The dawn sent shimmering rays over the Imperial palace
In the royal kitchen, Julia is preparing a lot of dishes to serve the queen and the crown prince. She put all the dishes into the basket and wiped the sweat from her face using her handkerchief.
The servants took her back to the Eastern Palace. She goes back to her chamber and gives Crown Prince Noel a kiss on his cheek. It jolted him awake. He smiled happily when the first thing in the morning he saw was her beautiful face. He got off the bed and put on his clothes. She helped him to brush his hair. He held Julia's hand, and they travelled to the Celestial Palace to visit Queen Aliyah for breakfast.
When they arrived at Queen's chamber, Crown Prince Noel saw Farah massaging the queen's shoulder and his mother enjoyed chatting with Farah.
Queen Aliyah and Farah got surprised to see the crown prince visiting Celestial Palace.
Crown Prince Noel bowed to greet his mother, "Mother, I come here to have breakfast with you."
He took the dishes out of the basket, served them around the table. He invited Farah, his mother, and Julia to sit together to enjoy the meal.
Seeing his son is serving the dishes on the table, she could not reject the breakfast.
Crown Prince Noel tasted the food, and he loves it. "The food tasted great!" He continuously praises Julia and uses chopsticks to grab some food to serve Julia.
Julia noticed that Farah and Queen Aliyah were eating the dishes she made, and she thought she had impressed them. The fact is, they are just pretending to enjoy the meal. They do not want to upset the crown prince.
Queen Aliyah and Farah's heart are about to explode. They hate it when she brings the crown prince over, it's forcing them to eat the food she made and they hide the emotion.
In the longevity palace, Olena squinted in the sunshine streaming in through the window. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Prince Liam. It got her startled. He is sitting on the corner of the couch she is laying on.
Prince Liam worried Olena may act foolishly in the court meeting later, "Please do not tarnish my reputation in the court meeting." He keeps his faith in her, believing she will deliver his message right to the ministers and the king.
She stretched her body and chuckled, "I am not a clown. As long as you maintain a positive reputation for me, I would do the same for you." She reminded him not to be sloppy. She is a bit disappointed. She used to dress up in beautiful gowns, put powder on her face, and fragrant scent pouch around her waist. Ever since Crown Prince Noel transmigrated into her body, he just dressed in a gown he finds comfortable, he doesn't want to put on any cosmetics, tie a simple knot on his head, and refuse to put on any fragrances.
She shook her head, put on the robe confidentially, and braced herself for the committee meeting with the King and the ministers. She left longevity palace and headed to the inner court in the Imperial Palace.
When Olena arrives at the inner court in the palace, she has no clue what to do and where to stand.
She glances through the hall. The ministers were wearing their official robes, belts, and hats. They assembled in two rows, the left-wing inner court and the right-wing of the inner court.
King George sat in front of the inner court facing the ministers. He smiled as he noticed his son attending the court meeting, "Prince Liam, come forward and stand next to the prime minister."
Each of the ministers turned their head to look at the prince. They smiled and bowed slightly to give him respect. In the eyes of the ministers, Prince Liam has a poor reputation. They looked at him as an incompetent prince. Mainly because he has no support from anyone and his mother is merely a concubine. They compared him with the crown prince who has a prominent family background.
Olena bows at everyone in the hall, and steps forward. She stood next to the prime minister.
King George kicks off the meeting by addressing Prince Liam, "Prince Liam, give us your thoughts about the country and spell out the list of things you could do as a contribution to the country."
As Olena heard King George called Prince Liam, she trembled. She takes a deep breath. Pushes all the air out of her lungs to relieve the anxiety in her.
She whispered to herself, "Why am I the first to speak?"
Olena started by asking the king for leniency, "Since this is the first time I have joined a court meeting, kindly pardon me if I said anything that may sound displeasing."
King George nodded his head to agree, "Go ahead. Speak freely".
Olena highlighted, "There are several issues about the country. First, the welfare of the citizens. Many of the citizens are suffering from poverty, lack of knowledge, productivity, health issues. These are just a few of the issues. I think everybody is aware of it. I would propose to establish a research institute. The principal purpose is to research food."
Ministers in the court laughed. They shook their heads and looked at him as inexperienced. All he had in mind was food.
King George looked at Prince Liam, disappointed with the idea, but it made him curious, "why do you think we should research food?"
Olena continues to explain, "All living things need food to survive. We eat daily to gain strength for our daily activities. Our health is also mainly depending on what we eat. The troops, the slaves, the ministers, and even the royal family need to eat."
A moment of silence.
Olena further says, "The purpose of the foundation is not only about food research but exploring medicine. From the research, we can compile the information into a book to educate the people. More people are keen to learn medicine, but there is no proper way of educating them. We can allow more commoners to practice medicine. In such a way, we are raising more doctors. As you all are aware, I collapsed recently. None of the doctors can cure me. We don't have many doctors within this country."
Olena paused, coughed. All eyes on Olena, waiting for her to continue, and they are intrigued to know more.
Olena continues, "We could also research what kind of food we can eat during the famine to avoid more death during the famine. If we can research better food for the troops, there is also a possibility that we could reduce the budget on the troops' food. Not to forget, agriculture is part of the food supply. We can also work with the farmers and the fishermen to improve productivity."
At first, King George doesn't like the idea. But as she mentioned food for famine and reducing the budget for the defence side, he liked the idea. Her words convinced many other ministers.
The minister handling the treasury asked, "What is the budget for setting up the research institute?"
Olena smiled and said, "I am not sure, I have not calculated yet because I'm not planning to take the money from the government. It's the other way round. I was planning to request donations from the wealthy ministers."
Ministers are shaking their heads. King George chuckled and wondered if his plan would work. The king dismissed the meeting, and the ministers left the inner court.
The prime minister and a few of the ministers walked toward Prince Liam. He wanted to help his son-in-law, and the idea made him impressed.
The prime minister asked Prince Liam, "I have to say that your idea is great. Is there anything I could do to help?".
Olena sees her father. She missed her mum. "I would like to ask if anyone of you wishes to donate to help establish this research institute?"
Prime minister sincerely offers a huge donation to help his son-in-law, "I will be happy to help, perhaps a box of gold bars. Is that enough?"
Olena grins and bows respectfully towards the prime minister, "We will build a monument in the research institute, we will name the monument as the wall of fame, to honour the donors. We will have their names engraved in a stone."
Prime minister chuckled, "I can't wait to see my name on the monument!"
Olena says, "The first research institute of the country, so this is heritage inherited by many generations. Your name is not only appearing on the monument but will appear in the historian's book!"
The ministers also want their names to appear on the monument. They offered a tremendous amount of donation.
The Minister of Health said to the prime minister, "After I die, my descendants probably do not remember me. If they will remember my name in history for the next thousand years, the money is worth spending."
Olena looked at the prime minister, "Sir, your daughter Olena will donate her villa. She wanted her name to appear on the monument as well!"
The prime minister agreed, "I am proud of my daughter and you."
Olena is missing her father, "Your daughter wanted to meet you, will you wait for us in the courtyard?"
Prince Liam waited for Olena. He sees her jumping and laughing. He realized that the meeting is going well. Olena sees him smiling at the door. She rushed towards him.