Of Soil And Sovereign

After two weeks it was finally the time for the incognito outing of the emperor and after two long weeks of anticipation finally the day for the incognito outing has arrived and the second part of his plan came into effect as he had to convince his future wife to send his soon to be brother-in-law away so that he could get her to the palace.

Xuan woke up early excited to see Mei once again and after dressing simply he left the palace in a low-profile carriage with his hidden guard in two, they were also low profile blending into the crowd the carriage moved toward Mei's house, the distance was a bit long which worried him a lot most of the time and he needed to get her to move to the capital soon or he will die of worry at a young age. The carriage finally stopped pulling him away from his thoughts indicating that he reached his destination.

Once he was in front of the gate, he suddenly remembered it was too early to visit someone, and he forgot about that in his excitement standing at the gate, he could see that Mei was in the kitchen, busy preparing breakfast. He stood at the gate awkwardly, not knowing whether to proceed or not.

She came out to the kitchen, her hand white with the flour she was preparing. She stretched and looked at the gate and was surprise to see him standing at the gate.

Even though she had been expecting him to visit sometime for the book, she did not expect him to come this early in the morning. After bowing in greetings, she went to the door to welcome him, letting him inside and requesting Mingde to quickly bring a bowl for him at the dining table. He smiled, feeling happy inside.

As he entered the threshold, and she went back to the kitchen to help Mingde carry the breakfast as he stood under the shed, feeling awkward and out of place he stood there. Mingde came out with some bowls and asked him to have a seat, and Mei joined them at the table and also sitting.

When the initial awkwardness disappears, Xuan feels very comfortable. It is as if he is one of them. Mei served the steaming porridge to them starting with Mingde who gave him a smirk, Xuan laughed it off testing the food and he couldn't help but be astonished by her cooking skills which was simply delicious and comforting

Mingde, with by now plump cheeks, added to the lively atmosphere.

After they were done with the breakfast, Mei jokingly pinched his cheeks. She did more of this recently, finding his roundness adorable, which made them all laugh.

Mei asked her brother to go to her room to retrieve the draft of her recently completed draft book. He dashed and came back with the book. She took it and eagerly handed it over to Xuan, who accepted it with appreciation.

He flipped through the pages till the last, and his initial intention to act impressed fell away. Instead, he was genuinely impressed, and his admiration grew. She was brilliant. There were a lot of methods in the book, and he seriously didn't know how she came up with them.

Thinking further, he felt sad knowing she was forced to learn this out of desperation to survive. He had always known that she could write some and had seen some of her methods in the report. But seeing her all the methods, each with step by step, on how to do it extensively made all his skepticism disappear.

Her understanding of plants and dedication to farming had truly amazed him, making him happy

Seizing the moment to bring his other agenda to the table, he turned the conversation towards the topic of education for Mingde and asked if she considered schooling him. Gauging her response. Mei responded, telling him that she had recently been thinking about that and had decided to enroll him in the Imperial College, but she was not sure if he would be accepted or how to even go about it.

Xuan was relieved that the moment he had been waiting for, and he seized the opportunity, recommending his former lecturer speak highly of his the teacher, emphasizing that he was not only a renowned educator but also the emperor's teacher and the best teacher in the entire empire.

Mei was so happy about the recommendation as she wanted her brother to have the best teacher and asked if the teacher would really accept her brother as a student.

Xuan assured her he would help her brother get accepted by the teacher as her book was impressive and more than he had expected, so he would help her talk to the teacher to take Mingde as his student in return.

Mei was grateful for Xuan as he helped her every step of the way, and her heart warmed and her brother's education, which was a big worry for her finally being settled. She bowed to thank him and asking her brother to do the same and he followed he bowing as well.

Mingde remained quiet, but as good as this deal sounded, something about it felt odd to him. He could not get his finger on it. Something felt wrong with him somewhere He just didn't have a shred of evidence, and since he knew his sister was worried about his education, he just kept quiet.

Years later Mingde would think back to this moment and get angry as it was this moment his supposed senior brother stole his sister right under his nose.

With Xuan's plan successful, he excused himself to attend to other matters. Mei went to the farm with Mingde very excited, her brother has now found a teacher. She had a house in the capital and would soon harvest the fruits of her labor as she had been eagerly waiting for this month; once the harvest was over she would soon have to move to their new house. If everything went according to plan.

As excited as she was, she was also sad her brother would go away from her for studies, however much as she disliked it, she knew it was the right move.