Then, turning to Yu Ningxuan, she said, "Second Sister, you're the eldest among us. I'll leave this matter for you to take the lead. You can discuss it with the other sisters. As for how to divide the three-percent share, you all can decide amongst yourselves."
After a moment's thought, worried that Yu Ningxuan might be too reserved to push for fairness, she added, "My suggestion is that those who contribute more should receive more. Also, Sister, please report this to Grandmother. If any issues arise, she will be there to support us."
Achoo!
Far away at the Yu residence, the Old Madam suddenly sneezed. Her chief maid, thinking she had caught a chill, hurried to fetch a cloak to drape over her shoulders.
The Old Madam waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. It must be Fuguang thinking of me!"
When others thought of her, it wasn't this potent.
Yu Ningxuan found this reasoning sound. With Grandmother's authority backing them, even that troublesome Eighth Sister wouldn't dare make a fuss.
Having resolved one issue before even arriving at the estate, Yue Fuguang felt quite pleased.
As for the fruit wine brewing business, all she needed to do was grow the fruit and give the recipes to her mother, Madam Zhang. She wouldn't have to manage the rest.
Therefore, when she stepped down from the carriage and saw the bare, barren hill, she didn't mind the lack of scenery at all.
Emperor Mingxi and the various ministers who had accompanied her also alighted. Seeing her in high spirits, they said with smiles, "Grand Tutor, this place is good, but it's a bit small."
Minister Wang, ever concerned with his area of expertise, couldn't help but ask, "What do you plan to plant in such a limited space, Grand Tutor?"
Before Yue Fuguang could reply, Emperor Mingxi approached with the Crown Prince and a group of princes and princesses.
Yue Fuguang glanced over. Good, that detestable Fourth Master Xie wasn't among them.
Everyone promptly paid their respects. Emperor Mingxi took an exquisite wooden box from the Crown Prince and handed it to Yue Fuguang. "Fuguang, these are the land deeds for the surrounding plots and those two hills."
Yue Fuguang accepted it with thanks and said with a smile, "Your Majesty has allotted me such a large area. I could build a leisure estate here."
She had initially wanted to say "farmstay" but thought it sounded too lowbrow and lacked elegance. Moreover, she didn't intend to open it to the public; she just wanted a private place for relaxation and entertainment.
Well, the main reason was that money was no object!
Just yesterday, Emperor Mingxi had found a pretext to send her over a dozen large chests of gifts, five of which were filled with gleaming gold.
Emperor Mingxi also smiled. "That sounds excellent. Fuguang, don't forget to invite me for a visit once it's built."
"And me, Grand Tutor! And me!" The Seventh Prince shouted, jumping up and down behind his older brothers.
The Second Prince turned and pressed his younger brother down. "You're everywhere!"
The Seventh Prince muttered under his breath, indignantly, "If I hadn't cried and made a scene to come, would you have had the chance to tag along and have fun?"
The others had to admit he had a point. Weren't they all relying on this thick-skinned younger brother to charge ahead first, so they, as older brothers, could follow behind and reap the benefits?
They weren't like the Crown Prince, who had a personal connection with the Grand Tutor and could come either with their father or on his own.
Ignoring her show-off seventh brother, the Eighth Princess stepped forward, linking her arm with Yue Fuguang's. "Grand Tutor, what do you intend to plant here?"
The Eighth Princess was a secret foodie. Ever since tasting the fruits and vegetables Yue Fuguang sent to the palace, and the snacks she brought to the academy, she had been unable to forget them.
She secretly hoped Yue Fuguang would plant a lot, so she could buy some from her.
Yue Fuguang looked around, thought for a moment, and pointed to the distant hills. "One hill will be covered in flowers, the other planted full of fruit trees. As for this largest one in the middle, I'll build a manor partway up the slope."
Then she gazed at the fields. "Besides planting some grain, I'll grow fruits and vegetables not found in Dayan: strawberries, watermelons, blueberries... Oh, and I must plant some tea trees on the hills."
She had almost forgotten that. The tea in Dayan was too complex, with too many added ingredients. Having grown accustomed to plain tea, she really couldn't get used to it.
Moreover, tea leaves could not only be made into tea but also had other wonderful uses.
[Master, are you trying to be self-sufficient to improve your quality of life?]
'If I don't plant them myself, Dayan won't grow them on its own! Look at their 'cold melons' (watermelons)—smaller than Qilin melons, and the key point is they're not sweet, with pinkish flesh.
As for their tea, adding scallions, ginger, and garlic is one thing, but they even add mutton fat! Who can stand that?'
Hearing Yue Fuguang's internal critique, the group's expressions turned somewhat awkward. Minister Wang, however, paid no heed. Now that it was within his professional domain, he had to ask more questions.
"Grand Tutor, are the fruits and vegetables not found in Dayan the ones from your sunlit greenhouse?"
Yue Fuguang shook her head. "Those are only part of it. I plan to select more varieties to plant. Just chili peppers have over a dozen varieties. Even radishes and cabbage have different types with different tastes."
After a moment's thought, she added, "There's also something called sugar beet. It can be used to make sugar."
In the Dayan Dynasty, the taste of 'sweet' was something many commoners might not experience much in their entire lives, mainly due to low productivity, few sources for sugar-making, and excessively high costs.
"Make sugar? Like with sweet potatoes?"
"No, it's different. Sweet potatoes are primarily a food crop, while sugar beet is a vegetable. It can be eaten as a vegetable, and its juice can also be boiled down to make sugar."
Making sugar from grain or vegetables—they had never heard or seen such a thing before. Truly, these were novel crops brought forth by the Grand Tutor.
With Emperor Mingxi and Yue Fuguang leading the way, the group walked along the crisscrossing field paths. At each spot, Yue Fuguang explained to the estate managers following behind what should be planted there.
Walking and stopping along the way, Yue Fuguang got a general overview of her own hundred mu of land.
As for the over a thousand mu Emperor Mingxi had given her, she wouldn't go see it all. Walking the entire area would be too hard on her feet; she wasn't up for that hardship.
For the remaining land, she briefly outlined her ideas. These were all experienced estate managers. Even with her simple instructions, they roughly understood how to prepare the land and what to reserve for planting.
Furthermore, there was the professional Minister Wang. Hearing Yue Fuguang mention one unfamiliar fruit or vegetable after another, he clamored about bringing people from the Ministry of Agriculture to help Yue Fuguang with the work.
Well, well, openly talking about using public resources for private purposes right in front of the big boss—Minister Wang was quite bold!
This wasn't like the small plot in her sunlit greenhouse that could be handled casually.
Emperor Mingxi even nodded. "Fuguang, if you're short on manpower later, you can also call on people from the imperial estates to help."
Yue Fuguang thought for a moment and didn't refuse, simply saying with a smile, "Alright. I won't give them monetary wages. Instead, I'll either give them some seeds or share some of the produce once it's grown."
Using it themselves or selling it would be better than directly giving them money.
A glint flashed in Minister Wang's eyes as he instantly understood the Grand Tutor's meaning. Doing it this way would save him a lot of future trouble, as there were many influential figures, and if they all offered money...
Emperor Mingxi was also pleased. Then he wouldn't even need to ask Yue Fuguang for seeds; the people from his own imperial estates could earn them for him.
The Crown Prince quickly followed, saying he would also send people to help. Subsequently, Feng Tang, Wu Yuanjing and his son also expressed their intention to send helpers.
Seeing they had been beaten to the offer, Lu Qi and the others no longer held back and all joined in.
Hadn't these people all bought seeds from Grandfather already?
