Chapter 216: Fishing
Editor: Atlas Studios
After Fifth Miss Shen came out of the restaurant and got into the carriage, she said with a frown, “He’s like a tight-lipped fox at such a young age. Other than the first two statistics, he refuses to spill anything else.”
Fifth Miss Shen’s most senior servant, Hong Xin, said, “Why don’t we get someone to go to Xingzhou Prefecture to ask for information?”
“Forget it. Didn’t you hear him say that he captured all three groups of people? We probably won’t be able to get any information even if we go. If we end up getting caught, it won’t look good for everyone. Let’s wait for Third Brother to come back and let him negotiate. I think the two of them are quite similar. They might just hit it off.” At this point, Fifth Miss Shen sneered. “Let me see who’s cleverer—the old fox or the little fox.”
Hearing this, Hong Xin couldn’t help but be amused. After some thought, she took out a few corn kernels from her pocket and looked at them. She asked in a low voice, “Fifth Miss, do you think this thing is really that good?”
Fifth Miss Shen took the corn from her hand and said, “Emperor Shizong is wise and mighty. It’s also because of this that everyone regards his words as a classic. Although he had merely mentioned it casually, Emperor Shizong did say that this thing is resistant to cold and drought and has a high survival rate aside from producing a high yield. Even in the year of a disaster, as long as you plant this, the commoners won’t starve to death. It was also because of this sentence that so many of the future generations have been experimenting. Although corn disappeared after the Imperial Court failed to successfully plant it, some families with some foundation and skills actually collected this thing and secretly studied it. Our Shen family’s ancestors had planted it for many years, but the harvest was not ideal. Although there were gains, the yield was not even half of the rice. It was nothing like what Emperor Shizong said. Our family only stopped after trying for decades, having exhausted all the seeds on hand. I didn’t expect someone to successfully plant this thing.”
Hong Xin asked, “Then do other people still have seeds?”
Smiling slightly, Fifth Miss Shen said confidently, “Most families have used up their seeds like us. As for those who still have seeds, let’s not talk about whether those seeds can still be used. How many seeds do you think they left behind?”
“But Young Master Fan and the others don’t have much. How can a mere 10,000 catties or so be enough for us to split?”
Fifth Miss Shen frowned. “That’s why we have to hurry up. If this business is successful, our Shen family will definitely be able to take more initiative in the future.”
At this moment, Fan Zijin was standing at the window of the restaurant and watching the Shen family’s carriage leave. Yanmo asked in confusion, “Young Master, why didn’t you tell Fifth Miss Shen that we plan to plant the corn for a second season and will be able to trade more seeds next year? The general doesn’t intend to sell the 16,000 catties to the Shen family. What if Fifth Miss Shen misunderstands?”
“That’s her business. I didn’t say that I’ll only have 16,000 catties when it’s time for us to trade.” Fan Zijin put away his fan and said, “Let’s go. Didn’t I ask you to find out what fun places are in the Jiangling Prefecture? Let’s go out and shop.”
Yanmo asked, “Aren’t we waiting for Third Young Master Shen?”
“We can play and wait at the same time. When he comes back, he’ll naturally come looking for us. Only by being patient can we catch good fish. So,” Fan Zijin tapped Yanmo’s shoulder with his fan and said with a smile, “Why should we be anxious? They’re the ones who should be anxious!”
Qi Haoran also said to Bai Li with a cold expression, “Why should we be anxious? They’re the ones who should be anxious!”
Bai Li looked at Qi Haoran, who was still reeking of blood, and lowered his head. “But General wants us to settle this quickly. This matter can’t be delayed for too long. Although Xingzhou Prefecture is far from Lin’an Prefecture, people with ulterior motives can quickly spread the news to the capital. At that time, the Imperial Court will know the details first, which will be disadvantageous to us. Therefore, Little General, we should clean up the spies in Mingshui County as soon as possible to ensure that the news of the corn won’t spread beyond Xingzhou Prefecture.”
“Hasn’t Big Brother’s official document already been sent out? The time was written on it and there are also stamps of various relay stations. Even if the Imperial Court receives the news before they receive the official document, they can only blame the relay stations for being inefficient.” Qi Haoran sneered and said, “Other than urgent battle reports, the documents sent back to the capital by the generals will all be suppressed by the Cabinet. Even if the relay stations send out the document as usual, this document will still be suppressed by the Cabinet for at least 10 to 20 days before reaching the Imperial Palace. It’s good to teach them a lesson using this incident. I can’t wait for someone to report the news before His Majesty sees the document. At that time, there will be a good show to watch.”
Bai Li looked at Qi Haoran in shock. He did not expect Qi Haoran to grow so quickly.
Qi Haoran had already asked, “They’ve already started planting corn for the second season, right?”
“Yes, it started yesterday. Miss Mu said that they will finish planting all the seeds in eight days, but after planting them, they need to water them once. It’s too difficult to transport water from Jialing Lake.”
Qi Haoran only frowned slightly as he asked, “Didn’t I ask you to find someone proficient in astronomy? Why haven’t you found him yet?”
Bai Li rubbed his nose. He really wanted to say that he was a guard and not a servant, but he still accepted his fate and said, “There’s no such talent in Xingzhou Prefecture. I’ve already sent people out to search. All the scholars in the world are aiming for the Imperial Examination. It’s really too difficult to find someone who’s proficient in astronomy.”
Qi Haoran glanced at him and said, “Brother Rong Ze knows astronomy. Alright, continue searching. I’ll go back and ask Brother Rong Ze if it’s going to rain in Xingzhou Prefecture soon. If not, we’ll still have to gather manpower from the 5th Division and choose strong laborers from the various sections to transport water from Jialing Lake.”
After Qi Haoran finished arranging the farming, he got up and went to the dungeon. “Let’s go and see them. They’ve attracted many guests for me these few days.”
Bai Li knew that he was referring to the few groups of spies who visited the military camp one after another.
Qi Haoran was still learning how to interrogate prisoners from Qi Xiuyuan in the prefectural capital when someone visited the military camp at night.
Every time he thought of this, Bai Li could not help but rejoice at Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling’s strange hobby.
If from time to time, Mu Yangling hadn’t played infiltration and defense games with Qi Haoran and avoided the patrols of the military camp to sneak into Qi Haoran’s room, the defense of their military camp might not have improved so much.
It had to be known that the three groups of spies were all elites in this area. One of those groups had almost reached the storeroom before being discovered and taken down.
Qi Haoran rushed back after the first batch of spies was caught. Then, he got Mu Yangling to check the defense situation of the military camp. The last batch was discovered by the secret sentries who had been added at the last minute.
Qi Haoran was angry and excited about the fact that spies were sneaking into his military camp one after another. On the plus side, after preparing for so long, he finally had a chance to practice. He interrogated them overnight and obtained the list of spies left in Mingshui County, but he did not want to take action now.
If so many spies were hiding in the tiny Mingshui County, what about Xingzhou Prefecture and Xingyuan Prefecture?
He decided to ignore Xingyuan Prefecture for now, but he had to uncover those spies in Xingzhou Prefecture because that was where his big brother was staying. Furthermore, the missions he gave Mu Shi in Hanzhong Prefecture let him know how dangerous it was to leave spies around his big brother’s residence.
Therefore, he didn’t mind taking the risk to catch a big fish.