The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 154 The Fall of Genius

Zheng Xun and Wang Feiyu rode their horses around for a while before stopping, still wanting more.

After dismounting, she gently stroked the horse's neck and said regretfully, "What a fine horse."

Wang Feiyu agreed, "It is indeed a good horse."

Zheng Xun looked at him: "Have you made any progress?"

"If I'm not mistaken, this reed will stimulate these horses to go into heat."

Zheng Xun: ?

Is that why they got excited?

But there are mates right next to them, so why are they running around so excitedly?

"Maybe... their brains aren't working properly? But that's not important. As long as we castrate them, this problem will be solved."

"Where's the mare?"

“It can also be castrated, but the method is different.”

Zheng Xun asked suspiciously, "That's not right, where did you get these conclusions from?"

Wang Feiyu touched his nose, looking inexplicably guilty: "Guess...it's just a guess!"

Zheng Xun stared at him for a while, and finally opened the system with distrust.

Wang Feiyu: !

Let's save him some face!

However, he could only scream these words in his heart; Zheng Xun couldn't hear them.

[It turns out that the most abundant grass in Wang Ergou's hometown was reed grass, so their grass was all grown from reed grass. But he was different; he thought that if people ate raw food, they would get diarrhea, so horses definitely couldn't eat raw food either.]

Therefore, he chose to cook the reeds.

Zhou Pengtao: ...

Well, how can this not be considered considerate?

[Well...and then he raised an exceptionally strong horse.]

He was praised by his father for this, but later the horse went mad, and his father took his anger out on him...

Zheng Xun looked up at him: "Let's try castrating one."

Now that we've come up with a solution, we should try it out to see if it works.

She paused, then added with concern, "Let them lay their young first."

Having offspring provides a safety net, so that if you manage to breed these horses but fail, you won't have anything to regret later.

The three men sat down together for a serious discussion about the gelding of horses.

In the end, it was decided that Wang Feiyu would take the initiative.

He was an expert; Zhou Pengtao witnessed him swiftly wielding the knife and suddenly became docile in front of Wang Feiyu.

She stopped arguing with him and her attitude was even strangely friendly.

Don't ask, the answer is fear.

Finally, Wang Feiyu decided to stay at the estate for a few days because he was worried about the horse's condition.

He and Zhou Pengtao escorted Zheng Xun to the door.

Zheng Xun sat on his horse, preparing to wave goodbye, when he suddenly remembered something: "Pengtao, your daughter is fourteen this year, isn't she?"

Zhou Pengtao nodded quickly.

"Is there anyone you've taken a fancy to? If you're interested, I can act as matchmaker for you."

Zhou Pengtao was deeply moved: "If only we had that, but she wants to raise pigs with me!"

He scratched his head in frustration: "What kind of pig is a little girl raising? It's tiring, and it smells terrible all the time."

He didn't know what went wrong, but his sons were unwilling to raise pigs, while his daughters always seemed eager to try.

"Is Pengtao afraid she'll suffer?"

"Yes, raising pigs is not an easy job, and her future husband might look down on her if he finds out she works with pigs."

Zheng Xun looked surprised: "Pengtao can't afford to raise his daughter?"

"of course not!"

"Then what are you worried about? If she is capable, she won't starve even if she doesn't meet a man who can tolerate her. And if someone really cares about her, they won't care whether she's raising pigs or not."

Zhou Pengtao instinctively wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, he realized... that made sense!

Moreover, given that his son is unwilling to inherit his skills, why doesn't he pass them on to his daughter?

Perhaps, deep down, he felt that raising pigs was something that sounded bad and made him feel inferior.

His own future was uncertain, but he didn't want his daughter to follow the same path as him.

But the princess is right. His only wish for his daughter is that she be healthy and happy, so why worry so much?

"Thank you for your advice, Princess. I will think about it carefully."

Zheng Xun nodded, did not continue to persuade him, and rode away.

She went to the agreed location to meet Zheng Jin first.

Winter is approaching, and it's getting dark earlier and earlier.

By this time, the shops along the street had already lit their lanterns.

The firelight, which was not very bright to begin with, came together to be quite bright.

Zheng Jin and Nie Zhao are eating glutinous rice balls on the street.

As soon as Zheng Xun arrived, Zheng Jin pressed her aside and served her a large bowl of wontons.

Why is mine wonton?

"Don't you dislike sweets?"

Zheng Xun asked in surprise, "You discovered that?"

She's not usually a picky eater, so how did she figure that out?

However, Zheng Xun, who had been ignored all day, was appeased by Zheng Jin's words and obediently stood aside as a background figure.

Seeing her smirking, Zheng Jin really wanted to explain that there was nothing between her and Nie Zhao.

But seeing that Zheng Xun didn't seem to want to listen, she ultimately didn't speak.

She turned around, wanting to say something to Nie Zhao, but met his focused gaze.

Zheng Jin blinked, then suddenly turned her head away, looking elsewhere.

The lanterns on the stall looked like they'd been used for a long time; they were faded and mottled.

"What's wrong? Is there something dirty on my face?"

"without……"

Zheng Xun pursed his lips.

Oh dear, one is unaware of how deep her gaze is, and the other is unaware of how red her face is.

No problem, this troublemaker will take care of it.

Zheng Jin had a strange premonition, and sure enough, the next moment she heard Zheng Xun's loud voice: "Second sister! Why is your face red!"

Zheng Jin: ...

Nie Zhao: ...

[Tsk, my sister's no good. Last time she made Nie Zhao blush, but this time she's regressed?]

Nie Zhao: ?

Great, the atmosphere that was going so well is starting to feel strange.

Unsurprisingly, Zheng Xun was kicked out.

Nie Zhao slipped her a handful of silver notes and told her to go into the palace first.

Well, she's not a greedy person, she's just quite perceptive.

She carefully stacked the silver notes and turned back to the palace without hesitation.

She originally intended to return to Mingzhu Pavilion, but Li Xiaojun intercepted her halfway and took her to the Imperial Study.

When the emperor saw her, his gaze was deep and unfathomable, carrying with it a strange sense of indignation.

"Two people go out, and one person comes back, hmm?"

Zheng Xun: ...

Oh dear, Second Sister is finished!

"Second sister has something to do and will be back later."

The emperor paced back and forth indignantly: "She's still a child. People outside are all bad. How could she know the wickedness of the human heart?"

The treasure he finally managed to reunite with after being separated from his family has now been coveted by someone else.

Nie Zhao, right? Just thinking about it makes me grit my teeth.

Actually, his princesses don't necessarily have to marry out. They can marry into his family or never marry at all. Anyway, they will always have fiefdoms and can support themselves.

He suddenly thought of something: "Li Xiaojun, go and arrange a few male concubines for the eldest and second princesses. Choose carefully, they should be simple-minded and good-looking."

"The eldest princess is in Liaozhou..."

"Then let's make arrangements for the Second Princess first."

Li Xiaojun suppressed a laugh and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Zheng Xun: ...

She blinked: "Isn't Father going to find one for me?"

The emperor glanced at her, his brows furrowing slightly: "How old are you? You should be studying instead of wasting your time on these things..."

Halfway through his sentence, he remembered that Zheng Xun didn't need to go to the Imperial Academy, so he changed the subject: "Instead of wasting your energy on this, you should approve more memorials!"

Zheng Xun: ?

He also knew she was still a child.

Isn't it exploiting her to give her so much work?

She rolled her eyes: "Father, did you summon me so late because you have something to tell me?"

The emperor nodded and handed her a booklet: "Take a look."

Zheng Jiu and Zheng Shi have returned, so Zheng Xun knows what the booklet contains.

This is the book they've been searching for for so long, "The Book of Casting Instruments".

Zheng Xun flipped through it casually. This volume should be the original. The contents were written in a very messy manner, but that did not affect its quality.

"Take it to the Ordnance Bureau. Whether it's really that amazing or not, we'll know once it's built and we see."

Zheng Xun carefully put the box away: "I'll deliver it myself."

She could also find a time when her powers were at their peak to go through everyone in the Armory and weed out the corrupt officials.

The emperor gave a soft "hmm".

That was the original purpose of bringing Zheng Xun over.

Seeing that the matter was over, Zheng Xun bowed and prepared to take his leave.

"return!"

"Ah? Is something the Emperor has come up with?"

"Your eldest and third brothers said that you are still young and should not be overworked, so they asked me to assign you fewer tasks. What do you think?"

Zheng Xun: ?

What grudge could they possibly hold against her to do this to her?

She repeatedly declined because she was afraid the emperor would think she was too power-hungry, but they really wanted to cut off her path to advancement!

When will they understand that her saying she didn't want to work and that it's lonely at the top is just empty talk?

Does her ambitious demeanor suggest she's content with mediocrity?

She was silent for a moment, then said softly, "So, does Father also want me to get some rest?"

The emperor smiled.

Is this still not enough to win her over?

He knew she wouldn't really want to be idle.

Or rather, she couldn't possibly want to lose power.

Yuan Jia is like him in this respect; how could he not understand?

"Alright, I'll take the blame for you for exploiting your daughter, but..."

Zheng Xun asked warily, "But what?"

"However, you must keep an eye on Nie Zhao for me, and don't let him get too close to your second sister."

Zheng Xun: ?

You really love to worry.

Her eyelids twitched slightly, and she feigned a fierce expression as she asked, "Should we break them up?"

emperor:! ! !

"That's not necessary..."

Zheng Xun: I knew it.

You're the one who dislikes others, but if they really let Zheng Jin down, you'll be the one who gets angry.

Well, she's already willing to give him more authority, so she should also consider the feelings of an old father.

The emperor coughed awkwardly twice: "By the way, tomorrow you go to Liao Hongsheng's place and bring Prince Chou to the post station."

Zheng Xun: Hmm? Lord Liao is so efficient, it's driving people crazy?

but……

"Why me again?"

"The others weren't composed enough."

"But I'm tired too..."

"Just tell me what you want!"

"You need Ma De."

It took the emperor quite a while to remember this person.

Ma De is from Yuanma Temple. He has no other skills except for raising horses.

Knowing Zheng Xun's plan, the emperor nodded without hesitation.

Both father and daughter knew each other; Zheng Xun wouldn't really refuse to handle important matters, and the emperor wouldn't refuse if she directly asked for people.