming, "This is called a sweet potato! That's called a potato! They're both amazing crops that can yield thousands of kilograms per acre!"
"Several thousand kilograms?"
Chen Jin's hand trembled slightly.
The main crops in Dagan nowadays are rice and wheat, with a maximum yield of only two or three hundred catties per mu. Several thousand catties? That's a number only found in myths.
"Your Highness...is it true?" Shen Jin's voice changed slightly.
"More real than real gold!"
Jiang Mianmian confidently declared, "With these, the people of Dagan will never have to go hungry again! Moreover, these things are drought-resistant, cold-resistant, and can be grown anywhere!"
Most importantly... the roasted sweet potatoes were delicious! The braised beef brisket with potatoes was delicious! The French fries were delicious! The corn with pine nuts was delicious!
Hahaha! My hot pot restaurant menu is getting an update again!
[Shen Jin, you're practically a lucky charm reincarnated! You even managed to find such a revolutionary species!]
Shen Jin looked into her sparkling eyes and listened to her incredibly grand description of food, which, though mixed with the word "eat," was still very much in her mind.
Yield of 1,000 jin per mu.
Not picky about land.
There will be no more famine.
As a politician and a regent concerned with the fate of the nation, Shen Jin understood better than anyone else what this meant.
This is incomparable to mountains of gold and silver.
This is truly... a divine artifact for stabilizing the country and ensuring its peace.
"good."
Shen Jin took a deep breath, solemnly closed the wooden box containing the seeds, and then picked it up himself.
"If what the princess says is true, then this box of things... is priceless."
"No, it's priceless."
He looked at Jiang Mianmian, his eyes filled with gratitude and admiration, "Thank you, Your Highness, for finding this treasure for Daqian."
"Hehe, you're welcome, you're welcome."
Jiang Mianmian wiped her drool. "Um... when we get back, could we roast a couple of sweet potatoes to try? I'm craving something sweet."
Shen Jin: "..."
Sure enough, his cool demeanor only lasted three seconds.
"Only two can be baked."
He said solemnly, "Not a single one can be missing. They must be kept for seed."
"Okay, okay! You stingy little thing!"
The group left Qianlongyuan with the seemingly shabby but invaluable wooden box.
The moment they emerged from the fog and saw the sunlight again.
Shen Jin felt that what he was holding in his arms was not just a seed, but also the future of a great and prosperous era.
And the woman walking beside him, humming a little tune, her mind filled with thoughts of French fries…
It was a gift from heaven to him, a great blessing to him, the greatest blessing of all.
The so-called "treasure trove that could bring down a nation" was not used by the crown prince of the previous dynasty, but hundreds of years later, it enabled Chen Jin to realize his grand plan for governing the country.
Of course, it also satisfied Jiang Mianmian's... stomach.
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