After hearing her gossip, all the civil and military officials went crazy.

Chapter 19 Not enough to eat

Fang Lingchu accepted the imperial edict, thinking to herself, "You just wait! I'll make you all willingly bestow upon me the title of princess—no, a king! Hmph!"

After saying this, Eunuch Gao said, "If you have something to report, please do so; otherwise, the court is adjourned."

After everyone shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times, they withdrew.

The emperor also left in a hurry, fearing that Fang Lingchu might regret it.

The group of people went out in twos and threes, with Fang Lingyan following behind her father.

At this moment, Prime Minister Su walked over and gave Fang Lingchu a deep bow.

Fang Lingchu watched as Prime Minister Su finished his bow and left, his departing figure conveying a sense of heavy responsibility and a long road ahead.

Everyone could understand Prime Minister Su's actions, after all, Fang Lingyan had praised him highly in front of His Majesty.

Fang Lingchu glanced at her father and asked the system, "What did my father do? Why did Prime Minister Su give him such a grand salute?"

Everyone: Is it possible that it's for you?

Minister Fang: His daughter is indeed not very bright.

System: [I don't know, maybe it's because your dad spoke up for him just now? But I feel like it should be for you.]

Fang Lingyan didn't hear the system's words. Looking at Prime Minister Su's retreating figure, she said, "As expected of a prime minister, his demeanor is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Unlike my father, who wasn't happy for me becoming an official because of a poem and even made things difficult for me, hmph."

Upon hearing Fang Lingchu's words, everyone looked at Minister Fang with an expression that said, "I never expected you to be this kind of person."

Even the slow-witted Third Prince, who was walking with the Crown Prince, subconsciously went back to look at Minister Fang. Fortunately, the Crown Prince was quick-witted and pulled her back.

Minister Fang really wanted to shout that he was innocent, but he couldn't.

He only has one feeling right now: he wants to hit his daughter. He really never hits his children, but this is the only time his hands are itching to hit her.

Fang Lingchu suddenly felt a chill on her buttocks and asked, "System, why does my butt feel so cold? Is someone eyeing my butt?"

The system replied dismissively, "[No, hurry up and go. If you're not proactive, there's something wrong with your thinking.]"

Fang Lingchu retorted: "You can't eat it, so why are you so eager?"

Although the system felt a little reluctant, it still replied: "I can enable sensory sharing."

While the two were bickering, Fang Lingchu rushed towards the food prepared for them by the imperial court.

Fang Lingchu was dumbfounded when she saw those things.

A deafening roar erupted in her mind: "Ugh, that damn emperor! He makes them work and doesn't even feed them properly! He feeds them this little bit of food, just a tiny bit of meat. The food is already awful enough, waaaaah!"

Fang Lingchu grumbled and cursed as she ate what was in front of her.

After standing there all morning without being given food, they didn't care whether the food was good or not.

Fang Lingchu quickly finished her meal, then looked longingly at her father, Minister Fang's, table.

Minister Fang looked at his daughter's eyes, then glanced at his own table, quickly finished his meal, and then elegantly wiped his mouth.

He ignored his daughter's longing gaze.

Don't say he doesn't care about his daughter. There's only so little food, and there's a meeting in the afternoon that will last another hour or two. He doesn't want to become the first person in history to faint from hunger in the imperial court. He can't afford to lose face like that. He'd rather let his daughter go hungry.

In fact, the amount of food prepared by the emperor was just the right amount for a normal man, except that Fang Lingchu had a slightly larger appetite than a normal man.

Fang Lingchu, starving, lay sprawled on the table and complained to the system: "System, I miss my milk tea, Peking duck, and..." Fang Lingchu rattled off a variety of dishes, some of which the esteemed guests had heard of, and some of which they had never heard of.

At this moment, a eunuch brought over a food box and slowly approached Fang Lingchu, saying, "Princess, this is a meal specially prepared for you by His Majesty."

Then it was opened, and inside were some pretty pastries, as well as the chicken that Fang Lingchu had been talking about wanting to eat. Although it was unclear what kind of chicken she wanted, it was chicken nonetheless. Then, the staple food, flatbread, was served.

Fang Lingchu happily showered the emperor with compliments, and then the eunuch left.

Fang Lingchu looked at a chicken leg, picked it up and ate it, and then gulped down the soup.

The emperor looked at the returning eunuch and asked, "Was that little girl happy? Did she say anything?"

The young eunuch dutifully repeated Fang Lingchu's praise of the emperor.

The emperor burst into laughter, and the empress in front of him also laughed heartily.

Then the couple started eating.

The adults here, looking at Fang Lingchu's meal, all knew what was going on without saying a word.

Some people even tried to curry favor with Minister Fang, since they didn't dare to appear in front of Fang Lingchu for fear of being gossiped about.

After eating and drinking her fill, Fang Lingchu began chatting with the system.

[Guagua, this chicken soup tastes so-so, not as good as the one from my hometown.]

The system that shares taste buds also sampled the delicious food and said, "I feel fine. I haven't had a chance to try the food from your hometown before coming here."

Everyone: Could it be that Lord Fang is not from their world?

Fang Lingchu said regretfully, "That's a pity. After all, there are many kinds of seasonings in my hometown, and there are all kinds of flavors. There are also all kinds of side dishes, such as white radish, red radish, and corn."

By the way, Guagua, does corn exist in this world?

The adults said: "It wasn't tasty, yet you ate it all."

The system replied: 【No.】

Fang Lingchu murmured, "That's such a pity. Corn can yield a thousand catties per mu. No, I want to eat corn. I'll draw a picture when I get back and ask my dad to help me find some."

The system hasn't tried it before, but since Fang Lingchu, a foodie, says it's delicious, it must be pretty good. The system approves.

When the adults heard that the yield was 1,000 catties per mu, they exchanged glances, each seeing shock and determination in the other's eyes.

Before everyone could recover from the shock, Fang Lingchu continued, "[There are also potatoes and sweet potatoes. These two are not demanding in terms of soil; it seems they can be grown almost anywhere. They're also very filling. I remember sweet potatoes are from Sichuan, but where are potatoes from, Guagua?]"

They then heard two more things they had never heard of before.

The system said: "[It seems to be tribute from somewhere else, from foreigners, possibly in Europe.]"

As the two continued talking, some of their words could only be heard as beeping sounds by others.

However, they also learned from the two people's brief conversations that these three things could increase food production.

The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War were both very anxious. Minister Fang regarded his daughter as some kind of precious treasure.

Others were also somewhat anxious, as all good officials could hear these things, except for a few who couldn't.

As Fang Lingchu chatted with the system, she became anxious to leave work. She wanted to draw these things so she could eat them sooner.

(End of this chapter)