The Lucky Heiress

“Your eldest daughter’s advice in thatbookwas incredibly useful,” she said. “As per her suggestion, my servants in the farmstead procured a new batch of rice seeds and replanted them. However, the neighboring farmers didn’t listen to her advice. Now there are no problems with my seedlings, they are growing green and strong, but the farmers are in a panic. Their seedlings are falling over, turning yellow, withering and dying. The seedlings cannot be saved!” Changing the seedlings did take some effort, but as it protected the young plants and saved the hope of the year, it was absolutely worth it!

Upon hearing the Lady’s description, Madam Yun’s face first showed surprise, then a broad smile emerged.

She had initially been worried that this problem would cause a mishap and unnecessarily trouble the Lady. She hadn’t thought that Ruoruo could possess such ability.

Looking at the delighted Lady, Madam Yun felt joyful as well.

The Lady continued, “I also heard that many villages around the Government City have suffered loss in their seedlings. They didn’t heed your eldest daughter’s advice to replant seedlings. Now their seedlings are gradually, turning yellow, withering, and falling over. And it’s already mid-Apnl, it’s likely too late to replant.”

The rice varieties planted in the Taizhou prefecture are usually sown and raised early. The seeds are sown before the Qingming Festival, raised for forty days, and the seedlings are then planted by late March.

Now that it’s mid-April, to sow again, and go through another forty-day growing period, where is there time?

Upon hearing this, Madam Yun was shocked. The rice varieties they used this year were procured with the help of her eldest daughter. The seedlings in their field are growing very well and they hadn’t encountered any problems, so she didn’t know such a thing had happened.

Therefore, Madam Yun asked, “Is the situation very serious?”

The Lady said, “For those who didn’t listen, they’ve definitely lost their seedlings. However, some did listen and have cultivated new seedlings in advance. Now when they see the old seedlings having problems, there is still time to replace them.”

Hearing this, Madam Yun immediately recalled the day she went to the Xiu family farmstead. Her daughter’s argument with those farmers was about these matters.

It seems that these farmers who were furious at her daughter are now suffering from seedling loss.

Thinking about this, Madam Yun didn’t feel any sympathy for those farmers. Her daughter had earnestly implored them but they refused to listen, so now it’s their own fault that they’ve suffered seedling loss.

“So your eldest daughter really did me a big favor!” The Lady praised Wei Ruo once again.

Hearing these words made Madam Yun feel extremely joyous. She humbly said, “Ruoruo merely stumbled upon it by chance. It’s her good fortune that she could be of help.”

When Wei Ruo returned from Tianqin Garden, as she was about to head towards Wangmei Garden, she was stopped by Cuiping, whom Madam Yun ordered to wait for Wei Ruo.

Cuiping informed Wei Ruo that the Lady was here and wanted to see her, asking her to go to Cangyun Garden immediately.

Wei Ruo didn’t say anything and followed Cuiping to Cangyun Garden.

Upon entering the room, she saw the Lady rising to greet her.

“Eldest Miss,” the Lady greeted Wei Ruo with a warm and loving face.

“Greetings, Lady Xu,” Wei Ruo bent slightly in salute.

“Eldest Miss, there’s no need for formalities.”

The Lady held Wei Ruo’s hand and took her to sit down.

“You’ve just returned from reading, you must be tired. Will you be very tired accompanying me?” the Lady asked.

“No, I’m not tired,” Wei Ruo replied, “May I ask why the Lady has asked for me? Is it about the loquat syrup?”

“The loquat syrup is one of the reasons. My mother-in-law exhorted me numerous times about it, so I dare not forget. However, I have another, more important reason: I want to express my gratitude to you for asking me to prepare new seedlings last month,” the Lady said.

Wei Ruo was not surprised by any of the two reasons the Lady mentioned. The supply of loquat syrup she gave to Lady Xiu last time must be almost finished by now, and the issue of the seedlings had also recently come to light.

“The Lady doesn’t need to worry, I didn’t do anything that required much thought, I only made a little suggestion,” Wei Ruo responded.

“You can’t say that. What you pointed out is something many people can t do. Others did not notice the problem with the seedlings as quickly as you. While others did notice the problem later on, it was all later than you. Therefore, they are not as insightful as you. The earlier such things are discovered the better. A difference of three to five days may still cost lives, not to mention some folks, who only noticed when large areas of their seedlings died a few days ago, which is definitely too late for regrets,” the Lady said, sighing heavily.

The appreciation in the Lady’s eyes made Wei Ruo look more and more affectionate.

Wei Ruo merely smiled and said, “As long as I could help, that’s good. We just started the year, and if this matter delays the farming for the entire year, it’s hard on everyone.”

“That’s the truth! People were already nervous about last year’s poor crop yield, and now it’s just the start of the new year. If we experience this kind of chaos again, people’s hearts are close to giving out,” the Lady said, very much agreeing.

Right after that, the Lady said, “I had heard from the Commandery Princess before that the eldest miss is very knowledgeable about farming matters. At that time, I just took it as hearsay. Now, having seen it with my own eyes, it’s just as the Commandery Princess said, Miss Wei Ruo truly has a wide range of knowledge and many talents.”

Wei Ruo felt a little embarrassed by the Lady’s overly enthusiastic praise.

“The Commandery Princess over-praised me, I just know a bit,” Wei Ruo didn t dare to claim that she was very knowledgeable.

The Lady and Wei Ruo talked enthusiastically, leaving Madam Yun aside. Madam Yun also can’t join in the conversation between the Lady and Wei Ruo, so she could only sit awkwardly aside and smile along.

After talking with the Lady for a long time, the Lady left reluctantly. Before leaving, she gave Wei Ruo some gifts, which were two brocade boxes. Wei Ruo didn’t open them on the spot.

As a return gift, Wei Ruo gave her four jars of loquat syrup and some dried tangerine peel tea.

This dried tangerine peel tea is made from dried tangerine peel, pickled with salt, and combined with several herbal medicines. It can be made into a tea that clears heat and benefits the throat, and can relieve throat discomfort.

The Lady wanted to give Wei Ruo silver, but Wei Ruo claimed that today’s loquat syrup was a return gift for the Lady’s presents, not for sale, and did not accept the silver taels so the Lady didn’t insist.

After sending the Lady off, Madam Yun looked at Wei Ruo with a satisfied face and said, “Ruoruo, you’ve done a good job again, and your interaction with the Lady was handled very well.”

Wei Ruo replied indifferently, “I’m feeling a bit tired today, I’ll go to my room first.”

It was clear that Wei Ruo didn’t want to say much to Madam Yun.

The Wei Ruo of now was more direct than when she first came to the Military Prefecture. Her attitude towards Madam Yun also became more distant and indifferent. She was more polite when there were others present, but when there were no outsiders, Wei Ruo was straightforward.