MLMD -Chapter 118 A Different Eunuch Cao

“Alright, losing face is losing face.” Yue Yang laughed at himself, then asked Cao Huachun, “Eunuch Cao, since you’re not here to deliver His Majesty’s decree, then you…”

Yue Yang didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious—since there’s no imperial edict, what exactly are you here for?

Who was Cao Huachun? Though he was known for being loyal and honest, could someone who had spent decades amid the intrigue of the imperial palace really be simple-minded? The moment Yue Yang spoke, Cao Huachun understood his implication.

With a faint smile, he said, “Lord Yue, actually, delivering the Ministry of War’s document was only incidental. My main purpose in coming this time is to ask you something on His Majesty’s behalf.”

“Please speak, Eunuch,” Yue Yang replied. Though he had already roughly guessed Cao Huachun’s intentions, he still put on an expression of complete puzzlement.

Cao Huachun withdrew his smile and asked solemnly, “Lord Yue, His Majesty sent me here to ask whether the matter mentioned in Governor Xu’s memorial—about your fertile fields producing a thousand jin per mu—is true or false.”

Yue Yang smiled proudly. “Of course it’s true. If the eunuch doesn’t believe it, you can send someone to Wuli Village to inquire. You’ll know at once.”

Cao Huachun smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction. “Mm. I believe Lord Yue would not lie.”

Naturally, Cao Huachun wouldn’t rely solely on Yue Yang’s word regarding such a matter. Over the past few days, he had already dispatched his men to investigate everything thoroughly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be wearing such a kindly expression today.

“Then… there’s one more question.” Cao Huachun paused briefly before continuing. “His Majesty asks me to inquire of you: since ancient times, grain yields have generally been around three shi per mu, at most four. How did you manage to achieve a yield of a thousand jin per mu? And could this method be presented to the court?”

“So this is it,” Yue Yang thought. He had long been mentally prepared for this question. After all, increasing yields by threefold was no trivial matter. In any era, grain was of paramount importance to a nation, especially in this age of relatively backward productivity, where food was directly tied to the survival of the state.

However, despite knowing this, the rice seeds in Yue Yang’s possession had indeed been used up. With no choice, he said apologetically to Cao Huachun, “Eunuch Cao, I truly regret this. The reason Wuli Village achieved such a great harvest is that I obtained a kind of rice seed from a Frankish man. But the problem is that I’ve already used up all of that seed. Moreover, after this variety matures, it requires a special method to cultivate new seed—and even that Frankish man didn’t know the method. Therefore, I plan to stop planting rice after a while and switch to growing other crops.”

“So that’s how it is,” Cao Huachun said. The disappointment in his heart was self-evident. Still, he knew Yue Yang wouldn’t deceive him on such a matter, so he could only shake his head helplessly in regret.

Seeing Cao Huachun’s disappointed expression, Yue Yang felt a bit sorry and tried to comfort him. “Eunuch, although there are no more rice seeds, I still have some other crop seeds brought from overseas. They’re all rare items unknown in Great Ming, and I’ve heard their yields are quite considerable. Why not take some back and distribute them to the imperial estates to try planting them?”

The so-called imperial estates were lands owned by the imperial household. By the late Ming period, their area had already reached over 37,500 qing. These estates were managed by eunuchs, and their proceeds naturally went to the imperial family.

“No need,” Cao Huachun waved his hand listlessly. “I know the character of those people in the imperial estates. Even if you gave them a mountain of gold to plant, they’d manage to make it disappear.”

“You really don’t want them?” Yue Yang probed again, adding, “They might actually be of help to Great Ming.”

“No,” Cao Huachun said with a bitter smile, shaking his head. “You yourself said these are rare items never seen before in Great Ming. Do you think I’d dare present such things to His Majesty? If something went wrong, I’d be the one who’d suffer the consequences.”

“Oh, I see,” Yue Yang finally understood. Apparently, even presenting items to the emperor wasn’t something one could do casually. If the offering went well, everyone would be happy; if not, those below would be the ones to suffer. There were indeed subtleties involved.

“Then there’s nothing I can do,” Yue Yang said regretfully.

He had originally hoped to give Cao Huachun a batch of potatoes, corn, and other superior future-era seeds, letting the court discover their benefits. Then, using the power of the entire government, they could be promoted throughout Great Ming, easing the social tensions of a society on the brink of collapse.

Yue Yang had always believed that the reason the Ming dynasty was ultimately destroyed by successive peasant uprisings was that land annexation had reached its limit. Coupled with a decade of continuous natural disasters, countless landless, starving peasants had no choice but to rise up, eventually overthrowing the dynasty. If the court had sufficient grain, it would naturally have the capacity to provide disaster relief, greatly easing social contradictions and buying the Ming dynasty more time to breathe.

But now it seemed he had been overly optimistic. Any new thing required a process to be accepted by society. Hadn’t he himself encountered great resistance when promoting hybrid rice last year?

Since Cao Huachun had no intention of taking these new crops back to the court, the joy Yue Yang felt at his promotion to Defender dimmed somewhat. After accompanying Cao Huachun at a welcoming banquet, Cao Huachun took his leave. Yue Yang didn’t try to keep him, instructing the steward Cao Youqian to prepare generous gifts before seeing Cao Huachun out of the residence.

After all this was done, dusk had already fallen. Yue Yang felt sore and exhausted all over. Just as he was about to return to his room to rest, a maid came over and said, “Master-in-law, our young lady invites you to come over.”

Without even looking, Yue Yang knew this must be Hailanzhu’s personal maid, Xiaoman. Only she insisted on calling him “master-in-law.” Sometimes Yue Yang really didn’t know what went on in that little girl’s head.

But since his wife had summoned him, Yue Yang naturally had to show her respect. He stood up with a smile. “Alright, I’ll go right away.”

When Yue Yang followed Xiaoman into Hailanzhu’s room, he was surprised to find that not only was Hailanzhu there, but the Linglong sisters were there as well. The three of them sat together on the large bed, chatting while doing embroidery—a warm and cozy scene.

Seeing this, Yue Yang felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He walked over, sat beside Hailanzhu, wrapped an arm around her slender waist, and joked, “Oh? What day is it today? How come all three sisters are together?”

Hailanzhu shot him a glance and said, “You go out for days at a time without coming back. I get bored with no one to talk to, so I called Yuling and Yulong to keep me company. Is that not allowed?”

“Of course it’s allowed! Who says it’s not? If anyone says it’s not, I’ll argue with them!” Yue Yang quickly patted his chest, declaring his stance.

“Pfft.” Seeing his expression, Hailanzhu laughed and lightly tapped his forehead with her slender finger. “You rascal!”

The three women weren’t wearing much. Hailanzhu was dressed in a loose, light-green silk garment. As she raised her arm, her sleeve slid down, revealing a section of arm as smooth and lustrous as jade. Combined with her low neckline, from Yue Yang’s angle he could see a large expanse of pale skin. He couldn’t help swallowing, then asked with ill intent, “Um… when I’m not around, do you all sleep together at night too?”

At this moment, Hailanzhu was still focused on her needlework, unaware that she had attracted a wolf to her side. She replied casually while embroidering, “Yes. Sometimes when it gets late, the three of us sleep here together. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Of course not. That’s very good,” said a certain someone who was already feeling the urge to turn into a wolf. His wandering hands had begun to move about, and he added in a strange tone, “Then tonight you can all sleep together too. The bed’s big enough—four people can fit just fine.”

“What four people? Where did the fourth come from—eh? What are you doing?”

Only then did Hailanzhu realize she had invited something dangerous to her side. But it was already too late—before she could react, the bad man had pounced on her and pushed her onto the bed.

“Ah… you villain… the Linglong sisters are still here…”

“What’s there to be afraid of? They won’t be able to escape later either…”

At that moment, the wolfish fellow began misbehaving again. When Hailanzhu cast a pleading look toward the Linglong sisters, she discovered that they were hardly in better shape themselves. Soon, the candles in the room went dark without anyone knowing when, followed by waves of hurried murmurs…

A short yet long night passed.

“Yue Yang… wake up… hurry and get up…”

A gentle, caring voice sounded by Yue Yang’s ear. He slowly opened his eyes to find that the sky was already bright. Fully dressed, Hailanzhu was leaning over, calling him awake.

“Ah… so comfortable!”

Stretching lazily, he wrapped an arm around Hailanzhu’s slender waist and pulled her down, planting a firm kiss on her cherry lips before asking languidly, “What is it, sweetheart? Can’t you sleep with me a bit longer? Where are the Linglong sisters?”

“They went back long ago. The sun’s practically on your backside and you’re still sleeping!” Half embarrassed and half annoyed, Hailanzhu twisted his waist and scolded, “What time is it already? Get up quickly—I have something to talk to you about.”

“What is it? Can’t you just say it like this?” Yue Yang still looked half-dead with fatigue. The days at Lüzi Pass had worn him out, and after just returning yesterday, he had battled with Hailanzhu and the other two all night. Even now, he felt a dull ache in his lower back.