The days went by, one after another, and spring slowly walked to its end. The start of summer was imminent. The Yu Family’s corn fields all had stalks of corn standing up straight like soldiers. Each leaf from the stalks of corn looked like a finely crafted sharp sword made from the finest green jasper; all so perfect that it looked like it was from the heavens. At the apex of the stalks, there was a tassel of male flowers, and they bunched around, looking like messy hair on the bodyguards.

For the past month, because Royal Prince Yang was particularly diligent and came by often, Xiaocao lessened the amount of mystic-stone water she used to avoid rousing his suspicions. Corn had always been a drought-resistant crop that feared floods. Even though there was less spring rain this year, it didn’t influence the growth of the corn at all. 

Zhu Junyang looked at the corn plants that were as tall as a man and had Head Steward Liu [1], who accompanied him, record what the male flowers looked like and the time period that they had appeared during the growth cycle. 

The Yu Family’s watermelons had been on the market for almost a month, so there wasn’t a lot left in the six mu of fields. The leftover watermelons weren’t very large, but their taste was not compromised. Zhu Junyang strolled into the watermelon fields and stooped down to pick one out of the remaining melons. He had Steward Liu hold onto it as they...