Reborn as a bride, pretending to be virtuous, the prince held his waist and regretted

The old lady was very pleased to hear that her grandson had such insights.

"Jin'er, life is full of different things. Only by experiencing them can you deeply understand them. Not only you, but even I have benefited a lot from them in my old age."

Gu Xiling chuckled and looked at Zhou Jin as he started to eat his second steamed bun, not taking it seriously.

Seeing that Gu Xiling didn't say anything, Zhou Jin stole a glance at Gu Xiling's playful eyes, and his sensitive nerves were aroused again.

"Gu, am I wrong?"

Gu Xiling raised her eyes, smiled and asked, "Prince, eating white flour buns and then lamenting the hardships of people's lives, I think it's a bit ridiculous."

"You..." Zhou Jin didn't expect Gu Xiling to be so mean. Did he think he was being pretentious?

The old lady was unhappy, "Xi Ling, Jin Er has been attentive enough."

Gu Xiling sighed, "The prince has a compassionate heart, Xiling knows it. But the steamed buns in the prince's hand are considered ordinary, but they are delicacies that ordinary people can only taste during the New Year and other festivals."

"Laifu, take two steamed buns and exchange them with the farmers for two of their food. Let the prince have a taste of the farmers' food during this lean period."

Lai Fu looked at the prince, and then at his wife.

Should he take it or not?

Zhou Jin was startled, turned to look at Lai Fu, and scolded him unhappily.

"Laifu, I noticed that you have been acting a bit dull lately. The Crown Prince's wife asked you to do something, but you can't do anything?"

Lai Fu was speechless.

It’s really hard to guess what the prince is thinking!

In the past, whenever he took the initiative to do things for the Crown Prince's wife, he would be scolded by the Crown Prince, wondering whose servant he was.

"Yes, I'll go and change it right away." Lai Fu picked up two white flour buns and went to a farmer's house in the distance.

Lai Fu saw green vegetable dumplings on the farmer’s plate, with a small amount of black flour mixed in the middle.

The childhood memories that remain in my mind come flooding back to my mind, making me feel quite melancholy.

The family is not poor, and they will not sell their children!

Fortunately, he was sold to the Changning Marquis' Mansion and became the prince's permanent attendant, which is why he has the good life he has now.

The farmer was very grateful for exchanging two steamed buns for three vegetable dumplings.

Lai Fu put three vegetable dumplings on the plate and said, "Prince, Madam, this is what farmers eat."

The old lady took it, put it to her mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly.

Gu Xiling picked one up and took a bite. The astringent taste of the wild vegetable spread in her mouth.

Seeing this, Zhou Jin didn't back down and picked it up and took a big bite.

All I felt was a bitter taste that filled my mouth with an indescribable flavor.

Zhou Jin couldn't refuse anymore and couldn't help but spit it out. "Pah, it's so disgusting. How can there be such a disgusting thing in the world?"

At this time, the old lady and Gu Xiling continued to chew, stretching their necks while swallowing, and swallowing the vegetable dumplings with great effort.

Zhou Jin was stunned. He looked at the vegetable dumplings in his hand, and then looked at the vegetable dumplings that his grandmother and Gu Xiling were eating.

Exactly the same!

Why could his grandmother and Gu Xiling swallow it, but he couldn’t?

Is this the reason why Gu Xiling mocked him?

The old lady looked at her grandson's astonished expression and sighed deeply.

Her grandson is almost lazy and doesn't know the difference between grains. He is spoiled and out of touch with reality.

"Jin'er, put it down if you don't want to eat it. Don't spit it out." The old lady instructed, taking the vegetable dumpling from her grandson.

Zhou Jin was puzzled, "Grandma, don't you think it tastes bad?"

The old lady of Marquis Changning looked at her grandson with kindness and recalled the past.

"Compared with delicacies from land and sea, it is indeed unpalatable. But don't underestimate vegetable dumplings. When there is a shortage of food, vegetable dumplings can save lives."

"Back then, your grandfather followed Emperor Taizu in his campaigns. Although our Zhou family was quite wealthy, the city was breached and I took your father with me and fled."

"All the valuables on his body were taken away. Only two old servants were left. They relied on digging wild vegetables to fill their stomachs and hid in a safe place until the establishment of the Kang Dynasty."

"Your father, I, and the old servant have been eating wild vegetables for two years. No matter how bad the food tastes, it can help you survive when you are at your wit's end."

"If there were no wild vegetables, your father and I would have starved to death long ago. Your grandfather would not have been promoted to a high position with a high salary, and you would not have been born."

Zhou Jin was stunned. He didn't expect his grandmother to have such an experience.

At this moment, his eyes turned to Gu Xiling.

Gu Xiling swallowed the vegetable dumplings in her mouth and said slowly: "I grew up in a farming family. The village chief's family, who owns 30 acres of land, doesn't eat wild vegetable dumplings, but dozens of other families in the village do."

"Especially during the lean season, the adults would go to the fields to work, like we are doing spring ploughing now, and the children would dig wild vegetables everywhere."

Gu Xiling pointed to a barefoot child digging wild vegetables not far away. His clothes were patched, proving that what she said was true.

Zhou Jin's eyes were melancholy, and the sourness in his heart seemed to be stronger than the wild vegetables in his mouth.

He reached out and took the vegetable dumpling that he despised from his grandmother's hand and took another bite.

It seemed even more unpalatable than before, but Zhou Jin didn't spit it out this time. He made a bitter face, chewed it carefully, and swallowed it slowly.

Zhou Jin was choked so much that he closed his eyes and stretched out his neck.

The old lady and Gu Xiling looked at each other and admired each other.

The old lady saw in Gu Xiling the tenacity of her own youth, and Gu Xiling saw in the old lady the composure that came from being down-to-earth.

After finally finishing the remaining vegetable dumplings, Zhou Jin took a sip of water to wash away the taste that almost made him nauseous.

After a while, Zhou Jin said, "In the important capital area, under the feet of the emperor, the common people can only eat wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. Other places must be even poorer."

Gu Xiling nodded, "Your Highness is right. Even so, this is the result of years of recuperation."

Zhou Jin took a deep breath, patted his forehead, and looked puzzled. "Now that Your Majesty has reduced taxes and levies and tried to reduce the burden on the people, why can't they have enough food?"

"In other places, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so there may be many heavy taxes. But at the foot of the emperor, the taxes are not heavy, so why is it still like this?"

The old lady also looked puzzled, "Xi Ling, what do you think?"

"I can't say that my opinion is profound, but it is superficial." Gu Xiling chuckled. "Your Highness might laugh at me if I tell you that after I learned to read, I often read books in the library of Jingyangbo's mansion."

"There are several versions of the classics, history, and miscellaneous works in it, and there are even many annotations by great scholars. There are books on music, chess, calligraphy, painting, astronomy, geography, etc., but there are very few agricultural books."

"Even if someone was interested in recording it, it was not detailed and the content was quite vague. Anyway, after reading it, I couldn't figure out how to operate it. Later, I inquired and found out the reason why there were so few agricultural books."

"All things are inferior except for studying. Everyone wants to learn the arts of literature and martial arts and sell them to the emperor. Even if someone fails the imperial examination, they believe that if they cannot be a good prime minister, they can be a good doctor."

"Only a few scholars are willing to devote themselves to studying agricultural books. The farmers in the countryside are good at farming, but they are illiterate and can only pass on knowledge by word of mouth. It's better in peaceful years, but in years of war, the first to die are the elderly, including these elderly people with rich farming experience."