Divine Doctor Mommy Is A True Big Shot

Chapter 132: Chapter 134: Natural Disaster? Man-made Disaster?

The purchasing in the palace is managed by specialized personnel from the sixth department, so why would Mr. Zhao go out?

Feng Bailing, being cautious, pretended to check the seeds and did not leave.

“What about those rare flower seeds I asked you to buy?”

Mr. Zhao lowered his voice and asked.

The agricultural officer hurriedly took out several packets of seeds.

“There’s no problem with the quality this time, right? The last batch all died, and Her Majesty slapped me ten times because of it.”

Mr. Zhao frowned and scolded, pointing at the agricultural officer’s nose.

Feng Bailing, listening from the side, thought to himself that Empress Xiao, who was known for her generosity in public, why would she blame a capable eunuch over some ungerminated seeds?

Unless, those seeds were very important.

“Mr. Zhao, not all seeds can germinate, it also depends on the climate and soil.”

The agricultural officer said with a bitter face.

Mr. Zhao snorted, dropped a packet of silver, and turned to leave.

He hadn’t walked far when he bumped into someone.

Several packets of seeds fell to the ground, scattering everywhere.

“Clumsy fool.”

Mr. Zhao cursed loudly.

“Sorry, sorry, sir, I’m all thumbs. I’ll pick them up for you right now. I promise none will be missing.”

Feng Bailing bowed her head, gathered the scattered seeds from the ground, nodded and apologized repeatedly. Mr. Zhao glanced at the seeds, saw there were no issues, then glared at Feng Bailing before he left.

After leaving the seed shop, Feng Bailing shook her sleeve and several seeds fell out.

During the commotion, she had hidden several seeds from Mr. Zhao’s pocket in her sleeve.

“They look like ordinary seeds, we will only know what they are when they grow.”

Checking the time, Feng Bailing took out some medicinal materials from the third layer of the emergency box.

Just like last night, the genetically tamed expired medicinal materials transformed, even the withered antler became plump and fragrant, each medicinal material was of the finest quality.

Feng Bailing returned to the Princess’ Mansion, stored the medicinal materials, kept some in the warehouse, and planned to send the rest to Xinglin Spring in the morning.

This taming cost her one thousand silver taels, and Feng Bailing felt the pinch.

She threw all kinds of seeds—like cucumber, potato, carrot, tomato, sweet potato—bought from the seed shop, along with the newly purchased ginseng, Polygonum multiflorum, and Lingzhi, as well as the flower seeds obtained from Mr. Zhao, all into the third layer of the emergency box.

In the evening, Dugu Wu returned to the Prince Mansion, his expression dark.

The morning encounter in Qi Village and Xiao Bai’s words made him realize the depths within the Ministry of Revenue.

He sought out an Assistant Minister from the Ministry of Revenue to investigate the grain planting matter. The Assistant Minister hesitated and could not clarify things, and finally claimed that the grain planting had been managed by the Eldest Prince in recent years, suggesting to consult him.

This was clearly an excuse.

At that moment, Feng Wan arrived to report, informing Dugu Wu of the day’s events in the Princess’ Mansion.

“The Commandery Princess went out during the day and did not allow her subordinates to follow. I intended to follow secretly but was entangled by Xiao Li and Hei Dian.”

Feng Wan had a bitter expression on his face.

After the Greedy Wolf King arrived at the Princess’ Mansion, Feng Xiaoli made him memorize the scent of everyone in the mansion, and chase out any strangers he encountered.

He was about to follow Feng Bailing when Feng Xiaoli set Hei Dian on him, making him run all over the Princess’ Mansion.

By the time he came to his senses, the Commandery Princess had already slipped out of the mansion.

“With the Greedy Wolf King around, you can’t hide either. On normal days when you protect Feng Bailing, if she does not wish you to follow, then don’t follow.”

Dugu Wu had earlier sent someone to watch over the Princess’ Mansion, worried about any mishaps befalling Feng Bailing, but after the incident with Xiao Junci, given that she had the protection of a master, he let it be as a face-saving gesture for the master.

“This afternoon, as soon as Princess Feng returned, she ordered people to flatten the rockeries, pavilions, and a batch of flowers and trees in the east courtyard.”

Feng Wan hesitated for a moment, then continued to report.

Princess Feng said she missed the taste of the fruits and vegetables grown by the farmers near the Other Manor, and wanted to plant some fruits, vegetables, and some herbs.

Dongfang Lianhua and Feng Xiaoli both agreed, it’s just a pity for those well-maintained precious flowers and plants and those rockeries made of expensive lake rocks.

“For such trivial matters, let her handle them as she wishes, there’s no need to report them in the future.”

Dugu Wu rubbed his temples, he had never expected Feng Bailing to act like a normal woman; even if she dismantled the Princess’ Mansion, he wouldn’t find it odd.

Just as they were talking, Housekeeper Zhu arrived and started speaking.

“Sir, this afternoon a woman claiming to be from Qi Village borrowed a hundred catties of grain. Forgive my presumption, although she is a farmer under the Princess’ Mansion, lending grain to Qi Village might mean it’ll never be returned.”

“Continue speaking.”

For Dugu Wu, the borrowing of grain by the peasant woman was merely a minor episode, and he had not taken it seriously.

But from Housekeeper Zhu’s tone, there seemed to be more to the story.

“My Lord, not to conceal from you, one of my distant relatives is a resident of Qi Village. They just came to seek refuge with me a couple of days ago, wanting something to eat. Qi Village’s soil is inherently infertile and plagues of locusts occur every year. I heard that previously the landlords even considered selling their land. After hearing this, the young and strong people in the village secretly slipped away to make a living, leaving only the old, the weak, women, and children behind. Still, they are required to pay taxes, and people there are barely surviving. If this continues, there might be loss of lives.”

Housekeeper Zhu sighed.

Chu City is prosperous, but who could imagine that not far from Chu City, only dozens of miles away, the people of Qi Village live such hard lives.

“Didn’t Princess Yong’an waive their taxes?”

Dugu Wu was quite surprised.

“My relative said the taxes are as usual. At the end of the year, Feng Zhan Tian from the Feng Mansion even went there to press for them, saying if they couldn’t pay this year, they would have to sell their lands.”

Housekeeper Zhu also came to know afterward that Qi Village was Dongfang Lianhua’s feudal estate.

Feudal estates are, in principle, not to be sold, but many nobles privately transfer them, constructing other courts and villas, and thereby trading the farmers on the estates as well. Over the years, Emperor Yongye has been focusing on border wars, paying no heed to these acts among the nobility.

“Qi Village was granted to Princess Yong’an by the late Emperor, who adored Princess Yong’an immensely, so why would he grant her a barren land. Feng Wan, go back and report this matter to Feng Bailing, tell her I won’t interfere, let her handle it properly. With the wedding approaching, don’t let this cause any trouble.”

Dugu Wu and Feng Bailing have not yet married, and he still has to deal with affairs at the Ministry of Revenue, leaving it to Feng Bailing to manage is best.

Just when Dugu Wu received the news, Feng Bailing also found Dongfang Lianhua and inquired about the situation in Qi Village.

“They suffered disaster; last year there was poor yield. In previous years, this matter was managed by Aunt Xue and Feng Zhan Tian, and seeing that it’s almost time for spring ploughing, I was planning to find some time to visit Qi Village.”

Dongfang Lianhua had earlier heard from Mrs. Su that a few days ago, some villagers had found the Princess’ Mansion but were turned away by the guards before they could even enter.

Chu City and Qi Village are not that close but not too far either, a few dozen miles apart, yet she had never visited.

Feng Bailing gave a few instructions and did not intervene; she had not expected that a small village would soon trigger such a big dispute.