The little gray ball ran towards the box but Ning Shu hastily brushed it away. She picked a sweet potato up and broke it in half, then ate one half before handing the other half to Li Wen.
This gesture was to tell Li Wen that this thing was edible and not poisonous. Li Wen took the sweet potato. Its skin still had soot on it, so Li Wen copied what Ning Shu did and peeled the skin off before taking a bite.
The flavor was very sweet. Li Wen nodded, then asked, “What is this?”
Ning Shu saw that Li Wen seemed quite interested and said, “Imperial Older Brother, this sister-subject calls this sweet potato. It’s the thing this sister-subject discovered last time this sister-subject went to Manor Garden.”
“This sister-subject had people plant them and the output has reached a thousand catties,” said Ning Shu. “This item can be used to allay hunger.”
“Is that true?” Astonishment and excitement emerged on Li Wen’s face. It was clear that he had realized the value of this item. “Are there still more of this in Manor Garden?”
“This sister-subject had ordered them to store them carefully. They’re currently in Manor Garden’s cellar,” replied Ning Shu.
Li Wen nodded. “We will go with you to Manor Garden to take a look.”
“Alright.” It was expected that Li Wen would go examine for himself something that pertained to the general public’s welfare.
Li Wen and Ning Shu rode on horseback to Manor Garden with a procession of troops behind them since it was a must to have people come along when the Emperor went out.
When they got to Manor Garden, Li Wen first went to see the potatoes, then he went to see the field where the potatoes had been planted and had people remeasure the field. The result came out the same.
A faint smile appeared on Li Wen’s usually cold face. His eyes were very bright, and the gaze with with he looked at Ning Shu was also a little gentler as he said, “Jiahui, you’ve done well, very well.”
Ning Shu simply replied with a smile, “Jiahui is happy to be able to help Imperial Older Brother. Jiahui knows that Imperial Older Brother’s heart contains all of the country’s citizens. This sister-subject is a member of the imperial family and lives on the support of the country’s citizens, so it is only natural to labor for these citizens.”
It can be said that all levels of aristocracy lived on the support of the common people, yet those aristocracy actually looked down on the commoners.
Li Wen evidently hadn’t expected for Ning Shu to be able to think of something like this and remarked with gratification, “Jiahui has grown up and become sensible. You’re no longer obsessed with those random baffling things.”
A large sweatdrop appeared beside Ning Shu’s head.
“I’ll have to continue troubling you in the future in regards to these plants.” There was a slight smile on Li Wen’s face and he now treated Ning Shu very gently.
“The manager and tenant farmers in Manor Garden know how to deal with them. In reality, this was just an inadvertent discovery and doesn’t count as much. However, it’s great that it can help Your Majesty.”
“Ah, that’s right, how did you discover that this was edible?” asked Li Wen with his eyes narrowed. It caused Ning Shu’s heart to skip a beat. There was no way she could say that she just knew, right?
“Speaking of which, it was all because of the little gray ball. When this sister-subject saw that little thing in the forest, it was hugging this thing, so this sister-subject tried it. The taste of it raw wasn’t as good as when it was cooked.” Ning Shu decisively pushed this matter onto the little gray ball since Li Wen knew of how much the little gray ball liked to eat.
