Chu Heng watched Xiao Ruiyuan with a shocked expression, as if he were seeing him for the first ti. He had never imagined his usually reserved cousin would speak such words; on one hand, the cousin was revealing his feelings for the girl he admired, and on the other hand, he was reminding him, his cousin and the Crown Prince, of his resolve to marry that girl as his wife, even if it ant opposing him!
Considering this, Chu Heng’s complexion turned sowhat unsightly. Yet, he knew his cousin’s temperant well; should he actually interfere, he feared their close relationship would truly suffer, which was not what he wanted to see.
After weighing the matter, Chu Heng, ultimately valuing their brotherly bond, refrained from further obstruction and persuasion.
Seeing his cousin’s expression ease, Xiao Ruiyuan silently breathed a sigh of relief.
His words had co from the heart and indeed served as a reminder to the Crown Prince cousin. Having followed the Crown Prince for over a decade, he was well aware of his thoughts.
His cousin might be the Crown Prince, but he was not blessed with a robust constitution. Moreover, with several grown brothers lying in wait, coveting the position of heir, securing his seat was anything but easy!
As the right-hand man to his cousin, if his future wife ca from a powerful and influential family, her family would undoubtedly stand by his side, becoming an asset to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince would not disregard his wishes and forcibly ddle in his marriage affairs, but if he didn’t make his stance clear, the Crown Prince would surely assu he did not value Yanyan and would proceed as earlier suggested—having him take Yanyan as a concubine and marry a lady of noble birth as his wife. Now that he had declared his determination, his cousin would no longer do so.
anwhile, Mo Yan, who was raising Spatial Chickens in the orchard, was oblivious to the fact that the Crown Prince of Great Chu, the future monarch, perceived her as a cunning woman, and that the man she fancied had made such a heartfelt declaration to clear away the obstacles between them.
"Little boss, where did you buy such fine chickens? They look so lively!" Aunt Tong admired the chickens scurrying between the fruit seedlings, incessantly praising them.
"It’s the Yan girl’s good eye! These chickens are not only larger than the common ones, but they also seem particularly alert. Otherwise, they would’ve been scared and huddled in a corner by now, having just arrived in a strange place. Instead, they’re not even afraid of people!" Aunt Cai, who ca over to help, praised Mo Yan as she opened the bamboo cages to release the chickens.
"Yan girl must be blessed by the gods, how could her vision be anything less? Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so successful in making money!"
With a smile, Mrs. Xiong and Mrs. Zhou chid in, their large scissors skillfully clipping the wings of the Spatial Chickens with a few crisp snips.
These Spatial Chickens were not yet familiar with the orchard. If they escaped, they would surely not know how to return. To prevent them from "breaking out," there was no choice but to clip their wings. In a few days, once they had acclimated to the orchard, even if they inadvertently got loose, they would know their way back.
"Hehe, it was just good luck this ti that I happened to encounter soone desperately in need of silver who was ready to part with these chickens," Mo Yan modestly offered a few words in feigned resignation. It was not her being blessed by the gods or her keen eye; it was entirely the rit of Space, this "cheater."
The Space was overrun with chickens, and Mo Yan had long intended to get them all out. Over the past few days, she had gone to the marketplace and dealt with a bulk of roosters. Using the excuse of setting up a chicken farm, she moved a large number of hens and a few roosters out of the Space and pretended to have bought them from the market before brazenly raising them in the orchard.
Thorny bushes had been planted around the orchard last year, and after being watered with Spirit Spring Water and breeding for a year, they had reached a height of six feet. The new thorns completely enclosed the orchard, and only chicks that had hatched one or two months ago could squeeze through the small gaps. The adult Spatial Chickens, even if plucked bare, would find it impossible to squirm through.
Despite having sold several hundred, there were still many left; more than one thousand six hundred roosters and hens combined. The orchard was spacious enough to raise these chickens with room to spare, but the consumption of grain was sowhat large. Fortunately, the orchard would grow grass or worms, and the rice bran and chaff left over from processing grains at the mill could also be used to feed the chickens. In ti, raising so earthworms in the soil wouldn’t pose a significant problem.
The chicken coops in the orchard were built a few days ago. There were fifty or sixty of various sizes, constructed with green bricks and tiles. This expense was the largest for the chicken farm, using up most of the silver earned from selling the roosters. When the weather was bad or when the hens needed to lay eggs, the chicken coops proved to be very useful; they couldn’t be put together haphazardly with just a few mud bricks.
On a daily basis, the chickens would forage in the orchard, consuming weeds and insects. The manure they would produce was also an excellent nutrient for the fruit seedlings. This not only saved the cost of hiring soone to weed but also fertilized the orchard, killing two birds with one stone!
It took most of the day, but finally, all the chickens were properly settled. Watching them flocking together, pecking at the tender green vegetables, occasionally digging up ants and bugs to eat, and so even clucking while laying eggs in the dense grass, everyone felt in good spirits.
Aunt Cai, hearing the chickens, seed to think of sothing and said to Mo Yan, "Yan girl, raising chickens in the orchard is a good idea, but since this place is a distance from the village and close to the mountains, I’m afraid it would be easy to attract a ’God Huang.’ I think you’d better keep a few dogs in the orchard."
Mo Yan was taken aback for a mont before she realized that "God Huang" referred to the Yellow Weasel. Yellow Weasels indeed loved to eat chickens, and not long ago, a family’s chickens in the village had been wiped out overnight by one. The thorny bushes around the orchard wouldn’t stop the Yellow Weasel that could dig holes; indeed, precautions were needed.
Mo Yan smiled and thanked Aunt Cai, "Thanks to your reminder, Aunt, or else I wouldn’t have thought of that! God Huang is indeed a big trouble, and these chickens do need a few dogs to watch over them."
Mrs. Zhou’s eyes lit up upon hearing this and said sowhat embarrassedly to Mo Yan, "Yan girl, are you thinking of directly buying a grown dog or raising puppies? My family’s dog just had a litter of pups not long ago, and they are about to turn one month old. If you like, could you possibly take a few to raise?"
Mo Yan was pleasantly surprised and said with a smile, "Of course, it’s better to raise dogs from puppyhood. Train them well when they’re young, and they grow up to be smart. Your family has puppies, which is just perfect! By the way, Aunt Zhou, how many pups do you have? I plan to take them all!"
"Really? That’s wonderful! There are five in the litter, and if that’s not enough, there are other families in the village whose dogs have also just given birth. I’ll help you ask around," Mrs. Zhou said, clearly delighted. She had been worried about what to do when the puppies turned one month old; it seed a pity to just leave them outside to possibly starve, yet there wasn’t enough food at ho to keep them all. Now, giving them to the Mo Family to raise couldn’t have been a better solution.
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