Chapter 8

In reality, a certain socially anxious person hesitated for two days before succumbing to the allure of potatoes.

During these two days, Li Mu’s sleep quality deteriorated significantly. Every time she closed her eyes, she either dreamed of herself eating potato chips, fries, and mashed potatoes before transmigrating or of historical documentaries depicting the tragic scenes of ancient people suffering from natural disasters and man-made calamities, struggling to fill their stomachs, resorting to eating tree bark, Guanyin clay, and even engaging in cannibalism.

On the afternoon of the second day, Li Mu heard that Lord Wen had arrived and was talking with Li Wendao in the flower hall, seemingly dismissing the servants.

Li Mu once again pretended to play hide and seek to eavesdrop. When she arrived, she caught the two men arguing in coded language. If she didn’t know the plot, she wouldn’t have realized they were discussing the assassination of King Yan.

In the end, Lord Wen angrily stormed off, and Li Wendao shouted his full name at his retreating back, clearly furious.

Although she felt sorry for their friendship, Li Mu was relieved by their falling out. As long as Li Wendao didn’t implicate the entire family, everything would be fine.

After eavesdropping, Li Mu walked back and passed a secluded corner where she overheard Nanny Zhao and other nannies from different courtyards reminiscing over drinks. They talked about the disasters in their hometowns, the widespread famine, losing their sons and daughters-in-law, and how even their little grandson was almost stolen by neighbors to be cooked. If it weren’t for being sold to the capital by human traffickers and meeting the kind old madam, they wouldn’t have the good life they had now. The suffering described through the long river of history and screens was not light, but it was never as impactful as hearing it firsthand from someone who had struggled through it. So, even if it wasn’t for her own appetite, Li Mu found it hard to convince herself to keep quiet and continue pretending to be foolish without telling anyone about the high yield and value of potatoes.

Li Mu was also lucky not to have transmigrated into the life of a struggling commoner but as the daughter of the Assistant Minister of War, living in the old madam’s courtyard with no lack of food or clothing. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have realized until now that she hadn’t seen a single potato in the past year. She couldn’t justify staying silent just because of her good fortune, and the education she received before transmigrating wouldn’t allow her to do so.

As for why it took another five days for her letter to reach Lin Que, it was mainly because writing a letter was too difficult for her. Indeed, after several months, Li Mu’s reaction to receiving letters had gone from initial terror to later anxiety and numbness. Now, receiving a letter from Lin Qiwu no longer caused panic, but that didn’t mean she had the courage to reply. She cleared the calligraphy practice sheets from the table, laid out the letter paper, ground the ink, and referred to the format and wording of Lin Qiwu’s previous letters. She tried to compose her thoughts for a long time but couldn’t bring herself to write.

Li Mu didn’t write letters like the ancients, and just thinking about her words being seen by someone else made her extremely anxious and tormented, just like chatting with unfamiliar people on social media before transmigrating.

Moreover, the content was also a problem; she didn’t know what to say.

Should she say that potatoes are great, adaptable to a wide range of soils, high-yielding, and have a short growth cycle? That they are an amazing crop that can feed many people? Should she ask if he could tell his brother, King Yan, to research how to promote them among the people?

Li Mu: “…”

No, she still wanted to struggle a bit and maintain her foolish persona.

Li Mu agonized for a few days. During this time, she never considered discussing it face-to-face with Lin Qiwu. Firstly, Li Yunxi said Lin Qiwu had added archery lessons and was too busy to come recently. Secondly, as someone with social anxiety, she would never choose to convey information directly if she could do it indirectly.

After five days of hesitation, Li Mu’s first reply finally reached the Princess’s residence. The people there then sent it to King Yan’s residence and finally delivered it to Lin Que by Steward Wu.

Initially, Lin Que wasn’t very interested in the reply. Besides, he had promised Lin Qiwu that he would not write to Li Mu in her name anymore. Reading it would make it hard to reply, so he thought it better to send the letter to Lin Qiwu and let her handle it.

But then he thought the little fool from the Li family was cold and indifferent. This letter was a response after he had written for several months, a testament to his persistence. Why should his sister get the benefit for free?

Lin Que took the letter. The handwriting wasn’t pretty, resembling a child who had just started writing for less than a year. The strokes were there, and it was generally neat, but it lacked spirit and strength.

Apart from the salutation and signature, the letter contained only one line: “Potatoes are delicious. Can you give me some?”

Lin Que: “…” Oh, the little fool replied because of the potatoes Lin Qiwu brought, so he was the one who got the benefit for free.

Lin Que casually tossed the letter aside and instructed Steward Wu to take a basket of potatoes from the West Garden and send it to the Li family. Consider it compensation for deceiving the little fool for several months.

“Remember to remind them that sprouted potatoes are poisonous, to avoid poisoning anyone,” Lin Que said calmly.

When the potatoes arrived at the Li family, Li Mu began her kitchen adventure. Fortunately, the old madam doted on her and allowed her sudden whims, only forbidding her from touching knives and fire. Thus, she completed her voice-controlled cooking.

Apart from repeatedly telling herself, “I’m a fool, I’m a fool, I’m a fool. Some absurd behaviors and requests are normal, really normal,” to fend off the attacks of her memories, everything else went smoothly.

A few days later, Li Mu pretended to organize the potato dishes she had made over the past few days into a recipe, which she included in the second letter she would send to the Princess’s residence.

Previously, Li Yunxi praised their taste when eating potatoes, while Lin Qiwu said they were only delicious when stewed with meat. She found them bland when cooked alone and believed they were considered a delicacy in the palace mainly because they came from foreign lands.

In Lin Qiwu’s view, potatoes could only be stewed. Perhaps because potatoes were so rare, the cooks were afraid to waste them and didn’t dare try other cooking methods.

If other ways of cooking potatoes were discovered, and these methods happened to suit Lin Qiwu or Grand Princess Zhaoming’s tastes, it might start a trend among the nobility. Wouldn’t that make potatoes, originally only supplied to the palace, appear on more people’s tables?

Where there is demand, there is supply. If someone discovered the high yield of potatoes during this process, or if they were promoted in this way, wouldn’t the problem be solved?

Li Mu folded the letter and put it in an envelope, asking Qianyun to give it to Nanny Qiao, saying it was her reply to Lin Qiwu.

After sending the letter, Li Mu felt uncomfortable again. Unfortunately, there was no recall button here nor any chat history, so she couldn’t repeatedly review the content she had sent to see if there was anything she needed to add or change.

When Lin Que received Li Mu’s second letter, he had just returned from the palace.

Grand Princess Zhaoming wanted to take over his duties so he could rest at home. Knowing his time was short, he had long wanted his mother to take over his affairs to prevent anyone from seizing power after his death.

The mother and son agreed, but this matter required time, and there were always things he had to handle personally. Recently, he has been feeling unwell and has a headache. When the carriage stopped at King Yan’s residence, he was utterly exhausted and went to sleep without eating.

When he woke up, Steward Wu asked if he wanted to eat, but he waved his hand, saying he had no appetite.

Steward Wu’s persuasion was futile, so he took out a letter from the Princess’s residence that morning: “Aunt Qiu Zhu said it was sent by the Li family and asked how to handle it.”

The Li family? Li Mu? What does that fool want now?

Lin Que opened the letter, and the first line went straight to the point: “Sour and Spicy Shredded Potatoes.”

There was no polite preamble, just several potato recipes, occasionally with taste descriptions, ending with a note that she had the kitchen develop these recipes to avoid spoiling potatoes.

Anyone else would have laughed, thinking the Li family’s Fifth Miss was truly foolish. Who sends recipes to a ten-year-old princess?

But the letter fell into Lin Que’s hands, making him hungry since he hadn’t eaten.

“Send someone to the West Garden to get some potatoes… Tsk, I don’t know if there are any left. If there are, make the first recipe.”

Steward Wu glanced at the letter and said, “But this dish requires pepper and prickly ash. The doctor said you can’t eat those.”

Lin Que, expressionless: “Then don’t add them.”

Steward Wu quickly complied, fearing Lin Que might change his mind and say he had no appetite.

Even without the spicy flavor, the shredded potatoes were delicious—sour, crispy, and appetizing. After eating, Lin Que felt more energetic and copied the recipes, instructing the kitchen to make all the dishes and send a portion to the Princess’s residence.

Previously, it was Li Mu who didn’t reply to Lin Que. Now, it was Lin Que who didn’t reply to Li Mu. Fortunately, Lin Qiwu visited and said the potato chips were delicious, letting Li Mu know her recipe wasn’t in vain. At least the first stage was successful.

The follow-up was uncertain, but before that, the Dragon Boat Festival arrived.

On the afternoon of the Dragon Boat Festival, rumors spread that something had happened in the palace. The specifics were unclear, but many officials were detained in the palace, including Li Wendao.

A perfectly good festival was overshadowed by this news. The rumors persisted through the night, and the atmosphere in the residence grew increasingly tense. Li Wendao’s two younger brothers and Li Mu’s elder brother and cousin were running around outside, trying to gather information. By noon, news came that the residences of Lord Wen and the Grand Tutor were surrounded and searched by soldiers. Madam Qian nearly fainted from shock, barely holding on to give stern orders to the servants, preventing chaos in the residence.

Upon hearing the news, the old madam kept Li Mu by her side, not allowing her to leave. The three daughters-in-law hurriedly brought their children to her, and she kept Li Mu close, holding her shoulder with one hand and a string of purple sandalwood prayer beads with the other, calming everyone and telling them not to scare the children.

The old madam’s calm and reassurance settled everyone. Three days passed, during which two more families were searched by imperial decree, but not all the officials were arrested. Some were released from the palace.

The old madam quickly sent Li Wendao’s two younger brothers to visit the homes of officials they were friendly with, but they were turned away as soon as it was known they were from the Ministry of War.

The two uncles returned home and found Li Zhi, who had already been married off, crying and holding a divorce letter from the Ning family.

“How outrageous!” Li Zhi’s father, the second uncle, was so angry he nearly stormed the Ning family’s door, but the old madam stopped him.

Although Li Zhi was divorced, she brought back important news. It turned out that the Grand Tutor and Lord Wen were involved in the assassination plot against King Yan. Li Wendao’s delay in leaving the palace was likely due to his association with Lord Wen, making others afraid to explain the situation, fearing they would be implicated.

Li Zhi’s words stopped them from running around blindly.

That night, Li Zhi slept in Li Mu’s room, and Li Mu stared at the tear-stained divorce letter, lost in thought.

In the book, Li Zhi wasn’t implicated because she hadn’t been divorced when the Li family was raided. As an outsider, she wasn’t affected by the crime of assassinating the royal family. But now, the Li family hadn’t been raided, and Li Zhi was already divorced, likely because the Li family and Lord Wen were raided together just before her divorce.

So, the Li family’s situation might not be as dire.

Sure enough, on the morning of the fourth day, Lin Qiwu sent a letter to the Li family, telling Li Yunxi not to worry and that Li Wendao would return home by noon.

The Li family rejoiced, and the old madam and Madam Qian couldn’t help but cry with joy.

Li Wendao returned from prison looking haggard and dispirited. Seeing his mother and wife in such a state, he shed a few tears himself.

The old madam told him to eat something, wash up, rest, and discuss anything else later.

Li Wendao, with sunken eyes and bruises, managed a smile but couldn’t speak. Before leaving, he glanced at Li Mu beside the old madam.

After resting for half a day, Li Wendao woke to hear that Lord Wen’s residence had been raided, his property confiscated, and men over fifteen years old interrogated while women were enslaved. Dizzy and faint, he collapsed and developed a fever, bedridden for several days.