The children weren't afraid of the officials. One little girl with pigtails even called out in a clear voice, "Grandma said that when officials come, we should call them Aunt Fang!"
Before Lord Wang could react, a woman in an indigo dress emerged from the ancestral hall, the iron hairpin in her hair gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
She was followed by a dozen or so boys, each carrying a brand-new shovel. The shovel heads were so shiny they looked like they were made of refined iron.
Good heavens, how could such good farming tools be found in a place like this?
"Is the official here to distribute seeds?" Fang Niangzi curtsied, her eyes glancing at the oilcloth covering the grain cart.
Lord Wang cleared his throat and unfurled a yellow silk proclamation from his sleeve: "By imperial decree, promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes and potatoes on barren mountains, you..."
Before he finished speaking, a loud "bang" suddenly came from the west end of the threshing ground.
It turned out that an old man with white hair had knocked over a basket, scattering the wild vegetables he had just picked all over the ground.
The old man, ignoring the need to pick up the grain, stumbled forward to the grain cart, trembling, and exclaimed, "This...this is truly a divine seed bestowed by the Mountain Goddess?"
Just as Lord Wang was about to reprimand them, he saw that men, women, and children from the entire village had gathered around.
Just moments ago, Fang Niangzi had a cold expression, but suddenly her eyes reddened, and her fingers gently stroked the seeds: "The Mountain Goddess is so kind to us, she even specially sent someone to deliver these seeds..."
Wait a minute, although these seeds were bestowed by the Mountain Goddess, the imperial court still spent a lot of money to buy them from the barren mountains!
Lord Wang sensed something was wrong!
"Quickly! Clear out those three acres of prime farmland east of the ancestral hall!"
"The water from my newly dug well is the sweetest; I'll use it to water the seedlings!"
"I will go to the mountain god's temple to offer a bushel of newly harvested rice as a token of gratitude!"
A group of people quickly got busy, everyone talking about the Mountain Goddess, their eyes shining brightly, and even the children were jumping around, going to the Mountain God Temple to pray again and again.
Lord Wang stared in disbelief at the group of people. They quickly unloaded the grain from the cart, and one burly man even thought the constables were too slow, so he simply picked up two sacks of rice seeds and ran into the field.
Under the old locust tree by the threshing ground, several women had already set up a large pot and started cooking for the villagers, seemingly preparing to sow seeds overnight.
"Please forgive me, sir." Madam Fang handed over a bowl of ginger tea. "Since these are seeds bestowed by the Mountain Goddess, there is no reason to waste them."
She pointed to the newly built ditch in the distance, the stonework of which was even neater than the official road. "Everyone dug it last winter and is just waiting for good seeds."
"Thank you, Mountain Goddess, for bestowing upon us new seeds; thank you, Mountain Goddess, for your protection..."
As she spoke, Fang Niangzi's face lit up with fervor. She then carried a bag of seeds to the temple to express her gratitude.
"This, this is the imperial court..." Lord Wang tried to remind him.
"Yes, Mountain Goddess, thank you for bringing us the Mountain Goddess's seeds!" Another old man was moved to tears.
"No, I meant the seeds were bought by the imperial court..." Lord Wang tried to struggle.
"The Mountain Goddess is so great, we should be even more devout to her in the future!" Fang Niangzi began to educate the children around her.
A group of children responded in unison, completely drowning out the voices of the officials in front.
Lord Wang: "..."
On the way back to the city, he kept looking back.
As dusk fell, the ridges of the fields in Qingshi Village were covered with torches, which looked like a fire dragon from a distance.
He touched the mountain produce that the villagers had insisted on stuffing into his arms, and suddenly remembered the words of the Vice Minister of Revenue when he left the capital: "The people of Liangzhou are known for their fierce and unruly nature. Promoting new crops may require armed conflict..."
"Fierce?" Lord Wang shook his head with a wry smile, his official boots stepping over a clump of newly sprouted wild ferns by the roadside.
The tender bracken shoots curled up like question marks, just like the doubts that filled his heart at that moment.
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