Duoduo's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the Estate Manager ran back, sweating profusely.
"Your Highness, all the tenant farmers are already waiting for you outside the door."
Ling Feng pushed the wheelchair, with Duoduo following closely by its side.
As Duoduo stepped out of the gate of the Estate Manager's courtyard, she saw about twenty men standing in the open space outside.
Most of them were in rags, their expressions vacant, keeping their heads down and not daring to look up.
A few men wore slightly better clothes, at least with fewer patches.
However, the old man from the first house they had visited was not among the crowd.
Duoduo's eyes scanned everyone present; indeed, he was not there.
She tilted her head up and looked at the Prince of Pingyang.
The Prince of Pingyang looked calmly at the people before him.
"Are these all the tenant farmers?"
The Estate Manager hesitated for a moment. "There are a few families who said they had matters to attend to at home and couldn't make it."
"Your Highness, your time is precious. Since those families cannot come, let us just leave it at that."
The Prince of Pingyang nodded, gesturing for Ling Feng to have the guards bring out the copper coins.
The guards placed the baskets next to the Prince of Pingyang.
Ling Feng stepped forward. "You have all worked hard these past years."
"His Highness and Her Highness the Princess heard from the Estate Manager that the harvests have been poor recently, so everyone wishes to reduce the rent from fifty percent to forty percent."
"Today, His Highness and the Princess are passing through and specifically want to understand the situation."
"If you have any difficulties at home, you can speak to His Highness about them."
"In addition, His Highness and the Princess have prepared some bonus money for everyone as a token of their appreciation."
"Now, whoever's name is called, please come forward to collect it."
After Ling Feng finished speaking, he placed a booklet into the hands of the Prince of Pingyang.
The standing crowd remained expressionless, as if they hadn't heard Ling Feng's words.
Seeing the awkward silence, the Estate Manager scolded, "His Highness is asking you a question, why aren't you answering?"
"Yes."
The few men with better clothing answered one after another.
"Yes."
The others also answered in low voices.
Duoduo noticed that they seemed very afraid of the Estate Manager.
Among them, one young man looked at the Estate Manager with a gaze full of deep hatred.
The Prince of Pingyang looked at the names in the booklet but did not read them aloud.
He briefly flipped through it and casually closed it.
The Prince of Pingyang casually pointed at a man standing at the very front.
"What is your name? How many people are in your family? How many mu of land do you rent?"
The pointed man froze for a moment.
He instinctively looked at the Estate Manager, who hurriedly waved his hand at him.
The Prince of Pingyang acted as if he didn't see their little exchange, simply waiting calmly for the man's reply.
The man took a step forward.
"To answer Your Highness, this humble one is named Wang Er. There are five people in my family, and I rent... rent seven mu of land."
The Prince of Pingyang nodded, gesturing for Ling Feng to give him the copper coins.
Ling Feng counted out the reward for five people from the basket and handed it to Wang Er.
A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Wang Er's face, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Next, you come here."
The Prince of Pingyang pointed to another man who was also decently dressed.
The man stepped out and introduced himself before the Prince of Pingyang could even ask.
"Your Highness, this humble one is named Jia Si. There are eight people in my family in total, and I rent eight mu of land."
The Prince of Pingyang waved his hand, signaling Ling Feng to give the money.
Ling Feng took out the reward for eight people from the basket and handed it to Jia Si.
Jia Si also knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.
"What did you say your name was again?" the Prince of Pingyang suddenly asked.
"This humble one is named Wang Si, no, Jia Si!" the man named Jia Si stammered.
"How many mu of land does your family rent? What kind of land is it? What do you grow?"
The Prince of Pingyang asked one question after another.
Holding the copper coins, Jia Si looked at the Estate Manager.
The Estate Manager stomped his feet in anger, glaring fiercely at Jia Si and signaling him to answer quickly.
Jia Si kowtowed.
"To answer Your Highness, this humble one rents eight mu of land."
"The land I rent is all low-grade fields, and I grow rice."
"Oh, and how much did your low-grade fields yield last year?" The Prince of Pingyang seemed as though he was simply showing concern for the people's conditions.
Jia Si grew bolder.
"Your Highness, I don't know what has been going on these past few years."
"The crops look like they're growing beautifully, but the harvest is just poor."
"Last year, after a year of hard work, we only harvested forty percent of the expected grain."
"That wasn't even enough to pay the rent. The elderly and children at home were so hungry they wanted to go beg for food in the capital."
The Prince of Pingyang turned the jade thumb ring on his hand, looking at Jia Si's somewhat sturdy build.
He nodded slowly.
"It has indeed been hard on you. By the way, where are your low-grade fields located?"
Jia Si froze for a moment, then immediately replied.
"To answer Your Highness, the land I rent is in Xialiushu."
The Prince of Pingyang's hand, which was turning the jade thumb ring, paused.
"Isn't the land at Xialiushu medium-grade fields?"
Jia Si froze, seeing the Prince of Pingyang staring at him with a sharp gaze.
Panic set in his heart.
"This humble one was nervous just now and misspoke. It is at Shangliushu."
The Prince of Pingyang looked at the Estate Manager.
"Isn't Shangliushu high-grade fields? How could there be low-grade fields there?"
Without waiting for the Estate Manager to answer, Jia Si immediately rushed to defend himself.
"This humble one remembered incorrectly. It is Xialiushu. There are low-grade fields at Xialiushu."
"However, there are not eight mu of low-grade fields at Xialiushu."
The Prince of Pingyang's words were ice-cold, like a bucket of ice water poured over Jia Si's head.
Jia Si shuddered.
"This humble one remembered incorrectly. I rent four mu, no!"
"Six mu of low-grade fields and two mu of medium-grade fields! Yes! That's it!"
After Jia Si finished speaking, he even sneaked a glance at the Estate Manager.
The Prince of Pingyang did not contradict him; he looked at Wang Er.
"Wang Er, where is the land your family rents?"
Wang Er stood there without answering.
The Estate Manager stomped his feet in exasperation. "Wang Er! Wang Er! He is calling you!"
Wang Er finally snapped back to reality and revealed a fawning smile.
"Your Highness, were you calling this humble one?"
The Prince of Pingyang asked again, "Where is the land your family rents?"
"Xialiushu."
"What kind of land is it, and how many mu?"
"Low-grade fields, five mu!"
Wang Er answered without hesitation, completely oblivious to the fact that he had misspoken.
He also failed to notice Jia Si beside him constantly winking at him.
"How many people are in your family, and how much was the harvest last year?"
Wang Er actually hesitated this time because he saw the Estate Manager winking at him.
Originally, he wanted to look closely to see what the Estate Manager was trying to convey.
As a result, a guard walked over and blocked the Estate Manager from his view.
"There are five people in my family, no, six people, no, eight people!"
Wang Er began to panic internally.
He originally thought that once he received the money, he would definitely be done with it.
He hadn't expected the Prince of Pingyang to suddenly circle back and question him again.
"Last year's harvest... last year's harvest was poor!"
"Your Highness, you should reduce our rent, at least down to sixty percent! No! Fifty percent!"
Wang Er saw the Estate Manager extend a hand, waving it vigorously at him.
