Judging from how well it's growing, it must have been planted at least half a month ago.
In this light, Wei Chengzhong was not lying, after all, she hadn't sent him a message half a month ago.
Are we just going to let it go like this?
Liu Ruyi's expression changed several times. She thought about how she had received the emperor's reward, which made the Duke of Yun's family look at her with new respect. Moreover, her stepmother had already recognized her as her own daughter, so she was now nominally the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Yun's family.
If she fails to resolve this crisis, she will lose everything she has gained, and her future will be even more difficult.
Liu Ruyi knew very well what the consequences would be if someone who falsely claimed credit were exposed.
“Lord Wei,” Liu Ruyi took a deep breath and said calmly, “Let them dig up all the sweet potatoes! I will find a way to transport these sweet potatoes that have already taken root and sprouted to the capital, and then the officials of the Ministry of Revenue will be responsible for promoting them to various places.”
Wei Chengzong feigned surprise and exclaimed, "Does the county magistrate insist on digging up the sweet potatoes that have already sprouted roots? Absolutely not!"
The villagers who were watering the fields all looked towards Liu Ruyi when they heard this.
They had thought that the county magistrate, dressed in her finest attire, simply wanted to see what a high-yield sweet potato looked like, but they never expected that she would actually try to dig it up!
"Why should they dig up our sweet potatoes?"
"Exactly! We planted these with great effort, and they've already taken root and sprouted. We're counting on a good sweet potato harvest to get through the winter, so why should we dig them up?"
"I don't care what you're up to, if you dare to dig up our sweet potatoes, I, Qiu Laoba, will fight you to the death!"
"Yes! If you dare to dig, we'll fight you to the death!"
"Don't dig!"
"Everyone, come quick! Don't let these people steal our grain..."
In an instant, the people in the field were excited, and they dropped their buckets and gourds and gathered around Liu Ruyi.
Startled by the scene, Liu Ruyi kept backing away, shouting in a slightly panicked voice, "You...don't come any closer!"
Her maids and guards rushed to her side to shield her, staring nervously and fearfully at the angry villagers.
"Everyone, please don't get agitated," Wei Chengzong said when he saw that Liu Ruyi was really scared. "The county magistrate is carrying out an imperial order. The emperor has ordered her to bring the sweet potatoes from our Yongshan County back to the capital. She has her reasons."
"What difficulties does she have?" someone immediately retorted loudly, "Who doesn't know that the people's affairs in the fields are the most important things in the world?"
"That's right, even if the emperor orders us to hand over sweet potatoes, he certainly won't take them from our fields!"
"This damn county magistrate is in such a hurry to take our sweet potatoes away, who knows what kind of conspiracy she has!"
"You know what, she might actually be plotting something."
The last sentence was said by Village Chief Li.
Village Chief Li, along with Jiang Qinyu, Li Dachui, Liu Erleng, Chen Shao, Liu Yazi, and others, walked quickly toward Wei Chengzong.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!" Village Chief Li and Chen Shao greeted Wei Chengzong.
When Wei Chengzhong saw Jiang Qinyu, he stepped forward to greet her, saying, "This humble official greets the General's wife."
Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Lord Wei, there's no need for such formalities." She looked around, and when she saw Liu Ruyi, she feigned surprise and said, "Miss Liu? What are you doing here?"
When Liu Ruyi saw the people from Dingshui Village appear, her face turned a mixture of red and white.
She deliberately avoided going to Dingshui Village because she didn't want to run into the people there, but they still showed up!
"Miss Liu, you've finished eating all the sweet potatoes you bought from our village, haven't you?" Chen Shao looked at her with feigned innocence. "You're in the sweet potato field now, not here to buy some more, are you?"
Wei Chengzhong spoke up: "The County Lord of Yongshan is here today to fulfill His Majesty's request and wants to take the sweet potatoes from his field to the capital."
"The Lady of Yongshan County?" Jiang Qinyu asked in surprise. "Isn't Miss Liu a young lady from the Duke of Yun's mansion? Did she receive a title from His Majesty and become a Lady of Yongshan County?"
Wei Chengzhong, as if he hadn't noticed Liu Ruyi's unpleasant expression, quickly explained, "The Lady of Yongshan County distributed sweet potatoes and even led the people of your Dingshui Village to grow them, achieving such a high yield. His Majesty will naturally reward her handsomely."
“Wait a minute,” Village Chief Li frowned and looked at Wei Chengzong, “Does the magistrate mean that Miss Liu was made a county lady because of sweet potatoes?”
Liu Ruyi was about to retort, but Wei Chengzong nodded faster than she did, saying, "That's right. With such a high yield of sweet potatoes, the person who discovered and cultivated them is naturally a great contributor."
"That's not right!" Chen Shao, relying on his youth, spoke loudly and clearly, frowning as he looked at Liu Ruyi and said, "These sweet potatoes were clearly given to us by Sister-in-law Lu, and Sister-in-law Lu also taught us how to plant, harvest, and store them. Miss Liu has nothing to do with them!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyi's face turned deathly pale, but she still tried her best to stand up straight, her pale face looking at Jiang Qinyu and the others with even colder eyes.
"I'd heard before that the sweet potatoes were grown by the general's wife from Dingshui Village, so how come it's now credited to this damn county magistrate?"
"Exactly, how can she be so shameless as to claim credit for someone else's work?"
"We can't say that, what if the people from Dingshui Village are just making things up?"
"Are you stupid? The people from Dingshui Village clearly know her, and judging from their behavior just now, they seem to have a pretty good relationship. They have no grudges against each other, so why would they spread such nonsense?"
"That's true, this county magistrate doesn't look like someone who knows how to farm..."
The surrounding people stared at Liu Ruyi and talked amongst themselves, their gazes becoming increasingly sharp.
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