The little cook in the book has fallen asleep

After a long journey, Yuan Heng, Cheng Lixiao and the other three brothers finally arrived at the provincial capital.

Normally speaking, there aren't that many people coming to take the provincial examination, so there should be enough rooms in the inn.

However, Yuan Heng did not allow the four brothers of the Yuan family to stay in the inn. He believed that since they had to stay, they must choose the best one and the location should be as close to the Imperial Examination Hall as possible.

So, he decisively took the four brothers of the Cheng family to the old house of the Yuan family. Someone had been cleaning and tidying up the place, so they could just tidy up and move in.

The main reason is that the Yuan family’s old house is only two alleys away from the Imperial Examination Hall in the provincial capital, and it only takes a cup of tea to walk there.

When Yuan Heng brought Cheng Lixiao and the other two brothers to the old house of the Yuan family, the chief steward Yuan came forward with great surprise and said, "General, you are back?"

Since the death of the master and the mistress, and the young lady's marriage, Yuan Heng has returned here very rarely.

As an old servant of the Yuan family, Steward Yuan has been staying here, guarding the old house of the Yuan family and waiting for Yuan Heng to return home.

"Yes, Uncle Yuan, I'm back.

These are my apprentices, along with the eldest, the second, the third, and the fourth. They all came here to take part in the provincial examination.

Please help arrange their accommodation." Yuan Heng introduced and explained to Manager Yuan.

Although the provincial examination will officially begin the day after tomorrow, Yuan Heng has to deal with his own affairs starting tomorrow, so he can only ask Uncle Yuan to take care of his apprentice's daily life and examination matters.

"Okay, please follow me, young masters!" Uncle Yuan said respectfully immediately.

Yuan Heng is over 40 years old this year, and he has always been unwilling to get married and have children, so the apprentice he recognizes must be the young master.

(In ancient times, "shifu" has a stronger emotional connotation than "shifu", because "shifu" carries the connotation of "father", indicating that the master is like a father. Once you recognize the master, you must take care of the master until his death.)

"Grandpa Yuan, you're welcome. Just call us by our names! My name is Cheng Yiyu!" Cheng Yiyu was not used to being suddenly called Young Master.

"Yes, Grandpa Yuan, my name is Cheng Zhiwen, just call us by our names!" Cheng Zhiwen also felt awkward. He was forced to become a disciple at that time, and he did not want to climb up the social ladder. Whatever he wanted, he would achieve it through his own efforts.

"Yes, yes, Grandpa Yuan, my name is Cheng Liyao"

"Grandpa Yuan, I'm Cheng Lixiao, just call us by our names!"

"Uncle Yuan, you are an elder in our family. I have always treated you as an elder. Don't be polite!" Yuan Heng also hurriedly advised.

"And you guys, I don't have any children, you are the young masters of my Yuan family, and my things all belong to your sister! You are her brothers, so it's not an exaggeration to call you young masters!" Yuan Heng said happily. All his things were given to his daughter as a dowry, as for his apprentice, they would be discussed later.

"Okay, then I am your Grandpa Yuan! Xiao, Yu, Wen, and Yao, come with me!" Uncle Yuan immediately asked the other servants to come forward to take the luggage of the four brothers and follow them into the Yuan family.

The courtyard arranged for them by Butler Yuan is very quiet. Someone will wake them up on time every day, and someone will bring them meals on time. No one will disturb the three of them from studying at other times. This is indeed much better than staying in an inn.

They took out the policy papers and current affairs books their sister had given them and started reading them, reviewing their lessons seriously to win fame for their sister!

Two days later, Cheng Lixiao and Yuan Heng sent Cheng Yiyu and the other two to the examination room.

The examination room was still drawn by lot on the spot. This time, Cheng Liyao's luck seemed to be a bit bad. He was assigned to the center position, with the smell of sweat on both sides. Fortunately, his sister gave him some cooling oil, which helped him get through the difficult three days.

In the imperial manor, Lord Zheng looked at the extremely low yield of sweet potatoes in front of him, and he was almost angry! Rong'er told him not to water the plants too frequently, and he did as she said, but why was the result still the same?

And that dead girl Rong'er, she won't come back no matter how much we urge her. How can a grown-up girl live in someone else's house for so long? Even my aunt's family will gossip about her.

"Dad, have we made a mistake somewhere?" Zheng Yunxuan asked. He had no ambitions, so he worked as a small agricultural official under his father.

"I don't know, let's go back first!" Looking at these disgusting little sweet potatoes, Lord Zheng simply didn't want to look at them anymore.

"What? There is such a thing?" When Lord Zheng came back, he received a letter that Zheng Rong sent home, and along with the letter came a small bag of corn kernels.

Zheng Rong and Cheng Yu wanted the corn kernels in order to gain the greatest benefit for Cheng Yu.

Zheng Rong had a trick up her sleeve. She knew her grandfather's character and knew he would definitely not be able to sit still. She calculated the time and knew that by the time Cheng Yu harvested sweet potatoes and potatoes, her grandfather would definitely be there.

Letting him see and taste it with his own eyes is more effective than any words she says!

Therefore, the back of the letter also wrote about how to cook corn kernels, which is to make the corn rice we often eat.

Lord Zheng followed the instructions in the letter and immediately ordered his servants to grind the corn kernels with a stone mill, then mix the corn with rice and steam it for half an hour before bringing it to him.

Half an hour later, Mr. Zheng carefully lifted a bowl of corn rice, smelled it, and found no special smell. Then he took a big mouthful of it. Hmm? After two more mouthfuls, he actually felt full.

However, corn rice does not taste very good when eaten dry, but with some side dishes, it can also provide a filling meal for the people.

"How much rice did you use for this pot of corn rice?" Lord Zheng asked the chef.

"Sir, these jade... grains can be ground into just three bowls of rice. I mixed them with a bowl of rice and steamed a whole steamer!" the chef replied.

"Just a bowl of rice!" Lord Zheng was very excited when he saw the pot of corn rice in front of him.

"Hurry, change me into official uniform, I want to go to the palace to see the emperor!" he ordered excitedly.

After he changed into his official uniform, he immediately put his granddaughter's letter in his pocket, picked up the steamer and hurried to the palace.

"Your Majesty, Lord Zheng from the Ministry of Agriculture requests to see you!" The Emperor was having dinner with the Queen.

When Eunuch Pan saw Lord Zheng coming with a small wooden barrel in his hand, he thought it must be an emergency, so he went in to report it.

"Is there anything wrong?" The emperor knew Lord Zheng's temper. If it was not an important matter, he would not come to the palace to see him at this time.

"I don't know!" Eunuch Pan was very good at reading the emperor's expression, so he had a good grasp of the right and wrong balance.

"Let him in!" The emperor thought that there must be a new breakthrough in agriculture, so he put down his chopsticks and let Lord Zheng in.

"Your Majesty, your servant Zheng Yexi pays homage!" As soon as he entered the room, Lord Zheng held the steamer high, knelt down and saluted.

"Please stand up, my dear! What is that in your hand?" The emperor was attracted by the steamer and asked immediately.

After Lord Zheng stood up, he immediately opened the lid of the steamer, allowing everyone to see the corn rice in the steamer.

"Your Majesty, this is corn rice, you can try it!" Lord Zheng said and put the steamer on the table.

Someone came forward immediately to test the poison, but the emperor waved his hand and asked him to leave. Lord Zheng was not stupid. Even if he wanted to poison him, he couldn't just carry a bucket and poison him openly along the way.

"Your Majesty, I am a little curious about the taste. Give me a bowl to try!" The queen looked at the golden thing, which looked quite appetizing, and said immediately.

Eunuch Pan served a bowl to each of the emperor and the empress. The taste was not great, but it was novel. After the empress ate half a bowl, she felt full and could not eat any more.

"Huh? This thing gives me a feeling of fullness? It can be used as food!" The emperor naturally felt the same and immediately said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, this was found by my cousin's granddaughter. Please take a look. This is a letter written by my granddaughter!" Lord Zheng didn't care whether he was crossing the line or not, and immediately handed the letter written by his granddaughter to Eunuch Pan.

The emperor took the letter and read it carefully. He understood the thing called corn. Great! Although the corn was not very delicious, his people could finally have enough food!

"Master Zheng, listen to my order. I order you to take ten thousand taels of gold and go to Bai Ze County in the western province to find the Cheng family. You must buy the seeds back!" The emperor was also very excited, but he thought of the last time the Cheng family's reward was stolen, and immediately instructed: "When you trade gold, do it behind people's backs, and don't make any noise!"

"Yes, I accept the order!" After receiving the order, Lord Zheng waited for Eunuch Pan to hand the imperial edict to him before he excitedly went home to pack his things and got on the carriage to Qingshan Village.

"Xuan'er, what's happening to your father?" Old Madam Zheng asked in confusion.

"Rong'er said that my aunt's granddaughter discovered a kind of grain called corn, and asked my father to go to Qingshan Village to take a look!

"After my father asked the kitchen to prepare and taste the food, he couldn't sit still anymore and went to the palace. Now he has received the imperial decree and is heading straight to Qingshan Village!" Zheng Xuan said helplessly.

His father was an agricultural lunatic. In order to study seeds, he would stare at crops for days and nights without sleep.

"Well, let him be. He must be very happy now. I wonder what that grain tastes like!" Old Madam Zheng understood her husband's responsibilities and his wish that the people of the world could have enough food and clothing.

"Mom, Dad left some for you. It's in the pot. Let's go and try it." Zheng Yunxuan helped his mother into the Zheng family to try this new thing.

Zheng Rong was also talking to Cheng Yu at this moment. Cheng Yu agreed to contribute the corn seeds, but she would not give them to any individual. She wanted to give them directly to the court, so she asked Zheng Rong to write a letter to Lord Zheng.

Zheng Rong probably didn't expect that her grandfather would come so soon. After waiting for five days, she was really shocked when she saw her grandfather who was sloppy and dusty!