Divorcing your wife might feel good for a moment, but seeing me make money will make you regret it f

Driven by curiosity about Xu Qing and also wanting to see if rubber trees could truly be grown as Cui Han claimed, the Emperor granted Cui Han's request to the emperor.

An imperial edict was delivered by fast horse to Xujia Village in Datong Town.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict arrived at Xu Qing's house, led by the village chief.

The village chief was sweating profusely.

The highest-ranking official he had ever met in his life was the county magistrate, and he could never help but feel nervous whenever he met him.

This time he really showed his mettle; he even led the way for the officials in the palace without his legs shaking, though he did sweat a little.

"My lord, please wait here while I go and call Madam Xu."

The village chief spoke with great respect.

The eunuch nodded slightly, signaling the village chief to hurry up.

The village chief wiped his brow, turned around, and knocked on the door.

"Dong dong dong."

"Qing, are you home?"

When Ms. Wen opened the door and saw that it was the village chief, she smiled and said, "Brother Dehua, my daughter is replanting rubber trees in the field. What can I do for her?"

The village chief whispered, "A big shot from the capital has come looking for Qingya. I've inquired about it."

Although I haven't found out exactly what happened, it shouldn't be a bad thing.

"Go and call Qing'er back quickly; it won't be good to keep the adults waiting."

Upon hearing this, Ms. Wen hurriedly ran to the field and called Xu Qing back.

After Xu Qing returned, the palace eunuch said with a smile, "This must be Madam Xu. Kneel down to receive the imperial decree."

Xu Qing, Wen Shi, and the village chief all knelt down.

The eunuch produced the imperial edict, unfolded it, and began to read aloud: "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."

The place where the imperial edict was read was at the front gate of Xu Qing's house, and there were many pebbles on the road.

Xu Qing listened quietly to the eunuch's effusive praise, feeling an unbearable pain in her knees.

The stones that were once used to level the ground have now become a weapon that torments her.

After the eunuch finished reading the part praising him, the main text began.

Xu Qing listened patiently for a while longer. It turned out that the Emperor had heard about her deeds and decided to offer her some preferential policies.

However, this policy wasn't given to her for nothing; she needed to achieve some real accomplishments first.

For example, if one mu (approximately 1 acres) of land is planted with rubber trees, the land tax for that mu can be directly waived, and each tree in that mu will receive a subsidy of one tael of silver.

Once the rubber trees officially start producing rubber, we can allocate a piece of land for her to build a factory and process the rubber.

Furthermore, anything she produced using rubber was exempt from taxation and directly entered into the ranks of royal merchants.

These policies have all been filed with the government office through another imperial edict. Whichever policy Xu Qing achieves, the county magistrate of Datong Town will issue the corresponding reward after conducting an inspection and confirming that it is correct.

Xu Qing's eyes lit up as she listened, and she even ignored the pain in her knees.

The village chief and Wen were completely baffled by these flowery words, but seeing Xu Qing's excited expression, they figured it must be something good.

The eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict finally finished reading the long memorial, then personally helped Xu Qing up and handed her the bright yellow imperial edict:

"Madam Xu, the Emperor has high hopes for you. Keep up the good work and don't let the Emperor down."

Xu Qing smiled and nodded, then took out a silver note and slapped it on the eunuch delivering the imperial decree:

"Thank you for your advice, sir. You have come from afar and must be tired from your journey."

This is just a small token of my appreciation; please take it and share some tea with your brothers.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree was even more satisfied with Xu Qing's shrewdness. He accepted the silver notes and left with his entourage.

After confirming that the eunuch delivering the imperial edict had gone far away, the village chief let out a long sigh of relief, rubbed his knees, and finally relaxed.

He looked at the imperial edict in Xu Qing's hand and asked, "Qing girl, what does this say?"

I heard it was a compliment, but why wasn't there a reward?

In the past, those who provided solutions to rice diseases to the county magistrate would receive a reward.

This emperor is so stingy; he only talks the talk.

Wen hurriedly covered the village chief's mouth, stamping her feet in frustration:

"Hey Dehua, you've been steady your whole life, how come you're being so confused today?"

We dare not offend the county magistrate, let alone the emperor!

You'd better shut up! What if someone overhears you and tells the Emperor?

"Do we even want to live anymore?!"

The village chief then realized what had happened and, in a moment of fear, slapped himself.

As if someone nearby could actually hear him, he quickly tried to cover up his mistake.

"I didn't mean it, I had no intention of offending Your Majesty. It was a slip of the tongue, I will punish myself!"

The village chief dared not ask Xu Qing what the imperial edict meant anymore and quietly returned home.

Only Xu Qing and Wen Shi remained at the entrance.

Xu Qing was surprised that Wen Shi could say such a thing, and couldn't help but look her mother up and down.

Wen said somewhat embarrassedly, "Why are you looking at me like that, Mother? I only heard it from the storyteller when I went to town with Hui Niang to listen to the story last time."

Xu Qing gave Wen a thumbs up and praised, "As expected of my mother, she's really amazing."

Wen blushed at Xu Qing's words and glared at her reproachfully.

"What should we do with this imperial edict? Why don't we take it to the village ancestral hall and enshrine it?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "Mother, these are our family's things, why should they be placed in the village's ancestral hall?"

Besides, this contains many promises the Emperor made to me; it's evidence. If anyone dares to bully me in the future, I can use this to scare them away.

Mrs. Wen nodded repeatedly, beaming from ear to ear: "My daughter is right, we should take this and enshrine it in our home."

Xu Qing handed the imperial edict to Madam Wen: "Mother, please take it inside for me. There's still some work to be done in the fields."

Wen rubbed her hands on her clothes again and again, but she still couldn't stop sweating.

She said anxiously, "Daughter, no, I'm nervous. What if I get the imperial edict dirty?"

Xu Qing calmly said, "The Emperor gave this to us, so it belongs to our family. Mother, there's no need to be so nervous."

Infected by Xu Qing's composure, Madam Wen gradually calmed down as well, picked up the imperial edict, and headed home.

On the way, he kept exclaiming: "As expected of the Emperor, the material used to deliver messages is even smoother than the clothes they wear next to their bodies."

Xu Qing returned to the field, where Wu Yu was standing in front of the thatched hut where Anna and the others had lived.

"It's like a pillow being delivered just when you're sleepy. Don't worry, Brother Wu, if that bastard dares to cause trouble, I'll make sure his father loses his official hat."

Wu Yu, unaware of the imperial edict, still worriedly advised:

"Madam Xu, you'd better be careful. Wang Da Ba is the youngest in his family."

He's spoiled rotten by his mother; he's completely unruly. If things get really bad, we should move somewhere else.

Xu Qing was grateful for Wu Yu's kindness and told him about the imperial edict without hiding it from him.

He then said, "Now you know, Brother Wu, I'm under the Emperor's protection. No matter how powerful his parents are, can they be more powerful than the Emperor?"

Wu Yu finally felt relieved and awkwardly scratched his head:

"It seems that even if I didn't tell you, Wang Da Ba couldn't hurt you. I was overthinking it."

I'm sorry for startling you, Madam Xu.

Xu Qing disagreed, saying:

"What are you saying? You came all this way to remind me, I'm grateful to you, how could it be unnecessary?"

What if there's no imperial edict? Wouldn't I be in danger?