Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 486 Relying on Favor (31)

"New Year's money," Zhao Yuan said. "Several of my generals prepare New Year's money for their children during the Spring Festival."

Yan Zhen picked up the small cloth bag, opened it, and found that it contained half a bag of gold beans.

"I'm not a kid."

Despite saying that, Yan Zhen still put the cloth bag into his arms.

After doing all that, she picked up her wine glass, about to take another sip, when she saw Zhao Yuan across from her staring at her with wide eyes and an expectant look on his face.

Yan Zhen: "..."

This means I want a New Year's gift.

She touched herself.

Because she was in the Prince's residence, she had nothing on her, not even hairpins or ornaments, so she had nothing to give Zhao Yuan.

Yan Zhen told the truth: "I didn't know that Tingzhou had the custom of exchanging gifts during the New Year, so I didn't prepare a gift for you."

Zhao Yuan didn't mind. He moved a stool from opposite to next to Yan Zhen, sat down close to her, wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You are the best gift."

Yan Zhen made a sickeningly sweet expression, then picked up his wine glass and continued drinking.

After having New Year's Eve dinner, Yan Zhen felt a little sleepy and prepared to rest.

Zhao Yuan dismissed the maid and busied himself with serving her, pouring hot water from the copper kettle to help her wash up.

By the time Yan Zhen finished washing up and changed into her undergarments, Zhao Yuan had already made the bed.

He sat on the edge of the bed and patted the blanket: "Come on, go to sleep!"

Yan Zhen understood what he meant.

In the past few days, although Yan Zhen was nominally the "Princess Consort of Zhao," she had always lived up to the standards of the Princess Consort of Zhao in terms of food, clothing, daily necessities, and the exercise of power within the mansion.

However, she and Zhao Yuan did not have any intimate contact, and the two even slept in separate rooms.

But Zhao Yuan was, after all, young and vigorous, and tonight's events were exactly what Yan Zhen had expected.

She walked over and sat down next to Zhao Yuan.

Seeing her lack of resistance, Zhao Yuan's excitement was palpable. He asked cautiously and restrainedly, "I'd like to stay here tonight, is that alright?"

In contrast to his caution, Yan Zhen went straight to the point: "You want to have sex with me?"

Zhao Yuan: "..."

Meeting Yan Zhen's open gaze, he blushed and nervously rubbed his thigh: "C-is it okay?"

"Okay," Yan Zhen asked. "Is everything prepared?"

Before Zhao Yuan could even feel happy, she asked him, leaving him bewildered: "What is it?"

"Sheep intestines, or musk."

Zhao Yuan was even more bewildered: "What do you need sheep intestines and musk for?"

"Sheep intestines are for men's condoms, and musk is for women's. Alternatively, you can have someone prepare a bowl of contraceptive soup."

Yan Zhen said, “However, musk and contraceptive soup have a certain probability of failing to prevent pregnancy. I will only be eighteen years old next June. Getting pregnant and having a child too early will be harmful to my health. Moreover, the next three or four years are crucial for Tingzhou. If I get pregnant, it will delay our plans. If you want to have sex, you should take adequate contraceptive measures.”

Zhao Yuan: "..."

His previously cheerful expression immediately wilted like a flower deprived of water: "Then I don't want it."

Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly: "Really don't want it?"

"Hmm... Your health is the most important thing."

"Good boy." Yan Zhen pinched his cheek. "Let's wait another two years. It's not the right time now."

"Okay." Zhao Yuan stood up and said, "Then you rest, I'll go back to my room."

After Zhao Yuan left, Fu Xue pushed open the door and came in.

"Your Highness, will the Emperor not be staying here tonight?"

Yan Zhen lay down on the couch, pulled the quilt over himself, and covered himself up by pressing down the four corners, wrapping himself up like a big silkworm cocoon.

"Yes, he went back to the east wing."

Fu Xue's surprise was palpable as she sat down on the footstool: "Why?"

As his body warmed up, Yan Zhen felt even more tired: "It's not the right time yet. I don't want to have sex with him."

After hearing her explanation of why she didn't want to have sex with Zhao Yuan, Fu Xue hesitated and said, "Your Highness, at the age of the Lord, compared to other princes and young masters from noble families, he would already have several children, let alone concubines and maids. If you don't want to have sex with him, aren't you worried that he will go to other women and abandon you?"

Yan Zhen chuckled lightly: "It doesn't matter. Let him look for me if he wants. If he can't even hold back for the next two years, I'll chop him up and feed him to the dogs once I've conquered the world."

Fu Xue: "..."

-

Several snowfalls occurred in January and February, and during the days when the snow melted, the temperature in Tingzhou dropped to a new low.

Yan Zhencheng remained hidden in the warm pavilion all day, his hands and feet still ice-cold, and he didn't even have the courage to show his face.

She suspected she was going to get frostbite in Tingzhou.

Finally, early March arrived, and the weather in Tingzhou thawed and warmed up. Yan Zhen became even more determined to fight his way back to Daliang and seize the palace.

Even if it's not for the throne, it's for the sake of living in the capital of Daliang in the future.

Tingzhou is so cold!

At the beginning of March, Yan Zhen started going out more often.

After repeatedly measuring the temperature and the degree of thawing of the ground, she issued an order to begin planting potatoes in mid-March.

Upon hearing this, two elderly farmers who were helping out at the mansion immediately stood up to object.

"Your Highness, the weather is still cold in mid-March. If you plant potatoes at this time, the seedlings will freeze to death because it is too cold at night."

Yan Zhen had anticipated this: "Before the New Year, I had someone go up the mountain to collect a lot of wild grass, dried it, and put it in a shed in the west of the city. At night, we covered the seedlings with wild grass to prevent them from freezing."

Seeing that Yan Zhen insisted, the old farmer dared not disobey and could only do as he was told.

So, starting in mid-March, people began to work on the twenty acres of farmland in Tingzhou City that had been cleared out and maintained before the Lunar New Year.

Yan Zhen also began to work long hours and leave early.

Since it was the first year of planting potatoes, these twenty acres of land were managed by the Prince Zhao's Palace. Half of the people hired to farm the land were local farmers, and the other half were soldiers from the army.

The two old farmers who had moved into the Prince Zhao's mansion before the New Year played a significant role at this time, helping Yan Zhen explain the planting principles to the farmers and soldiers in charge of planting potatoes.

Yan Zhen then got busy with another matter—making fertilizer.

In this era, people mainly relied on wood ash and farmyard manure to fertilize the land.

However, the amount of farmyard manure was limited, so Yan Zhen had people transport horse manure from the army's stables to fertilize the fields.

At the same time, people were asked to observe where flocks of birds migrating from the south would gather after the weather warmed up.

After more than ten days of tracking, a dozen soldiers found a secluded mountain forest.

The mountains and forests are home to a large number of birds, and over the years, thick layers of bird droppings have accumulated in the forest.

Yan Zhen had the bird droppings transported back to the city, packed into sealed containers, and left to decompose and ferment in the sun.

Having survived two sudden drops in temperature in late March, the potatoes stubbornly sprouted.

By mid-April, Yan Zhen began cultivating cotton seedlings.

Cotton seeds are few in number, unlike potatoes which weigh over 1,500 jin. Yan Zhen was extremely careful when cultivating the seedlings, fearing that a single mistake would cause all the hard-won seeds to be lost.

Under her careful care, one-third of the cotton seeds sprouted seven days after being planted.