Lu Zheng returned with Gu Xin, his forehead covered in sweat.
He was weeding in the cornfield. The corn had grown tall and was weaving through the plants. It was really hot.
"Zhou Yuan, come on, have a piece. I've had it chilled for a while. These are seeds from your family!" Gu Nian called to Lu Zheng to eat.
Lu Zheng washed his hands, took a piece of food, and took a bite.
Mmm, that really quenches my thirst.
"Are they all cooked?" Lu Zheng asked after they finished eating.
"How could it be so fast? I picked the biggest one; there are still many that are only this big! Miss Nian told me to pick them when they were this size," Meng Meng said.
"Since the Northwest plot ripened first, why not call it Watermelon?" Gu Nian said with a smile.
"Okay!" Lu Zheng took a second piece and started eating.
"Zhou Yuan, since it's getting late, do you want to take a couple of melons to Grandpa Zhou? And ask him what to do with these melons? We've already planted a whole bag of seeds; it's over two acres." Gu Nian asked again.
"Didn't your second uncle say you were going to open a cold drink shop? He said you'd add fruit to the ice bowls, so you can use that! But just keep the seeds." Lu Zheng had been calling Gu Shouxin to play chess a lot lately, and Gu Shouxin would occasionally mention some of the family's plans.
“Alright, we’ll keep seeds for ten acres, and you can have the rest. Take a few back for Grandpa Zhou later!” Gu Nian said.
"Okay!" Lu Zheng replied, then looked at Meng Meng, "Anything else that's ready?"
Meng Meng nodded: "No, but there are two other melon patches with different seeds than these watermelons. They should take about another month to ripen."
Lu Zheng nodded, then looked at Gu Nian: "Can I visit your estate?"
Gu Nian: "Let's go together tomorrow! I haven't been to the estate yet this month."
After confirming, Lu Zheng took the melon to the old house first, and then took half of it to Uncle Gu's field, as Uncle Gu had put a lot of effort into the field.
...
Inside the carriage heading towards Qingzhou, the emperor sat with a middle-aged woman. This time, the emperor was traveling incognito and had brought his mother along.
This middle-aged woman is none other than the current Empress Dowager, the emperor's birth mother, Lady Jiang.
Empress Dowager Jiang has very gentle features. She is only forty-eight years old this year, but looks to be in her early forties at most.
Her life was relatively smooth. When she got married, she thought he was a leisurely prince, and the couple lived a quiet life behind closed doors. However, there was a change in the royal family, and her leisurely prince was hailed as the emperor.
She naturally became the Empress. With fewer people in the harem and less infighting, and with her son and daughter being very filial, she was in a good mood and had fewer worries, which naturally made her look younger.
She discovered the emperor's intention to go out and went directly to him: "My son, if you don't take me with you, I'll go and tell the Empress Dowager that you're trying to slack off and go on a trip. See if she comes out to stop you then."
The emperor was raised by the Empress Dowager herself, and he was terrified of her. Even though the Empress Dowager now lives a life of vegetarianism and Buddhist chanting in her palace and doesn't concern herself with anything, he is still afraid!
The Empress Dowager was not his biological grandmother and would not care about the relationship between grandmother and grandson. She only had the country and the development of the Great Zhou Dynasty in her mind.
Therefore, the emperor had no choice but to take his mother with him when he went out.
It's been ten days, and Empress Dowager Jiang is still not tired!
Seeing that Empress Dowager Jiang was about to lift the carriage curtain to look outside again, the Emperor said helplessly, "Mother... haven't you seen enough yet? You haven't left the palace for decades. Don't you get carsick in the carriage?"
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