I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Meng Yi was filled with remorse. Why did he only have a few good-for-nothing sons and not a daughter?

"cough."

A soft cough interrupted Meng Yi's annoyance.

Ying Zheng slowly sat up; in the darkness, his silhouette appeared exceptionally majestic.

"I think Shiman seems quite good as well."

Wang Ben's face darkened.

Your Majesty, you are trying to cut off my path to survival!

But what could he say?

Trying to steal the emperor's son-in-law? He's not ready to die yet.

Wang Ben felt aggrieved, but he still had to force a smile: "Your Majesty is wise."

He could only console himself with his own thoughts.

It's normal for a grown man to have ambitions beyond his hometown and to have multiple wives and concubines.

If all else fails, making Ruoshu a second wife would also be acceptable.

It's not shameful to share a husband with a princess.

Wang Ben remained withdrawn for several days after becoming obsessed with playing cards and elephant games.

He always felt that Zhang Ying possessed some kind of sorcery, otherwise how could his straight flush have lost to a 235?

This is outrageous!

Ying Zheng and Meng Yi were also having a hard time, burdened with a lot of "debts," and felt inferior when they saw Zhang Ying.

Zhang Ying didn't care. She ate and drank as usual every day, occasionally humming tunes they couldn't understand as she inspected her fields.

That day, the three of them discussed it and decided that they could no longer just sit and wait for their fate.

Since Zhang Ying was unwilling to talk about the future anymore, they would explore this "fairy island" on their own.

After more than twenty days of familiarization, they had figured out the general terrain of the island, where the water sources were and where the fruit trees were.

Wang Ben was hungry and clamored to go into the woods to hunt a wild rabbit to improve his meals.

Ying Zheng ignored him and went straight to the few thatched sheds that Zhang Ying used to store miscellaneous items.

He always felt that there was a secret hidden inside.

Wang Ben and Meng Yi followed.

Behind one of the thatched huts, there was a hole covered with a stone slab, and the soil around the hole showed signs of being frequently disturbed.

Wang Ben stepped forward, and with a shout, lifted the stone slab that weighed several hundred pounds.

A cool breeze, a mixture of earthy scents and the distinctive aroma of some plant, wafted out of the cave.

A dark, sloping path leads down into the ground.

"Let's go down and take a look." Ying Zheng was the first to go down.

The cave wasn't large, but it was dug very deep, and it was dry and cool inside.

Then they witnessed a scene they would never forget.

Inside the cellar, on one side were neatly stacked potatoes, piled up like a small mountain.

On the other side, there was another pile of sweet potatoes, stacked like a small mountain.

Inside, there were bulging sacks of grain wrapped in burlap, with glistening white rice grains leaking out of the sack openings.

There were also strings of golden corn hanging on the wall, which were the boiled corn they had been eating for breakfast these past few days.

"My... mother..." Wang Ben's voice changed.

He rushed to the mountain of potatoes, grabbing one after another, as if to confirm that this was not a hallucination.

Meng Yi could no longer speak; he just stood there blankly, unaware that the willow twig pen and linen paper in his hand had fallen to the ground.

Ying Zheng strode to the sacks, untied one, and reached inside.

Her hands were covered with the seeds that Zhang Ying called "rice".

"How much?" His voice was dry.

Wang Ben estimated for a moment, then swallowed hard: "Potatoes and sweet potatoes, each... there must be hundreds of thousands of kilograms. This rice, at least hundreds of thousands of kilograms."

Over a million catties!

These four words were like a heavy hammer, striking the hearts of the three people.

This is not food.

These are seeds!

It is a seed that can take root, sprout, and bear fruit ten thousand times over on the land of Qin!

Plant one pound of potatoes and you can harvest fifty pounds.

If one million catties are planted, that's fifty million catties!

Just one year!

There will be no more hunger in the Great Qin!

Ying Zheng's body trembled uncontrollably as he clutched the handful of rice, as if he were holding the future of the entire world in his grasp.

He remembered Zhang Ying saying that these things were used to feed pigs and chickens.

Millions of kilograms of grain are used to feed pigs?

What a grand gesture! What an extravagant display!

Emerging from the cellar, all three were somewhat disoriented.

Ying Zheng walked ahead, and he suddenly realized that he felt much lighter these past few days.

Before coming to the island, he had been reviewing bamboo slips and memorials every day, and had been taking elixirs offered by alchemists for many years, so his body was already strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

However, on this island, in just over twenty days, they ate only coarse grains and simple meals they had never seen before, and drank only boiled spring water.

He actually felt that the fat on his waist and abdomen had decreased, and even his long-standing ailments had lessened.

I eat my fill every day, but I don't feel bloated. On the contrary, I feel more and more energetic.

People eat for food.

The ancients never lied to me.

Could it be that the food and water on this island have the effect of prolonging life?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Zhang Ying, along with the island, exuded a sense of mystery.

The three returned to the cave, where a rich, sweet aroma wafted towards them.

Zhang Ying was squatting by the fire, simmering something in a clay pot. The pot contained a thick, golden liquid that was bubbling away.

"Sir, what are you cooking? It smells so good." Wang Ben leaned closer, his mouth practically watering.

"Honey," Zhang Ying replied without looking up.

"Honey?" Wang Ben asked, looking puzzled. "Aren't you afraid of being stung by bees, sir?"

In his mind, harvesting honey was a life-threatening activity; if you were unlucky enough to get stung all over your head, you could lose half your life.

Zhang Ying was too lazy to explain to him, and just complained in her heart.

He was also lucky; he discovered a nest of wild bees in the back mountain. They were much larger than the bees of later generations and had a fierce temperament.

But he understood the principle of swarming, and carefully lured the queen bee out with smoke and shooing, and made a few simple beehives, and raised several hives in this way.

The rapeseed flowers on the island are in full bloom recently, which is why he was able to scrape off so much nectar.

"Just take precautions and be careful," Zhang Ying said casually.

He didn't mention that he made a makeshift protective suit from tanned sheepskin and wool before daring to collect honey.

Ying Zheng and Meng Yi also came over, staring at the pot of golden, translucent liquid that exuded a rich floral fragrance.

Ying Zheng couldn't help but swallow.

In the Qin Dynasty, sugar was more precious than wine.

Maltose, made from grains, has an extremely low yield and can only be enjoyed by the most powerful and wealthy.

As for honey, its availability is entirely dependent on the weather and luck.

Even as an emperor, he couldn't eat whatever he wanted.

But now, Zhang Ying just casually cooked a big pot of it.

"If you raise it properly, you won't get stung." Zhang-Ying scooped up a little with a wooden spoon, blew on it, tasted it, and nodded in satisfaction.

Seeing the three of them looking completely unsophisticated, he added another sentence.

"Those bee colonies on the back hill are all kept by me."