Ning Shu didn’t bring anyone along and went to Manor Garden alone by horse. Speaking of riding horses, that was also a depressing story. The road to learning to ride the horse had been filled with hardships and tears. For better or for worse though, after learning for about three months, she had finally been able to shoot on horseback without falling down.
When she got to Manor Garden, she handed the reins of the horse to the manager and headed straight towards the sweet potatoes.
When she got to the place where the sweet potatoes were planted, she found that they were flourishing. From the looks of it, the people of Manor Garden had looked after them carefully.
Ning Shu took a hoe and dug up some sweet potatoes. The result was a pleasant surprise. The red-skinned potatoes were about the size of a fist.
She laughed happily. It didn’t matter if it was due to the task or because the common people now had one more source of filling food, either way Ning Shu was very excited.
“Dig all of these sweet potatoes out for this princess, then measure the size of the field. This princess wants to calculate the output,” said Ning Shu loudly.
There were a lot of tenant farmers in Manor Garden so it only took them a short while to dig out all the potatoes. Following that, the manager started weighing the sweet potatoes with a scale.
“Princess, this thing actually produced an output of one thousand catties,” said the manager.
Ning Shu was very happy. This era was influenced by all sort of factors, and seasonal disasters like droughts or floods would often influence the output of foodstuff. In addition, with rice it was generally already a good harvest if there were seven hundred catties. During emergencies, with the addition of sweet potatoes, people would at least be able to fend off hunger. In addition, the sweet potato was a plant that could survive droughts.
“Move some of them to the Princess Residence, then dig a cellar and store the rest. After a little while His Majesty might come to inspect them. You guys have helped in a great service this time. Just wait to be rewarded.”
Joy appeared on the manager and the tenant farmers’ faces and they said in unison, “Many thanks, Princess.”
The tenant farmers sent a large basket of the sweet potatoes to the Princess Residence. When Ning Shu got back to the residence, the first thing she did was roast the sweet potatoes. Then she headed to the Imperial Palace with them on horseback in order to deliver them while they were still hot. The moment she got to the palace doors, she got off the horse and made a beeline for Li Wen’s Imperial Study.
Li Wen was negotiating matters with the ministers, so Ning Shu had to wait at the door for quite a while before the ministers left in a long line. When the ministers saw Ning Shu, their gazes became strange.
Ning Shu’s heart skipped. She suddenly recalled that this was around the time that the Huns asked for a marriage. So what did those looks mean? Could it be that she was still going to get married off?
Crap.
Ning Shu retrieved her wild thoughts and entered the study with the food box. She saw that the little gray ball was currently lying flat on the desk, sleeping. She didn’t know if it was her misperception, but the little gray ball seemed to have gotten fat and it looked even rounder than before.
Li Wen narrowed his eyes as he asked Ning Shu, “Why did you suddenly come to find us?”
“Imperial Older Brother, this sister-subject brought something good for you.” Ning Shu lifted the food box in her hand.
Li Wen glanced at it mildly. Too many people came to the study to deliver him gifts, so he really didn’t have much interest in it.
When the little gray ball heard Ning Shu’s voice, it opened its eyes and its moist little nose twitched a little. Following that, it stood up and waved its claws towards the food box.
This guy’s nose was so strong.
“Imperial Older Brother, you’ll definitely be really happy to see this thing.” Ning Shu became even more worried when she saw Li Wen’s indifferent expression. This guy couldn’t really be considering marrying her off, right?
The little gray ball was squeaking noisily. Ning Shu opened the food box and took out the roasted sweet potato. The air was instantly filled with a sticky but very refreshingly sweet smell.
The box contained roasted sweet potatoes. The outwards appearance really wasn’t very appealing. Li Wen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the thing inside the box. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked towards Ning Shu with a questioning gaze.