Yue Fuguang caught sight of these people's subtle movements out of the corner of her eye and pressed her lips together to suppress the smile threatening to curl at the corners of her mouth.

With the mission nearly accomplished, her mood was exceptionally cheerful as she took a sip of the fruit wine before her.

She smacked her lips—sweet with a hint of floral fragrance—and found the taste quite pleasant.

Unable to resist, she took two more sips, celebrating the imminent completion of her first major assignment!

This time, while beating the grass to startle the snakes, she could also root out the tumor that was Xu Changyue.

As a result, many people and events tied to him in the future would change, and those destined to die because of him might escape their fate.

Thus, she was certain that when the system finally tallied the mission points, it wouldn’t stop at just three hundred.

But as she mused, Yue Fuguang felt her head growing increasingly dizzy. Why did the Crown Prince suddenly have two heads and four mouths?

Before she passed out, a string of questions slowly surfaced in her mind: Why would anyone serve alcohol to an eight-year-old girl?

Fruit wine is still alcohol, damn it!

...

"Gentlemen, speak your minds. What do you make of... that person's words?"

Out of caution—and fear of the divine artifact's power—Emperor Mingxi and his ministers had tacitly avoided uttering Yue Fuguang's name, referring to her only as "that person" for now.

While Yue Fuguang lay drunk and unconscious, apart from the officials' families and the imperial household, thirty-four ministers who had heard her thoughts remained.

Emperor Mingxi had summoned these men privately for discussion, partly because the sheer volume of information they'd received today would leave none of them able to sleep without first deliberating together.

The other matter was deciding how to handle "that person."

To put it bluntly, she was a heaven-sent auspicious sign for the Great Yan Dynasty, and they couldn’t afford to treat her lightly.

At the emperor's question, the officials exchanged glances.

Grand Tutor Wang, one of the Three Excellencies, stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, in this humble official's view, the credibility of today's events is at least ninety percent."

As he spoke, his gaze flickered toward the small white jade bowl on the emperor's desk, which held several vibrant red fruits none of them had ever seen before.

Had Yue Fuguang been present, she would have recognized them as the fruits she'd deliberately "dropped" under the table—a plump cherry, two fresh lychees, and a ripe, juicy strawberry.

When Emperor Mingxi had offered to change her seat earlier, she'd secretly stashed the fruits into her system space.

To lend credibility to her claims, she'd instructed the system to "accidentally" leave these exotic fruits behind.

With these as proof—combined with the later confirmation from Marquis Changqing's Manor—she was confident the Great Yan's rulers would believe both her words and her identity.

Noticing the officials' curious glances, Emperor Mingxi gestured to Eunuch Qian. "Old Qian, show these to the ministers."

Grand Tutor Wang examined them first, followed by Grand Tutor Liu, Grand Protector Xie, and the others in turn. Despite their efforts to remain composed, they couldn’t help murmuring in awe.

Though not celestial fruits, their glossy appearance and sweet fragrance promised exquisite flavor.

General Wei Shouyi, ever boisterous, boomed, "Your Majesty, these little things look so fresh and smell mighty fine! Wonder if we can grow 'em here in Great Yan?"

His words sparked an idea—the fruits were ripe, meaning their seeds might be viable for cultivation.

Director Wang of the Hongnong Temple, responsible for agriculture, immediately stepped forward, clasping his hands solemnly. "Your Majesty, entrust these fruits to our Hongnong Temple! This humble official vows to lead our team in careful research and cultivation, striving to yield these fruits for Your Majesty and Great Yan!"

Emperor Mingxi didn’t answer immediately, instead turning to Yu Chongshan, who had stood silent as a ghost since entering.

"Minister Yu, do any of these fruits match the five scents you detected earlier?"

Startled by the emperor's attention, Yu Chongshan hurriedly bowed. "Your Majesty, among these three, only one aligns with the fragrances I encountered before."

Emperor Mingxi then asked Zheng Ziling, "And you, Minister Zheng?"

Standing beside Yu Chongshan, Zheng Ziling replied, "Your Majesty, I only recognize the red fruit with black specks."

The emperor nodded, instructing Eunuch Qian to hand the fruits to Director Wang. "Minister Wang, cultivate them well. I look forward to tasting your harvest."

To the Crown Prince, he added, "You should visit the Hongnong Temple regularly as well."

The Crown Prince bowed in acknowledgment.

Director Wang suddenly felt the weight of responsibility—not only was the task daunting, but the heir apparent would be overseeing their progress!

Still, he accepted the fruits gravely. "We will spare no effort."

Then, hesitantly, he ventured, "Your Majesty, regarding the high-yield crops..."

If they could obtain those seeds, the Hongnong Temple—long overlooked—would become indispensable overnight.

With imperial support, his long-stalled plan to expand agricultural education could finally take root.

At the mention of miracle crops, the room buzzed with excitement—none more so than Emperor Mingxi himself.

Since ascending the throne, he had aspired to be a ruler for the ages, proving his late father wrong.

The old emperor had sought to depose him, the rightful heir born of the empress, in favor of Prince Qi, the useless son of Consort Rong.

Xie Fei was determined to achieve greatness, to show his father and the world that he was the wiser sovereign.

Thus, the promise of bountiful harvests burned brighter in Emperor Mingxi than in any of his ministers.

No one understood better than he how crucial it was to feed his people—how such an achievement would cement his legacy.

With these crops, even if Great Yan fell a decade later, history would remember him as a sage ruler.

And with such abundance, how could the dynasty possibly collapse?

Heart aflame with ambition, Emperor Mingxi turned hopeful eyes to his ministers—specifically, Yu Chongshan.

Yu Chongshan: Your Majesty, don’t look at me like that—I can’t conjure seeds out of thin air!

He knew full well that Yue Fuguang had every reason to resent their earlier neglect. Expecting more from her now? Wishful thinking!

Surely the emperor had investigated their strained relationship by now. Yu Chongshan refused to believe otherwise.

Internally weeping, he maintained a stoic facade. Unless directly addressed, he’d pretend not to notice.