The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 1897 - 1872: Driven Away in Anger

The Crown Prince was surprised by these events and chuckled as he looked at Manbao, "So you should carry the surname Xia. Does your maternal family still have any relatives?"

"No more," Old Zhou replied, "Her family originally only had her mother as a daughter. After both her maternal grandfather and grandmother passed away, her parents brought her back to the countryside."

The Crown Prince picked up the tea beside him, using it to hide his amusement, and continued to ask, "Then where is her maternal family from? Hmm, I remember it’s in Shangzhou?"

He seemed to recall seeing this when he investigated Zhou Man’s background.

Old Zhou nodded repeatedly, "It’s in Shangzhou. Manbao’s parents even left her some property there, though we aren’t sure if it’s still there after all these years."

The Crown Prince laughed, "Why not go see if it’s still there?"

Old Zhou sighed, "We’ve always wanted to go, but Manbao is always too busy, not even able to leave the capital freely during the New Year. For us, it wouldn’t be proper to go without her, so we’ve been putting it off."

Prince Gong remarked, "Without the bond of upbringing, if there was a desire, why not find even a few days to make time?"

Mingda disapprovingly glanced at Prince Gong, "Third Brother!"

Prince Gong sneered, giving Zhou Man a cold look, making his attitude clear.

Manbao paused for a moment, and upon reflection, thought he wasn’t entirely wrong. She indeed hadn’t been attentive enough. Otherwise, she could always make time.

The Crown Prince frowned slightly, unwilling to have his people criticized for being unfilial. After a brief thought and a glance at Prince Gong, he said, "Shangzhou isn’t very far from the capital. Once the Dragon Boat Festival is over, I’ll grant you a few days off to take care of these matters."

Manbao, with a mix of anxiety and happiness, asked excitedly, "Really?"

The Crown Prince nodded with a smile, "I wouldn’t lie to you about these matters."

Bai Erlang quietly tugged at the back of Manbao’s and Bai Shan’s clothes.

Bai Shan, without changing his expression, pulled back his clothes and applied for leave, "I’m not comfortable with her going alone. May we have permission to accompany her for a few days?"

The Crown Prince gave them a glance and nodded in agreement.

Bai Shan lowered his head, slightly raising the corners of his mouth, and Bai Erlang was also very pleased.

Hearing that Bai Shan and Bai Erlang would accompany her, Manbao quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Eunuch Wu soon entered, nodded at the Crown Prince, indicating that the meal was ready.

Mingda and Changyu sat down and invited Manbao to sit with them. The Crown Prince simply invited Old Zhou, Ms. Qian, and Old Madam Liu to stay as well. Coincidentally, he had some questions to ask, "I see you’ve managed the official fields rather well and even have an experimental field. What’s different about the crops in there compared to ordinary crops?"

Old Zhou swallowed, having plenty to say about farming, but he was a bit nervous now and couldn’t speak.

Instinctively, he looked at Manbao.

Just as Manbao was about to respond, Ms. Qian smiled and said, "It’s just that the seeds are different. The children got a handful of seeds from somewhere else, saying they were from another region and wanted to see if they could grow better rice, so they set aside a plot to plant."

She said softly, "The rice seedlings have just been planted, so it’s hard to say if they’re good or bad. But the seeds have all sprouted, so they’re clearly not bad. They were planted ten days later than the others, so they look a bit shorter."

The Crown Prince nodded slightly, "Agriculture is a major concern for the people’s livelihood. If you can cultivate a new rice variety, you will be national heroes."

The credit for the wheat seeds wasn’t fully acknowledged before, but with Zhou Man as an official in court, the court obviously wouldn’t gloss over it.

Manbao made faces at her father, suggesting that letting her brothers handle farming wouldn’t be a problem, right?

When the Crown Prince made the first move with his chopsticks, Changyu went straight for the steamed meat. Even though it was summer and the weather was hot, she still liked to eat meat.

Prince Gong, showing disdain, picked something randomly with his chopsticks. But after taking a bite, his expression slightly changed, and he stopped paying attention to the Crown Prince, who was chatting idly, and ate seriously.

When he was about to get his third bowl of rice, the Crown Prince lifted his eyes to look at the attendant behind Prince Gong and said, "Third Brother, you’ve just slimmed down. It’s better to eat less, or you might gain it back. Surely, you don’t want to climb mountains at the Daming Palace again?"

Prince Gong’s body stiffened.

Over a year and a half, he’d lost about fifty pounds and changed significantly. He thought he was slim enough, but each time Zhou Man saw him, she still claimed he was slightly overweight and needed to continue losing.

Heaven knows, no matter how much martial arts he practiced recently, he wasn’t losing any more weight. Instead, his appetite was increasing. Yet, the head of the kitchen managed his diet so strictly that he couldn’t eat much, only occasionally having extra from his wife and children. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The attendant dared not disobey and didn’t dare to serve Prince Gong another bowl, placing the bowl back on the table humbly.

Furious, Prince Gong slammed the table and shouted at the attendant, "What, I can’t even have a bowl of rice?"

The attendant, trembling and fearful, knelt on the ground.

The Crown Prince snorted coldly, "Third Brother, I’m doing this for your own good. After all, obesity shortens lifespan."

Old Zhou looked on, frightened and almost choking on his food. Helplessly, he looked at Manbao.

Manbao used her chopsticks to put a meat patty on Prince Gong’s plate, trying to mediate, "Third Highness, stop with the rice and try one of our meat patties."

She then said to the Crown Prince, "It’s okay to indulge occasionally. Once back at the palace, you can resume the diet. I can go to the prince and do acupuncture."

Prince Gong angrily threw down his chopsticks and left.

Seeing him leave huffing, Manbao sighed and said to the kneeling attendant, "You can get up. It’s also good for the prince to have some time to cool off alone."

Mingda glanced at the Crown Prince and said to the attendant, "Stand up."

Only then did the attendant cautiously rise, bowing slightly as he retreated to the side.

The Crown Prince, pleased at having irritated Prince Gong into leaving, took a meat patty and bit into it.

Manbao and Mingda exchanged looks and sighed quietly in their hearts.

Bai Shan also felt the two shouldn’t be put together. He wondered what the emperor and empress were thinking, letting the Crown Prince and Prince Gong travel together.

However, as long as they weren’t around, whether they fought or argued was irrelevant to them.

So Bai Shan sped up his eating, like Manbao, eager to see the Crown Prince and Prince Gong off.

Only the Crown Prince ate leisurely, and after eating, he lingered, drinking a cup of tea before finally standing to leave.

By then, Prince Gong had already left with his entourage, too frustrated to look at the Crown Prince any longer.

The Crown Prince didn’t mind, turning back to Mingda and Changyu, saying, "I’ll leave a squad of the Imperial Guard with you. Don’t play too late and return to the imperial villa early."

Mingda agreed, and after seeing the Crown Prince off, she let out a breath and awkwardly said to Manbao, "Did we scare your people?"

Manbao shook her head, "No worries, my father is big-hearted. He’ll forget soon. But the Crown Prince and Prince Gong won’t fight along the way, will they?"

Mingda was also a bit worried but replied, "I don’t think so. Father specially assigned officials from the Eastern Palace to accompany. They should advise the Crown Prince along the way."