Chapter 339: with translation of chapter title

Cater to their preferences.

Gu Xixi said these four characters.

Mu Nan Zhao's face showed a look of realization, then he lightly laughed, "You never disappoint."

"It just depends on how exactly to do it."

The four main guests seated in the hall were all sharp-minded, and the other two quickly understood as well.

He Jinglan laughed, "Then let's use everyone's favorite way, issue a divine edict or something, so they cooperate with the court's actions and together exterminate the locusts!"

An Qinghe slyly rolled his eyes and laughed, "I know how to do it."

"We can put on a genuine miracle in public."

But after hearing An Qinghe say a few sentences like that.

Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nan Zhao and He Jinglan, "Then let's do it this way?"

He Jinglan raised her hand, "I'm on standby anytime, I can do anything."

Mu Nan Zhao nodded, glanced at An Qinghe; although his gaze wasn't very friendly yet, he now had a bit more approval.

An Qinghe crossed his arms arrogantly, "Hmph, get it straight, I'm not doing this to help you gain merit!"

"First, I need to relieve Xixi's worries; I must support whatever she wants to do."

"Second, if a famine breaks out, it will be detrimental to our future business."

He turned toward Gu Xixi, grinning widely, "Xixi, you'd say that, right?"

Mu Nan Zhao still had a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes flashed with killing intent.

He Jinglan kicked An Qinghe, "If you don't provoke at a time like this, you'll die!"

The imperial examination results are still seven days away, and the Xiao He manor's flower-viewing banquet is in nine days.

If the first phase of locust eradication goes smoothly, it will not affect the flower-viewing banquet at all.

That day, the newly appointed Minister of Revenue led a group of officials to Immortal Fruit Village to inspect the wheat fields on-site.

After specialized personnel measured and compared with the Revenue Ministry's historical records, it was estimated that the locust eggs in Immortal Fruit Village had indeed reached plague level.

Immediately afterward, the Revenue Ministry sent urgent express documents to all surrounding prefectures and county offices.

Within one day, local agricultural officials were to go into the fields to investigate.

Afterwards, the reports from various places were also not optimistic.

Within the capital region, more or less, locust eggs were found.

Given this situation, if a locust plague erupts in June, not to mention the capital region is destined for a total crop failure.

Even places further west and south cannot escape being affected.

He Jinghui already had the corresponding evidence; on the third day, during the morning court audience, he publicly presented the preventive locust eradication plan.

Naturally, there were not few opposing voices among the court officials.

However, the Regent Prince had already earlier hinted to the emperor in person.

The emperor, who values the people's livelihood, already had some preparation; after hearing He Jinghui's words, which were all reasonable and well-founded, he immediately issued an edict ordering the Revenue Ministry to handle this matter fully.

After receiving the order, He Jinghui respectfully said, "Early tomorrow morning, at the auspicious start of the si hour, I, your humble servant, have set up a platform at the eastern city gate to announce to all the people the righteous act of eradicating locusts."

"But I, your humble servant, alone may not be able to control the situation; I dare to ask Your Majesty to come in person, for when the subjects see the emperor personally present, their confidence will surely increase greatly!"

Before the emperor could speak, the eldest son of Grand Secretary Fan stood up to oppose.

Other officials connected to the Fan family also followed suit.

At this moment, Mu Nan Zhao, standing at the front of the officials, stepped forward and coldly glanced around.

Wherever his gaze fell, the officials all averted their eyes, afraid to meet his gaze.

Mu Nan Zhao faced the emperor, performed a salute, and said, "Besides the true gods and true buddhas passed down from antiquity, the locust god is merely an evil deity that the people conjure out of fear."

"And Your Majesty, who values the people's livelihood, eradicates locusts, protects grain, and plans for the masses, is the sole true god in the secular world of the Great Undertaking Dynasty; with such righteousness, what fear is there of the locust god?"

"You officials, instead of thinking to change the folk customs, all jump out shouting 'locust god'."

"What!" Mu Nan Zhao suddenly intensified his tone, "Do you not believe the emperor, yet believe in the locust god?"

The emperor, cooperating greatly, lowered his gaze slightly, exuding authority without anger.

The officials immediately knelt down, shouting in unison, "We dare not!"

After a moment, the emperor then spoke, "All my beloved officials, rise."

Although he wore a smile, his tone left no room for doubt.

"Anyway, I haven't left the palace in a long time; I'll follow what Minister He says."

"This is a battle between the people of the Great Undertaking Dynasty and the locusts; as the Son of Heaven, it is only fitting for me to personally oversee the fight."

"All my beloved officials who accompany me should just pray for blessings for the people."

By this point, although the officials still harbored various thoughts, none dared to oppose.

That afternoon.

Gu Xixi sprinkled the medicinal liquid on the locust eggs, waited an hour, then cut open each egg one by one.

The near-hatching larvae were already alive; observing the drug's effect on them was easiest.

To minimize error as much as possible, a total of eighty strings of egg samples were collected, which is a lot.

The maidservants of the Yuzhu Institute each had an embroidery needle; following Gu Xixi's demonstration, they carefully slit the outer skin without harming the inner insect body.

Each slit counted as one, using the method of drawing the character "zheng" for tallying.

There was no other way; in a world lacking other tools and calculators, one could only resort to this crude method.

After everyone worked hard for half a day, of the insects finally dissected, over fifty percent were dead, about ten percent died after a while, and less than forty percent remained alive.

He Jinglan joyfully said, "Great, just as you expected!"

Gu Xixi, however, sighed regretfully, "I originally thought it could reach sixty percent."

However, there's no time left to optimize the formula, so we'll have to make do with this for now.

These past days, He Jinghui has been so busy he hasn't returned home.

He Jinglan could only send a guard to deliver the prescription to He Jinghui as quickly as possible.

The amount needed for this is not small; only by relying on the Imperial Court's strength to rush production day after day could it possibly be supplied for use.

After finishing these, more than half of the afternoon had already passed.

He Jinglan forced Gu Xixi to drink a bowl of calming soup, saying, "You've basically gotten no sleep these past two days; you must listen to me, get a good rest first, and there's still a big matter tomorrow morning."

Gu Xixi was pulled to the bedside and lay down obediently, asking, "Has An Qinghe not returned yet?"

He Jinglan said, "No, I estimate that after he finishes his business he'll go straight to my older brother's place."

"Just trust him, don't worry too much."

Gu Xixi hummed in agreement, "That guy may look all laughs and smiles, but whenever he takes on a task, he's never failed."

The next day, at si hour.

The young emperor ascended the high platform, accompanied by his personal attendant and the Regent Prince, with officials following behind.

The Imperial Guard was responsible for guarding.

Outside the East City Gate, the crowds of commoners had already packed it shoulder to shoulder.

Upon seeing the bright yellow dragon robe with their own eyes, the crowd below erupted in an uproar.

No one noticed the woman in Hu clothing following beside the Regent Prince.

She wore no makeup or accessories, only a thin veil covering her face.

Even though she looked pretty, she wasn't striking enough to draw attention.

Some officials behind her, even if they noticed, merely assumed she was a maid brought by the Regent Prince.

After all, the Regent Prince has always been arrogant, never placing anyone outside the emperor in his eyes.

Even in such an official setting, his insistence on bringing a maid to stand out is nothing surprising.

Outside the human wall formed by the Imperial Guard, An Qinghe and He Jinglan also stood among the crowd.

Although He Jinglan had seen many grand scenes, she still couldn't help feeling nervous at this moment.

"You say Xixi will have her first audience with His Majesty and do that to him—won't there be a problem?"

An Qinghe stared upward, gritting his teeth, "I don't know either."

..."Damn it, Mu Nan Zhao!!"