Chapter 51: Land Reclamation

Qin Bi: "......"

She had earned a spirit stone just like that?!

"How big is the field?" Qin Bi asked.

Rong Yan gestured: "A field this big."

An area the size of a plate? Qin Bi froze. He called this a field?

"Where did you pick it up?" Rong Yang asked in a milky, childish voice. "Was it easy to find?"

He was quite attentive; Qin Bi's mouth twitched.

"The desolate lands west of our Great Yan Kingdom," Rong Yan did not hide it, explaining the location in detail to the little Prince. "The soil is poor everywhere; it's just a small patch of loose earth. I was truly lucky."

The little fellow turned to Qin Bi: "Mother, I want to go too."

"No," Qin Bi refused without a second thought. "It's cold in winter, and you are too small. You'll catch a chill easily."

Rong Yang turned to look at Rong Jun. Rong Jun said, "You will accompany your father to the imperial court."

Rong Yang expressed dissatisfaction with attending court: "They never give me any duties."

Rong Jun: "......"

Qin Bi: "......"

Rong Yan, watching from the side, was surprised; the kid was quite cute.

The corner of Rong Jun's mouth curled into a light chuckle. "Your duty is to pick spiritual vegetables from your Imperial Uncle's plate and eat them. Children must eat well and stay full. If you don't attend court, your Imperial Uncle will nag about it."

"Okay!" Rong Yang stopped following Qin Bi. "I'll follow Father to court."

With that settled, Rong Yan went to the Marquis of Qin Yan's manor to find Qin Lang.

For dinner, Rong Jun instructed the kitchen to cook two sweet potato spiritual foods. There appeared to be a pile of sweet potatoes, so there should be enough. Qin Bi ate one, Rong Yang ate one, and Rong Jun felt full just watching the two of them eat.

After dinner, Rong Jun settled Qin Bi and the child to sleep early.

Qin Bi had to go select land tomorrow, and Rong Yang had to attend court. With one being weak and the other being small, Rong Jun would inevitably have to exert more effort. There was no need for maids or elderly servants to approach; his wife and child had to stay close to him.

In the morning, after Rong Jun had finished getting Rong Yang ready, they set off for court in a carriage.

Qin Bi couldn't sleep, so she got up as well. She sent someone to inform Qin Lang and Rong Yan. A maid brought up breakfast, which included one sweet potato spiritual food—Rong Jun had ordered it to be made.

Rong Jun kept all of the little Prince's spiritual foods; unless he gave permission, no one could touch them.

Qin Bi didn't even need to ask to know it was Rong Jun's doing. She let out a soft sigh, her heart feeling somewhat complicated. She remembered how, in the past, because Rong Jun found her unpleasant and disliked her, she had to remain cautious and low-profile.

She had even had her marriage disrupted. Now, things were completely different; marrying Rong Jun brought entirely different treatment.

Last year, he had treated her with cold indifference. *Sigh.* Qin Bi finished her meal and stood up.

The strategist, Lin Yao Hou, was outside: "Consort, the Heir has asked me to accompany you."

Qin Bi was surprised: "You're helping me reclaim wasteland?"

"No," Lin Yao said. "My subordinates will also select a piece of land to reclaim."

Qin Bi was not used to having people follow her, so she nodded upon hearing this: "Once we reach the desolate lands, just act as if you don't know me."

Lin Yao couldn't have asked for more. To be honest, this Consort's background was somewhat low, and she lacked capability herself. They didn't know what had happened in the little space of the Monster Realm last time, nor did they know if she had any talent for cultivation.

For the little Prince, the support his mother provided was too small.

His subordinates didn't ask for much from the heirs' families—as long as Qin Bi wasn't too incompetent—but there was one thing they couldn't help: her fate was powerful. Neither of the two powerful ministers/heirs had been hindered by her, whereas Qin He had almost been killed by He Yan's misfortune despite her good luck.

Yet this Consort had only suffered a loss of lifespan, which had now been restored.

As the top strategist of the Prince of Rong's manor, Lin Yao was actually reluctant to follow Qin Bi since she lacked ability, but since the Heir had arranged it, Lin Yao could only go along and reclaim land at the same time.

Qin Bi boarded the carriage and set off for the location where the Ministry of Works was setting up the teleportation array.

Rong Yan and Qin Lang were already waiting there. Qin Lang waved: "Sister."

Qin Bi walked over. Lin Yao entered the teleportation array, exchanged pleasantries with acquaintances, and pretended not to know Qin Bi. Lin Yao was not a man of leisure; he was going there to reclaim land. Qin Bi stayed with Qin Lang and Rong Yan.

Upon entering the teleportation array, Qin Xun was also there.

Qin Bi looked over, and Qin Xun explained, "I am also going to reclaim wasteland to earn spirit stones."

As they spoke, the teleportation array activated, instantly transporting over a hundred people to a desolate land. Qin Bi looked around and her eyes grew weary; she had seen good land before, but what on earth was this? The ground was incredibly compacted.

Stepping out of the array, Qin Bi kicked the ground, but the soil wouldn't scatter. She pried up a few chunks of compacted earth; how should she put it? Even if a seed sprouted, it wouldn't be able to push its way through.

Qin Bi stepped on it, and the clods of earth were so hard they hurt her feet, failing to crumble.

Lin Yao and the scholars went to register. Near the teleportation array, officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue had set up a table, writing things down with ink-dipped brushes. Qin Bi thought they also had to register.

"We can come to register at noon," Rong Yan, being knowledgeable, called the others to leave.

Along the way, Qin Bi learned from Rong Yan that there were both good and very poor pieces of wasteland. When scholars reclaimed wasteland and wanted to become *tongsheng* (entry-level scholars), they had to report it; if they were farming their own land, they didn't need to.

As they walked westward, Qin Bi observed that the soil was somewhat better closer to the starting point and grew worse the further they went.

A scholar stood before a plot of land, using a tea bowl engraved with a stream to summon water. He only summoned a small amount, which barely moistened an area the size of half a tabletop. Seeing the ground was wet, the scholar continued to summon.

There were also celestial maidens practicing cultivation, using tea bowls engraved with flowers and plants to summon growth.

After walking for a long while, Rong Yan finally led them to a chosen spot. Rong Yan said, "This area is heavily compacted and not very good, but it's still passable for reclamation. Further ahead is unclaimed desolate land."

The unclaimed desolate land was so compacted it was staggering.

Once the people of Great Yan reclaimed wasteland, it became Great Yan's territory. Of course, if Great Chu reclaimed it, it would be Great Chu's. Don't worry, no one would fight over unclaimed desolate land; the area was vast enough for anyone to reclaim as they pleased.

The area Rong Yan chose was not small. The reason the area was so large was precisely because the compaction was so severe; one had to find a sufficiently soft patch to reclaim, otherwise, one might struggle against the earth for a year without successfully growing a single crop.

"Pick a place to reclaim," Rong Yan said, walking away to find a suitable spot.

"Pick?" Qin Bi looked around. It was all the same compacted soil; a heavy rain would only make it even harder, and nothing would grow. Since Rong Yan said to pick, Qin Bi wandered around, with Qin Lang following her.

Everywhere was barren; the plants clung to the ground and were quite prickly.

Normally, wild vegetables and mugwort were relatively soft, but when Qin Bi tried to pull one, it bit into her hand and wouldn't break. Qin Bi said, "I'll just reclaim the land right here."

Qin Lang pried off a piece of compacted earth and dropped it; it fell in one solid chunk without breaking at all. "The soil in this position is too poor. Let's walk back and find a place with slightly better soil quality."

Qin Bi said helplessly, "It all looks the same to me."

To Qin Lang, it also looked the same, so he asked, "Which position are you reclaiming?"

Qin Bi didn't dare be greedy; she traced an area the size of a tabletop in front of her. "This patch."