CH 54.2

Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary):

-廖青青(Liào qīngqīng)- Liao Qing Qing, the female lead. 

–曦昭容(xī zhāo róng)- Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, Liao Qing Qing’s current designation.

-景礼帝(jǐng lǐ ​​dì)- Emperor Jing Li, the male lead.

-荷香(Hé ​​xiāng)- He Xiang, the female lead’s maidservant

-福生(fú shēng)- Fu Sheng, the emperor’s chief eunuch. 

Current Ranking: Empress Dowager → Empress → Worthy Consort + Virtuous Consort + Consort Liang → Lady Xi of Bright Countenance →  Lady Li of Graceful Ceremony → Ye Liangyi + Wu Liangyi → Noble Lady Liao + Noble Lady Jiang

Zhu Prefecture was close to the capital, and it only took an hour to reach the site of the 1,000 mu of experimental field in Zhu Prefecture all the way through the official roads.

Emperor Jing Li got off the carriage first.

One by one, the imperial officials followed suit. Before they could hold their black gauze hats on their heads, they were stunned by what they saw not far away.

On the endless fields, everyone was bending down and working as they carried baskets or sacks with a smile of joy on their faces. The reason they were smiling was because of the mountain of potatoes.

The carriages could not enter the experiential fields. Therefore, they disembarked on the official road and followed Emperor Jing Li towards the experimental fields. The more they walked, the more they could not believe their eyes.

The–There are mountains of potatoes all over the land in heaps.

They are all potatoes, which they love to eat.

As soon as the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products raised his eyes from organising the harvesting of the potatoes, he also saw Emperor Jing Li. He froze for a moment and hurriedly paid his respect to Emperor Jing Li, “Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years!”

The people who were harvesting the potatoes had long been aware of Emperor Jing Li and the others. Although they were close to the Imperial City, they had never seen the Emperor before. This time, the Emperor and Lady Xi of Bright Countenance had discovered delicious potatoes, which prevented one from being hungry. They have long worshipped Emperor Jing Li and Lady Xi of Bright Countenance as deities.

At this moment, when they heard the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products say that it was the Emperor, they all hurriedly dropped the work they were doing and kowtowed in unison. “Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years!”

The untrained shouts were not neat and tidy, but Emperor Jing Li was thrilled to hear them. He treated the people with importance and naturally wanted them to do the same. When he heard it, he couldn’t help but think of his Qing Qing, who had given all this to him. He was extraordinarily excited to hear such a sincere voice.

However, it was not the time to think of Qing Qing. He asked the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products, “Why are you here?”

“Responding to Your Majesty, this humble subject was ordered by Lady Xi of Bright Countenance to come and supervise.”

“Lady Xi of Bright Countenance?” When Liao Qing Qing was mentioned, Emperor Jing Li was particularly interested.

“Yes. Lady Xi of Bright Countenance said that this was the first time the common people of Zhu prefecture had harvested potatoes, and she was afraid that they might not understand anything. So she ordered this humble subject to supervise and observe whether there were any abnormalities in the growth of the thousand mu of potatoes.” The Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products said truthfully.

Emperor Jing Li nodded after hearing this, “What is the yield per mu?”

“Over a thousand catties.” The Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products said with certainty.

A shichen (two hours) ago, when the imperial officials in the courtroom heard the phrase “more than a thousand catties”, they did not believe it and disdained it. Now they were completely blown away.

Blown away!

They had lived half a lifetime, but it was the first time they had seen a crop that could yield more than a thousand catties per mu.

This is simply… This is simply a legendary achievement!

They were blown away and amazed at the same time. But they didn’t want Lady Xi of Bright Countenance to be the Empress, but now it was Lady Xi of Bright Countenance’s turn to be the Empress.

Their eyes moved from the potatoes to Emperor Jing Li.

With a smile on his lips, Emperor Jing Li said “great” thrice consecutively, and then loudly said, “Reward! Reward everyone well! I’ll reward the Minister of Revenue, Zhu Hai Ren, with a thousand taels of gold and a silver cup. I’ll promote the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products, Liu Zhong Yi, to Bureau Chief of the Department of Agriculture, a thousand taels of silver. I’ll reward a thousand families of common people a hundred catties of potatoes each. I’ll reward Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, Liao Shi——”

When it came to Liao Qing Qing’s rewards, Emperor Jing Li suddenly paused and swept his gaze over the imperial subjects, like a child who succeeded in his mischief, with all the smugness in his eyes.

Then, his face turned serious, and he said solemnly, “Lady Xi of Bright Countenance, Liao Shi, was born from a scholarly family, gentle and kind. She has good virtues and is always concerned about the common people. She has created a legendary achievement in agriculture. She has worked together with me for the common people. She possesses the behaviour of the mother of the country. I will establish Liao Shi as the Empress, and it will soon be announced to the land under Heaven so that everyone will hear the news and be aware of it.”

Lady Xi of Bright Countenance became the Empress?

The Minister of Revenue and the Bureau Chief of the Department of Agricultural Products were the first to react. They knelt and kowtowed sincerely, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. May Your Majesty live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years. May the Empress live and reign for thousand years, thousand years, thousand of thousand years!

The potato incident had made Lady Xi of Bright Countenance well-known among the people no less than that of Emperor Jing Li. There had long been private discussions that it would be suitable for Lady Xi of Bright Countenance to be the Empress. Now that Lady Xi of Bright Countenance had really been elevated to Empress, the people knelt down and shouted after them as if their dreams were being fulfilled.

Some of the imperial officials who opposed the appointment of Liao Qing Qing as Empress couldn’t remain adamant due to two million catties of potatoes in front of them, nor could they find a reason to refute it. Hence, they all knelt down and accepted it.

When Emperor Jing Li saw this, he smiled with satisfaction and turned his head in the direction of the palace, where Liao Qing Qing was sitting in the courtyard, sunbathing with He Xiang sitting next to her.

He Xiang was making small shoes with her head down.

She had already finished one.

Liao Qing Qing took it over and said, “This is too small. It is not as big as my hand.”

He Xiang said, “Children are like that. Their feet are tiny.”

“Really?” Liao Qing Qing rarely came into contact with children.

“Yeah. This maidservant[1] had asked the Momos and can’t be wrong.”

“Alright, then continue doing it.”

“Mm. When this maidservant made the little shoes, I will also make clothes and socks for the young imperial prince.”

“Young imperial prince? What if it’s a princess?”

“This maidservant will do it all.”

“Alright.”

He Xiang buried her head and continued to do it.

Liao Qing Qing was eating snacks and reading a book next to her.

Not long after, Fu Sheng held up the imperial decree and came in with a group of eunuchs and palace maids. He said in a sharp voice, “The imperial decree has arrived—”

The author has something to say: —

Readers: Your Majesty, your Empress has a bun!

Emperor Jing Li: Huh?

Readers: My gosh! Your wife is pregnant!

Emperor: !!!

[1] 奴婢[núbì]- I; your humble servant (term of self-address used by servants, maid-servants and eunuchs when addressing the emperor, minister, concubines, etc.)