I will lead the whole village to occupy the land and become the king.

Liu Ruyi turned her head abruptly upon hearing the voice. The moment she saw the Seventh Prince, her face turned pale as paper. "Seventh...Seventh Prince..."

Why is the Seventh Prince here? Didn't he say he wouldn't come?

In a flash, Liu Ruyi suddenly realized that Xiao Rui didn't want to come, but wanted to come by himself.

Xiao Rui stood before Village Chief Li and Jiang Qinyu, staring directly at Liu Ruyi. Although his voice remained gentle, the words he spoke were as cold as ice. "Liu Ruyi, I didn't realize before that you earned the title of County Lady by falsely claiming the credit for someone else's work. Now that your lie has been exposed, what else do you have to say?"

"No! No," Liu Ruyi shook her head repeatedly, "Your Highness, please listen to my explanation. I didn't..."

Xiao Rui raised his eyebrows slightly, "Nothing? Didn't you lie to Father, or did you take credit for someone else's work?"

"No!" Liu Ruyi quickly denied, "I definitely haven't reached my limit, Your Majesty!"

Her eyes met the mocking gazes of Jiang Qinyu and the others, and she panicked. She shook her head desperately and pointed at Jiang Qinyu and said, "They teamed up to frame me!"

"Framed you?" Jiang Qinyu almost laughed out of anger. "We have no grudge against you. We even took you in for several months when you were homeless. Why would we frame you?"

Liu Ruyi's eyes flickered, and she raised her voice with a lack of confidence, "You can't stand seeing me become the Princess of Yongshan County, and you can't stand seeing me receive His Majesty's reward!"

"What a joke," Jiang Qinyu stepped forward. "Before today, we had no idea you were a county lord, much less that discovering and growing sweet potatoes could earn you a reward from the emperor. How could we have come together to frame you?"

Jiang Qinyu took a few more steps forward, forcing Liu Ruyi to retreat. Seeing that she was almost stepping into the ground, she stopped. "Let's not talk about anything else. Since you said you discovered the sweet potatoes and that you led people to grow them, then tell me where did you get the sweet potatoes in the first place?"

"I know!" Liu Ruyi's eyes lit up and she shouted, "I bought the sweet potatoes from a foreign merchant!"

This was what Jiang Qinyu told the villagers. She naturally remembered it and told the emperor the same thing.

Jiang Qinyu's lips curled slightly. "Our whole village knows about this. So, can you tell me how sweet potatoes are grown?"

Liu Ruyi choked, her face frozen, and her eyes flickered as she looked at Xiao Rui. "This... the sweet potato planting method is a secret. How can you say it in front of so many people?"

"Everyone here is from my Great Yue, and sweet potatoes are a crop that benefits the people. There is nothing you can't tell others about the planting methods. I allow you to defend yourself." Xiao Rui said lightly, but his eyes were fixed on Liu Ruyi.

Liu Ruyi's heart tightened, her eyes wandered around, and she opened her mouth several times but couldn't say anything.

"Heh," Jiang Qinyu laughed sarcastically, "You don't even know how to grow it, and you still dare to say that you led people to grow it?"

"I...I know!" Liu Ruyi's gaze stopped at the sweet potato seedlings in the field, and she exclaimed as if a sudden inspiration had struck her. "Just bury the sweet potatoes in the ground, then water and fertilize them, and that'll be it!"

"Hahaha..." Village Chief Li and others burst into laughter when they heard this.

Jiang Qinyu also looked at her sarcastically.

Liu Ruyi was furious and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

The sweet potato is just a whole thing. If we don’t plant it directly in the ground, can we cut it into pieces and plant it?

"They are laughing at you for being stupid, pretending to know everything, and taking credit for other people's work with a sense of righteousness. You even want to make them gain nothing!" Jiang Qinyu put away the mocking smile on her face and looked at her coldly.

Xiao Rui bowed to Jiang Qinyu and said, "I am also curious about how to grow sweet potatoes. I hope Madam General will be able to teach me."

"I don't deserve your advice, but..." She looked at Liu Ruyi with a half-smile, "Why don't you ask this county lord to tell His Highness?"

She really didn't expect that the person Village Chief Li casually rescued had such an identity, but if he was there, all the things she and Wei Chengzhong had prepared before would be useless. The Seventh Prince was the best witness, and Liu Ruyi couldn't deny it even if she wanted to.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the Seventh Prince must show himself to be upright and approachable to the people.

Otherwise, if he reaches some deal with Liu Ruyi later, all their efforts will be in vain.

Xiao Rui looked at Liu Ruyi again and said calmly, "Since that's the case, County Lord Liu, please tell me, how many other ways are there to grow sweet potatoes?"

At this moment, everyone looked at Liu Ruyi as if she were a fool, and the ridicule in everyone's eyes made her feel like she had nowhere to hide.

Liu Ruyi held it in for a long time but couldn't utter a word.

Jiang Qinyu then asked, "Miss Liu, are you sure you have nothing to say? Don't let me tell you how to grow sweet potatoes and then you say you know all this too."

She blocked all of Liu Ruyi's escape routes, not giving her any chance to turn things around.

Xiao Rui also said, "I testify that if Liu Ruyi doesn't tell me how to grow sweet potatoes now, it proves that she doesn't know how to grow sweet potatoes at all."

His words determined Liu Ruyi's fate and left her with no room for maneuver.

Liu Ruyi opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but her mind was blank.

Seeing that she had nothing to say, Jiang Qinyu briefly explained several common sweet potato breeding methods.

When she finished speaking, the people in this area suddenly understood.

"No wonder the General's wife asked us to use water to breed sweet potatoes. This is actually the case."

"There are also some that have sprouted and then cut into pieces..."

The discussions of the crowd made Liu Ruyi feel even more embarrassed, and her face turned pale.

Xiao Rui looked at Liu Ruyi and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Liu Ruyi looked around and saw the people looking at her with indignation. She felt humiliated and hated everyone in Dingshui Village, especially Jiang Qinyu!

If there was no Jiang Qinyu, if Jiang Qinyu had not exposed her in this way, then everything would still be possible.

But now it was all over, she was completely finished...

Liu Ruyi fell to her knees, kowtowed to Xiao Rui, and wept, "I know I was wrong. I hope Your Highness will show mercy and allow me to return to the capital to explain the matter to Your Majesty..."

"You should return to the capital, but you can't go back alone." Xiao Rui pondered for a moment, then shouted, "Xue Zi'an! Send someone to escort Liu Ruyi back to the capital and tell father the whole story. Don't leave out a single word!"

"I obey your command!" Xue Zian appeared out of nowhere and suddenly knelt on one knee behind Xiao Rui.

Soon someone came forward and pulled Liu Ruyi away.

Liu Ruyi did not resist. She just looked at Xiao Rui with tears streaming down her face, muttering, "Your Highness, I... do not regret it..."

Although she didn't know why she said this, Jiang Qinyu still got goosebumps.

Everyone watched Liu Ruyi being taken away and spat at her back.

"Bah! She's so bad, it's a shame we took her in for so long."

"Alright, alright, she's been exposed and taken away, hasn't she?"

"Let's quickly help the people of Qingcao Village plant their wheat..."

Jiang Qinyu bowed to Xiao Rui and said, "Your Highness, I, Jiang Qinyu, pay my respects to His Highness the Seventh Prince..."