A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

"Catering to their preferences."

Gu Xixi said these four words.

Mu Nanzhao looked enlightened, then chuckled, "You never disappoint."

"It just depends on how exactly it's done."

The four guests of honor sitting in the hall were all intelligent, and the other two quickly understood as well.

He Jinglan laughed and said, "Then let's use the method everyone likes best, send down a divine decree or something, and have them cooperate with the imperial court to eliminate the locusts!"

An Qinghe rolled his eyes slyly and laughed out loud, "I know what to do."

"We can perform a real miracle in front of everyone."

But after hearing An Qinghe say a few words like this...

Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nanzhao and He Jinglan, "Then let's do it this way?"

He Jinglan raised her hand, "I'm ready to serve at any time, and I'm willing to do anything."

Mu Nanzhao nodded, glancing at An Qinghe. Although his gaze wasn't exactly friendly, it at least held a hint of approval.

An Qinghe smugly put his hands on his hips and said, "Hmph, get this straight, I'm not doing this to help you gain merit!"

"Firstly, I have to share Xixi's burdens; I must support whatever she wants to do."

"Secondly, the famine will be very detrimental to our business later on."

He turned to Gu Xixi, grinning widely, "Xixi, don't you think so?"

Mu Nanzhao still had a faint smile on his lips, but a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

He Jinglan kicked An Qinghe, "Would you die if you didn't provoke them at a time like this?!"

There are seven days left until the results of the imperial examinations are announced, and the flower viewing banquet at Xiao He Mansion will be held in nine days.

If the first phase of locust eradication goes smoothly, it will not affect the holding of the flower viewing banquet in the slightest.

On that day, the newly appointed Minister of Revenue led a group of officials to Xianguo Village to conduct an on-site inspection of the wheat fields.

After being measured by a specialist and compared with the records kept by the Ministry of Revenue over the years, it was deduced that the locust eggs in Xianguo Village did indeed reach the level of a locust plague.

Immediately afterwards, the Ministry of Revenue sent urgent documents to the surrounding prefectures and counties.

Local agricultural officials were required to conduct in-depth field investigations within one day.

The reports from various localities afterward were also not optimistic.

Locust eggs have been found in varying numbers throughout the Gyeonggi region.

Given this situation, if a locust plague breaks out in June, not only will the capital region be doomed to a complete crop failure.

Even areas further west and south were inevitably affected.

Having obtained the necessary evidence, He Jinghui publicly presented the plan for preventative locust control during the morning court session on the third day.

There were naturally many dissenting voices among the court officials.

Unfortunately, the regent had already hinted at his intentions to the emperor in person.

The emperor valued the people's livelihood and was already prepared. After hearing He Jinghui's reasonable and well-founded words, he immediately issued an edict ordering the Ministry of Revenue to handle the matter with full authority.

After receiving the order, He Jinghui respectfully said, "Tomorrow morning at the first quarter of the hour of Si (9-11 AM) will be auspicious. Your humble servant has set up a platform at the East Gate to announce to the people the righteous act of eliminating locusts."

"I fear that I alone cannot control the situation. I humbly request Your Majesty to come and see you. Your presence will surely boost the morale of the people!"

Before the emperor could speak, Grand Secretary Fan's eldest son stood up to object.

Other ministers associated with the Fan family also followed suit.

At this moment, Mu Nanzhao, who was standing at the very front of the court, stepped forward and coldly looked around.

Wherever his gaze fell, the courtiers all avoided eye contact, fearing to meet his gaze.

Mu Nanzhao faced the emperor and bowed, saying, "Apart from the true gods and Buddhas passed down from ancient times, the locust god is nothing more than an evil god imagined by the people out of fear."

"Your Majesty values ​​the people's livelihood, eradicates locusts, protects food supplies, and cares for the common people. He is the only true god in the secular world of the Great Ye Dynasty. With such righteousness, what is there to fear from the locust god?"

"Instead of trying to change the social customs, you gentlemen all jump out and keep calling the Locust God."

"Could it be!" Mu Nanzhao suddenly raised his voice, "that you all don't believe in His Majesty, but instead believe in the Locust God?"

The emperor, perfectly behaving himself, gazed down calmly, exuding an imposing aura without anger.

The assembled officials immediately knelt down and shouted, "We dare not!"

After a moment, the emperor finally spoke, "My dear ministers, please rise."

Although he had a smile on his face, his tone left no room for argument.

"Anyway, I haven't left the palace for a long time. So I'll do as Minister He says."

"This is a battle between the people of Daye and the locusts. As the emperor, it is only right that I personally oversee the battle."

"My beloved ministers, as you accompany me, let us pray for the well-being of the people."

At this point, although the ministers still harbored their own thoughts, none of them dared to oppose him.

This afternoon.

Gu Xixi sprinkled the medicine on the locust eggs, waited an hour, and then cut the eggs open one by one.

The larvae that are close to hatching are already alive, making it easy to observe the effects of the drug on them.

To minimize errors, a total of eighty strings of insect egg samples were collected, which is a lot.

The maids of Yuzhu Courtyard each had an embroidery needle and, following Gu Xixi's demonstration, carefully cut open the outer skin without harming the insect inside.

Each person marks one line and counts it, using the method of drawing tally marks.

There was no other way; in a world without other tools and computers, this was the only clumsy method available.

After everyone's hard work, more than 50% of the worms that were finally dissected were dead, about 10% died a while later, and less than 40% were alive.

He Jinglan exclaimed happily, "That's great, just as you expected!"

Gu Xixi sighed regretfully, "I originally thought I could reach 60%."

However, there's no time to optimize the formula, so this is the best we can do for now.

He Jinghui has been so busy these past few days that he hasn't been home.

He Jinglan could only send her guards to deliver the prescription to He Jinghui as soon as possible.

The required quantity of this stuff is considerable; only through the imperial court's continuous efforts to produce it can it be supplied for use.

After finishing all this, half of the afternoon had already passed.

He Jinglan forced Gu Xixi to drink a bowl of calming soup, saying, "You haven't slept much these past two days, so you have to listen to me and get a good night's sleep. There's something important to do tomorrow morning."

Gu Xixi was pulled to the bedside and obediently lay down. "An Qinghe hasn't come back yet?"

He Jinglan said, "No, I guess he'll go directly to my brother's place after he's done."

"Just trust him and don't worry too much."

Gu Xixi nodded, "He seems like a jovial person, but he never fails to deliver on his promises."

The next day at 9:00 AM.

The young emperor ascended the high platform, accompanied by his personal attendants and the regent, with his ministers following behind.

The Jinwu Guard is responsible for guarding the area.

The area outside the East Gate was already completely surrounded by people.

Upon seeing the bright yellow dragon robe, the audience erupted in uproar.

No one noticed the woman dressed in non-Han clothing accompanying the regent.

She had no makeup or jewelry, and her face was covered with a thin veil.

Even though it looks pretty, it's not stunningly beautiful enough to attract attention.

Even if some courtiers behind her saw her, they would only assume she was a maidservant brought by the regent.

After all, the Regent was always arrogant and never paid any attention to anyone other than His Majesty.

Even in such a formal setting, it's not surprising that he insisted on bringing a maid along, setting him apart from others.

Outside the human wall formed by the Imperial Guards, An Qinghe and He Jinglan also stood in the crowd.

Even though He Jinglan had seen many big events, she couldn't help but feel nervous at this moment.

"You're saying that Xixi is going to do that kind of thing to His Majesty on her first audience with the Emperor? Is that alright?"

An Qinghe stared upwards, gritting his teeth, "I don't know either."

"...Damn Mu Nanzhao!!"