The next day.
Seed Selection Department.
"Where is Lord Xu? Why haven't I seen him today?"
Fang Heng took a sip of the fragrant tea Tian Sheng had brought him and asked unhurriedly.
"Your Highness, Lord Xu caught a chill last night and is unwell. He took leave today," Tian Sheng replied.
Setting down his teacup, Fang Heng raised a brow and spoke with an odd expression.
"Is he truly sick? Or is he pretending?"
"Lord Xu is, after all, the chief of the Seed Selection Department. Should I pay him a visit?"
"Well... Lord Xu is advanced in years. Catching an occasional chill is perfectly normal."
"Besides, if Your Highness visited him, Lord Xu might not be able to bear the impact of Your Highness's dragon aura."
Tian Sheng had put it very nicely—unable to bear the impact of dragon aura.
Put bluntly, what he meant was that Xu Xingzhi was faking his illness.
Xu Xingzhi pretending to be sick was somewhat beyond Fang Heng's expectations, but so long as it did not interfere with his grand plan for Hybrid Rice, he could not be bothered to pursue the matter.
"Lord Tian, accompany me to the Upper Six Sections."
"Lord Xu may not have come to work, but that does not mean they can loaf around. I need to put some weight on their shoulders."
With that, Fang Heng took Tian Sheng and headed for the Upper Six Sections.
Fang Heng's arrival left the officials of the Upper Six Sections deeply uneasy.
Everyone knew perfectly well about yesterday's clash between Lord Xu and the Ninth Prince.
Lord Xu had only just taken sick leave, and the Ninth Prince had come right afterward. He was most likely here to call them to account.
Fang Heng's deep gaze swept across the crowd.
His voice was calm, yet it carried a thread of majesty that brooked no defiance.
"Bring me the roster of the Upper Six Sections."
The chief clerk of the Upper Six Sections hesitated. After glancing at Fang Heng's expression, which allowed no argument, he lost all thought of resistance.
Silently, he took the Upper Six Sections roster from a cabinet, held it up with both hands, and presented it to Fang Heng.
Fang Heng nodded slightly in satisfaction.
With the roster in hand, it meant the Upper Six Sections had bowed their heads to him.
"I am busy planting rice, and the Lower Six Sections are all helping. You people from the Upper Six Sections cannot sit idle either. All of you, go to the farmstead."
"This subordinate obeys."
With the chief clerk of the Upper Six Sections surrendering, Fang Heng barely needed to exert any effort to bring the Upper Six Sections under his command.
Tian Sheng watched the entire process and secretly mused to himself.
Xu Xingzhi, Xu Xingzhi.
You fool!
You wanted to use sick leave to pressure the Ninth Prince.
Yet you never realized that the Ninth Prince had seized the chance to wipe out your old nest.
Tian Sheng snickered to himself, eager to see Xu Xingzhi's expression when he recovered and returned, only to find that the entire Upper Six Sections had pledged allegiance to the Ninth Prince.
With the Upper Six Sections helping out, the progress of planting Hybrid Rice visibly accelerated.
Using the Awakening of Insects Master fate, Fang Heng had already cultivated eight hundred jin of Hybrid Rice seeds.
According to his plan, these eight hundred jin of Hybrid Rice seeds could plant one hundred mu of land.
Those one hundred mu of experimental fields would be enough to prove the superiority of Hybrid Rice to his imperial father and the court's senior ministers.
The officials of the Seed Selection Department toiled for three days straight before finally planting all one hundred mu of experimental fields.
"Aunt Yun, I'll have to trouble you."
Yun Menglan walked to the center of the hundred-mu experimental fields. Her slender jade-like hands moved in rapid succession, her ten fingers forming one profound hand seal after another.
The wind rose!
Clouds gathered!
The wind blew the hem of Yun Menglan's moon-white dress backward.
Agricultural School divine art—Spring Rain Like Oil!
A fine, drizzling rain began to fall over the fields.
Fang Heng raised his head and felt the coolness brought by the breeze and rain.
Before long, the drizzling rain had soaked everyone's hair and clothes.
Empowered by the Agricultural School divine art, Spring Rain Like Oil.
The Hybrid Rice in the fields flourished.
As far as the eye could see, everything was lush and verdant.
Accelerating the growth of plants—such was the wonder of the Agricultural School's methods.
In Fang Heng's eyes, this Hybrid Rice was not merely rice. It was fortune, and it was national strength.
"Your Highness, take shelter from the rain!"
Tian Sheng jogged over with an oil-paper umbrella and held it over Fang Heng.
"No need."
"Lord Tian, do you know any Agricultural School methods?"
"Ah?" Tian Sheng froze for a moment, completely at a loss. He stammered as he spoke.
"This subordinate is not a Spirit Farmer and has never studied Agricultural School methods."
So it was still the same!
Fang Heng sighed faintly to himself.
Although the Confucian School had not been passed down in this world.
The bad habits of Confucian scholars had endured.
The officials throughout the court talked endlessly about valuing agriculture, yet in truth, they could not distinguish the five grains.
They held Spirit Farmers in great contempt, believing them unfit for refined company.
Spirit Farmer, Spirit Farmer—though it had the word "spirit" attached, it still could not escape the bounds of farming.
Not only among the civil and military officials of the court; even within the Daoist School, Spirit Farmers stood at the bottom of the chain of disdain.
Yet in Fang Heng's view, the productive power unleashed by Spirit Farmers far surpassed that of Puppet Masters, alchemists, talisman makers, and the like.
"Lord Tian, find time to properly cultivate Agricultural School methods."
"The Seed Selection Department will change from now on."
"Knowing how to farm and understanding farming are the Seed Selection Department's foremost duties."
"This subordinate obeys."
Tian Sheng secretly made up his mind. Once he got off duty today, he would buy a book on Agricultural School inheritances.
He did not know whether Agricultural School inheritances were useful.
But since the Ninth Prince valued them, he needed to perform well before the Ninth Prince.
After the light rain fell for two shichen, the skies finally cleared.
"Aunt Yun, I'll need to trouble you to summon rain in the future as well, so these rice plants can mature as quickly as possible," Fang Heng said.
"Understood, Your Highness."
Yun Menglan did not ask further questions. She merely obeyed Fang Heng's orders in silence.
Yaoguang Palace.
Consort Ning had just finished her afternoon nap. Reclining halfway on a soft couch, her pretty face was faintly flushed, and she looked languid.
"Has there been any news from my son?"
"Reporting to Your Ladyship, after His Highness entered the Seed Selection Department, he spent the first few days planting crops at the farmstead."
"These past two days, he has stopped going to the farmstead."
Hearing this, Consort Ning nodded slightly, her beautiful eyes carrying an expression of just as expected.
The Seed Selection Department was arduous. After his initial burst of enthusiasm faded, Heng'er had finally realized that the Seed Selection Department was no good place.
After suffering this setback, Heng'er would surely become more mature.
He would understand his mother consort's painstaking intentions.
"Zhishu, make a trip to the Lu Family and tell my elder brother to help smooth out the connections at the Divine General's Estate."
"And bring me that storybook. These storybooks for young ladies are quite interesting."
The pages rustled.
Consort Ning could not put the book down, reading The Legend of Heroine Shen with great relish.
It was currently the bestselling storybook in Yujing City.
Because its protagonist was a woman, it was especially popular among sheltered young ladies and noblewomen deep within the palace.
The Hall of Mental Cultivation was brightly lit.
It was solemn and silent, broken only by the occasional sound of a brush touching paper.
"Godfather, news has arrived from the north." The young eunuch lowered his voice.
Eunuch Su opened the secret letter. The instant he saw its contents, his expression changed dramatically, and two sharp gleams burst from his normally subdued eyes.
"Has anyone else seen the contents of this secret letter?"
"Godfather, how would your son dare violate the rules you established?"
"You are the first person to see this secret letter, Godfather."
"You may withdraw."
After dismissing the young eunuch, Eunuch Su took the secret letter and entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
His steps were steady. Like a spiritual cat, he made not a sound as he walked.
Passing through the shadows cast by one oil lamp after another, he came to Emperor Yuanchu's side and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, news from the north."
"Is it Shang Hongye? Where has she reached?"
Emperor Yuanchu did not look up, his eyes fixed upon the memorial in his hands.
Only when Eunuch Su did not answer for a long while did he suddenly realize that something seemed amiss.
"Bring it here."
"Your Majesty, it is a family letter Prince Zhenbei wrote to Shang Hongye. It was intercepted by our spies."
"Please take care of your health, Your Majesty. Do not let it anger you."
Emperor Yuanchu glanced at the contents of the secret letter.
The next instant, a cold snort sounded from his nose.
The air throughout the Hall of Mental Cultivation seemed to drop several degrees because of that snort.
Eunuch Su watched his nose and contemplated his heart, as motionless as a stone statue.
In his perception, Emperor Yuanchu at this moment was like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Undercurrents surged beneath the surface, irresistible as a tidal wave.
He had read the secret letter long ago.
Its contents had filled him with terror.
The secret letter had been written by Prince Zhenbei to Shang Hongye, telling her to choose the Crown Prince as her husband.
To Eunuch Su, this letter was simply Prince Zhenbei provoking His Majesty.
Prince Zhenbei, Prince Zhenbei!
What exactly were you thinking?
After the atmosphere in the Hall of Mental Cultivation remained heavy for a moment.
Emperor Yuanchu lifted his head and asked coldly.
"How many spies does the Black Ice Platform have in the Northern Border?"
"Two thousand three hundred and fifty-seven."
"Send another thousand spies to the Northern Border."
"I want to know Prince Zhenbei's every move at the first possible moment."
"This servant will handle it at once."
Eunuch Su had served Emperor Yuanchu for decades. He knew that this time, Emperor Yuanchu was truly enraged.
After Eunuch Su left.
Bzzzt!
A terrifying burst of force erupted in an instant.
Shattering the secret letter into powder.
"Shang Junluo, what are you up to?"
Emperor Yuanchu's voice was cold as ice, like ten-thousand-year black ice.
Cold light surged within his profound eyes.
Before you continue