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"What is this?"

"Open it and see for yourself."

Gu Wanning looked at Xu Weibei's face, which was radiating a chill, and felt a little uneasy.

Could there be two corpses hidden in there?

She didn't move, so Xu Weibei stepped forward and opened one himself. Then, with a clatter, he poured out half a sack—

Corn.

Gu Wanning stared, dumbfounded, almost thinking she was seeing things.

Her expression pleased Xu Weibei.

"You can have all of it. Stop making yourself look like a ghost over those lousy seedlings," Xu Weibei said irritably.

"Wait, where did you get it?" Gu Wanning stepped forward to inspect them and discovered that both large burlap sacks were filled to the brim with corn.

Instead of feeling happy, she grew terribly nervous.

Could it be—could it be that someone cheated me, and corn isn't scarce at all?

No, that can't be right. The previous owner of this body never saw it at the country estate.

Besides, if it really were common, the general goods shop wouldn't dare display it so openly and cheat people by asking a hundred taels of silver for it, would they?

Surely not. Surely they wouldn't.

Then where did Xu Weibei get so much corn?

"I came by it accidentally. It was all sitting in the storeroom. If you like it so much, you can have it all."

"No, I mean, isn't this stuff rare?"

"It is, but to me, it's nothing special."

Damn it, he really pulled off that act!

But this corn really did come at just the right time!

"If it's autumn corn, it should be planted now. Any later and it'll be too late. If we use this corn for seed, we can plant a huge field!"

"You want to plant all of it?" Xu Weibei thought Gu Wanning had gone mad.

"Yes, every bit of it," Gu Wanning said. "You can't really tell much from the little patch I planted in the garden. But if it's planted over a wide area, you'll see the effect."

"What effect?"

"It'll look pretty!"

Gu Wanning hadn't told the truth.

What she really wanted to say was that the yield could be verified all at once.

Although the quality of these seeds couldn't compare with modern hybrid corn, the same was true of wheat seeds.

As long as the corn yield exceeded the wheat yield by a wide margin, she would have succeeded.

Xu Weibei said, "Then where do you plan to plant it? Should I dig up the entire Marquis's Residence so you can grow this stuff?"

Gu Wanning said, "...I wasn't thinking that."

But she really hadn't thought about it either. She had nowhere to plant it and no one to help tend it.

In the garden of the Marquis's Residence, she could guard it like the apple of her eye and check on it eight times a day. If she planted it on a large scale, she didn't seem to have the means to do that.

What if I sell the corn to the general goods shop, then buy some land?

But the corn belongs to Xu Weibei...

Come to think of it, Xu Weibei really does have deep pockets.

"Even if you wanted to, it wouldn't be up to you. I'm not dead yet." Xu Weibei ground his teeth.

Gu Wanning glanced at him. Are you reminding me?

Once you're dead, will I be the one in charge?

Although she hadn't said a word, Xu Weibei could read her thoughts plainly on her face.

This woman—and to think I wanted to help her.

"You can beg me," Xu Weibei said with a haughty look.

"Huh? Sure. Marquis, I'm begging you to do me a favor!" Gu Wanning took a moment to process his words, then spoke without the slightest hesitation.

Please. If opening my mouth can solve the problem, why go around in circles?

Xu Weibei nearly choked. "You certainly don't stand on ceremony."

"No, you told me to beg you, so I did." Gu Wanning was perfectly matter-of-fact. "How about I rent your land, Marquis?"

Renting someone else's land came with lots of trouble.

Xu Weibei was the kind of troublemaker who thought he was number one under heaven and would defy heaven and earth alike. Ordinary people really didn't dare provoke him.

He even beat princes and berated his father-in-law. Who was so unafraid of death that they would go near him?

"What will you pay with? Are you going to Second Concubine again, hoping to sell me for a good price this time? You still haven't made good on your last promise."

Xu Weibei sneered, his expression plainly saying, I'm staying away on purpose. Let's see how you get out of this.

The sight made Gu Wanning's teeth ache. Men really do stay chuunibyou until the day they die.

The Marquis of Yingchuan, so decisive in battle and so fearsome that people tremble at the mere mention of him, is this childish in private? Folks, who would believe it!

"Then, Marquis, how about we split things fifty-fifty and make money together? Second Concubine has money anyway."

"I have more money than she does."

Gu Wanning said, "...Fine, I'm the only poor one, all right?"

"The Gu family isn't poor. They just don't give you any."

Gu Wanning thought, That's enough out of you!

You don't slap a person in the face, and you don't stab them in the heart.

"Why were you raised at the country estate?" Xu Weibei asked again.

Gu Wanning was speechless. "You'll have to ask them. Maybe I was ugly?"

"That's possible."

Gu Wanning said, "..."

You don't have the faintest idea what self-deprecation is, or what comfort is!

Thank your lucky stars for your birth. If you lived in a village, you'd definitely be one of those lifelong bachelors. Three wives, four concubines, and a mistress on the side? Pah!

Gu Wanning lowered her head, thinking about the land.

After Xu Weibei's reminder, she wondered if she could perhaps work with Second Concubine.

Although Gu Anqi was relatively reliable, he didn't look like someone who could have a spare field...

"After we divorce, I'll give you an estate," Xu Weibei said mildly. "I can assign it to you now, as compensation."

After all, she wasn't favored by the Gu family, and marrying him hadn't been her wish either.

If he contributed something toward her life afterward, it would count as compensation for involving an innocent person.

Such a good thing is possible?

Gu Wanning's eyes lit up. "Then thank you, Marquis. I promise I won't cling to you!"

Looking at her limpid eyes, which had lit up in an instant and shone as brightly as stars, Xu Weibei felt extremely awkward.

But Gu Wanning, having received a benefit, wanted to show she was worth the money and make the sucker paying up feel good too. She kept chattering, "Although I can't leave just yet, since you've paid in advance, Marquis, I'll be straightforward too. If there's anything you need arranged in the inner courtyard, just leave it to me. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"