Blame the Villain – Chapter 66

Villainous Crown Prince (8)

Wang Mian was finally able to send off his granddaughter’s young lover as he had wished. He felt a huge weight lifted off his chest and for the next few days, he felt light-hearted and even found himself eating a few extra bowls of food.

Even though that boy, Nie Qianyu, took away a group of carefully selected young men, Wang Mian couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed. But with so many young men in Zhongzhou, he was confident he could find a new handsome and talented one for his obedient granddaughter.

So, Wang Mian eagerly began searching for a new well-suited and knowledgeable young man for Song Xuyi, urging her to go and see them. After all, his granddaughter used to love the hustle and bustle, but had suppressed her true self for Nie Qianyu. Now that Nie Qianyu was in the academy, it was time for Xuyi to return to her true nature!

However, Wang Mian soon realized that his granddaughter didn’t seem to be interested in the handsome young men at all! She showed little enthusiasm whenever he brought up the idea of meeting them, and instead spent her days in her small plot of land. Despite being a noble lady, she didn’t mind getting her hands dirty in the fields, working alongside the tenant farmers to discuss storage and improvement methods for their crops.

Unlike other noble ladies who enjoyed discussing rouge and flirting with young men, his granddaughter seemed to prefer tending to her small plot of land.

Moreover, his granddaughter seemed to have her own goals.

She openly shared all her knowledge about grain types and storage methods with the nobles’ children interested in ingredients, and even generously gave away grains.

What was she trying to do?

Wang Mian actually had a vague sense of something in his heart, but he didn’t think that the young Song Xuyi would have such ambitions beyond the ordinary.

However, Song Xuyi quickly confirmed his suspicions—

Song Xuyi went straight to Wang Mian and said, “Grandfather, when we plant sorghum next spring, do you want to try intercropping with potatoes?”

Wang Mian gazed at his granddaughter, her hair a bit messy and her skirt stained with soil, looking nothing like a noble lady. Song Xuyi, however, seemed oblivious to Wang Mian’s complicated expression and continued trying to persuade him, “The tenant farmers and I tried intercropping this season. Planting two rows of sorghum followed by four rows of potatoes maximizes crop yield. With this method, two acres of land can support an extra person in a year…”

“Why go to such lengths?”

“My Wang family does not lack food,” Wang Mian sighed, brushing off the leaves from Song Xuyi’s head. He spoke solemnly, “Xuyi, you are born of noble royal blood. You only need to live comfortably and luxuriously. You don’t need to worry about these things…”

These tasks should be done by men, tasks that most men may not even be able to carry out. Xuyi had no need to be involved, and some people might not be happy to see her becoming capable…

“But this is what I want,” Song Xuyi remained smiling, seemingly not grasping the underlying meaning in Wang Mian’s words. Knowing she couldn’t persuade her grandfather, a feudal patriarch, she simply said, “I just really enjoy farming and cooking. Doing these things brings me joy…”

Which noble lady would enjoy working on land emitting odors and swarming with insects?

Wang Mian pursed his lips, knowing that Song Xuyi’s reasons were just excuses, yet he didn’t expose them. He earnestly looked at his granddaughter: Despite still looking fair and lovely, once dressed up, she appeared as a beautiful and dignified lady. Who would have thought that she would fall in love with farming and cooking, tasks usually favored by lower-class individuals?

However, his granddaughter was different from the other noble ladies. There was a vibrant and captivating light in her eyes, pure and clear like a frost-dusted plum blossom, transparent and delicate due to her experiences.

In front of Song Xuyi’s beautiful eyes, all the intrigues and schemes of the court instantly revealed themselves, unable to hide.

Though he was old, Wang Mian knew he could still protect her for a few more years…

In the end, his deep love for Song Xuyi prevailed. With the desire to make his granddaughter happy, Wang Mian sighed and waved his hand, “Fine! If you want to do it, then do it…”

Wang Mian instructed some of the tenant farmers to implement Song Xuyi’s methods, while also increasing the rewards. Previously, the distribution of food produced from the farmland was thirty percent for the farmers and seventy percent for the Wang family, which was already considered generous treatment from a noble family. However, this time Wang Mian gave even more concessions to the farmers: in fields where intercropping was implemented, the sorghum and potato yield would be split fifty-fifty.

High rewards breed daring fellows.

With the temptation of benefits, many tenant farmers who used to plant sorghum eagerly joined in, learning how to intercrop potatoes.

At this time, the tenant farmers that Song Xuyi had previously cultivated proved to be valuable. They meticulously taught the representative tenant farmers sent over the storage and planting methods for potatoes. These tenant farmers then went back to spread and teach the other tenant farmers…

Initially, only a small number of Wang family’s tenant farmers practiced intercropping in the fields. After all, the yield in the fields was crucial for the tenant farmers, and they didn’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. They only experimented with intercropping on a few acres.

No one had expected that despite reducing the sorghum planting, the sorghum yield didn’t decrease much compared to previous years. As a result, when calculating, it seemed like there was an additional yield of potatoes out of thin air in each acre of land!

……

All of a sudden, the tenant farmers were excited! They eagerly learned from those who had implemented intercropping, quickly spreading the method throughout Zhongzhou. Not only did the Wang family adopt this planting technique, but other noble families also sent experienced tenant farmers to seek advice from the Wang family…

Wang Mian never expected that his gesture to please his granddaughter would have such a significant impact.

However, it was too late to back out now. As the intercropping method spread, Song Xuyi’s reputation also spread.

Being quite far from the capital, Lido, and being the stronghold of the Wang family, the rumors of Song Xuyi’s domineering behavior and kidnapping of a prince did not reach Zhongzhou. The people in Zhongzhou only knew: a princess from the capital had brought a new type of food that greatly increased the land’s yield, allowing the poor peasants to eat more…

That winter, for the first time, the tenant farmers who practiced intercropping had enough food to get through the winter.

In Zhongzhou, whenever the princess from Huadu was mentioned, everyone praised her, with some villages even secretly building temples in honor of Song Xuyi. Those noble families who had heard of Song Xuyi’s bad reputation from Huadu, upon seeing her series of measures, unanimously believed that her previous bad reputation was deliberately spread by the emperor to tarnish the reputation of noble families. The noble families were now eager to form alliances, and young noblemen visited the Wang family daily, hoping to catch a glimpse of Song Xuyi.

While Wang Mian was extremely pleased, Song Xuyi had no energy to meet these young noblemen. After discovering new crops, she began pondering ways to improve agricultural tools, applying the principles of the “The Curved Plow”¹ to enhance plowing tools and creating tools like rice beds, rice barrels, and wind-powered rice threshers, greatly improving crop cultivation efficiency…

Song Xuyi remained the same character – once she decided to do something, she put her heart and soul into it. She was completely absorbed in the fields, and Wang Mian had no way to stop her.

Wang Mian wanted to advise Song Xuyi to not be so absorbed in farming and to pay attention to the eligible suitors coming her way. However, his subordinates and family members advised him against disturbing Song Xuyi’s research – after all, the Wang family had gained considerable profits from Song Xuyi’s discoveries and inventions. Originally, there were a few noble families who posed a threat to the Wang family. With the appearance of Song Xuyi, the Wang family’s prestige and power had greatly increased. The voices opposing the Wang family gradually faded away, leaving the Wang family far ahead of the other noble families.

As Wang Mian watched Song Xuyi willingly reject all suitors, he felt extremely worried. Suddenly, he thought of Nie Qianyu: if Nie Qianyu were still by his granddaughter’s side, would she be so engrossed in farming?

Unfortunately, Wang Mian felt that Nie Qianyu probably wouldn’t come back to cater to his granddaughter.

Wang Mian believed he understood men. Those who entered the Baiqiao Academy would be sought after by various noble families. Instead of becoming a princess’s submissive son-in-law, it was more comfortable to become an esteemed guest in noble families.

This was evident in Nie Qianyu, who had been in the Baiqiao Academy for so long and only sent one letter back to report his safety and explain his situation at the academy. After that, there was no more news.

Song Xuyi didn’t think much of it because she knew Nie Qianyu had his own aspirations. He must have been very busy when he first entered the academy. Song Xuyi didn’t think to contact Nie Qianyu proactively, but Wang Mian believed that Nie Qianyu must have become a sly fox.

No one knew that from the day Nie Qianyu left, two brightly colored birds always perched on the roof of Song Xuyi’s room. Every few days, one of the birds would fly away, leaving one behind. The remaining bird would then fly over the mountains to inform Nie Qianyu of everything about Song Xuyi and even the entire Wang family.

Due to Song Xuyi’s immersion in improving the lives of farmers, her return to Huadu was once again delayed, and she stayed in Zhongzhou until the deadline for her return to Huadu had passed.

With the arrival of the New Year, Nie Qianyu at the Baiqiao Academy also enjoyed half a month of holiday leave.

Upon returning to the Wang family.

Nie Qianyu appeared taller and thinner. The androgynous beauty in him became more pronounced, yet he remained as reserved and taciturn as ever.

However, those few beautiful young men he had taken into the mountains – carefully chosen by Wang Mian – did not return at all.

LP: Re-translated on April 08, 2024

1. A mythical agricultural tool associated with Shen Nong, a legendary figure in Chinese mythology credited with introducing agriculture to ancient China. The Curved Plow symbolizes the importance of agriculture, innovation, and hard work in Chinese culture.