The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

Wulin Tuya finished the sweet potato in no time, took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and said, "It's so sweet and delicious! Princess Zhan and Princess Jingyi, you are so lucky to be able to eat such delicious food."

Princess Jingyi had never eaten roasted sweet potatoes before. She hadn't been feeling well lately and rarely went out shopping. Even when she did, she didn't fancy this kind of food. She just smiled and didn't say anything.

“Beiye has a lot of delicious food, but the drought of the past two years has reduced the yield of many crops. However, this sweet potato is drought-resistant and has a high yield,” Jingxue said.

"Oh, by the way, why haven't they come out yet?" Ulintuya said.

"Let's go in and take a look!" As soon as Jingxue finished speaking, Zhang Daming, being sensible, ran over and lifted the curtain for them.

Jingxue smiled and said, "Thank you, Daming!"

Zhang Daming said shyly, "Sister, you're too kind!"

Once inside the grain shop, the common people buying grain stood on one side, while the delegation and their entourage stood on the other, so that they did not interfere with each other.

This time, it was the Imperial Advisor and the Seventh Prince, Wanyan Junhui, who were questioning Qin Jing and Manager Cai.

To be honest, many officials have never been to a grain store. They rarely go shopping, and they all have stewards at home to manage things. Why would they need to come personally for something like this?

As Qin Jing spoke eloquently, Ye Musi occasionally chimed in with a few words. Meanwhile, Prince Duan, standing to the side, looked at his father-in-law, Hu Yucheng, his face filled with frustration.

"This is a matter for the Ministry of Revenue, so why wasn't anyone from the Ministry of Agriculture sent over today?" Prince Duan said in a low voice.

Hu Yucheng was also annoyed, as others had stolen the limelight from him. "We in Beiye don't even have enough grain to eat, so how can we have surplus grain to trade? That's why I didn't send anyone from the Ministry of Agriculture."

Jingxue and the others came in without saying a word and just looked around.

The Imperial Advisor, Ulindaku, showed interest in cornmeal and soybeans, and Qin Jing even had Zhang Niangzi bring over some tofu and spiced dried tofu.

Wanyan Junhui and his brother each ate a piece of dried tofu. They were interested because Qin Jing said that this stuff could be stored for a while, was convenient to carry when going out, and tasted pretty good!

An Wenguang saw Jingxue come in and, knowing this was her shop again, didn't dare say anything more.

After talking for a while, the group left the shop. Before leaving, Jingxue asked Manager Cai to pack a small bag of potatoes and sweet potatoes for Wulintuya to roast and eat at Yongping Palace.

As noon approached, everyone boarded the carriage again and headed to the north city for lunch, as arranged beforehand.

During Ye Muchen's delegation's visit, his main responsibility was security, so his attention was focused on the people around him.

Upon arriving at Mingyue Hot Pot Restaurant, everyone dined on the first floor.

Normally, with so many guards standing around, Jingxue would definitely not be used to being watched by others, but this was a visiting delegation, and if security was compromised, it could easily lead to war.

It was precisely because of safety concerns that we didn't go to the private rooms on the second floor.

Fortunately, everyone was quite satisfied with the meal. Hot pot is a new way of eating in Beijing this winter, and many officials and their families have eaten it before, so it's not unfamiliar to them.

The Cangbei people have big appetites, and Qin Jing had prepared two sheep in advance. However, after the meal, Qin Jing discovered that the Beiye people were also quite good eaters.

They had originally planned to stroll around the northern part of the city after dinner, but the Seventh Prince and the Grand Tutor said that they would be having their first negotiation the next day and they wanted to go back to prepare. So, the people accompanying them took the delegation and Jingxue to the palace gate.

Leap Month hadn't had lunch yet. Although Jingxue secretly slipped her some food, she still made her ride her balance bike back to the East Palace to eat first.

After returning to the Eastern Palace, the delegation immediately gathered to discuss the negotiations for the next day.

The second prince, Wanyan Junhao, wanted to sleep after eating his fill, and he was quite quiet at the moment.

The Imperial Advisor spoke first, saying, "Today we've visited some of the shops in Beiye. Let's hear your opinions!"

An official from the Salt Commissioner's Office said, "Grand Preceptor, Your Highnesses, when I was eating today, I deliberately said that I had a strong palate and asked for a portion of fine salt. I discovered that the fine salt from Beiye is now of even better quality than the salt that our people brought back from Nanzhao before."

The Imperial Advisor and the Seventh Prince were both startled. The Seventh Prince, Wanyan Junhui, asked, "Is this true?"

"Seventh Prince, it's absolutely true!" the Salt Commissioner official affirmed.

The Imperial Advisor glanced at the Seventh Prince and said, "That shouldn't be the case. Did our intelligence malfunction? Or..."

“The important thing now is tomorrow’s negotiations. We originally wanted to use Nanzhao’s fine salt to lower the price, but that won’t work!” Wanyan Junhui said.

The Grand Preceptor sighed, "Then let's not use that method. We'll just have to play it by ear. Anyway, we have our bottom line. If they ask for too much, then this project won't be possible."

"The goods in Beiye are diverse and abundant, which is quite different from what we know. I didn't expect Beiye to develop so quickly in just three years!" Wanyan Junhui exclaimed.

“However, their animal husbandry is far inferior to that of Cangbei, so we can only start from this aspect,” the Grand Preceptor said.

Wanyan Junhui nodded slightly in agreement: "If the output of lake salt in my Cangbei territory were not so low, why would we have to travel all this way?"

The official from the Grain Bureau standing next to him quickly replied, "Your Excellency, Your Highness, there is no need to be so discouraged. Although the situation of lake salt is not optimistic, we still have crops such as wheat and sorghum."

However, Wanyan Junhui frowned and retorted, "But I clearly saw that there were many kinds of grains in that grain shop that even we in Cangbei have never seen before."

At this moment, a subtle glint of cunning flashed in the eyes of the grain official, who then lowered his voice and said, "Seventh Prince, you may not know this, but I have made another discovery. On that street just now, two grain shops were already closed and no longer open for business; moreover, the grain shop we just visited was even implementing a policy of limiting grain sales. This shows that their grain reserves must be very limited, and the amount of grain they have stockpiled is probably not much."

After the official finished speaking, the Grand Preceptor and the Seventh Prince, who had been eagerly anticipating good news, did not show much joy. They knew that the current predicament facing Bei Ye was only temporary, and that the agreement they had come to sign was for a long-term contract.

They wanted to exchange the grain for silver to buy what they needed.

"Let's play it by ear in tomorrow's negotiations! Don't make any hasty decisions," Wanyan Junhui concluded.

"Yes!" the crowd replied.

Just then, Wanyan Junhao, who was standing to the side, suddenly opened his mouth wide and let out a huge yawn without any restraint. The sound was so loud that it seemed to shatter people's eardrums: "Oh dear, how long is this going to last? This prince is so sleepy, I just want to go back to my palace and get a good night's sleep!" After saying that, he rubbed his eyes, which were slightly squinted due to sleepiness.

Upon hearing this, the imperial advisor shook his head helplessly and let out a deep sigh. He sighed inwardly, thinking to himself, "This son-in-law, though incredibly brave and slaying countless enemies on the battlefield, is utterly clueless in other areas."

Thinking of this, the Imperial Advisor couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.