29, gift

On New Year's Eve, the seventh prince arrived at the gate of Cheng Yuanjia's manor at noon. Completely different from what he imagined, the manor did not have a New Year atmosphere at all, and there was not even a ceremony of ancestor worship, as if it were just ordinary days.

Cheng Yuanjia still set up a tea table in her warm garden to enjoy the spring in the garden. After a month of hard work, the flowers and plants in the courtyard are all lush. This is not the Spring Festival. It is much warmer than Tomb-sweeping Day.

Because of the four captains and hosting more than 400 people brought by him for the Spring Festival, this time the seventh prince came here alone. Seeing that Cheng Yuanjia looked like an old god, the seventh prince smiled and sat opposite her.

"Have you been busy lately?" Cheng Yuanjia poured him a cup of tea and said, "You haven't been here for more than 20 days."

"To be precise, I haven't been here since Laba." The seventh prince smiled apologetically and said, "It's almost the Spring Festival. Local officials know that I'm here, and they all come to visit one after another. Almost every day, many people come here, especially the officials of the second brother and Prince Qian. They can't even push, so they can't find time to come at all."

Cheng Yuanjia didn't complain that the seventh prince didn't come to accompany him, and she didn't care about it. She said, "It's very important to have a good relationship with them. These are all local snakes. However, if there are people who don't know each other, you don't have to smile. They will naturally deal with them when it's time to clean up.

"Why are you more ruthless than my second brother?" The seventh prince sighed and said, "Before I came here, the second brother also said something similar to me, so that I don't have to worry too much about the local officials who are not on their side."

"I'm not in such a good mood. It's my obstacle not to use it." Cheng Yuanjia said indifferently, "The king of Qi knows that you are kind-hearted and will not socialize with those officials with ghosts, so I ask you not to care too much. However, since ancient times, it is good to be benevolent, but there is no lack of cruel means. The blind kindness can only be led by the nose by the ministers. If you can't control the scale of trade-offs and decisive attitude, you can't solve the disputes in the court. It sounds sad, but it's an indisputable fact.

"I don't know, but I have no ambition for the throne. It's my second brother who wants me to fight for it. Do you even want me to compete for the position of prince now?" The seventh prince stared at Cheng Yuanjia, hoping to see what she was thinking. However, Cheng Yuanjia still has a light expression.

"You have no choice. Now your position is very difficult. Only when you or the King of Qi obtain the right to inherit the throne can you have a glimmer of life. Otherwise, the throne falls into the hands of other princes, and it is really difficult for you two to die."

The seventh prince only felt that his heart was suddenly sinking. Of course, he was very clear about his own situation, but he had been deliberately avoiding it.

"Dorless to say anything about death during the Spring Festival, let's talk about something happy." The seventh prince changed the topic and said, "Does your father know you're here?"

"Don't I have a stand-in in the capital? Of course, I don't know. Otherwise, with his nature, he may have to come here to see that I am safe. Cheng Yuanjia said about his father, with a faint smile on the corners of his mouth.

"Did you spend the Spring Festival in Prince Qian's Mansion or in Cheng's Mansion last year?"

"In Prince Qian's Mansion, my father also came. He is my only relative in the capital, and the other two ethnic groups are very ordinary, so there is no need to be so intimate. And my grandparents are all his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and I am in the middle. It's much more convenient to get along with him than his people.

"That's true. The New Year's Eve dinner of Prince Qian's family is not something that ordinary people can eat, and many people can't envy it." The seventh prince laughed and said, "Prince Qian's descendants are full of halls. I'm afraid the New Year will be very lively."

"It's very lively, but I don't like it. I hide in my room except when I go back to eat." Cheng Yuanjia frowned and said, "The whole family is noisy. I have a big head when I think about it. If I don't have to have a meal together, I wouldn't be too lazy to come out. Besides, their food is terrible, and they can barely take a few bites to deal with it.

The seventh prince remembered that he had eaten at her table for a limited number of times in Cheng Yuanjia's yard. She also seemed to eat very little and almost put it down as soon as she picked up the rice bowl. Thinking of the two strange bags of white rice he took back, he said, "Don't you usually eat that kind of white rice?"

"Of course, this rice tastes good."

"It's not bad. It's simply not what the world should have." The seventh prince smiled bitterly and said, "I understand why you always eat so little in front of me. The relationship is to deal with me. In addition, I cooked rice with ordinary rice, and I am used to eating my own good rice. It's strange to eat ordinary rice. Speaking of which, I can see the rice you gave me. You have to continue to give some.

"The origin of this meter is quite strange, so too many people can't know it." Cheng Yuanjia said righteously, "If you want it, I can provide you, but you also need to control the outflow of rice. Once the outside world knows the existence of this kind of rice, maybe something will happen."

The seventh prince nodded and said, "I know this. Human desire is a terrible original sin. This meter can definitely turn desire into evil, so you strictly control it. It's just that I don't understand. If you grow this rice, where did you grow it?

"You don't need to know now. If one day I want you to know, I will take you to see this vast world." Cheng Yuanjia smiled mysteriously and said, "There is one thing you absolutely don't have to worry about. This meter will not appear casually without my permission. But that's not all I have. No matter how good your appetite is, I can feed you.

"Why do I sound uncomfortable with this?" The seventh prince touched his nose and said, "There is ambiguity."

What answered him was a towel on the tea table to dry the water stains on the cup. It was difficult at close range and covered his face firmly.

"What are you thinking about? Just think about your crooked brains, and the sages have been read in vain."

The seventh prince laughed, put the towel that hit his face back to Cheng Yuanjia's hand, and said, "Occasionally, it's quite cute to see that you are angry. Don't always look like a fairy. Smile more."

"If you joke with me again, I won't provide you with white rice." Cheng Yuanjia poured herself a cup of tea and didn't add it to the seventh prince.

The seventh prince lamented, picked up the teapot and said, "Well, who let me fall into your hands?" You can't cut off my food. I can count on it to eat.

After more than 20 days of experience, he really understood the truth that the shortest hand of cannibals is short.

Cheng Yuanjia knew what the seventh prince was thinking. They were very familiar with each other. Even if they didn't deliberately listen to his voice, they also knew what he was thinking. Now he said, "You don't have to think that you have received any favor from me. Just think it's to help me solve the problem."

"Sove the problem? How do you say this?" The seventh prince was surprised.

"My grain is out of stock. I didn't take it out before, but I didn't know how much food I had. When I found that the warehouse was almost full, there was already a lot more. So now I have sent a lot not only to you, but also to my grandfather's family and my father. I'm just worried that this rice is too extraordinary to take it out in large quantities.

"Is there such a thing?" The seventh prince was very surprised and said, "Although the year is good these days, the grain stored in the treasury has never been out of stock. How on earth did you do it?"

"You don't have to think too much about this. You will naturally let you know when you know."

"I just care. Have you been taxed?"

Cheng Yuanjia was speechless and glanced at him and said, "I sealed the ground, and even if I pay taxes, I will give it to me."

The royal family has detailed registration and strict supervision on the fiefs of each member of the clan. Otherwise, some members of the clan with bad intentions to recruit and buy horses on the fief will be very troublesome. Cheng Yuanjia's fiefdom is in the south of the Yangtze River. It was originally a commercial town. More than half of the fiefdom is occupied by an extremely prosperous town. There are also some arable land outside the city, mainly planting vegetables. These are all recorded in the case file of Zongzheng Mansion. The seventh prince has read it many times when he learned about Cheng Yuanjia's past.

If this kind of rice is produced on Cheng Yuanjia's land, it is impossible for Zong Zhengfu not to know, but in fact, there is no rice field on Cheng Yuanjia's land.

The seventh prince knew that Cheng Yuanjia still didn't want to tell him the truth, and he didn't expose her lies. He changed the topic and talked about the customs of Fujian.

At noon, the two of them just had a simple meal. With the rice cooked by Bailing rice, there is no need for too complicated dishes at all. This is what the seventh princes know. No matter how good the food is, it is difficult to match with such a supreme rice.