At this moment, in the flower field of the rear courtyard.
Gu Lan looked at the mature miracle rice before him, already grown level with his chest, and showed a satisfied smile!
Restoring the high-yield crops from his previous life was truly quite fulfilling!
He had already become thoroughly skilled in the mental art of the Great Life Technique. In an instant, the previous rice seeds grew into hundreds of stalks of miracle rice, and the newly harvested rice seeds were countless!
Gu Lan was just about to harvest them.
At that moment, a gentle, familiar voice drifted into his ears.
“Dear husband?”
“Ah, my wife is back!”
Gu Lan looked over and saw Mu Yuyan carrying a pot of fresh flowers in her hands, as if she had come here to plant them.
However, the entire flower field was already occupied by the towering miracle rice, leaving not even the slightest gap for planting flowers.
“Wife, it looks like the flowers you bought can’t be planted for now…” Gu Lan scratched his head a little apologetically and laughed.
“It’s all right… But dear husband, what exactly are you planting here?”
The moment Mu Yuyan entered the rear courtyard, she was stunned by the miracle rice before her!
She had never seen such enormous crops before!
Just from its appearance, it seemed very much like a kind of… grain!
That’s right, grain!
All one needed was a slight sniff, and the rich fragrance of rice would drift in from the flower field. Even though it was the third month of spring, it gave people the illusion of autumn harvest season!
She had not come to the rear courtyard in a long time, and she had no idea when Gu Lan had planted it!
Mu Yuyan’s beautiful eyes fixed on this field of miracle rice, and her breathing gradually quickened!
At this point, Liu Yexi also rushed in from behind. When she saw the miracle rice before her, six or seven chi tall, her mouth slowly fell open!
“Young Master, what exactly did you plant here?!”
“Why does it look so much like… oversized rice plants?!”
Gu Lan smiled faintly and beckoned to them. “That’s right. This is rice, except its yield is just a tiny bit higher than ordinary rice!”
“Come, come. Let me introduce you to a variety from my hometown!”
Quite proudly, Gu Lan told the two women about the quality and characteristics of the miracle rice.
When they heard that this enormous miracle rice yielded dozens of times more than ordinary rice, while its growth cycle was only one-third as long!
They were already shocked into silence!
Grain!!
This was the source of grain they had dreamed of, the foundation Jing Kingdom urgently needed!
At this moment, they seemed to see hope for resisting the Demon Realm!
Mu Yuyan’s slender hand brushed over the rice seeds filling the field, and her beautiful eyes gradually grew moist. “Husband, how did you grow this miracle rice?”
Even if her strength had reached the Immortal Realm, she had never heard of any method in this world that could completely improve a plant’s attributes!
After all, humans are only humans, not gods!
Yet if it were not the mighty power of gods, how could one alter the laws of all things and create such a divine object?
“I didn’t grow this.”
Gu Lan, who had always claimed the classic storybooks from his previous life as his own, now acted completely out of character and gently shook his head. “This was grown by an old grandpa from my hometown. I merely borrowed it.”
“Where is that elder now?”
Mu Yuyan suppressed her excitement and asked, feeling that he must be some reclusive immortal or divine being.
Gu Lan remained silent.
Seeing his expression, Mu Yuyan, clever as she was, immediately understood that she had asked the wrong question. Her beautiful eyes panicked, and she hurriedly lowered her voice. “I’m sorry, husband…”
Gu Lan rubbed the rice grains and subconsciously shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. From now on, we’ll use this miracle rice and let it grow and spread on this land too, so that this place becomes like my hometown and receives the protection of the one who planted it…”
Immortals and gods need no temples built, nor prayers offered, for every wisp of cooking smoke rising in the dusk is remembrance drifting away from the human world.
They could see the tenderness in Gu Lan’s eyes when he mentioned his hometown.
That was an enduring affection carved into his bloodline!
A trace of envy appeared in Mu Yuyan’s eyes as she murmured softly, “Husband’s hometown sounds like a place one would long for…”
A moment later.
Gu Lan smiled brightly, patted her head, and said, “Let’s go. We’ll go back and eat first. We’ll use this new rice and let you taste the flavor of my hometown too.”
…
At the dinner table!
Old Yang finished several bowls of rice in a row!
“Young Master, I never expected that not only is the wine you buy delicious, even the rice you buy is this fragrant!”
People in ancient times really did have it hard. Luckily, I was born under the sun and grew up in the spring breeze… Gu Lan smiled calmly. “This wasn’t bought… If you like it, eat more. From now on, your Young Master will make sure there’s plenty of this rice!”
After saying that, he picked up a bite of food for his wife.
With the Great Life Technique mental art accelerating its growth, obtaining an entire granary would be easy with just the rice seeds he currently had.
For the sake of her image, Mu Yuyan also suppressed her desire to eat a second bowl and gently wiped her rosy little mouth. “Husband, exactly how much grain did you harvest? The rear courtyard looked like it had so much.”
“A full 100 stalks.”
Gu Lan replied.
“100 stalks… Are all the seeds on them mature rice seeds?!”
Liu Yexi subconsciously exchanged a glance with the Empress, tried her best to suppress the shock in her eyes, and then asked.
“Of course.”
Gu Lan nodded in affirmation.
How could there be any defective specimens among those accelerated by the Great Life Technique?
“Young Master, since we have so many rice seeds in our hands, what do you plan to do with them next?”
At Little Xi’s question, Gu Lan realized that he really had not thought about what to do.
Even planting these 100 stalks had only been a spur-of-the-moment idea, because he wanted to see whether he could restore the Chinese miracle rice from his past life.
Who could have guessed that he would suddenly end up with so many precious rice seeds!
Gu Lan looked at Mu Yuyan and said gently, “What does wife think is suitable?”
“Our Gu Residence has no land. If we only keep them to eat, we won’t be able to finish them, and that would be far too wasteful.” Mu Yuyan pondered for a moment, then said seriously, “This humble one thinks… why don’t we take them and do business with the common people?”
She naturally longed for Jing Kingdom’s subjects to be able to buy such divine grain. With just one sowing this year, they would never again have to suffer the pain of hunger and cold in the future.
Moreover, as long as the people were fed, Great Jing would have the confidence to contend with the Demon Realm and would no longer be bullied!
This was something Mu Yuyan dreamed of even in her sleep!
Going to such trouble just to move something from the left hand to the right hand really was not Her Majesty’s usual style… Liu Yexi glanced at the Empress, who was asking Gu Lan for his opinion.
Though she complained inwardly, she actually knew this was because the Empress cared too much about Gu Lan.
Otherwise, if it were ordinary people, why would the Empress need to go to so much trouble to requisition grain!?
All under heaven belonged to Her Majesty, and Her Majesty belonged to the Gu family, so saying it was business between the Gu family and Jing Kingdom was not wrong either… Liu Yexi thought.
At this moment, Gu Lan still had not replied.
Old Yang, who was beside them, listened and nodded repeatedly, saying seriously, “Madam is thoughtful! If we sell these good rice seeds, we can make a fortune and also help other hungry common people, letting fewer people in our Great Jing starve to death… This is good, this is good!”
The more someone came from hardship and lived an uneasy life, the more that saying applied: “Though of humble station, one dares not forget concern for the country”… Old Yang was clumsy with words, but his heart was clear.
Gu Lan could not help glancing at the old man, feeling quite moved. “Old Yang, you’re right… Wife has such a kind heart, and it also happens to align with the wish of the old grandpa who grew the miracle rice…”
“Very well, then. We’ll sell all these rice seeds, to the border military farming colonies and those poor places.”
“The price can be the same as ordinary rice!”
The miracle rice of his previous life was just like this. There were no patents, and no sky-high prices, so he had benefited deeply from it and could eat his fill.
In this life, Gu Lan felt that he likewise had no right to use it to make a huge fortune!
To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to secure life and destiny for the people, to continue the lost teachings of past sages, and to open peace for all ages…
A scholar ought to do so.