Sheng Lengshuang crossed her arms and said with a laugh, "After all this talk, you've finally gotten to the point. Tell me, how do you want to help your uncle this time?"
Zi Cheng waved his hands, looking very serious. "Aunt, you're wronging me. I want to tell Aunt that Uncle should learn more from General Sheng, so he doesn't keep courting death."
Sheng Lengshuang glanced at Mo Lingxi, who was quiet, and said to Zi Cheng, "You truly are Mo Lingxi's good nephew, always thinking of him. If Mo Lingxi were to learn from my father, it would be no different from asking my father to help him."
Zi Cheng chuckled. "Aunt, Uncle will have to go through this sooner or later. Isn't it better for him to experience it sooner, so you don't have to suffer?"
Sheng Lengshuang was amused and exasperated. "How come I feel like you're hoping your uncle suffers?"
Zi Cheng vehemently denied it. "Uncle is one of the people I admire most. How could I possibly wish for something like that?"
"Brother, your eyes betray you," Xiao Feng said directly to his heart.
Zi Cheng felt a pang in his chest. "Xiao Feng, haven't I been good enough to you usually?" You're stabbing me in the heart at a time like this.
Xiao Feng glanced at his mother's expression, puffed out his cheeks, and said, "Brother, what you're saying isn't right. It's not about whether you're good to me or not; it's that I have to stand with my father and mother."
Zi Cheng lightly tapped his forehead and playfully scolded him, "You little clever one!"
Xiao Feng proudly raised his head. "Of course! I was taught by my father and mother, so how could I not be clever?"
Sheng Lengshuang and the other two burst into laughter.
Mo Lingxi began to grasp the underlying meaning.
"Your Majesty, the envoys from the Southern Jin Dynasty have finished their discussions," a eunuch said, bowing as he approached Zi Cheng from behind.
Zi Cheng's smile vanished, and he said with authority, "Understood."
The eunuch bowed and retreated to the side.
Zi Cheng smiled and said, "Aunt, if you have time, why not visit the Ministry of Agriculture? The officials there are also learning and planting as they go regarding sweet potatoes."
Sheng Lengshuang knew that Zi Cheng and Mo Lingxi had matters to discuss, so she agreed. She then took Xiao Feng to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Because sweet potatoes were of great importance and had been maliciously damaged before, a portion of them were now planted in a palace within the imperial city.
This palace had been completely dismantled and reconfigured like a field for planting sweet potatoes. At all times, it was guarded by heavily armed imperial guards. Anyone entering here, except for the current emperor and Mo Lingxi, had to undergo multiple checks.
After passing the checks, Sheng Lengshuang and her son entered the sweet potato fields.
What greeted their eyes was a vast expanse of lush green sweet potato leaves, with some emerging tubers faintly visible. Many officials were busy in the fields, some barefoot on the edges of the fields, intently observing the sweet potatoes and constantly writing on paper.
This scene made Sheng Lengshuang feel as if she had stumbled into a precious modern laboratory, as if every blade of grass and every tree here was an extremely valuable experimental subject, not to be touched.
"..." Aren't these people treating the sweet potatoes a bit too preciously?
However, Sheng Lengshuang said nothing. She didn't understand the cultivation of sweet potatoes and was not an agricultural professional. Based on her limited knowledge, she shouldn't be giving unsolicited advice.
"Mother, when can we eat these sweet potatoes?" Xiao Feng stared at the sweet potatoes as if they were delicious delicacies.
His greedy look made Sheng Lengshuang laugh. "Are we lacking food at home? You're craving sweet potatoes."
Xiao Feng argued, "It's just that I haven't eaten them before, so I'm craving them. Mother, do you think Brother will give us some to eat when these sweet potatoes are ripe?"
Sheng Lengshuang hadn't eaten sweet potatoes in a long time and fondly recalled their taste. "Don't get your hopes up. Every sweet potato here has a great purpose. Once sweet potatoes are planted on a large scale, you'll probably get to eat them."
Xiao Feng's face fell, and he whimpered, "Then I'll have to wait a very, very long time."
Perhaps he could ask Brother to extort some sweet potatoes from the Southern Jin Dynasty?
Sheng Lengshuang led him around for a while longer before leaving.
"Doesn't Mother have anything to say?" Xiao Feng was very confused. "Brother asked Mother to come here to help."
Sheng Lengshuang smiled faintly. "Mother doesn't understand agriculture; at most, I know a little about sweet potatoes. Besides, professional matters should be left to professionals. For example, if you're sick, you find a doctor, not a carpenter. Do you understand?"
Xiao Feng understood. "Then is it okay if Mother doesn't say anything?"
"It's better if Mother doesn't say anything. What I know might not be correct. Just like in medicine, what I know could also be wrong. Xiao Feng, no matter when or to whom, you must always remember one thing: have a spirit of inquiry."
"I see. Mother, I'll remember."
Sheng Lengshuang patted Xiao Feng's head and stopped lecturing.
When the mother and son left the palace, Mo Lingxi rushed over.
"Are you done with your work?" Sheng Lengshuang asked.
Mo Lingxi handed her the pastry box and, after picking up Xiao Feng, said, "I'm almost done. The rest is the Emperor's business. As a minister, I can't interfere too much."
Sheng Lengshuang teased, "You can't interfere too much, or you don't want to interfere?"
She opened the pastry box and found pastries of various colors and shapes. She handed one to Xiao Feng and then picked one up to taste. "The taste is quite good. Did the imperial chefs make them?"
Mo Lingxi wished his wife would feed him, but he knew it was impossible for now. He took a pastry himself. "Yes. The palace has imperial chefs who are skilled at making pastries, and their creations are very good. If you like them, I can have him come to the Sheng family."
The taste of these pastries was indeed good.
Sheng Lengshuang smiled and politely declined. "Our family doesn't really like eating pastries, and besides, how can we have an imperial chef come to our home?"
Mo Lingxi didn't insist on this matter. "Do you want to go for a stroll? I heard a new jewelry shop has opened. Oh, and Qingfeng Restaurant has a few new dishes; let's go try them."
Sheng Lengshuang thought for a moment and agreed.
The three of them went to Qingfeng Restaurant and sat in a private room waiting for the dishes to be served.
Xiao Feng leaned by the window, his bright, lively eyes gazing at the street, curious about everything and wanting to tell Sheng Lengshuang about whatever he saw.
Sheng Lengshuang was very cooperative, and even Mo Lingxi was cooperating with Xiao Feng.
"Mother, Mother, there's a sugar figurine!" Xiao Feng pointed to a sugar figurine on the street and said excitedly.
Sheng Lengshuang followed his gaze and saw a sugar figurine vendor on the street. Several children of different ages were gathered around the stall, and one or two adults were buying sugar figurines for their children.
"Do you want a sugar figurine?"
Xiao Feng nodded vigorously. "I want one! Mother, can we go buy one later?"
Sheng Lengshuang agreed. "The condition is that you have to eat obediently and eat until you're full."
Xiao Feng patted his chest and promised, "I'll eat obediently, and I'll eat until I'm full."
Yay, I'll have a sugar figurine to eat later!
Sheng Lengshuang heard a knock on the door and continued to accompany Xiao Feng as he watched the scenery on the street.
Mo Lingxi said, "Enter."
The shopkeeper walked in and bowed. "Master, I have something important to report."