boyutpedia Chapter 1900: Kindness Without Power
Chapter 1900: Kindness Without Power
But there's no other way. This kind of thing is understandable; it's just a matter of first come, first served, and those who arrive late get nothing.
Those who can't buy seeds are destined to grow only coarse grains.
For two whole hours, Big Eyes was busy running around, always keeping an eye on the scale, not allowing anyone to take more seeds than necessary.
He can only accept a slightly higher weight; if it's much higher, he'll grab a handful of seeds, and no one can take advantage of the Prince's Mansion under his nose.
After everyone left, Da Yan collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, still praising Shang tide: "Your Highness, you're so capable, you even sold these unpalatable wheat seeds."
Shang tide laughed too. If it were really as the old farmer said, that the germination rate of these seeds would drop drastically after a year or two, then these seeds would be useless. It would be better to distribute them to the people to plant!
The farmers were right. Even the worst-tasting wheat was better than growing coarse grains. Farmers generally ate whatever they grew in their fields. They felt it wasn't worthwhile to sell their coarse grains to buy expensive wheat and rice; they'd rather eat the inferior grains to make do. So these wheat seeds solved the urgent problems for many people, and Shang Xi was happy to be able to help so many farmers.
Only Ma Sui, who was moving around in the field, shook his head and sighed. Shang Xi ignored him, assuming that he was listening to Cheng Feng and was afraid of being punished by Cheng Feng for sharing the seeds with the people. However, Shang Xi understood Cheng Feng. Cheng Feng would also share the seeds with the people if he saw that the old farmers had no seeds. She did not regret her decision today.
Seeing that everyone had almost finished planting, Shang Xi took Da Yan back to the city. She was thinking about the Emperor, and even without her mother-in-law's two jars of pickled vegetables, Shang tide would still go to the palace to check on him.
After returning to the Prince's Mansion and changing her clothes, it was already quite late. Shang tide asked a maid, "Hasn't Steward Yu Hua returned yet?"
The maid shook her head. "Steward Yuhua went out to look for someone and hasn't returned yet."
If he hasn't returned, it means he hasn't been found. If the person selling poisonous mushrooms didn't go out today, Yuhua wouldn't be able to find him at all.
Of course, if the person intended to sell the poisonous mushroom to Yu Hua, they should have already gone into hiding by now, making it difficult to find them.
Shang tide glanced at the sky and realized it was indeed getting late; she couldn't wait for Yu Hua at home any longer.
She had someone carry the two small jars onto the carriage, and then rode the carriage towards the palace.
After the announcement, Shang tide carried a jar, and the old steward who was walking in front of her also carried a jar. Together they entered Wan Lianxing's bedroom.
The bedroom was bright and warm, and with Cheng Youning's cheerful chatter, the room felt like a beautiful spring day.
Upon closer inspection, Cheng Youning was still eating, but that didn't stop him from chattering away. Getting closer, it turned out the child was holding a crab leg and talking about his Grandpa Ge. The way he was describing it was clearly a tattletale.
Shang tide couldn't understand what kind of leverage Ge Dongqing, who was lying in bed talking nonsense, had that made Cheng Youning so excited and gossiping behind his back.
Shang tide, holding the jar, greeted Wan Lianxing, saying, "Uncle, may you be blessed with good fortune and peace."
"No need for formalities." Wan Lianxing's gaze fell on Shang Xi. This person had never looked so listless before. She looked much more haggard. She must have been frightened by the poisonous mushroom incident. "Why did you make a trip at this hour! Feng'er and You Ning are here to take care of me, so don't worry about it."
"I was worried about my uncle. Uncle, how are you feeling right now?"
Wan Lianxing leaned weakly against the headboard, looking listless and exhausted, but he was better than in the morning. He had a slight smile on his face and seemed to be in less pain. "Don't look so gloomy. Your uncle will be fine in a couple of days. He said he won't blame you, so you don't need to blame yourself."
How could Shang tide not feel guilty! The four lively people were all lying in bed. Tears welled up in Shang tide's eyes. She had been blaming herself since last night, and in the end, she could only say, "I cannot escape my guilt."
"Mom? Why are you crying? Grandpa doesn't blame you!" It was Cheng Youning who spoke. Before Shang tide came in, he was enthusiastically telling his grandpa and his father about his grandfather, Grandpa Ge. He was so excited that his mouth was practically stretched to his ears.
Cheng Feng asked Shang Xi, "Honey, have you found out where those mushrooms came from?"
Shang Xi recounted the kitchen workers' explanations and also mentioned Yu Hua's search for someone on the street. The result was that they still hadn't found anything.
Wan Lianxing sighed, "You two are too lenient and lack authority, you're incompetent in managing your household and subordinates. The Prince's mansion only has about sixty people, yet you couldn't even find the source of a single poisonous mushroom. You two need to reflect on this. Other people who manage a household know how to use both kindness and authority. Too much kindness breeds resentment, and too little authority breeds chaos. If you only bestow kindness without establishing authority, the servants will only become more and more presumptuous and won't respect you, their masters. What happened yesterday was definitely not a coincidence; there must be more to it than meets the eye. We were lucky enough to eat those poisonous mushrooms; if you two had eaten them, you'd be in a funeral by now."
Cheng Youning quietly pulled the crab leg she had just put in her mouth away, and her smile vanished. "Grandpa means someone wants to harm my parents!"
Wan Lianxing glanced at Cheng Youning and said, "You're smarter than your parents."
Cheng Feng knew something was amiss, and being scolded for being brainless in front of his son was truly embarrassing. "Uncle, could you please refrain from scolding my wife and me in front of my son? Give your nephew some face!"
"Now you know you have no shame. You can't even protect your own life, so what face do you have to talk to me about face?" As he spoke, Wan Lianxing reached for something beside him, but unfortunately he couldn't find anything.
Cheng Youning got up and went to the side table to find a fan for Wan Lianxing. "Grandpa, do you need a fan?"
Cheng Feng swiftly grabbed Cheng Youning by the collar, "You brat, you're itching to trick your dad, aren't you!"
Wan Lianxing was clearly looking for something to hit Cheng Feng; anyone could see that, including Cheng Youning. But he was about to hand his great-uncle a weapon, shouting, "Who told Father to spank me in the morning? I'm going to get my great-uncle to avenge me!"
"You little brat, you still hold a grudge against your father? Believe me or not, I'll beat you up!"
"Grandson, give the fan to your great-grandfather."
Cheng Youning was quick and accurate with her throws. With a whoosh, she tossed the fan to Wan Lianxing's side. Wan Lianxing used the little strength he had left to hit Cheng Feng hard on the forehead with the fan. After seeing this, Cheng Youning held her stomach and laughed non-stop.
Cheng Feng, feeling utterly humiliated, picked up the fan from the ground, sat back down on the bed, and argued with Wan Lianxing, "Uncle, you can't treat your nephew like this! At best you'll scold him, at worst you'll beat him! Isn't your reputation for being kind and approachable overrated?"