Su Mu got up before dawn. As a modern elite white-collar man who worked 9 to 5, Su Mu now felt that his previous life was practically indolent.

The weeds under the eaves still carried dew. As their arrival coincided with the autumn harvest, the Zhang family could be seen to have already collected a lot of grain from the fields.

There was still some chill in the morning, but Zhang Datong and his daughters-in-law and sons were sweating profusely. They were surprised to see Su Mu wake up so early: "Why doesn't Gongzi take some more rest?"

Su Mu smiled and said, "Getting up early and going to bed early is key to being healthy."

This year there was no harvest in the Xijiang area because of the drought. Although other parts of the Qing kingdom were not as affected, the harvest was still reduced by half. Su Mu saw that the grains Zhang Datong collected back were all plump and had an attractive golden yellow luster. He couldn't help but wonder, and asked: "Laorenjia, the harvest everywhere is not good this year, but why is the quality of your grain so good?"

Zhang Datong's second son had thick eyebrows and big eyes. He had a sturdy body and tanned skin. He also had a rather gullible looking face and appeared even more honest when he grinned: "This is a kind of grain my father found in the mountains. The yield is one and a half times higher than ordinary grain. My father spent several years cultivating it before we reached this result."

Was this, a natural variant of mutagenic seeds?!

Hybrid rice!

Su Mu felt his heart begin to beat quickly, and restraining his excitement, he asked: "How much grain can you harvest per mu of land, laorenjia?" (TN: mu=classifier for fields; unit of area equal to one fifteenth of a hectare)

Zhang Datong glared at his son subtly, and said: "This year, one mu of land has probably been harvested for five dan."

One dan was equal to 150 catties, so 5 dan was 750 catties. Even the best harvest on a mu of land in a good year could not have better results.

"Then what is your highest dan that you collected for a mu of land?" Su Mu asked again.

"Answering Gongzi, more than 6 dan." Zhang Datong replied calmly.

More than 900 catties!!!

Su Mu felt that his heart was about to jump out.

Su Mu, who realized that he had stumbled on a treasure chest, immediately invited Zhang Datong for a private chat in his room.

On the square table in the main hall, a table of fairly sumptuous dishes had already gone cold.

Yun Feiyu, Liu Xi, Qin Ye, and Lan Lan all sat upright at the table. No one dared to move the chopsticks before the Crown Prince came.

Lan Lan was a little uncomfortable facing the stunning members of the Crown Prince's harem. Seeing that the atmosphere was dull, she got up and said, "I'm going to heat up the food, Xiao Xi, go and invite the Crown Prince over to eat."

Liu Xi just wore ordinary black clothes, but he still managed to pull off a seductive beauty. He was tall and slender with long legs, and none of the daughters-in-law of Zhang Datong's family dared to look directly at him.

As soon as Liu Xi walked near the room where the Crown Prince was, he saw two door gods with expressionless faces standing at guard.

"Is Gongzi still inside?" Liu Xi asked.

Shi Nuo nodded expressionlessly.

Liu Xi said again: "It's almost past the meal time, so please ask Gongzi if he is ready for the meal."

Shi Nuo nodded, turned and knocked on the door: "Gongzi, please have your breakfast."

Inside the room, Su Mu, who was having a great conversation with Zhang Datong, came back to his senses when he heard Shi Nuo's voice, and found that he was indeed hungry but was too excited to notice.

Su Mu was a little embarrassed and said: "I have been rude." Then he said to the people outside: "Bring in the food."

"Yes." After Shi answered, he went to bring the breakfast over for Su Mu.

Su Mu kept himself and Zhang Datong in the same room for the whole day. If they hadn't appeared at the table in the evening, suspicions would probably arise that the Crown Prince's taste had become even more hardcore.

Early the next morning, Su Mu took his attendants and set off again, but he left Shi Nuo behind in the Zhang family village, as well as a few secret guards.

Su Mu's order to Shi Nuo was to protect Zhang Datong and his family no matter what happened.

This person and these grain, were too important.

In the evening, Su Mu and the others arrived at Jinyang City.

The dilapidated city walls appeared to have passed a long time since it was last repaired. The soldiers guarding the city oppressed the people with ferocious faces. Suddenly their eyes lit up when they saw several carriages arriving.

A fat sheep had come.

The soldiers exchanged looks and thought tacitly.