After personally following Yun Shu to Fengyang Palace and later to Yihe Palace to test the curved-beam plow and plant Zhibei flowers, Emperor Xuanwu now found himself in the imperial study, crouched over a flowerpot, digging for Tudou.
Just as Yun Shu had described, though the pot was small, the number of Tudou buried beneath the soil was astonishing.
Perhaps...
[Simulation Life Selection System at your service.]
[Please select your next course of action:
A. Approve Yun Shu's proposal to build a heated greenhouse at the imperial estate and attempt large-scale cultivation of Tudou;
B. Decline Yun Shu's proposal due to concerns over the cost of construction;
C. Approve the planting of Tudou, but deny the use of a greenhouse. Proceed with direct outdoor planting.]
The light screen flickered to life at just the right moment, as though confirming Emperor Xuanwu's suspicions.
His eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he selected option A.
[You have chosen A. Three months later, a successful harvest of Tudou. In five years, the grain shortage in Tian Sheng is nearly eradicated.]
Only three months to mature?
If that were true, then harvesting twice a year would not be out of reach.
No wonder... No wonder such a humble plant could become the key to resolving the empire's food crisis within five years.
Suppressing the excitement rising in his chest, Emperor Xuanwu gave the second option a cursory glance. As expected, the contents displeased him. He skipped ahead to the third.
[You have chosen C. Without a greenhouse, many Tudou perish from the cold. A small number survive by chance. Yun Shu concludes that in southern regions, Tudou may thrive without a greenhouse and yield two harvests a year.]
Excellent. So two harvests per year truly was feasible.
Even if limited to the southern provinces—so what? There were still many southern cities under Tian Sheng's rule.
With renewed fervor, Emperor Xuanwu tossed aside his small spade and gazed upon the freshly unearthed clumps of Tudou as though they were priceless treasures.
"The imperial estate is yours to command. Do whatever you must, as long as you can produce more Tudou seeds swiftly. Whatever you require, This Emperor shall support you fully."
"Father Emperor is wise beyond compare!"
Yun Shu's eyes sparkled as she beamed.
"Then may Your Majesty permit this daughter to seek funding for the greenhouse from Minister Yan of the Ministry of Revenue?"
Emperor Xuanwu blinked. "?"
Ah... money.
Only days earlier, Yan Chaorong had been weeping and wailing before him over the matter of ten million taels of silver, lamenting the empty state of the treasury and the burden he bore as Minister of Revenue.
The Emperor suddenly felt a twinge of guilt.
It hadn't even been a week. And now he was to ask for more?
He cleared his throat and gave a solemn nod. "Permitted."
Let Minister Yan cry all he liked. Some things could not be helped.
Tudou were far too important.
Would he really forego building greenhouses and planting Tudou just because the minister shed a few tears?
With a grand wave of his hand, Emperor Xuanwu signaled Yun Shu to proceed without restraint. But in his heart, his thoughts drifted to the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace.
That child's accomplishments were becoming increasingly difficult to overlook. If he continued rewarding him with jade ruyi or ceremonial treasures, it would become awkwardly excessive.
And besides, the girl's fourteenth birthday was just around the corner.
If certain matters were bound to happen eventually, then better to bring them forward a little.
After all, the Crown Prince had made more than one attempt on Xiao Wu's life. Was it so unreasonable to return the favor with a birthday gift?
When an Emperor truly wished to see something done, his resolve could be terrifying.
Thus, just as Yun Shu left the capital with Tudou in tow, heading to the imperial estate to begin planting with her own hands, sudden news spread through the capital.
The Crown Princess had gone into early labor—without warning.
"But she's only seven months along!"
In the modern era, a baby born at seven months would likely survive without major issue.
But this was not the modern world.
Could a child born prematurely under these conditions even survive?
Though she had no affection for the Crown Prince, Yun Shu had never wished harm upon the child.
If not for something Emperor Xuanwu had once said—that should anything happen to the child, even the Crown Prince would be held accountable—Yun Shu might have wondered whether the Prince, sensing himself forgotten, was using this dramatic event to reclaim attention.
Could it be... the Eldest Prince?
But that hardly made sense.
The Crown Prince had already been confined for quite some time. If the Eldest Prince wanted to strike, would it not be more logical to target Yun Shu directly?
Perhaps the Crown Princess had simply been unlucky.
Shaking her head, Yun Shu let the matter drop. She returned to instructing the estate workers: slicing sprouted Tudou into planting portions and burying them in the earth. She also shared the simple greenhouse construction methods she had found online—adapted to suit ancient materials and conditions.
The structure had to be built before the weather turned cold.
Once everything had been arranged and double-checked, Yun Shu departed the estate and returned to the capital.
Upon her arrival at the palace, news greeted her.
The Crown Princess had already given birth.
And the child was a monster.
"A monster?"
Yun Shu froze.
Consanguineous marriages had a fifty percent chance of resulting in deformities.
Had the Crown Prince and Crown Princess fallen victim?
"Yes!" said Ting Xue quickly, seeing Yun Shu's confusion and thinking she had not understood the term. The maid's voice dropped low with a trace of panic.
"I heard the baby was stillborn, and terrifying in appearance. The midwife took one look and fainted dead away.
They say... the child's eyes were spaced unnaturally far apart. Only one ear. A cleft lip like a hare's. Altogether, it was frightful beyond imagining."
…
It sounded like a combination of Down syndrome, cleft lip, and severe ear deformity.
As callous as it might sound, being stillborn might have been a mercy.
Yun Shu's brow furrowed. Then something clicked in her mind, and she suddenly looked up.
"Shouldn't the Eastern Palace have tried to keep something like this tightly under wraps?
How did even you come to know of it? Who told you?"
"No one directly... But by now, the entire palace likely knows!"
Ting Xue, fearing her mistress might suspect a trap, rushed to explain.
"When the Crown Princess went into labor, the Eastern Palace sent for His Majesty.
At the time, the Emperor was in conference with his ministers. Someone mentioned that this would be his first legitimate grandson. Then... something must have happened, because His Majesty brought all the ministers with him to the Eastern Palace.
And after that…"
After that, the child was born, the truth was seen by all, and the Eastern Palace had no hope of concealing it.
Yun Shu stared, incredulous. "???"
The Crown Princess went into labor… and Imperial Father led a whole procession of ministers to the Eastern Palace?
How could that possibly be considered appropriate?