The Cloud Feather of the Red Chamber: A Marriage Arranged with Gong Yuanzheng at the Start

The imperial censors below erupted in an uproar, while the emperor's gaze fell coolly on Censor Zhang.

“Minister Zhang, you should start by investigating the merchants in the capital.”

"I am also very curious whether any of the merchants in the capital are colluding with officials of the court, and how many of them are corrupt and bribe-taking."

Imperial Censor Zhang's expression changed drastically. In the capital, a place of great importance, which merchant has no powerful backers? How could they not be involved in corruption and bribery?

Your Majesty, Your Majesty is forcing him to offend all the important officials in the court.

Although being an imperial censor meant offending people, he didn't want to offend so many important officials at the same time.

The emperor's eyes held a half-smile. "Isn't being an imperial censor all about being upright, incorruptible, and fearless of powerful figures?"

"What, you only dare to keep an eye on the people your master tells you to keep an eye on, but you don't dare to keep an eye on anyone else?"

Upon hearing this, most of the officials in the hall knelt down, trembling with fear, and cried out, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your subject dares not."

The two princes who had already attended court changed their expressions drastically and hurriedly knelt down.

"Father, please calm your anger. Your son has absolutely no intention of doing anything disloyal."

The emperor withdrew his gaze, feeling utterly bored. He said coldly, "Stop kneeling, all of you, get up. I was once a prince too. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking?"

The two princes lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to move an inch.

The emperor was too lazy to pay attention to these people, and his gaze toward Gong Shangjiao was quite warm.

"Shangjiao, let's go to the Imperial Study first. You can explain the matter of the grain seeds to me in more detail later."

Gong Shangjiao naturally obeyed the order and followed.

In the imperial study, Gong Shangjiao told the emperor everything he had learned from Gong Yuanzheng the night before about the rice seedlings.

When the emperor heard that this was the result of Gong Yuanzheng's research over several days, he exclaimed in amazement.

Gong Shangjiao said, "Your Majesty, since the expedition will be busy with the improvement of grain varieties, I'm afraid it will be impossible to attend to the matter of espionage."

"I request Your Majesty to appoint someone else to take over this matter."

A look of surprise flashed across the emperor's eyes. He never expected that Gong Shangjiao would voluntarily relinquish such great power.

With Gong Yuanzheng's current martial arts skills, he can easily leave the manor in disguise without anyone noticing.

Since the cultivation of grain seeds does not require Gong Yuanzheng to stay by his side for a moment, he can go out and handle the espionage matters.

He understood Gong Shangjiao's personality; he was much more straightforward and direct than those court officials, and he never beat around the bush in his words or deeds.

Since he said that, he must really want to delegate power.

Considering the abilities Gong Yuanzheng had demonstrated over the past year, the emperor was reluctant to let go of this talented individual.

"Your Majesty, the bloodline of the palace is dwindling; now, only my brother, Yuanzheng, is married..."

The emperor's lips twitched, and he lost all interest in listening.

He thought of his troublesome younger brother, who was still unwilling to get married and still had an on-and-off relationship with Gong Zishang.

Gong Zishang is now enjoying a life of luxury with women on both sides, while her younger brother remains single. It's infuriating to even think about it.

Unfortunately, Gong Zishang was also a talented individual, and one of the most scarce talents in Daqing.

Every time the emperor thought of this, he cursed Qi Yan'an as a good-for-nothing in his heart!

He was conflicted, hoping that the two of them would get together, but also hoping that they wouldn't.

He also heard that the lady he had appointed was going on a trip that would last for half a year.

Let's play with her if we want, considering the few new weapons she just presented.

Qi Yan'an is now handling his official duties with great ease.

"Who knows, I might have to travel with Gong Zishang again," the emperor raised an eyebrow, and after some thought, he slowly spoke.

"Leave the spies to Yan An, and let Yuan Zheng focus on cultivating the grain seeds."

The scroll slowly closed, and Gong Zishang stretched and relaxed.

This painting is the one that has made her most tired from looking at it today.

Previous power struggles for the throne were only seen in historical records; this was the first time we had witnessed the undercurrents within the imperial court.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Young Master Xue glanced at Gong Zishang's expression, then at Gong Yuanzheng.

I silently shut my mouth; there are some things I should say to Da Xue alone.

Gong Yuanzheng frowned, constantly watching Lin Ruhai's changing expression.

His future father-in-law seemed to think he had wasted a good opportunity?

He didn't understand, he didn't comprehend, but since his brother did it this way, he must have his reasons.

------

The morning mist broke through the clouds, awakening the slumbering Old Dust Valley.

Gong Yuanzheng bowed his head in the fields, his green brocade robe stained with mud, but he didn't care at all.

In his hand was a tender green seedling.

With slender fingers holding a small shovel, she dug through the dark soil and planted the seedling inside.

In front of him was a row of seedlings that had already been planted.

Looking at the row of seedlings in front of him, and recalling the growth of the other seedlings over the past few days, he had a clear idea of ​​what was going on.

In the painting, Gong Yuanzheng was able to cultivate such a high-yield grain variety in just a few days.

Those that he carefully cultivates will definitely have a higher yield.

Thinking about all this, he smiled slightly; life was getting better and better.

The only drawback is that, even now, he still cannot leave the palace.

Even though Liang's identity has been investigated, why can't he leave the palace?

The older brother's answer was to wait, to wait for the time to come, and to wait for the Crown Prince to finish his plan.

"Young Master Zheng!" Jin Huai rushed over, not even bothering to catch his breath, and said directly, "The scroll has been opened!"

Gong Yuanzheng's expression changed slightly. Without wasting a moment, he used his lightness skill to rush towards the palace gate.

The palace gates are not suitable for conducting grain seed experiments; they can only be conducted in the Old Dust Valley.

This place is quite a distance from the palace gate.

Gong Yuanzheng couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

When he arrived at the pharmacy, he saw that Gong Zishang, Xue Gongzi, and Xue Zhongzi had already arrived, and there was an empty chair, obviously reserved for him.

Fruits and tea were placed in front of each of the three people.

"Yuanzheng, come and sit down, we've been waiting for you!"

Gong Yuanzheng rolled his eyes and, instead of sitting down, leaped onto the roof.

Lying on the eaves, I looked up at the painting above.

I don't know when it started, but these people always come to his pharmacy to look at the paintings. It's really annoying.

Even Gong Yuanzheng himself didn't expect that if he didn't want to watch with them, he could simply go back to Zheng Palace.

He couldn't stop them from the pharmacy, but he could from the palace.

The painting depicts a field, and Gong Yuanzheng, dressed much more simply than he had been, is squatting in the field, carefully tending to each rice seedling, just like he had been earlier.

As the sun rose higher, he seemed to sense something and looked up into the distance.

A faint smile naturally appeared on his handsome face, and a touch of gentleness appeared in his cold eyes.

He quickly stood up, used his lightness skill to fly over the ridge of the field.

Sure enough, at the end of the grain field, beside a simple pavilion, a girl dressed in equally simple clothes was being helped by her maid to get off the carriage.

Gong Yuanzheng quickly cleaned the mud off his hands in the pavilion, took off his outer robe, and casually tossed it to a servant.

The moment Lin Qingyue's feet touched the ground, the person supporting her arm changed.

The person who came not only supported her arm, but even put their arm around her waist.

"Why did you suddenly come here? Is your back still sore?"

Lin Qingyue blushed slightly and gave him a subtle glare. "Qiu Lan said that the fruits you cultivated earlier have ripened, so I came to take a look."

Gong Yuanzheng smiled, "I'll go with you to pick some later."

The couple walked along the ridge of the field, with golden rice on one side and tender green seedlings on the other.

Lin Qingyue ran her fingers over the plump ears of rice, her eyes filled with amazement and admiration as she looked at Gong Yuanzheng.

"You've achieved a yield of 1,000 catties per mu in just two years in Yangzhou. Yuanzheng, you're really amazing!"

Modern hybrid rice yields about 1,000 kilograms per mu (approximately 0.16 acres).

But this is ancient times.

"Now the people of this world can all have enough to eat. Yuanzheng, you truly deserve to be called the Shennong of our time!"

Gong Yuanzheng was quite dismissive of this title. He was not a compassionate person, and what did the people of the world have to do with him?

Before, he only wanted his brother to be safe and sound; now, he wants all his family members to be safe and sound.

The research on grain varieties was merely something Yue'er wanted him to do.