HCB Chapter 485 Relying on Favor (30)
Chapter 485 Relying on Favor (30)
Thinking deeper, Xie Ying might also be trying to use this jade pendant to appeal to her emotions and awaken memories of their past together...
Yan Zhen placed the glass jade pendant on the table, a half-smile on his face: "Xie Ying is quite impressive."
Zhao Yuan, who had been listening intently, immediately became alert: "Amazing? What's so amazing about him?"
"They found out I was in Tingzhou so quickly, and they even know I'm following you."
Zhao Yuan stared intently at her: "So? You've softened your heart? You want to go back to Daliang with him?"
Yan Zhen countered, "If I said yes, would you let me go back?"
"Of course not!" Zhao Yuan quickly said, "You've fallen in love with me, how can you go back to Daliang!"
"That settles it then," Yan Zhen said. "You're not even planning to let me go back, so what are you doing hiding here overthinking things?"
After hearing what she said, Zhao Yuan immediately understood what she meant.
She had no intention of returning to Daliang.
Zhao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a brief moment of shame for his petty-mindedness.
He had previously intended to hide the jade pendant and not tell her that Xie Ying had sent people to visit.
Now it seems I was overthinking things.
Realizing this, Zhao Yuan's expression instantly changed to a smile, and he leaned over to put his arm around Yan Zhen's waist: "I was just worried that you'd be too soft-hearted... People aren't plants or trees, how can they be without feelings? What if you suddenly decide you want to go back to Daliang with him?"
Yan Zhen was pulled into his arms, feeling his warm body temperature warming her through her clothes. She instinctively snuggled into his embrace and leaned on his shoulder.
Zhao Yuan quickly hugged her even tighter.
He was enjoying this rare moment of tenderness when he suddenly heard the person in his arms say, "If I plan to return to Daliang, the first person to die will be you."
Zhao Yuan was taken aback.
"Since we're planning to return to Daliang, we should at least kill a rebel king to make a name for ourselves."
Zhao Yuan: "..."
He recalled that a few days ago in Yunzhou, Yan Zhen stood on a hill, drew his bow, and shot an arrow at Xie Ying's throat without hesitation.
If she stops loving him one day, will he become the next Xie Ying?
-
A few days later, news came from outside that the Northern Jurchens had captured a city on the border of the Great Liang, and the two sides had started fighting.
Xie Ying hurriedly led the three thousand men back to the capital of Daliang.
When Yan Zhen heard the news, he was in his study compiling the experience he had gained from cultivating potato seedlings into a notebook.
Zhao Yuan sat under the desk, holding a pair of iron tongs, adding charcoal to the brazier while sharing the news with Yan Zhen.
“Everyone outside is saying that the reason the Northern Jurchens invaded the Great Liang was because the princess had an accident on her way to the marriage alliance, and the Northern Jurchens felt that the Great Liang had deceived them… The Great Liang has so many princesses, if you’re missing, they can just send another princess to the marriage alliance.” Zhao Yuan said, “When they discovered you were missing, didn’t Tan Xuanmo and Xie Ying ever think about making amends?”
Yan Zhen didn't even look up: "Including me, there are only two princesses of marriageable age in Daliang. Beijue also knows about this. When they proposed the marriage alliance, they made it clear that the princess must have royal blood and could not be a county princess or noble lady. As for why they didn't send the other one after I disappeared... maybe they couldn't bear to part with her."
Zhao Yuan sensed the subtle grievance and resentment in her words. He put down the pliers, got up, walked around the desk, and sat down next to her: "Doesn't Tan Xuanmo love you?"
Yan Zhen glanced at him, seeing through his attempt to sow discord: "No."
“Definitely,” Zhao Yuan said. “Why would someone who loves you send you to a marriage alliance? And Xie Ying, what man would send his fiancée to a marriage alliance? He knows what kind of person Ji Tu is, and he knows what you will face if you go to Bei Jue… Xie Ying, Tan Xuanmo, they don’t love you.”
Yan Zhen ignored him.
Zhao Yuan persisted, squeezing closer to her and pressing against her: "They don't care about you, but I do."
"is it?"
"Yes, I'll give you whatever you want from now on. I'll never give you up to anyone else."
As Zhao Yuan spoke, as if to demonstrate his determination, he reached out and grasped Yan Zhen's hand, which was holding the pen.
But the moment he touched her icy hands, all his little schemes vanished.
"Why are your hands so cold?" Zhao Yuan immediately took off his pen, covered her hands with his palms, and then had a servant bring in a charcoal brazier.
Yan Zhen stopped him, saying, "No need, too many charcoal braziers will make it stuffy."
"But you're cold..."
"It's okay, it's like this all winter."
The capital of Daliang is in the south, and although it is cold in winter, it is not as cold as Tingzhou in the northwest.
This was the first time this body had come to such a cold place. Coupled with the low level of production and scarcity of resources in this world, and the limited means of keeping warm, Yan Zhen was already mentally prepared that this winter would be very difficult.
But Zhao Yuan took this to heart, and the next day he sent people to the Zhao Prince's Mansion to renovate the warm pavilion, and also sent several thick fox fur cloaks.
The day after the warm pavilion was completed, Tingzhou experienced its first snowfall of the winter.
A fire was lit in the warm room, and Yan Zhen, dressed like a dumpling, was finally no longer shivering from the cold inside.
After the warm pavilion was built, Yan Zhen didn't want to come out once he was inside.
She ate and slept in the warm pavilion, and even had the ten pots of potatoes moved to the side of the warm pavilion so that she could observe their growth every day.
She hid in the warm room like a cat and began to "hibernate".
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
The Lunar New Year is approaching in Tingzhou, and the potato seedlings planted in flowerpots have turned yellow and wilted, which is a sign that the potatoes are ripe.
Yan Zhen chose a sunny day and, with a group of servants and Zhao Yuan as witnesses, dug out the potatoes from the flowerpot.
The first potato plant yielded six potatoes, each weighing between two and four ounces.
The second potato plant has eight potatoes.
The third plant has seven berries.
The fourth plant has eleven fruits, each weighing just over one ounce.
After all the plants were dug up, Yan Zhen summarized that the yield per plant was between two and three jin.
Given that the plant was potted and there was insufficient sunlight in winter, requiring artificial lighting, this yield was somewhat beyond Yan Zhen's expectations.
Based on this yield, if 3,000 plants are planted per mu, the yield per mu can reach at least 6,000 jin.
The land in Tingzhou is barren, and the yield of wheat grown there is only 200 to 300 jin per mu.
Potatoes yield more than 20 times more than wheat.
After a rough calculation, Yan Zhen had a better understanding of the situation.
-
The New Year has arrived on a day when water freezes instantly.
It was too cold, so Yan Zhen didn't want to leave the warm pavilion or trouble his servants. He instructed them to prepare a few simple dishes and warm a pot of wine, then gave them a reward and told them to go back and rest early.
In the warm pavilion, Yan Zhen and Zhao Yuan sat facing each other.
Despite staying in the warm room all day without moving, Yan Zhen's hands and feet remained cold, and he had little appetite.
Faced with the delicious-looking dishes on the table, she took a couple of bites and put down her chopsticks.
Zhao Yuan poured her a cup of peach blossom wine: "This wine isn't strong, have a little to warm yourself up."
Yan Zhen took the wine glass and took a sip. Just as he put the glass down, Zhao Yuan handed him a small red cloth bag.
Yan Zhen took it, puzzled, and asked, "What is this?"