"Heh~ it's a bit unusual to be short one laborer."
Yang Hong finally let out a sigh of relief after putting away the last bag of seeds.
Zhou Neng had already been gone for three days, and the Lunar New Year's Eve was just ten days away.
The small courtyard Yang Hong currently resided in was called [Zhi Ruo Wang Wen Ge], a merger of [Zhi Ruo Ge] and [Wang Wen Ge].
Zhou Neng had only left after the two cold palace courtyards were connected.
Before leaving, he had earnestly entrusted Yang Hong with many instructions and promises. He had personally gone to the Ministry of Agriculture to obtain a large quantity of seeds and farming manuals before leaving Yang Hong to start his new position with Yang Jian.
Although Yang Hong was confident, he was also cautious. He rejected Zhou Neng's request to report back daily, merely instructing Zhou Neng to serve the emperor well and not worry about him.
Yang Jian was an extremely suspicious emperor. If he became overly suspicious and decided to have Yang Hong executed, it would be a grave injustice.
As compensation for transferring Zhou Neng away, Yang Jian had indeed assigned new personnel to Yang Hong.
Three maids and four eunuchs, all just fifteen-year-old youths, also serving as strong laborers for farming.
Furthermore, these seven individuals were said to be from farming families and all knew how to farm.
After a day of observation, Yang Hong confirmed that they genuinely knew farming and how to till the land.
However, their strength was far inferior to Zhou Neng, a Grandmaster of Innate cultivation.
As a result, tasks that used to take an hour now took an entire day to complete.
"Alright, that's all for today. Go back, wash up, and prepare for dinner."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The seven newcomers obediently tidied up their tools and returned to the front courtyard to wash up.
Yang Hong flicked the dust off his clothes and turned into the central courtyard to prepare for his meal.
"Imperial Brother~ Imperial Brother~ Imperial Brother~~"
Before he even reached the central courtyard, Yang Zixuan's lively and melodious voice could be heard from afar.
"Imperial Brother, I brought you something delicious."
Yang Zixuan's voice did not enter the backyard but came directly from the dining hall in the central courtyard.
Upon hearing this, Yang Hong immediately understood that this little girl had brought some kind of meat to exchange for special food.
Yang Zixuan was also intelligent and had long known that some of the fruits and vegetables at Yang Hong's place were special.
Although Yang Hong had generously allowed her to eat them freely, she also knew that such special foods were extremely rare, and even she couldn't always have them.
Therefore, she had come up with a method: to exchange meat that Yang Hong didn't have.
Yang Hong, considering her feelings, had tacitly agreed to such exchanges.
"Imperial Brother, come eat quickly!"
Without waiting for Little Grass to set the table, Yang Zixuan had already rushed to the table and was waiting.
Upon entering the dining hall and seeing this scene, Yang Hong smiled and shook his head, having grown accustomed to it.
"Hehe~ What delicious food did Zixuan bring me today?"
"Hee hee~ It's really delicious~ Ta~ tada~"
Little Yang Zixuan stood on her stool and personally opened the red sandalwood food box she had brought.
"Imperial Brother, this is meat from a One-Horned Python Ox, fierce beast meat!"
Yang Zixuan proudly introduced.
"Oh~ fierce beast meat?"
Yang Hong's expression became a little more serious. Fierce beasts were powerful creatures equivalent to human Grandmasters.
Normally, not to mention eating them, it was rare even to hear about them.
The red sandalwood food box was opened, revealing a white porcelain plate with only five thin slices of meat, arranged in a petal-like pattern, emitting a tempting aroma.
"Sniff~ sniff~"
"Hmm~ Is this~ True Qi?"
After sniffing carefully, Yang Hong detected a familiar aura, an aura similar to True Qi.
"Here~ ah~~"
Just as Yang Hong was about to carefully discern it, Yang Zixuan had already picked up a slice of meat with her chopsticks and brought it to Yang Hong's mouth.
"You little girl."
Yang Hong smiled dotingly and did not refuse. He took a bite and savored it.
Indeed, there was an aura similar to True Qi, but it was very faint and scarce, even less than the True Qi Yang Hong cultivated in a quarter of an hour.
Moreover, this aura was a bit more violent than his own True Qi.
"Is it delicious?"
Seeing Yang Hong savoring it, Yang Zixuan's proud expression deepened.
It was the first time she had seen Yang Hong seriously savoring a dish.
"The taste is indeed quite good, but it's a bit greasy. Try it yourself and you'll know."
Yang Hong said with a smile, then picked up his chopsticks and fed Yang Zixuan a slice.
"Hmm~ hmm~ It tastes great, and it's not greasy at all."
Yang Zixuan retorted unconvincingly.
"Is that so? Try it again~"
"I'll try it."
In the end, all four remaining slices of meat were fed to Yang Zixuan, and she still didn't taste any greasiness.
"No greasiness? Perhaps I've been eating too many cucumbers these past few days, making my senses sensitive. How about you try this plate of cucumber?"
While Yang Hong was feeding Yang Zixuan the meat slices, Little Grass brought up dinner, which included a bowl of cucumber soup made from special cucumbers.
"Gulp~ gulp~"
Under Yang Hong's deliberate encouragement, the feeding process of his slightly confused sister was completed.
"Ah~ Imperial Brother's delicious food has all been eaten by me. I~ I~"
Realizing that almost all the special food had been eaten by herself, especially the five slices of One-Horned Python Ox meat, she felt a pang of guilt.
This was a special reward from Empress Dugu after she broke through to the realm of a third-rate martial artist. Today, she was the only one in the entire palace to possess it.
Her small eyes turned red, and she was on the verge of tears.
"Haha~ You found the meat slices delicious, but I found them a bit greasy and didn't really like them. As long as Zixuan remembers Imperial Brother, and your thoughtfulness is conveyed, Imperial Brother will be very happy."
Yang Hong ruffled Yang Zixuan's small head and comforted her.
"Mhm~ Mhm, Zixuan is very thoughtful. Zixuan will find more delicious food for Imperial Brother to eat tomorrow."
"Alright."
Yang Hong agreed with a smile.
However, he knew that Zixuan might not be able to come tomorrow.
As Yang Hong had predicted, Zixuan was indeed restricted.
Her current important task was to cultivate martial arts, so Empress Dugu required her to visit [Zhi Ruo Wang Wen Ge] only once every five days.
Moreover, the Lunar New Year's Eve was approaching, and there were many preparations for the grand imperial banquet. Yang Zixuan would not have another opportunity to visit.
However, on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Neng found an opportunity to return once.
He simply said hello, conveyed an imperial decree from the emperor, and then left.
Of course, these were on the surface. In secret, Zhou Neng had passed on some intelligence to Yang Hong.
Firstly, it was the emperor Yang Jian's decree, instructing him to spend the New Year in [Zhi Ruo Wang Wen Ge] as usual and not to attend the grand royal banquet.
Secondly, it was the information Zhou Neng had investigated regarding Yang Hong's background.
It was confirmed without a doubt that Yang Hong was Yang Jian's son. The only question was whether Yang Hong's birth mother might have been a palace maid.
"This is getting a bit melodramatic."
Yang Hong scoffed disdainfully. In any case, he was the transmigration Yang Hong, and it didn't matter whose son he was.
The third point was the reason Yang Hong was forbidden to cultivate. It was said that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had divined his fate and determined he had a rebellious nature, hence Yang Jian did not allow him to cultivate.
Another rumor suggested that Yang Hong's talent was too extraordinary, and a major martial arts sect wanted to abduct him as a 'furnace for cultivation,' and Yang Jian, unwilling to see his son suffer abuse, therefore prevented him from cultivating.
In any case, the information regarding the latter point was somewhat vague, and Zhou Neng stated he would continue to investigate.
Yang Hong did not seem to care much. As long as he remained unremarkable, it would be the best outcome.
From the current situation, the outcome was quite satisfactory.