As March arrived, all things on earth began to revive, and the capital city was bustling with activity. Emperor Kangxi decided to go to the capital three days later to carry out spring plowing, and Consort Tong even held a silkworm-raising ceremony.
"Fourth Prince, Mother said we should clean up the courtyard in Beiyuan Mountain Village. Is Father Emperor going to come over?" Qingyan asked Yinzhen, tilting her head.
The twins went to the study to read early in the morning. Even Hafeng can talk continuously now. Right now, they are playing outside in the yard, and you can occasionally hear children's laughter.
"Hmm, he probably wants to come and live here. The Crown Prince is probably about to leave, and Father Emperor certainly can't leave him anywhere else." Yinzhen's feelings for the Crown Prince gradually cooled.
Qingyan nodded and gave instructions to the servants, who then began preparing supplies for Beiyuan Mountain Village. All the grain seeds needed for spring planting were prepared. A few days ago, the garden staff searched and confiscated the homes of the two stewards and found a considerable amount of silver.
When Yinzhen discovered this, he was even more furious. If it weren't for the experienced farmer who spotted the grain seeds, this problem might have been easily resolved.
"Little darling, we might need to buy more seeds. Those are all substandard. Last autumn, more than a third of the seeds we planned to keep were sold off." Yinzhen told Qingyan this, to put her at ease.
"Really?" Qingyan was stunned. "Didn't you say they were all sealed in the granary? How could they have been sold?"
There is still relatively little news from Beiyuan Mountain Village. Qingyan has been busy helping Consort Tong with matters concerning the Court of Colonial Affairs and rarely spends time in the garden.
"The investigation has been completed, and the total amount of silver is several million taels." All of Yinzhen's grains were of the highest quality, so the amount of silver sold was significantly higher.
As Qingyan listened carefully to Yinzhen's words, she felt somewhat more confident.
"Yes, the seedlings are all ready, and the children will be participating this year," Qingyan asked directly.
"Yes, the children's land has been taken care of, so there will definitely be no problems once the children arrive," Yinzhen assured him.
As the two were talking, the twins returned from the study and ran over happily when they saw their father and mother.
Yinzhen first inquired about the two children's studies, and then determined in detail the time of their spring plowing leave.
"Father, Grandfather said that starting tomorrow, we can have a spring plowing holiday, and he wants you to make some preparations." Yiken'e relayed all of Kangxi's instructions, leaving Yinzhen speechless. His father wasn't giving him instructions at all; he was clearly informing Yinzhen that Beiyuan Mountain Village needed to make preparations.
Yinzhen nodded: "Tomorrow, you will begin planting vegetables in front of the garden, understand?"
The twins looked eager to try. Yinzhen and Qingyan exchanged glances. They would probably have some ideas about what to do once the seed was planted tomorrow.
"Father, starting tomorrow?" Yiken asked, looking up at Yinzhen.
In front of the house, there are two large gardens. While other mansions usually grow flowers, this one is all about growing vegetables.
“Yes, starting tomorrow, after you have dinner, go back to sleep as soon as possible. Only with enough energy can you work better,” Yinzhen said to the children.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the courtyard became lively. The twins, having changed into their work clothes early, hurried to the main hall to await the arrival of Yinzhen and Qingyan.
Breakfast had already been laid out on the table, and the family had moved to Beiyuan Mountain Village to live. Tomorrow morning, they would first go to the Temple of Earth to attend a ceremony, so Yinzhen chose to start spring plowing today.
"Father, where is Mother?" The twins looked at Yinzhen sitting at the dining table, but Qingyan was nowhere to be seen.
"Prepare our meals in the kitchen. Later, during this spring planting season, we will have to be self-reliant." Yinzhen hoped that the children would gain more life experience.
The twins looked up at Yinzhen and asked, "Father, we understand. Who's watching over our younger brother?"
"In a little while, take your younger brother to the hillside. Although there are nannies watching over him, there shouldn't be any problems." Of course, Yinzhen wouldn't let his youngest son be in the fields, so the whole family could be together.
"Okay." Yiken was relieved.
After a quick breakfast, the family of five, all dressed in cotton clothes, walked towards the fields, chatting and laughing. Yinzhen himself carried the hoes they would need. Qingyan carried a bamboo basket in her right hand, filled with tools for digging wild vegetables, and held Hafeng in her left arm.
Hafeng nestled obediently in Qingyan's arms, his phoenix eyes fixed on either side, carefully observing everything around him.
"My lady, let me carry the Second Prince." Su Zhu quickly stepped forward, ready to carry Ha Feng.
At this moment, Qingyan felt a pain in her shoulder. It turned out that Hafeng, out of boredom, was grinding his teeth on her shoulder.
"You brat, grinding your teeth again?" Yinzhen heard the commotion behind him and noticed that Qingyan's left shoulder was a little damp. "Let Suzhu hold him and give him a teething biscuit."
Qingyan handed the child to Suzhu and smiled as she watched the little one holding a teething biscuit. The child had grown quite a few baby teeth, and his teeth were a little itchy, so he often chewed on something to chew on.
“Little darling, why didn’t you say anything? If Hafeng grinds his teeth on someone’s shoulder next time, I have to tell him.” Yinzhen was very strict with his children’s upbringing, and such a thing absolutely could not happen to his children.
Upon hearing Yinzhen's words, Qingyan couldn't help but recall the time when the twins were teething. Once, Kangxi saw Yiken'e eating hard baked buns and scolded the servants. He ordered cartilage to be prepared for Yiken'e to chew on. As a result, when Yiken'e returned, he refused to eat teething biscuits and was scolded by Yinzhen. When Kangxi received the news, the father and son had another argument in Consort Tong's palace. In the end, they each compromised, and the children would listen to whoever was in charge.
"Should we prepare some cartilage for him to gnaw on?" Qingyan pondered, thinking that Hafeng must like to eat meat to be like this.
"No!" Yinzhen insisted that everyone should be treated equally.
Upon arriving at the edge of the field, the two children stared in astonishment at the servants in the field, all of them bowing their heads as they began to "plant" rice seedlings.
"You two stay on the hillside and help your mother dig for wild vegetables. After we go back, you can start planting vegetables." Yinzhen wanted the twins to see the busy scene of spring plowing.
Yinzhen hoped that his children wouldn't be spoiled and ignorant of the hardships of ordinary people.
“Okay!” The children agreed, and then Qingyan squatted down on the hillside and began to explain to them which wild vegetables were usable and which were not.
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