Rian finished writing the sentence and reluctantly hid his notes away. He stood up. “Come in!”

The Royal Guards standing outside opened the door.

Count Aegean walked in. “Your Highness, I have finally arrived,” he said, a hint of pointed displeasure in his voice. He didn’t want to come, but the King had ordered him to.

“Thank you for coming, Count Aegean,” Rian said respectfully.

Behind him were some of Rian’s personal servants carrying a large case of the prince’s clothes, and two Rosewood servants carrying some boxes.

The servants efficiently arranged the clothes in the wardrobe. They placed the box carrying the magical crystal ball on the coffee table and the book box on the desk. They poured tea for the prince and the Count, arranging it on a coffee table between two cream sofas, and then quietly left.

Rian sat down on the sofa first and picked up his teacup. He sipped it, peering over the rim at Count Aegean.

Count Aegean made to sit down but thought the better of it when his buttocks protested from sitting too long on the carriage. He picked up his own teacup and stood, feeling disgruntled when he looked upon the innocent-faced, well-behaved prince.

“Was it so urgent that you had to rush out of the Capital like that, your Highness?” he asked grumpily.

Rian put his teacup down and said seriously, “Count Aegean, I have already learnt numerous things watching the Investigators at work today. I have also spoken to Ayden Rosewood and saw his magical ability first-hand.”

Count Aegean pursed his lips. “Is that so? Well, you’ll be learning more while you’re here, your Highness. Under the direction of his Majesty your Imperial Father,” he added pointedly. He strode over to the desk and opened the book box. He took out the thick and heavy books one by one. “Aristocratic customs, History part two, History part three, historical trade agreements, laws of governance part one…”

Rian’s eyes curved in the slightest smile. He had learnt all of this in his previous life. It seemed that in this life, he was destined to be a genius. “Count Aegean, I’m now twelve years old. You can set me some tasks to do and test me tomorrow. That way, you can go to your suite, have some food, and rest after your trip.”

Count Aegean’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Don’t think I’ll be easy on you,” he warned. “Let’s start with Aristocratic customs and History. Read the first two chapters of both.”

“Yes, Count Aegean.”

Count Aegean gave Rian a deeper, suspicious look. “I’ll see you tomorrow before breakfast for testing. The King also reminded me to remind you to keep up your magical training.”

“Rest well, Count Aegean,” Rian said lightly, standing up.

Count Aegean snorted. “Yes, your Highness.”

When Count Aegean opened the door, there was a Rosewood servant waiting for him.

“Count Aegean, we have prepared a suite for you, as well as dinner. Please follow me.”

The Royal Guards outside the suite closed the door, muffling any subsequent sounds.

Rian ignored the books on the desk. He unpacked the crystal ball so that he could call his Imperial Mother, as promised. Unlike the crystal ball in the Rosewood study, this could transmit small continuous images as well as sound, and was astronomically more expensive.

He dutifully asked how his Imperial Mother’s day had been, gave a report on his own day and Count Aegean’s plans for him, and re-affirmed that he’d behave.

After his Imperial Mother ended the communication, he carefully put the expensive ball back into its case. He then pushed all the books Count Aegean had gotten him to the edge of the desk and took out his hidden papers and continued on his previous task.

History would not repeat itself, not if Rian had something to do with it.

 

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Rian wrote late into the night, but Ren Xiyang headed to bed earlier than he wanted. It had been a busy day, first dying, then transmigrating…

Ren Xiyang woke up long before dawn, his heart pounding, the images of zombies under his eyelids. On reflex, his heat-sensing ability burst out, scanning his surroundings, as his ears strained for any sound. Zombies weren’t strictly dead: they moved and metabolised human flesh, and so they produced the faintest heat. A highly trained fire ability user could detect it.

But right now, it was quiet. Only a very small number of human-heat-sources/people were awake: guards, patrolling the manor.

Ren Xiyang released a slow breath. But there was no way he could fall asleep again, his muscles were too tightly strung.

The plans he had started last night came back to the forefront of his mind, things he couldn’t be lazy about.

Ren Xiyang got out of bed and re-wore the black clothes from yesterday, tucking his too-bright red hair under a black cap.

First, he sneaked out of his suite and into Alyssa Rosewood’s suite, which was on the same floor. He unlocked her coin and jewellery box and took out some more gold and silver coins.

After returning to his room and putting the coins away, he then opened the window and climbed out, scaling down the outer wall as much as he could, and then jumped the rest of the way, cushioning the final moments with reverse flames.

He started walking, a mental map of the Rosewood estate in mind. His eyes adjusted to the low light.

Alyssa Rosewood and her family went to their summer manor every summer. Alyssa was very familiar with all the paved footpaths with their beautiful bordering roses. But the Rosewood land was much more than that.

The Rosewood summer manor was situated on the Rosewood estate, which contained not only woodland, but also farmland, which were strictly the property of the Rosewood family. The Rosewood estate was placed near the centre of the Rosewood fief.

Of course, the entirety of the Rosewood fief was also property of the Rosewood family. That was the impression he got from Alyssa’s memories.

But on the main estate, the land was farmed by people who were directly hired, and all the produce belonged to the Rosewood family. Outside the main estate, farmers rented the fields, the rent being a certain amount of produce twice-yearly or annually depending on the crops.

Ren Xiyang’s breathing was heavy by the time he reached the farmlands. He could simply propel himself by fire, but then his new body would always remain physically weak, which was unacceptable.

The servant-farmer houses were at the edge of the fields, and with the sky still dim, they weren’t awake yet. Large sheds next to the houses stored the farming equipment.

Ren Xiyang continued forward, his eyes picking out the shape of plants.

It was under a three-field system. One third of the fields had spring wheat, stalks still green as they grew. One third of the fields were growing peas. Meanwhile, the remaining third was empty, left to fallow.

Ren Xiyang went right into the fields, assessing the plants both by sight and by feel. He crouched down and got his fingers into the soil, both in the growing fields and the fallow fields. Finally, something in his expertise.

Much healthier than the contaminated soil during the apocalypse.

Could be better.

Increased targeted fertiliser and breeding more hardy and nutritious wheat were only two of the many things that needed to be done to increase yield. The three-field crop rotation was inferior to the four-field crop rotation, so that needed to be changed too. For urgent food, more potatoes of various varieties should be planted.

He also checked the fallowing fields. They should be planted with clover and turnips instead of being left empty like this.

He needed to assess the current technology and farming magic spells currently available. And once that food was being produced, he needed to determine how to store it. Food waste was a problem in modern times, let alone in these current times…

Before Ren Xiyang realised it, the sun had dawned, and the servant-farmers had gotten up, preparing to work in the morning before it got too hot.

He also realised he was very hungry.

Ren Xiyang ran back to the main house. He had to stop halfway, out of breath, and slowly walk the rest the way.

The guards and the servants outside the manor were shocked upon seeing him, muddy and sweaty.

“Young Master Rosewood! We’re sorry, we didn’t know you were awake!” the maid lowered her head. “I will quickly run a bath for you.”

“I can run the bath myself. Don’t boil water separately. Bring me a towel and prepare breakfast.” Ren Xiyang took off his muddy boots. “Please wash these.”

“Yes, Young Master Rosewood!”

Boots handed over, Ren Xiyang propelled himself up by fire to his bedroom window and went inside. He unlocked the door to his suite so that the servants could enter and prepare the bath.

There was some plumbing in the building, but the taps only ran cold water. The servants would have to boil hot water and carry that in separately, but Ren Xiyang was a fire mage. He could warm the water himself.

So, all the servants could do was lay down bath sheets around the bath and arrange the bathing soaps and towels. None of them were even allowed to stay to help the Young Master bathe!

What kind of noble didn’t have a servant help them while bathing? Why was this Young Master unused to servants?

Ren Xiyang had no idea what kind of backstories the servants had started making of him. He was soaking in the piping hot water, eyes closed, deep in thought.

The fief was about to undergo fundamental changes.

 

 

 

 

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Cassiopeia: This is a romantic fantasy novel!

Ren Xiyang: Well, it's a farming novel now ╮(╯_╰)╭