The green shoots that sprouted from thousands of acres of fertile land have grown into seedlings; the rice is half a person tall, and the wheat is as tall as a calf.
Many vegetables with short growth cycles have already started bearing fruit and can be harvested in just a few days.
What's most exciting is that the cotton seeds planted last are now lush and growing very well.
Even farmers who knew nothing about cotton cultivation were overjoyed to see this.
Ning Yao listened to the report from her subordinates and smiled with great pleasure.
“Well done. We can start preparing for the harvest. We’ll supply Pinglanlou, Shuiyunjian, and Yingkelai for now. If anyone comes to buy, we can cooperate with them as needed.”
"In addition, give the farmhands and long-term laborers a little more money this month as a reward."
"Understood!"
The servant had just left when Zhilan came in.
"Miss, the slave trader has arrived with the slaves."
"Did you tell your older sister?"
Zhilan nodded: "I've already informed the young lady."
"Okay, let's go over there too."
The courtyard in front of the hall was packed with people, probably at least a hundred.
When Ning Qiong arrived, the slave trader was already waiting.
"Greetings, Miss!"
"Hmm, Third Sister asked me to come and take a look. Are all these people you brought?"
The slave trader replied, "Replying to Miss, these people are all exiled from the capital and are going to Haicheng. I told Miss that I would keep them for her to choose from."
Ning Qiong's heart stirred slightly: "Were they all exiled from the capital?"
Although the slave trader didn't understand, he still nodded: "According to the soldiers who escorted them, these people are the family members of those criminal officials who were exiled after the rebellion in the capital was quelled, as well as their extended families."
Ning Qiong scanned the crowd with her eyes: "Do you have a list?"
"Yes, yes." The slave trader quickly took out a booklet and handed it to Ning Qiong: "Please take a look, Miss."
Ning Qiong sat down in the hall and then flipped through the booklet in her hand.
Anyway, there aren't many people with the surnames Zhang and Lin, and there aren't many direct relatives of the Zhang and Lin families either.
There are a few people with the surname Zhang, but almost none with the surname Lin.
In fact, almost none of the families Ning Qiong knew were on the entire list.
Her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
If those people's names aren't listed, did the emperor actually punish them?
Were they all killed, or were they simply not dealt with at all?
Thinking of the grievances she had suffered over the years, and the harm Ning Yiyi had endured, Ning Qiong felt that she would hate him for the rest of her life if he hadn't dealt with those people!
Ning Qiong remained silent, and the slave trader, seeing her expression, dared not say anything more.
When Ning Yao came in, she saw this scene.
"What's wrong with my older sister?"
Ning Qiong snapped out of her daze and handed the booklet to Ning Yao: "Take a look, this is the list of exiled people."
Ning Yao took it and asked as she flipped through it, "What's wrong?"
"There are no members of the Zhang or Lin families here!"
Ning Yao was taken aback when she heard this, and then she noticed that her expression was not very good.
After a long pause, she looked away and flipped through the roster again before saying, "The Zhang and Lin families have committed heinous crimes, provoking the imperial authority and plotting a rebellion. Those who can be exiled are all relatives of the emperor who are not within five degrees of kinship."
"If His Majesty has dealt with these people, it means that all of his direct relatives should have been put to death."
"So, sister, you're overthinking it."
Ning Qiong was taken aback: "Am I overthinking this?"
Ning Yao shook her head inwardly, thinking that her eldest sister probably had other ideas in mind.
"Let's choose the right people first, and we can talk about the rest later."
Ning Yao looked up at the slave trader: "How many people are there this time?"
The slave trader said, "There are a total of 120 people. Their life stories and backgrounds are all clearly recorded in the register, and their slave contracts are also available."
Are all the exiled people here?
"Replying to Third Miss, everything is here!"
Ning Yao closed the booklet: "Okay, keep them all!"
"Okay... uh... all of them?"
"Third Miss, do you mean to keep them all?"
The human slave trader was astonished!
"Why not?"
The slave trader quickly replied, "Alright, alright! Of course! I just didn't expect you to want them all. In that case, here are the slave contracts for these people. Please take a look!"
The slave trader grinned from ear to ear as he handed the wooden box to Ning Yao.
He originally thought that the Ning family manor was bound to be taken, and at most half of the people would be chosen. Even so, he could still make a lot of money.
Unexpectedly, the third young lady kept them all with her first move.
Ning Yao accepted the slave contract and handed it to Ning Qiong: "Elder sister, you can take charge of arranging these people."
Ning Qiong agreed, "Okay."
After handing those people over to Ning Qiong, Ning Yao left immediately.
"Miss, the eldest young lady seems a little unhappy."
Ning Yao smiled and said, "You're only unhappy when you have something on your mind."
Zhilan said, "Those people are all slaves. If you keep them all, won't you graduate?"
"Do you think there's any danger in the person His Majesty personally ordered to be sent here? Or would it put my elder sister in danger again?"
Zhilan pursed her lips, somewhat disagreeing with her words: "Since the eldest young lady married His Majesty, she has not had a single good day. Now that the capital has been pacified, do you think he will treat her well? I don't think so."
Ning Yao simply shook her head and smiled without saying a word.
She wouldn't have believed what Shen Ce told her if she hadn't also been a time traveler and deeply understood his feelings.
Not to mention others.
If he wants to reconcile with his eldest sister, the only way is to deal with the Zhang family, the Lin family, and even everyone who has ever bullied his eldest sister.
If that's the case, then the people sent by the human traffickers this time must have been carefully selected.
The final destination of these slaves was not Haicheng, or any further place.
They were indirectly sent to Licheng and to the Ning family by Shen Ce.
Ning Yao guessed that there were probably more than just slaves involved; there were other people's arrangements as well.
For example, the gifts sent to Shen Cile by Prince Duan's mansion.
After Ning Yao and her servant left, Ning Qiong rubbed her temples and told Ning Lang to lead the slave trader down to settle the bill.
She herself began to carefully examine the list and the slave contracts of the sinners.
However, after flipping through only a few pages, Nuqi saw two letters, one of which was from the Prince Duan's residence.
Ning Qiong curiously opened the letter, quickly glanced through it, and then, based on the instructions in the letter, found several slave contracts.
Ning Qiong read out the name on the slave contract.
Upon hearing their names called, the slaves stepped forward. Ning Qiong took a closer look and saw that there were two wet nurses, an old maid, two maids, and two servants.
Thinking of the current situation at Qizi Garden, Ning Qiong instantly understood that this was prepared by Prince Duan for his daughter.
They were not yet criminal slaves, but rather household slaves of Prince Duan's mansion.
She waved her hand: "You guys come out here and stand to the side."
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