The moment Dantai Ji laid eyes on his endearingly silly-looking daughter, he immediately felt refreshed, and even the headache he had been suffering from a moment earlier faded away considerably.
Rongyao naturally spotted the group of senior officials and her maternal grandfather too. Holding the box in her arms, she greeted all the adults and her grandfather politely.
All the senior officials promptly performed the proper ceremonial greeting to Rongyao.
It was then that Dantai Ji spoke up, asking, "Yaoyao, what is that you are holding in your arms?"
Rongyao tilted her fair-skinned chin up, her eyes sparkling. She squatted down to set the box on the ground, then reached inside to pull out a huge clod-like tuber and held it in her arms. In a clear, crisp voice, she said, "This is the wonderful treasure Yaoyao has brought to offer to Father the Emperor!"
None of the ministers had ever seen such a thing before, and they stared at the earthy-looking lump in Rongyao's arms with confusion.
Grand Secretary Zhang: "This is..."
Rongyao puffed out her chest and declared proudly, "This is golden sweet potato! It is edible, and each mu of land can yield as much as thirty shi!"
"What?!" The several senior officials immediately shot up from the chairs they had barely warmed, staring at Princess Fuxi in utter disbelief.
Even the emperor seated high on the throne abruptly stood up, gazing at his well-behaved daughter Yaoyao and the earthy lump in her hands in complete shock.
"Yaoyao, what did you just say?"
Rongyao held the golden sweet potato a little higher, and spoke in her clear, crisp voice, "This golden sweet potato was obtained by my Second Uncle Cui Huaihao when he traded with Hu people during his business travels outside the Great Zhou. It can produce thirty shi per mu of land."
The Grand Secretary stepped forward, leaning in urgently towards Rongyao, and asked, "Princess, how can you be certain that this crop can yield thirty shi per mu?"
Rongyao met Grand Secretary Zhang's gaze unflinchingly, and replied, "We got these seeds last year, and I have already planted a patch myself."
The Grand Secretary pressed a hand to his chest, his breathing growing rapid and shallow. He looked at the golden sweet potato in Rongyao's hands and said, "Princess, do you have any idea that even common millet only yields two shi per mu at most? Thirty shi—Princess, do you even understand how much thirty shi is?"
The Minister of Works added, "That is right, Princess, you must not jest about such a serious matter."
Rongyao: "This Princess is not lying!"
Dantai Ji had already walked down from his high throne. He took the earthy lump from Rongyao's hands, his eyes full of hopeful anticipation as he questioned his daughter.
"This thing truly can produce thirty shi per mu?"
Rongyao: "Yaoyao would never lie to Father the Emperor."
Dantai Ji was so excited that he reached out to take his daughter's hand, saying, "Yaoyao, tell Father all about this crop in detail."
Rongyao nodded, and began to recount the whole story of how they had come by the crop: "... Second Uncle thought it was very peculiar, so he bought ten of them. The Hu man who sold them never told Second Uncle how to plant them properly. So Second Uncle and I experimented with it together. We planted them in the spring, and soon the ten golden sweet potatoes sprouted vines. Some of the vines we left untouched, while others we cut off and planted directly into the soil. Some of the plants we watered, and some we left unwatered... When autumn came and the golden sweet potato vines had shed their leaves, we dug up all the plots that had been planted using different methods. We found that the ones we had not watered, and the ones grown directly from the vines we had buried in the soil, grew far better—they produced bigger and more tubers! We only planted less than half a mu of land, and we harvested fifteen shi of golden sweet potatoes!"
"This year, with those fifteen shi of golden sweet potatoes as seeds, we can grow seedlings for fifty mu of farmland. We can take the rooted vines, transplant and bury them in sandy soil, and we will harvest far more golden sweet potatoes by this autumn!"
"This crop is soft, glutinous, sweet, and incredibly filling. Though it does not keep fresh for long, we can slice it and dry it in the sun, and the dried slices can be stored for a whole year! Yaoyao deliberately kept all the golden sweet potatoes as seeds. Father the Emperor can distribute this crop to the people in the drought-stricken regions, so those people will no longer have to go hungry!"
After Rongyao finished speaking, the entire hall fell into dead silence.
Everyone held their breath, staring at Grand Princess Fuxi and the earthy lump in her arms.
Dantai Ji's breathing grew slightly rapid. He turned to Wang Zhong and ordered, "Summon the Second Son of the Vice Minister of Revenue to the palace immediately!"
Wang Zhong: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
In the meantime, Dantai Ji looked over at Cui Yeping, pointed at his daughter Rongyao, and asked, "Lord Cui, did you know anything about this matter?"
Cui Yeping hurriedly dropped to his knees, looking utterly bewildered as he glanced at his granddaughter. "Your subject... Your subject had no idea at all! That useless rascal of a son of mine never mentioned a word of this to me, and he never even brought a single golden sweet potato home for me to see."
Seeing the genuinely confused look on Cui Yeping's face, Dantai Ji believed him without a doubt.
He could not help but look down at his clever, thoughtful daughter again.
He had never expected that this little girl would have such courage and foresight. She had quietly planted this rare new crop she had chanced upon, and managed to grow a whole patch of high-quality seeds.
She had given him such a tremendous surprise today.
Several of the senior officials could no longer hold back their curiosity. They craned their necks to get a good look at the earthy tuber Rongyao had brought, and looks of indescribable excitement spread across every one of their faces, though they still harbored a hint of doubt.
Before long, Second Master Cui, Cui Huaihao, was escorted into the palace.
Cui Huaihao first glanced at his niece, and seeing her there, he felt completely at ease.
This was all part of the plan he and his niece had discussed earlier.
He had long expected that the emperor would summon him for questioning, and he had prepared everything thoroughly.
Cui Huaihao knelt on the ground to pay his respects to the emperor, to the princess, and then to all the senior officials.
Dantai Ji looked down at Cui Huaihao kneeling before the hall, and asked, "Did Grand Princess Fuxi speak the truth that this golden sweet potato was indeed traded from the Hu people by you?"
Cui Huaihao: "Yes, your humble servant traded ten bolts of silk for them. Four years ago, Grand Princess Fuxi bought a large tract of farmland, saying she wanted to grow more grain, and asked your humble servant to keep an eye out for any rare, unusual grain seeds while I was traveling for business. That was how your humble servant came across these golden sweet potatoes."
Hearing Cui Huaihao's words, everyone present turned their eyes to Rongyao in unison.
None of them had expected the story to start from that point.
Right after that, Cui Huaihao recounted the entire sequence of events to the emperor and all the senior officials, including how they had planted the original ten golden sweet potatoes, the methods they had used, and the exact time of the harvest—every detail matched exactly what Rongyao had said.
Dantai Ji stood up, and said eagerly, "Take me to see this crop at once!"
Grand Secretary Zhang: "This old official shall go with Your Majesty!"
The Minister of Works: "This old official will come along too!"
The Minister of Revenue: "Your subject shall accompany you as well!"
And so, the group of senior officials and the reigning emperor all left the imperial palace together.
The emperor rode in the foremost carriage with Princess Fuxi, while the rest of the court officials crowded into two other carriages.
It did not take long for them to arrive at the country estate on the outskirts of the capital.
Cui Huaihao led the emperor to view the stockpile of grain seeds he and Grand Princess Fuxi had stored.
The Grand Secretary, his body trembling with excitement, walked ahead of the emperor. Staring at the massive pile of earthy tubers, he asked urgently, "Truly—are all of these really harvested from just half a mu of land?"
Cui Huaihao bowed respectfully. "Your humble servant would never dare to utter a falsehood in the Emperor's presence. If there is even one lie in what I have said, your humble servant is willing to forfeit my life as punishment!"
"Excellent!" Dantai Ji was overjoyed, and he let out a loud cheer, unable to hide the delight spreading across his face. "Cui Huaihao, you have done a great service for the Great Zhou by bringing back this precious crop. What reward do you wish for?"
Cui Huaihao knelt down, glancing first at his father, who was overcome with excitement, then at his niece, who was grinning so widely she looked like a blooming flower. "Your humble servant only had the chance to trade for these golden sweet potato seeds because Grand Princess Fuxi instructed me to keep an eye out for rare grains. It was Grand Princess Fuxi who came up with the idea to plant all of them as seeds. Your humble servant dare not claim any of this credit for myself."
Dantai Ji's eyes were full of approval. "Grand Princess Fuxi has made great contributions, and I shall reward her duly. But you, who brought back these golden sweet potato seeds, deserve to be commended as well."
Cui Huaihao stayed silent for a long time before he finally lifted his head, and spoke in a solemn, earnest tone, "This humble subject begs Your Majesty for a single great favor."
