Scumbag Chapter 144 The Reformed White-Eyed Wolf General (10)

While still in the capital, Mingting spent his free time exploring the rural outskirts and nearby mountains. Whenever he found edible plants

While still in the capital, Mingting spent his free time exploring the rural outskirts and nearby mountains. Whenever he found edible plants he recognized, he transplanted them into his space.

Soon, he had perilla, cumin, wild chives, dandelions...

To diversify the flora in his space, he also dug up konjac, wild ginger, houttuynia...

Mingting even collected medicinal herbs and planted many varieties.

As a Lucky Spirit, Mingting’s fortune was naturally strong. Whenever he searched for herbs in the mountains, he would find them effortlessly.

Before long, the land in his space expanded to a hundred mu.

Mingting even made detailed plans.

In addition to vegetable gardens, orchards, herb gardens, and flower gardens, Mingting also planted rice, wheat, and other staple crops.

Each garden area was further divided into many varieties, arranged with such precision that it almost seemed obsessive, as every plot was perfectly square.

[Boss, have you unlocked a farming obsession or a collecting obsession?]

Fengtian floated around the space, buzzing with excitement.

In the original timeline, the Female Lead had only grown vegetables and ginseng, mostly relying on the spiritual spring water. But Mingting had turned this space into a full-fledged small-scale farm.

He even dug a lotus pond and planted lotus roots here.

When Mingting thought of stewing the lotus roots with pork bones, soft, powdery, and pulling apart with long, silky strands, he swallowed his saliva.

[It's a pity that we can't bring living creatures into the space.]

Fengtian sighed regretfully.

Otherwise, they could have released some fish fry into the rice paddies and enjoyed rice-field fish in no time.

Whether it was small fish, shrimp, or poultry like chickens, ducks, and geese, Mingting had experimented. Apart from himself, no living creatures could enter the space… only plants.

"This is already great! This is the land I’ve conquered!"

Mingting strolled around the space and was in a good mood when he saw the lush new seedlings.

Afterwards he deliberately set aside a special area to plant highly toxic plants like oleander, Chinese pulsatilla, and rosary peas, as well as mildly poisonous ones like Stephania tetrandra, Adenanthera pavonina, and Hoya carnosa.

He even included allergenic plants like Plumbago zeylanica and Emilia sonchifolia, as well as carcinogenic ones like Excoecaria cochinchinensis, Catharanthus roseus, and Datura stramonium... (T/N: Most of these are plants for Chinese Medicine, so it’s okay if you don’t know about it.)

For now, he could only find about seventy or eighty varieties, but he planted them all.

Thanks to the fact that he learned to refine poisons from the Ancestor of the Yuxian Sect in the Cultivation World, he recognized many of them.

Though we harbor no ill intent, we must always guard against it.

As humans say, caution is the parent of safety. Even as a Luck Spirit, he could never afford to be careless.

Seeing his boss being so meticulous, Fengtian couldn’t help but admire him, and even felt grateful for his own foresight in choosing to follow Mingting from the very first world.

Since binding with the space, Mingting had been adding small amounts of spiritual spring water to the soup that everyone drank every day to improve their constitutions.

Especially Huiniang, who was pregnant and was about to go to Yaozhou with him. The journey was long, and Mingting was worried that her body would not be able to bear it.

Thanks to the nourishing effects of the spiritual spring, Huiniang, who had previously been somewhat fatigued, soon became much more energetic. Her appetite also improved drastically, as she could eat anything with relish, and her sleep quality soared.

Liu Yongshan and Liu Huangshi also looked much more energetic, with old aches and pains like sore backs and legs disappearing. Liu Yongshan even remarked that the capital city was truly a blessed place, and the feng shui was excellent for health.

Even Liu Cheng, the little chubby man, now had rosy cheeks instead of just being puffy.

In order to make Huiniang’s journey more comfortable, Mingting even consulted with the Ministry of Works to develop shock-absorbing spring plates.

Unfortunately, the roads at this time were poor, as they were mostly dirt paths, with few official highways, and even those were uneven. Otherwise, he could have experimented with four-wheeled carriages.

Four-wheeled carriages had poor maneuverability and required very high-quality roads.

On bumpy terrain, the increased jolting actually made them less comfortable than two-wheeled carriages.

‘To get rich, first build roads!’

Mingting noted this down for future reference.

Before leaving the capital, Mingting made a special trip to the palace to bid farewell to Emperor Chang

After a ‘heart-to-heart’ conversation with his superior, Mingting asked for permission to visit the Empress.

Though entering the harem wasn’t usually allowed, Mingting was completely forthright.

"Back in Qiaoshan, Her Majesty often called me over for meals when she saw how young I was. At the time, I didn’t know any better, and I even fought with His Highness the Crown Prince over a chicken drumstick..."

After saying this, he felt a little embarrassed and rubbed his nose.

"Your Majesty, I’m not afraid of you laughing at me. Though you’re the Emperor now, in my heart, you’ll always be Uncle Yang from Qiaoshan, and the Empress will always be Auntie Yang..."

"I’m leaving for Yaozhou soon, and who knows when I’ll return. I just wanted to kowtow to you and to Auntie, to say goodbye. If I never make it back… at least I won’t have regrets."

Mingting's words stirred Emperor Chang's memories.

Back then, seeing how tall and imposing Mingting was, he had assumed the boy was already twenty years old. Who knew that he was just a poor child without a father or a mother in his teens...

Since ascending the throne, Emperor Chang had watched as old acquaintances, constrained by the boundaries of ruler and subject, grew increasingly deferential toward him.

Even his once-carefree brothers-in-arms had changed their attitudes.

‘Only this kid remained so genuine.’

"What nonsense! Aren’t you supposed to be invincible in battle? How could you not come back? Quick, spat out…"

Emperor Chang forced Mingting to spit three times, then clapped him on the shoulder. (T/N: Spitting three times is a superstitious gesture to ward off bad luck one spoke of.)

"You once said your greatest dream was to become a Grand Marshal of the Army. I’ll be waiting for you… you must return safely! That’s an order, understand?!"

"Your subject obeys!"

Mingting saluted, then grinned.

"Uncle Yang, wait for me to defeat the Eastern Sea pirates. Then, I’ll lead a raid on their homeland and conquer more territory for you!"

"Good, good! I’ll be waiting!"

Emperor Chang was very happy. He even rewarded him with the gold silk soft armor left by the previous dynasty’s royal family.

After all, he can't be too stingy when sending someone to work in a dangerous and barren place like Yaozhou!

Not to mention, Mingting’s words are so beautiful that no ruler would dislike them.