Chapter 185: See, we are doing great things
Mo Qingling articulated the facts without exaggeration and emphasised that the emperor was indeed chosen by heaven to receive these high-yield seeds.
The emperor heard about the will Mo Qingling mentioned previously, but he did not read it previously.
So, he asked the palace attendant to bring it over.
He took a look at it.
The paper was brushed with a few columns of words.!!
It was true that the old priest had predicted that he was chosen by the heaven gods more than ten years ago, and that he was a wise ruler for Daliang and its people.
In order to prevent the citizens suffering from wars and famine, the old priest had specially asked his disciple to plant a good seed.
If Daliang could produce a thousand catties per mu in October, this meant that he was destined to be the emperor to receive this gift from heaven.
What shocked him was that there was a faint layer of golden on the paper.
It was very mysterious.
Previously, the emperor did not really believe in the old immortal.
But as he received more news sources about it, he also believed that a village girl would not know much.
This meant that the old Taoist who had passed away should be very capable.
But now, with a thousand catties per mu and a letter indicating that he was the chosen one from heaven, as well as the heavenly-gifted high-yield seeds, he couldn’t help but believe that the old immortal existed.
Otherwise, why would the words give off some golden sparkle?
“I’ll let the imperial astronomer find out the auspicious day for me to personally make offerings to thank the heaven gods for the gift!”
He asked the palace attendants to circulate the will to the ministers.
At this moment, the emperor wasn’t very calm.
He was excited, but also bore a great responsibility.
The thorn that had been stuck in his heart was suddenly pulled out.
After all, the late emperor had almost given the throne to that person on the fiefdom.
Although he eventually inherited the throne, it felt that it was a little forced.
Hence, there was a knot in his heart since the moment he inherited the throne.
But now, even the heaven gods had decided that he was the chosen one, which was why he was able to bring peace to the people in Daliang.
This meant that his father wasn’t visionary enough.
He had to be even more diligent and work hard to manage the entire Daliang.
When he eventually went to the afterworld, he would let his biased father see who was the chosen one by the heaven gods.
Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng did not know that because of the will and the heaven-bestowed seeds that they had concocted, the emperor made up his mind to be a wise ruler.
Meanwhile, other officials were passing the will around.
There were also three officials who were very good at inspecting ancient paintings.
They also carefully looked at the ink on it and pondered over it.
“Looking at the colour of the paper and ink, it does indeed look like it was written more than ten years ago.
“Indeed. Be it the paper or the ink, it is definitely not written in the past two years.”
“I think it’s at least ten years old.”
Two of the three officials were more stubborn and would never flatter the emperor.
There was also an yushi who would often find fault with the emperor.
Therefore, everyone believed what they said.
Looking at the faint golden glow surrounding the words, it seemed very mysterious.
The ancients clearly did not know about the golden powder, so those who previously did not believe were less doubtful of it now.
This was one of the features Shi Qingluo had deliberately included to make the will more credible.
The ministers were all excited and acknowledged that the emperor was indeed the chosen one from heaven.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanshi was completely stunned when Mo Qingling said the words “Shi Qingluo”.
How was this possible?
Then, he recalled buying assassins to assassinate Shi Qingluo.
He suddenly panicked.
He kept praying that they hadn’t taken any actions.
After he returned, he would immediately get someone to scrape the plan.
Otherwise, he would be in big trouble.
The emperor and the others placed great importance on this matter.
As the disciple representing the old immortal, if anything happened to Shi Qingluo, the emperor would definitely be furious.
This matter would also allow the emperor to completely remember his son and his bad daughter-in-law.
Xiao Yuanshi was conflicted.
He suddenly regretted initiating to break off his kinship with his son in order to make Ge Chunru happy and to calm her down.
He should have brought him back to the capital and watched over him closely.
Now, he couldn’t control him at all.
Although Liang Youxiao and the others were dandies, they often coaxed the old lady and the others and were especially special.
Liang Youxiao gave Xi Rui and Fei Yuzhe a look and took the lead to kneel down. “Your Majesty is destined to receive these heaven-bestowed seeds. May our Daliang empire prosper and become stronger!”
This was what Shi Qingluo told them before they came.
They had to properly flatter the emperor when the ministers were present.
The emperor would definitely be happy if they emphasised that he was destined to lead Daliang to prosperity and greater heights.
Thus, he followed her advice.
Xi Rui and Fei Yuzhe also reacted quickly.
They knelt down and said the same thing.
Liang Mingcheng and Xi Xinheng were stunned again by their sons’ reaction.
This must have hit the emperor’s bullseye.
Even they didn’t manage to react so quickly.
They suddenly heave a sigh of relief and tears welled up in their eyes.
They also reacted pretty fast and immediately knelt down and exclaimed, “Your Majesty is destined to receive the heavenly-bestowed seeds. May I wish Daliang to be rich and powerful!”
Then, all the people who were standing knelt down and shouted as well.
As expected, the smile in the emperor’s eyes became more prominent. “I will do my best to make our empire prosper and become stronger!
“Everyone, stand up. Let’s have a taste of this heavenly-bestowed food.”
The ministers stood up and reached out to take the corn mantou and corn wowotou that the palace attendants carried.
The main hall was filled with praises as they ate them.
Then, the emperor began to reward them according to their merits.
“Although that old Taoist priest had passed away, he still cares about the people in Daliang. I will send someone to represent me and the people in Daliang to offer incense at the Taoist temple to express our gratitude.
“The Taoist priest’s disciple, Shi Qingluo, and her husband, Xiao Hanzheng, are still on their way to the capital. I will reward them when they arrive.”
The emperor looked at Mo Qingling and the others and said, “The magistrate of Nanxi county, Mo Qingling, has rendered meritorious service. Mo Qingling shall receive a hundred catties of high quality seeds and to sow them in Nanxi county.”
If the plantation was successful, it would be a great achievement.
He knew the purpose of Mo Qingling’s visit to Nanxi county.
In addition, he had just become the county magistrate not long ago.
Therefore, although he wanted to deploy him to a higher appointment, it was not the time to do so yet.
“In addition, give Mo Qingling a thousand taels of gold and a villa in the capital suburbs.”
He was prepared to cultivate Mo Qingling into a trusted minister.
Such a reward was not very eye-catching and would not attract much jealousy.
Then, he looked at Xi Rui and the others and said with a smile, “Xi Rui, Liang Youxiao, and Fei Yuzhe have contributed greatly to the seeds. You will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold and a pair of jade Kirin each.”
Xi Rong was a woman after all, so she did not follow along.
He would reward her privately next time.
Xi Rui and the others immediately knelt down in excitement to thank him.
Xi Rui and Liang Youxiao even gave their fathers a very proud and smug smile.
See, we are doing great things.
At least we are good at flattering the emperor. See for yourself how happy the emperor is.
Xi Xinheng and Liang Mingcheng’s initial gratification instantly disappeared.
Suddenly, they felt that their hands were a little itchy again.
The other officials were somewhat envious of the two of them.
They did not expect that these two famous hedonists in the capital would ever bring glory to their families.
As for Fei Yuzhe, although he was playful, he wasn’t playful enough to be considered a hedonist.
Nevertheless, this also made Old Master Fei and the other Fei family members present to raise their heads, puff out their chests and give an extremely proud look.