The next morning, the sky was a dull grey. Leng Ruo Li harvested two large baskets of sweet potato seedlings from her space and sent them out.
Afterwards, Leng Ruo Li brought the several people arranged by Jun Mohan last night to the garden to cut sweet potato seedlings.
The group worked quickly, finishing cutting the sweet potato seedlings in the garden in less than half an hour. They obtained six full large baskets of sweet potato seedlings, which, combined with the two large baskets sent from her space, totaled eight large baskets of sweet potato seedlings.
She could distribute these eight large baskets of sweet potato seedlings to the two large manors under the Cold King’s estate for planting. They would likely cover three to four mu of land.
After her garden's sweet potato seedlings were cut, if they were watered and fertilized diligently, their roots would quickly grow again after some time, allowing her to plant another batch of sweet potato seedlings.
Leng Ruo Li had the butler arrange for two carriages to transport these eight large baskets of vine seedlings to two of the manors under the Cold King’s estate for planting.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mohan also boarded carriages and followed them to the manor. An Ji Tang was overseen by Chu Ming Xuan and her old disciple, Jin Xiu Ge ready-to-wear clothing store was overseen by Shi Zheng He, and even Yin Chen, who was injured in the manor, was being cared for by Ling Er. Therefore, she was relatively free today.
The couple experienced a bumpy carriage ride and finally arrived at the manor.
The manor’s steward led a group of people to greet them at the manor entrance.
"This servant greets the King and the Consort!" everyone shouted in unison upon seeing the King and Consort.
"You may all rise! Today, the Consort and the King are here at the manor to plant sweet potato seedlings. You need not be overly constrained. Just leave seven or eight people to plant sweet potato seedlings with us. The rest can go about their duties."
With that said, a faint smile curved Leng Ruo Li's lips, making her appear very approachable.
"Yes, Consort!"
After the manor steward responded, he immediately arranged the personnel. Apart from the eight people the Consort mentioned, he dismissed the rest.
Shortly after, Leng Ruo Li led a group of people into the manor, rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a small hoe, and began to work in the fields.
The land for planting sweet potatoes in the manor had been weeded and tilled in advance by the manor steward when corn and potatoes were planted a while ago. Leng Ruo Li only needed to grab a hoe and plant the sweet potato seedlings directly.
Since this was the first time these people were planting the sweet potato crop, Leng Ruo Li personally taught the manor staff how to plant sweet potatoes. Once they all learned, she wouldn't have to demonstrate herself next time.
After watching Leng Ruo Li plant three times, everyone learned the technique of planting sweet potatoes and then grabbed small hoes to start working.
The people in the manor were all diligent farmers. They knew that the crop the Consort asked them to plant could fill their stomachs, was high-yield, and easy to store. Naturally, they worked even harder because they had been starved before.
Finally, with everyone's concerted effort, they finished planting four large baskets of sweet potato seedlings in half an hour, but everyone still felt they hadn't done enough.
"Consort, is this all the sweet potato seedlings our manor receives? Didn't you say that each manor should plant seven to eight mu of sweet potatoes?"
The manor steward frowned and asked Leng Ruo Li.
"There will be more later, but we have to wait a while longer to harvest them."
Leng Ruo Li looked at the manor steward and answered truthfully.
"Oh, I see!"
The manor steward nodded, appearing to understand but not entirely. Although he really wanted to plant more of this crop called sweet potato, they couldn't do anything if the Consort said there were none left.
The manor steward was a small old man in his sixties or seventies. More than ten years ago, he was a refugee fleeing famine. By chance, he had helped the current Emperor out of a difficult situation. The Emperor, remembering his kindness, wanted to assign him a position. However, he said he couldn't read and only knew how to farm, so he asked the Emperor to assign him a job that would allow him to farm and have enough to eat.
Thus, Eunuch Li arranged for him to be a steward at a large imperial manor. Later, the Emperor gifted this manor to Jun Mohan, and he became the steward of the manor under Jun Mohan's name. Moreover, Jun Mohan treated him very well. Although he had passed the age of returning home, he had been reluctant to leave.
He was now a thin old man with a head full of silver hair, weathered by the wind and rain, but his spirit for work was still present.
This was because no one could better understand his past experiences of not having enough to eat and wear.
At the other manor, Leng Ruo Li sent two people who had already learned to plant sweet potatoes to teach the people at that manor. This saved Leng Ruo Li from having to travel back and forth.
By noon, Leng Ruo Li looked up at the sun in the sky, still shrouded by black clouds. This weather was most suitable for agriculture. It had rained heavily the night before, and the soil was still wet, which was good for planting.
Afterward, Leng Ruo Li gave some more instructions to the steward, and she and Jun Mohan left the manor.
In the afternoon, the King and Consort couple returned to the city by carriage.
As their carriage passed by the entrance of An Ji Tang, Chu Ming Xuan saw Leng Ruo Li arriving at An Ji Tang and rushed over, pulling Leng Ruo Li into the rest area exclusively for An Ji Tang employees.
He wasn't afraid of the sharp, dagger-like eyes behind Leng Ruo Li.
"Consort, I discovered a strange patient today," Chu Ming Xuan whispered mysteriously.
"What kind of patient is it that makes you so secretive?" Leng Ruo Li's long eyelashes veiled the confusion in her eyes.
"It's just... it's just... oh dear, my sister should tell you about this. As a grown man, I really can't bring myself to say such things."
Chu Ming Xuan stammered for a while, then stopped, and pulled Chu Miao Ling over to explain the patient's condition to Leng Ruo Li.
"Consort, the child brought by that couple is a hermaphroditic infant. It possesses both male and female genders simultaneously," Chu Miao Ling said with a serious expression.
"An infant with characteristics of both male and female!"
Upon hearing Chu Miao Ling's words, Leng Ruo Li's mind immediately flashed to someone: the monstrous child born to Leng Ruo Shuang and Prince Qing.
"Consort, are you thinking of the child Leng Ruo Shuang gave to Prince Qing? Although I was with Liu Ru Yi at Leng Ruo Shuang's side at the time, I never saw that child.
It is said that the child was drowned in a pond by Prince Qing less than half an hour after birth. Later, whether it lived or died, no one knows."
Chu Miao Ling recalled the events at Prince Qing's manor and said truthfully.
"How old is the child brought by that couple now?" Leng Ruo Li asked after a moment of thought.
"Consort, that child is fair and plump, very cute. It looks like a three to four-month-old baby."
Chu Miao Ling said with some uncertainty, as she had never been a mother, so she couldn't be sure.