Ying Ziye nodded firmly.
Ying Zheng fell silent.
His grip on the potato tightened slightly.
“What else did the immortal say?”
Ying Ziye raised his little face, revealing a bright, radiant smile.
He took Ying Zheng’s finger and gently swayed it.
“Father Emperor.”
“The immortal grandfather said, this potato is just an appetizer for you!”
An appetizer?
Ying Ziye froze in place.
A divine crop yielding three thousand jin per mu… is only an appetizer?
Behind him, Li Si and Wang Jian exchanged a glance. In each other’s eyes, they saw barely restrained excitement.
It was coming!
The second “main course” the prince had prepared was about to be served!
Only Zhao Gao’s face turned even paler.
“Father Emperor, please come with me!”
Ying Ziye pulled Ying Zheng along and ran toward the far end of the field.
Ying Zheng did not resist. He allowed the small figure to lead him, as if moved by an invisible force.
The imperial guards and officials hurried after them.
They passed through the potato field and circled around a patch of barren land.
Soon.
A far more towering stretch of plants appeared before everyone—like a green wall.
Each plant was taller than an adult man.
On the thick stalks hung heavy, cylindrical objects wrapped in thick green husks.
“What… what is this?”
A farming official accompanying the emperor staggered, almost falling to his knees.
He pointed at the plants, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
“I… I have managed agriculture for decades, I have read every agricultural record under heaven, but I have never… never seen anything like this!”
Ying Zheng stopped walking.
He released Ying Ziye’s hand and stepped alone toward the green wall.
He reached out and touched a broad leaf, rough in texture.
A strong vitality of vegetation surged through his fingertips.
“Li Si.”
Ying Zheng did not turn around.
Li Si immediately stepped forward and bowed.
Then, just as before, he walked up to a stalk of corn with practiced ease.
He grasped it with both hands and pulled hard.
Crack!
A crisp sound.
A large “cob” was snapped off.
Li Si held it in both hands and brought it before Ying Zheng.
Without speaking, he began peeling away the thick green husks layer by layer.
The final layer fell away.
Boom!
The minds of all the officials who witnessed it went blank.
Gold!
Dazzling gold!
Countless plump kernels, like pearls and jade, were tightly packed together.
Under the morning light, they shimmered with a blinding brilliance.
“This… this is also food?”
The agricultural official could no longer hold himself up and collapsed onto the ground.
Ying Zheng extended his hand.
He took the golden “cob” from Li Si.
He pressed his thumb down, trying to crush a kernel.
Golden grains cracked between his fingertips, releasing a faint white sap.
He placed the broken kernels into his mouth.
Qin Shi Huang froze.
An entirely new taste exploded on his tongue—sweet, fresh, carrying the most primitive aroma of grain.
His Adam’s apple moved involuntarily.
“Father Emperor, this is called corn,” Ying Ziye said again.
“The Immortal Grandpa said its taste is not as good as sweet potatoes.”
“But…”
Ying Ziye straightened his small chest proudly.
“One mu of land can still yield two thousand jin!”
Two thousand jin!
If the earlier three thousand jin yield had been like a thunderclap striking everyone’s heads,
then these two thousand jin meant such thunder was not a coincidence—it could be repeated!
“Impossible!!”
Zhao Gao let out a piercing scream that tore through the field again.
He rushed forward, pointing at the golden corn, his face twisted.
“Your Majesty! It’s an illusion! It must be an illusion!”
“This rebellious child has joined forces with alchemists to set up a massive deceptive formation! Everything you see and hear is fake!”
He dropped to his knees, banging his head frantically on the ground.
“Please, Your Majesty, order it burned! These demonic things must be destroyed, or the state will collapse!”
Qin Shi Huang did not even look at him.
He simply stared at the corn in his hand, then at Ying Ziye.
Ying Ziye blinked his large eyes innocently.
“Father Emperor, I can’t use illusion magic.”
He turned to Zhao Gao and frowned his little nose in distress.
“Why don’t you, Uncle Zhao Gao, also create one for Father Emperor to see?”
“Pff—”
Zhao Gao nearly choked, his face instantly turning purple.
He pointed at Ying Ziye, his lips trembling.
“You… you…”
But he couldn’t form a single word.
Qin Shi Huang finally looked away.
He glanced indifferently at Zhao Gao lying on the ground.
“Drag him away.”
Two imperial guards immediately stepped forward and dragged Zhao Gao off like a dead dog.
Qin Shi Huang turned and handed the corn to Meng Yi behind him.
“Everyone, taste it.”
Meng Yi and the others trembled as they broke off a kernel each and placed it into their mouths.
The next moment.
All of their faces showed the exact same expression Qin Shi Huang had just worn.
Shock.
Joy.
And reverent awe toward something that felt like a miracle.
Ying Ziye tugged at Qin Shi Huang’s sleeve.
“Father Emperor, I still have something even more delicious!”
Qin Shi Huang lowered his head.
He looked at his son’s bright, expectant eyes.
He nodded.
The group moved again.
This time, they arrived at a patch of seemingly unremarkable creeping vines lying across the ground.
“Right here!” Ying Ziye pointed at the field.
Li Si immediately understood and called over two farmers.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the farmer raised his hoe and dug down.
Just a few strikes.
A large cluster of red-skinned tubers of various shapes was unearthed.
They were larger and more numerous than the potatoes from earlier!
Nearby, eunuchs had already lit a pile of charcoal.
Several freshly dug sweet potatoes were thrown directly into the fire.
“Sizzle—”
The moisture on the skin evaporated instantly.
Soon.
An overbearing sweetness, impossible to describe in words, drifted out from the charcoal fire.
This fragrance was ten times, a hundred times richer than what had been smelled earlier inside the imperial carriage!
Gulp.
Gulp.
Swallowing sounds rose one after another among the entourage.
Even the strictly disciplined imperial guards couldn’t help but secretly sniff the air.
After a moment.
One eunuch used tongs to pull out a sweet potato whose skin was charred black from roasting.
He peeled off the outer layer.
Golden flesh, steaming with heat, was revealed.
That sweet aroma reached its peak in an instant!
Ying Ziye, as if presenting a treasure, held it up with a clean cloth and offered it to Ying Zheng with both hands.
“Father Emperor, please try it!”
“This is the best part!”
Ying Zheng looked at the sweet potato before him.
He reached out his hand.
And took it.
He took a bite.
Soft.
Fragrant and sweet.
That warm, pure sweetness slid down his throat and spread all the way into his stomach.
On Ying Zheng’s face, carved like stone and steel, the lines seemed to soften at that moment.
His eyes even turned slightly red.
He remembered his childhood, when he had been a hostage in Zhao, suffering hunger and cold.
If…
If he had had this back then…
“Father Emperor.”
Ying Ziye’s voice pulled him back from his thoughts.
“The immortal said this sweet potato is not only delicious, but also very filling.”
He pointed at the sweet potato vines tossed aside nearby.
“Its vines and leaves can also be used as horse fodder!”
Boom!
Ying Zheng’s body trembled violently.
He looked at the vines, his expression instantly changing!
“Wang Jian!”
Wang Jian stepped forward with large strides, his voice ringing like a bell.
“Your Majesty!”
“This subject has already tested it with three thousand warhorses at the Lantian garrison!”
“After feeding on these vines for three days, the horses became stronger and more robust, full of energy!”
Wang Jian raised his head, his eyes bursting with terrifying sharp light!
“For long-distance raids, their endurance increased by at least thirty percent compared to ordinary fodder!!”
Thirty percent!!
Silence.
A deathly silence.
All the generals, including Meng Yi, held their breath completely.
They stared at those plain, unremarkable vines as if they were looking at mountains of gold!
A 30% increase in endurance!
What did that mean?
It meant that the iron cavalry of Great Qin would become truly invincible!
A thousand-li rapid raid to strike the Xiongnu royal court!
Long-distance maneuvering to pacify the lands of Baiyue!
This was not some divine object!
This was a heaven-given, world-unifying, territory-expanding… peerless weapon!
Ying Zheng’s hand, holding half a sweet potato, began to tremble violently.
He understood.
He finally understood completely.
What his son had presented to him was not a few edible crops.
But a far more powerful, far more unstoppable…
Great Qin Empire!
“Ahhhhh—!!”
A inhuman roar suddenly came from the side.
It was Zhao Gao!
He broke free from the imperial guards’ restraint, his hair disheveled, rushing forward like a madman.
“Your Majesty!!”
He pointed at Ying Ziye, his eyes blood-red!
“He is deceiving you! He is deceiving you completely!”
“These things must be rare treasures he gathered from overseas wandering alchemists and those foreign barbarians!”
“He is using these things to win hearts and secretly plot rebellion against Your Majesty!”
Zhao Gao fell to his knees, using his last strength to let out a desperate howl.
The court officials looked at him as if they were looking at a dead man.
But Ying Ziye turned his head and looked at the crazed Zhao Gao.
He thought about it seriously.
Then he nodded.
“Uncle Zhao Gao.”
“You’re right!”
“Your nephew did indeed trade with an overseas merchant to get something good!”
Zhao Gao froze.
Everyone froze.
Ying Ziye took out a small, unremarkable cloth bag from his chest.
He held it up in front of Zhao Gao and shook it like a treasure.
“Look, it’s this.”
“That merchant said this is called chili. If you eat it in winter, you won’t feel cold, and if you add a little to your food, you can eat three extra bowls of rice!”
“And also…”
Ying Ziye seemed about to explain more uses, but his little hand slipped.
“Oops!”
He exclaimed.
The cloth bag slipped out of his hand.
The opening of the bag flipped downward, right in front of Zhao Gao.
A cloud of fine red powder scattered into the air.
It happened to drift straight toward Zhao Gao, who was kneeling on the ground with his mouth wide open while shouting.
Caught completely off guard, Zhao Gao inhaled a full mouthful of the red powder.
His face instantly changed from pale white to deep red.
His facial features twisted together.
He opened his mouth as if a ball of fire was about to erupt from his throat!
“Aaaaah!!!”
A heart-rending, soul-shaking scream echoed outside the entire Xianyang city!
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