Chapter 58
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the front yard, and the shopkeeper's voice was the most penetrating: "Sir, sir, I already registered with Huang Tou'er yesterday."
"My Lord remembers that you are registered as an exile from the capital. You settled in Jingtian Village, with no house or land." The officer's voice was so loud that the Fifth Prince and Fan Jingrui in the corridor in the backyard could hear it clearly.
"Jingtian Village, are they coming for us?" Fan Jingrui and the fifth prince exchanged a glance, and silently moved forward a few steps until they could take in the entire situation at the entrance of the inn.
A shifty-looking officer was walking around the inn, fiddling with a whip in his hand.
Seeing that the shopkeeper hadn't made any move, he said, "There's an order from above. Pirates are rampant these days. To prevent spies from sneaking in, no one can stay in the county for more than five days."
The shopkeeper was anxious when he heard this: "Sir, what should we do? I have already received a ten-day deposit from the other party. Sir, how about this? Please accept this little bit of money."
The officer waved his hand impatiently: "We are just following orders."
What's the point of following orders? It's just that your appetite is too big and you are not satisfied with the little money the shopkeeper has.
The shopkeeper sighed helplessly and pulled out another purse from his pocket. "Sir, the most important thing for a businessman is integrity. If I lose my promise, my inn will be closed down. Please be kind and make some concessions. Just this once, and don't let it happen again. Sir, what do you think?"
With such blatant bribery, it's no wonder the entire county is so depressed. Even the best businessmen would find it difficult to continue their business if they were to be stripped of their wealth just by the way they were being approached.
The Fifth Prince's face was so dark that it looked like ink could drip out of it. "You bastard."
Compared to the Fifth Prince's anger, Fan Jingrui was more rational. "Cousin, regarding the infanticide issue, it seems we need to reconsider it."
The Fifth Prince shook his head and said, "This matter should be dealt with as soon as possible. Let An Qi investigate the situation at the County Magistrate's Office tonight."
The officer, unaware of their impending doom, took the purse, weighed it in his hand, and then slowly replied, "This is just the first time. It won't happen again."
After saying this, he left.
The innkeeper was left alone, sighing sadly as he looked at the inn he was struggling to maintain.
Seeing this, the Fifth Prince became even more angry. "I'm going out for a walk."
Fan Jingrui wanted to stop him, but the Fifth Prince was so angry and walked so fast that he didn't give him any chance.
Fan Jingrui was helpless, but with the two secret guards left by the queen, the fifth prince was safe.
However, the Fan family had many elderly, weak, women, and children, making it easy for someone to take advantage of them. With this in mind, Fan Jingrui quickly turned back and gathered everyone who hadn't left to go to Old Master Fan's room.
He recounted what he had just witnessed. "My opinion is that we should return to the village as soon as possible. What do you all think?"
Chu Ci was the first to agree, "I agree, to save others you must first save yourself."
Mr. Fan is old and prefers a stable life. "I have to go back to the village sooner or later, so it's better to go back sooner."
Everyone else respected Mr. Fan and obeyed him.
Only the youngest, Fan Jingliang, seemed to understand. He raised his hand excitedly and said, "When we go back to the village, will we have candy?"
Chu Ci couldn't help but laugh bitterly when she heard this. No matter what the Fifth Prince's plan was, the sugar workshop would have to postpone its opening. Fan Jingrui quickly held her hand tightly. "Don't worry, it will be quick."
Chu Ci nodded.
The two of them behaved in an intimate and natural manner, and the Fan family members present saw it with joy. In order not to disturb them, everyone planned to quietly leave.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Fan’s words “Jingrui, you stay” shattered the beauty that everyone had worked so hard to maintain.
Everyone subconsciously looked at Chu Ci, their eyes full of regret.
Chu Ci pretended not to know and left the room with everyone else. When he reached the door, he called out to Qianxue and Qianyan, "Come and help your sister-in-law."
The two thought Chu Ci was going to make some new food again and were very excited. Unexpectedly, Chu Ci took them back to the room and pressed them in front of the desk: "I will describe it, and you can draw it as much as you can."
After that, he began to describe the various components, structure and principles of the curved plow.
But the two were only young ladies, and drawing a complex object based solely on verbal instructions was quite challenging. The three of them worked on it for almost an entire afternoon before they finally finished their curved plow.
"Let Mo Yan go to the farm implement shop." Since sugar production is not feasible for the time being, let's open up the wasteland! At any time, the land is the most generous. Chu Ci ordered.
Chu Ci thought it was just a trivial matter, but Qianxue and Qianyan were puzzled. "Sister-in-law, with the map in hand, making a curved plow isn't difficult. But the plowshare needs to be made of iron, which isn't available in most farm tool shops."
"Where can I find it?" Chu Ci then remembered that Tie Gui Chaotang was in charge, but she didn't want to give up.
"The weapons shop under the border army is there. It would be great if my uncle came." This was the first time Qianyan mentioned Duan Tianji since Heiyun or the farewell, but it was in this situation. If Duan Tianji knew, he would not know whether he would cry or laugh.
But Chu Ci had no time to care about others. He had some iron in his own space, but taking it out would be too conspicuous. After thinking it over again and again, Chu Ci said, "Let's use hardwood instead first and see how it goes!"
Knowing that Chu Ci needed it urgently, Mo Yan gave the craftsman enough money.
Even so, it was not until the next day after Chu Ci and his party returned to Jingtian Village that they saw the finished product.
The plows of this era were still the earliest straight-beam plows, heavy and clumsy, not very flexible in turning, and requiring two oxen to pull. Therefore, ordinary farmers could not afford them.
The curved plow that Chu Ci ordered people to make was smaller in size, more flexible and convenient to use, and the depth of soil turning could also be adjusted freely.
Therefore, as soon as Chu Ci ordered people to try it out in the wasteland, people from Jingtian Village came to watch.
"Is that a plow? Why is it different from the one I saw at the landlord's house?"
An experienced hand could tell the difference in a moment: "It's lighter and turns the soil deeper."
Upon hearing this, some people immediately thought of themselves: "It would be great if we could use it too. How much effort would we save then."
But few people dared to echo such words. It was because the shock Chuci gave people was too strong.
The people of Jingtian Village were unwilling to watch the benefits slip away in vain.
Finally, someone thought of asking the village chief for help.
However, as soon as he arrived at the village chief's house, he saw Chu Ci sitting upright in the main hall, while the village chief was diligently recording something.
Seeing this scene, everyone's heart dropped to the ground. "Is there still hope for us?"
"It should be gone!" Someone murmured softly.
"What bad luck—" Some impatient people secretly spat and turned away.
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