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Recognizing the leader as Guo Qiang, Governor Guo’s trusted aide, Commander Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the last batch of grain seeds had been hijacked, he had been on edge throughout the journey, taking every precaution.

“Brother Lu Shuo.”

“Brother Shen.”

The two greeted each other with a formal exchange.

Lu Shuo clenched his fists and said with a grateful face, “Brother Shen, you have had a hard journey.”

Commander Shen smiled and waved his hand, “There’s no need to mention it, Brother Lu Shuo—we’re all working for the Governor.” He was once a soldier under Guo Mao, the current Duke Dingguo, who was Governor Guo’s father; naturally, he was devoted to the affairs of his former lord.

Lu Shuo, looking at the row upon row of carts laden with grain seeds, showed a delighted expression, “You’ve managed to collect this many grain seeds?”

Commander Shen replied with a smile, “This was largely thanks to the Little Prince, who went through Zhou Xuan to arrange for the delivery of these more than twenty thousand stones of grain seeds from the Yan Family.”

Seeing that the grain seeds brought with them could make up for the ones that were lost before, Lu Shuo’s heart felt lighter, and he pulled Commander Shen along, saying, “Let’s go—the Governor has been waiting for a long time already. Come with me to see him.”

Soon, the group met with Governor Guo in the nearest fortified city.

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!”

Upon seeing the over twenty thousand stones of grain seeds his nephew had helped to collect, Governor Guo repeated his praises three times before turning to Commander Shen, “Lifu, we owe this one to you.”

Commander Shen quickly shook his head, “Governor, you’re too kind. If it weren’t for the Duke’s support back in the day, Lifu wouldn’t have the honor he does today.”

Governor Guo patted Shen’s shoulder and cut the pleasantries, “I have to get busy distributing these grain seeds. I may not be able to entertain you this time, but when you return to Zhongzhou, I’ll treat you to opera and drinks.”

Commander Shen gracefully accepted, understanding that Governor Guo was busy and then he took his men to rest and regroup.

No sooner had he left than an adjutant came in, “Governor, the magistrates from the nearby prefectures have all arrived.”

Governor Guo nodded his head; it was nearly November now, so they had to quickly distribute the newly collected grain seeds to let the people plant them.

“After the seeds are distributed, to prevent any fearless bandits from robbing us again, I want you to assign more men to escort them, and if anyone tries to stop us, kill them.”

Governor Guo’s voice was filled with murderous intent as he made this statement and walked outside.

Stepping out of the room, he saw his trusted aide, Guo Qiang, running up with excitement on his face, “Governor, in addition to the grain seeds, the Little Prince has also sent a large cart filled with vegetables and fruits to honor you.”

The Governor, who was on his way out, stopped in his tracks, surprised, “What are you talking about? What else did Yangyang send me?”

Guo Qiang said excitedly, “Vegetables and fruits.” He continued, looking a bit regretful, “Unfortunately, a basket of leafy greens spoiled, but no matter, there are plenty of fresh cucumbers and beans, and also big baskets of persimmons, apples, dates, and pears.”

Hearing this, Governor Guo’s mouth spread into a wide grin, and he laughed loudly before saying with appreciation, “It has not been in vain, the hardships I went through teaching him, and to be closer to him, I even took on this tough job of bandit suppression.”

He sighed as he spoke.

“Yangyang will be fifteen next year, a grown man. Now he’s also sensible, knowing that we can only have pickles with meat here, he even went to the trouble of sending a cart full of greens to honor me, good!”

“Go, tell the kitchen to stir-fry some greens today. We’ll have some greens in our meal tonight. My stomach hasn’t felt right from only eating meat these days.”

“Yes!” Guo Qiang had been waiting for these words, and he responded enthusiastically.

Normally, there aren’t many vegetables in winter, and Fenxi has been disaster-stricken and plagued by bandits, leaving the people barely able to fill their bellies, let alone grow vegetables.

Since arriving here, they could only have a small amount of pickled vegetables.

He had been longing for some fresh and crisp greens for a long time.

The Little Prince was truly a good person.

…

Meanwhile, in Zhongzhou Province, at Wangyue Academy.

Xiao Yeyang, who had just been branded a good person, was looking at the only plate of green vegetables on the table with displeasure, and with furrowed brows, he turned to Defu, “What exactly happened?”

“In the past, every time Daohua delivered vegetables and fruits, they were more than enough to last me until the Academy’s end-of-month holiday, with some to spare.”

“This month, I visited Daohua’s home again mid-month, and with Daohua’s character, she definitely would have prepared more provisions for me. It hasn’t even been half a month—how come there are no vegetables left? Never mind the vegetables, where’s my fruit?”

He has to eat an apple every day, Daohua said, it’s good for the body.

Defu, with his head lowered, said weakly, “Master, the vegetables and fruits that were sent in mid-month must have been sent to Fenxi along with the grain.”

Xiao Yeyang was stunned for a moment, “…sent to uncle’s place, huh?”

Defu raised his head to peek at Xiao Yeyang’s expression, seeing that there were no signs of anger, he tentatively said, “Master, how about I write a letter to Miss Yan and ask her to send another cart over?”

Xiao Yeyang immediately glared, “No way!” Then his expression became a bit awkward, “If Daohua gives them, that’s out of kindness; we shouldn’t reject them, but to actively ask for more, what would that look like? It’d make her think I’m some kind of glutton.”

Defu lowered his head and curled his lips.

Master, aren’t you just a glutton?

Back when he was in Beijing, the master was never protective over his food, even the imperial meals would have some leftovers, which would benefit him, a personal eunuch.

Compared to the personal eunuchs of other princes, he had much better luck.

But, his good fortune ended upon their arrival in Zhongzhou.

The vegetables sent by Miss Yan were polished off by the master at almost every meal; even if Defu wanted to eat some leftovers, there were none.

After a moment of silence, Defu said, “In that case, by the end of November, the master will only be able to eat vegetables bought from outside.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang’s face fell.

Before, he never thought vegetables from outside were bad as long as they were well seasoned, but ever since he got used to the vegetables sent by Daohua, he didn’t want to eat anyone else’s produce.

It wasn’t that he was being picky, the taste was genuinely different.

Suddenly, Xiao Yeyang’s eyes lit up, “I’ve got it, Daohua has opened a fruits and vegetables shop in Xingzhou City, so here’s what we’ll do: you send someone to buy from the shop, quietly, without letting anyone discover our identity.”

Defu nodded in agreement, though internally he was quite speechless.

Miss Yan was generous and got along with the master so well; it was just a cartload of vegetables and fruits, why couldn’t he simply ask for it in a letter?

So what if Miss Yan knew the master was a glutton, isn’t she one too?

Who could find fault with whom!

…

Time quickly advanced to mid-November.

Xiao Yeyang, having received a letter from his uncle and learning that the grain had been distributed to the people and already sown into the fields, finally felt relieved of a burden.

With worries dissolved, his appetite improved, and so he started to eat even more.

The usual trips to Xingzhou for groceries, which previously happened only once every few days, now had to be made every three or four days.

It wasn’t that the grocery buyer didn’t want to purchase more, but Daohua’s fruit and vegetable shop was doing such good business that they had to restrict purchase quantities to allow more people access to fresh produce.

Otherwise, some of the larger families would buy out the whole shop’s inventory.

…

As the end of the year approached, it was time to start preparing New Year’s gifts.

Madam Li, to cultivate Daohua, left the entire task of preparing this year’s New Year’s gifts for the young ladies in Beijing to her.

And so, Daohua would sometimes drag old Madam Yan out shopping under the pretense of scouting this year’s New Year’s market trends.

The two didn’t take a carriage; they simply walked.

The streets were bustling, with all kinds of vendors shouting out their wares and pedestrians bustling to and fro; both grandmother and granddaughter enjoyed watching these lively, everyday scenes.

“Oh, that person looks somewhat familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before?”

As they passed her vegetable shop, delighted with its business, Daohua suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

Seeing her granddaughter standing still, old Madam Yan tugged at her sleeve, “You recognize someone among these outsiders?”

With a cry, Daohua said, “I remember now, I saw him in the guest palace, he is one of Xiao Yeyang’s men.”