Chapter 42: Showing Unwarranted Favoritism

Leveraging her status as a Princess, Qiu Yu was quite generous with her spending. The Prefect's office gave her the green light all the way, and the paperwork was completed in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Aside from the standard mediation fees, she also gave Broker Mei a substantial amount in tips.

"I don't wish to trouble you twice. Please, Broker Mei, introduce me to some reliable people to renovate the shop and select some dependable servants," Qiu Yu said with a smile. "The price is negotiable."

Broker Mei eagerly agreed and immediately set to work making arrangements upon his return.

Song Kai, who had ridden hard to return to Lanzhou City, heard that the Princess had returned to her manor. He hurriedly washed off the dust from his travels and rushed in to report.

He cautiously presented the layout of Mingxia Manor. "Mingxia Manor consists of five hundred mu of mountain forest, which supplies the manor and the tenant farmers with daily hunting, firewood, or the gathering of wild vegetables and fruits."

"Of the four hundred and fifty mu of thin farmland, three hundred mu are planted with soybeans, yielding about five hundred catties per mu. The remaining one hundred and fifty mu are planted with millet and broomcorn millet, yielding about two hundred and thirty catties per mu. The fifty mu of fertile land are all planted with wheat; because they are near a water source, the yield can reach three hundred and fifty catties per mu."

Recalling the advertisements from her previous life about yields of a thousand catties per mu, Tang Zhao let out a deep sigh.

The sigh hit her eardrums like a heavy hammer. Song Kai mustered his courage to defend the situation. "The Princess may not know, but the Northwest not only has low soil fertility but also lacks water. Without sufficient water and nutrients, the crops naturally grow poorly. It is not just Mingxia Manor that is like this."

"I understand." Tang Zhao had been working in the fields with her parents since she was five, and during her university years, she attended lectures at the agricultural college every day. To put it bluntly, her experience in farming—both theoretical and practical—was no inferior to a veteran like Song Kai.

However, facing the backward agricultural production conditions of the Great Yu Dynasty, she was momentarily unsure where to begin.

Irrigation, farm tools, seeds, and fertilizer—everything needed to be reformed and upgraded, and that would require a massive amount of silver.

But what she lacked most was silver!

Tang Zhao's desire to make money reached its peak. "Did you bring the grain from this autumn's new harvest?"

Song Kai nodded. Hearing the summons, Song Dalang and Song Erlang, who were waiting outside, entered carrying a large hemp sack each.

Song Kai untied the tight hemp ropes, took the porcelain bowl sent by Chun Feng, and proceeded to scoop half a bowl of grain from each of the four sacks to present to the Princess.

Tang Zhao inspected each one carefully and nodded in satisfaction. Although the yield was low, the quality was excellent.

Without the aid of modern technology or additives, the grain emitted a pure fragrance unique to the grain itself.

Tang Zhao was very generous to her subordinates who had completed the task excellently. She bestowed two taels of silver as a reward and ordered Song Kai to return to Mingxia Manor to escort thirty thousand catties of soybeans back to Lanzhou after the autumn harvest.

Song Kai was puzzled and did not understand the Princess's intention, but completing the tasks assigned by his master was a mission etched into his very bones. Thus, he solemnly accepted and set off for Mingxia Manor with his two sons that very day.

"Is the stone mill I requested ready?" Tang Zhao asked.

"It is ready," Xia Mo replied. "And the materials you instructed me to prepare earlier are also all ready."

Tang Zhao had others deliver the remaining three sacks of grain to the small kitchen, then pointed to the soybeans left behind. "Wash them clean and soak them in water." With that, she went to the left side room. "We shall make the brine first."

Xia Mo rolled up her sleeves and followed the steps the lady had described: first, remove the excess impurities and chemical substances from the salt lake water, then heat and evaporate the remaining salt lake water. After removing the charcoal fire, she allowed it to cool to precipitate large chunks of salt brine. Xia Mo held her breath as she placed the chunks of salt brine, which had taken a full hour to make, into a jar.

Tang Zhao used her chopsticks to taste a bit of the remaining powder; it was astringent and bitter, but the flavor was authentic.

"This is the taste! Evaporate all the remaining salt lake water!"

Xia Mo became busy, and the lamp in the side room did not go out until late at night.

Tang Zhao slept heavily with a mind full of worries that night.

Early the next morning, Tang Zhao randomly grabbed a laborer from the courtyard and had him grind the soybeans that had been soaking overnight into soy milk.

Dong Mei boiled the soy milk in a pot, and Xia Mo poured the cooked soy milk through white gauze to filter out the dregs. She took a small spoonful of the brine prepared yesterday, dissolved it in water, and added it to the remaining soy milk while stirring to coagulate the tofu curd.

Chun Feng spread gauze over a wooden box. Tang Zhao directed Xia Mo to place the tofu curd into tofu molds, wrap them in gauze, and press them down with wooden lids.

Drip, drip, drip—water continuously flowed from the wooden box. Half an hour later, the tofu had set. Xia Mo opened the gauze, and white, tender, square tofu appeared before everyone's eyes.

Xia Mo took a knife to cut the tofu into small pieces and placed them in bowls. Tang Zhao was the first to taste a piece; the flavor and texture were excellent.

"Everyone, try some!"

As soon as she spoke, several pairs of chopsticks reached into the bowls. Dong Mei, being strong, stared with wide eyes at the tofu that had been crushed into crumbs.

*Why is this thing called tofu so fragile?*

Xia Mo cut another piece for her. Dong Mei used much lighter strength, nearly failing to pick it up. When she finally managed to get it into her mouth and tasted it, she exclaimed in surprise, "Miss, this tofu is delicious!"

Those who had tasted it all nodded, looking at Tang Zhao longingly.

Tang Zhao waved her hand grandly. "I've made plenty. Eat your fill, there's more than enough!"

Three iron pots were lit simultaneously. Under Tang Zhao's direction, the cooks wielded their iron spatulas with vigorous, tiger-like strength.

Stir-fried tofu, stewed tofu, boiled tofu, Mapo tofu, and even tofu dregs mixed with wheat flour to make tofu dreg cakes—they had assembled a hundred ways to prepare tofu.

Tang Zhao picked out a bit of everything and ordered them to be sent to the Princess Consort and the various branches of the family to taste.

Half an hour later, a hungry Gu Ci was invited to the dining hall by Tang Zhao, where he saw a table overflowing with a tofu feast.

Tang Zhao placed a piece of tofu dreg cake onto the plate in front of him. "Husband, try some."

Gu Ci did not use chopsticks; he reached out directly, picked it up, and took a bite.

There was no bitterness or fishy smell from the soybeans; the aroma of the beans mixed with a faint saltiness, making it unexpectedly delicious.

Gu Ci took another large bite.

Like a salesperson, Tang Zhao continuously placed dishes from the table into Gu Ci's bowl, inviting him to taste them.

Sensing her unusual attentiveness, Gu Ci remained composed, eating slowly but with a massive appetite. By the time Tang Zhao put down her chopsticks, he had finished every remaining dish on the table.

Tang Zhao blinked. If the Northwest Army all ate as much as Gu Ci, how much money would she have to earn to feed them?

How much money!

Looking at the system interface task of "Feeding the Three Armies," Tang Zhao felt she had a long and arduous road ahead.

However, this was the ultimate mission; there was plenty of time to take it slow. She wasn't in a hurry. The current urgent task was another—to obtain the military books and maps from the Song Clan Ancestral Hall.

The Song ancestors were enshrined in the ancestral hall of the old Song residence. The old residence had later been rebuilt into the Protector General's Manor.

The problem was that the Protector General's Manor was in Wuwei City, which was not far from Lanzhou City, and even closer to Fuxing Pass.

How close? Close enough that when the Turks captured Fuxing Pass years ago, their iron cavalry reached the gates of Wuwei City in less than half an hour.

Close enough that it was only a hundred miles from where the Northwest Army was stationed.

Tang Zhao was someone who had died once; she cherished this hard-won second life. To put it bluntly, she was afraid of death—extremely afraid.

She did not want to go to Wuwei City, yet she had no choice but to go. Therefore, there was only one way.

Tang Zhao stared intently at Gu Ci.

Gu Ci put down the handkerchief he had used to wipe the corner of his mouth, ignored her gaze, and stood up to leave, acting like a scoundrel who abandons a woman as soon as he's finished with her.

Zhao Zhao: (Reaching out desperately) Don't go!

Gu Ci: *Heh.*