Chapter 137
Ye Yan coughed so loudly that Qin Su was terrified.
"Are you alright?" Qin Su quickly helped him into the hall and had someone bring him some warm tea. "Why are you coughing so badly?"
Ye Yan waved his hand, signaling the palace servants to step back.
He didn't even bother to drink water, and asked Qin Su with a strange expression, "Where did Your Highness hear those words you just said?"
Qin Su said, "Master Hou said that's what people overseas say."
"..." Ye Yan never expected that Hou Dongrui, who looked so handsome, would actually be so unreliable.
Is this something that can be taught to Qin Su now?
He said with difficulty, "Your Highness, different countries and dynasties have different customs and traditions. This statement is inappropriate."
Qin Su asked curiously, "Why is it inappropriate? Master Hou said it's just a difference in language. Overseas there's 'Love is an eternal lighthouse,' and in Dayu there's 'Until heaven and earth unite, I will never part from you.' They are both expressions of love."
“Overseas people value directness, while Dayu values subtlety,” Ye Yan said. “It’s not that being direct is bad, but people around you might not be used to it.”
"Oh, so it's because you're not used to it." Qin Su suddenly realized, "No wonder Father was so stunned this morning."
A sense of foreboding rose in Ye Yan's heart: "Your Majesty? Did His Highness also tell His Majesty?"
Qin Su said, "Yes, I went to pay my respects to the Emperor this morning and greeted him."
Ye Yan: "...What did His Highness say?"
Qin Su shook her little head and said proudly, "I said good morning, Father. Su Su loves you." Then Father opened his eyes wide and froze.
She leaned closer and whispered to Ye Yan, "Father looks so silly."
Ye Yan: "..."
I feel so stupid now!
Hou Dongrui, just wait until His Majesty comes after you!
His feelings were mixed. He felt a sense of loss that Qin Su wasn't the first person to tell him this, and he was also conflicted about how Qin Su's understanding was now just childish talk.
With his thoughts in turmoil, Ye Yan even felt as if he wasn't waiting for his amnesiac lover to grow up, but rather raising a child.
Yes, he had thought about it before. He and Qin Su had never had their own child. Now he was experiencing the upheaval of raising a child.
Qin Su, unaware of his feelings, propped her head up and asked him, "How do you express love in a subtle way?"
Ye Yan subconsciously said, "The moonlight is beautiful tonight."
Qin Su asked疑惑地问道：“The moon? And then?”
Ye Yan snapped out of his daze, smiled, and shook his head: "That's all."
If the other person likes you too, then the wind is gentle and the flowers are fragrant. If the other person doesn't like you, then the moonlight of this night is beautiful and lonely, reflected in your memory, becoming a mark known only to yourself.
Ye Yan didn't want to talk to Qin Su about these things. He just reminded Qin Su again not to say "I love you" to just anyone.
Qin Su reluctantly agreed.
Seeing her listless appearance, Ye Yan coughed lightly: "Actually, I have some good news to share today."
Qin Su slowly looked up: "What good news?"
Ye Yan said, "The play has been rehearsed, and it will be performed for the first time tomorrow."
Qin Su's eyes lit up.
Ye Yan smiled and said, "So as long as His Majesty agrees, Your Highness can go out of the palace to watch the play tomorrow."
Qin Su cheered, "Finally, I can watch it!"
She immediately pulled Qingmei aside and told her what clothes and jewelry she should wear the next day, and also told Ye Yan that she should leave a little earlier the next day so that they could go out for a stroll.
Ye Yan repeatedly said "Okay, okay, okay".
"Oh, right," Qin Su remembered something and asked Ye Yan, "I wanted to ask you, what is a 'zhu shu'? Do you know?"
Ye Yan: "Sweet potato? Is it for eating? Or is it from an animal?"
He seemed to have never heard of such a thing.
Qin Su added: "The 'Zhu' in cinnabar, Master Hou told me yesterday that this is a kind of grain he brought back from overseas. It grows exceptionally well. He has already presented it to my father, the Emperor, and once it's grown, he'll have the Imperial Kitchen cook it for me."
Ye Yan paused for a moment. The "Zhu" in "Zhu Sha" is red, so "Zhu Shu" is sweet potato.
Sweet potatoes?!
Ye Yan was shocked.
This is the king of famine relief! Good seeds, high yield, and it can even fight hunger.
Ye Yan had considered sweet potatoes at first, but they were an overseas crop, and he remembered that sweet potatoes did not appear in Chinese history until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Hou Dongrui actually managed to develop sweet potatoes in Dayu. Who is the real time traveler?
Ye Yan hurriedly pressed Qin Su for details. When he heard Qin Su say that Hou Dongrui was very knowledgeable about agriculture, which was why he was able to see the potential of sweet potatoes at a glance while he was overseas, he couldn't help but be tempted.
He glanced at Qin Su: "Lord Hou is skilled in farming..."
Qin Su, understanding him perfectly, immediately realized: "You mean?"
Ye Yan nodded silently.
Qin Su said thoughtfully, "That's right, professional matters should be handled by professionals."
Ye Yan hesitated, "But Lord Hou must be very busy."
Qin Su whispered, "We should do this..."
That day, after Hou Dongrui finished teaching Princess Zhaoyang, he "bumped into" the young master of the family of the Grand General of the State. Hearing the young master talking to the princess about the experimental fields, he became very interested and went to see the experimental fields with him.
Beside the experimental field, he took the initiative to ask Ye Yan why he did this, what the theoretical basis was, and the observation records so far. After reading them, he immediately expressed that he also wanted to participate and conduct a larger-scale study outside the palace.
Qin Su said that none of these efforts had yielded any clear results, and it wouldn't be good to waste Master Hou's time. Hou Dongrui, however, was unhappy and said that this could not be considered a waste of time. It must be studied, it is a matter of great importance that will benefit the country and the people for generations to come.
Unable to refuse their kind offer, Qin Su and Ye Yan had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
Hou Dongrui took a large stack of observation records to Emperor Jingxi for discussion. Qin Su watched his retreating figure and sighed, "Master Hou is truly a good person."
Knowing the truth and witnessing the whole thing, Ye Yan remained silent, thinking to himself that the saying "you can tell what a person will be like at three and what they will be like at seven" is truly true. Qin Su looks exactly the same as she did when she grew up!
***
The next day, Qin Su was able to leave the palace with Ye Yan as she had wished.
Although she was accompanied by many guards, this was the first time she had left the palace without Emperor Jingxi's company. On the surface, it was just her, Ye Yan, and a few close attendants. She was very excited, looking around curiously at everything.
One minute she wants to eat osmanthus cake, the next she wants to eat candied hawthorn, and the people following her have their hands stuffed full.
After walking around for a while, Qin Su became puzzled and asked, "Why are the streets so dirty? When my father and I came out before, the streets looked very clean."
Ye Yan explained to her in a low voice, "Your father's status is different. Before, when he went out, the streets were always cleaned in advance. That's how the streets in the capital are usually like this."
While ancient city streets weren't as filthy and chaotic as medieval Europe, they were still far from being as clean as they are today.
While there are designated people to clean and transport garbage from places like toilets, everyday household waste, dust, and gravel are certainly left unattended.
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