"Eh! It tastes good!" Zhu Su's eyes widened since he just figured out something extraordinary. And indeed this discovery was truly extraordinary - that Candou was edible. Not only edible, Candou turned out to be quite delicious. It was cooked by a peasant woman without any qualified ingredients and seasonings, but it tasted quite good, that meant... He immediately wrote in his notebook "Candou. New kind of legumes. Edible, through proper processing it will be able to provide good nutrition for people."
"How do you cook it?" Zhu Su asked Mrs. Xue.
"Just boil it, as I am doing right now. But if you want to sauté it, it's okay."
"Such a good idea, rather than eating poisonous tree bark. Still, many other regions don't know about this Candou." Qu You joined in, "Besides Candou, what else do you plant to replace rice?"
"I am sorry, I just plant this." Mr. Xue shook his head. But this time one of the crowds answered, "We plant another one! Do you want to see it?"
"Of course!" Zhu Su immediately sprang out from his chair, following the farmer who guided him to his land.
The land belonging to the farmer was much larger than Mr. Xue's. More types of plants were planted there. The farmer approached one of the plants. "It is also an edible legume, the villagers are quite fond of it. It is called Jiangdou (Vigna unguiculata L.)."
"Can you also cook it for us, so we know how it tastes?"
"Of course!" The farmer returned to his house and tell his wife to cook Jiangdou. Meanwhile, Zhu Su was looking at another plant that another farmer showed.
Chen Suibo was right. Farmers could teach him a lot of knowledge. Not only did they tell him various kinds of plants that he did not know before, they could even teach him how to cook those strange plants. Besides Candou and Jiangdou, Zhu Su also got information about other plants, for example Shanpiandou, Huihuidou, and Hudou. Moreover, not only legumes, but Zhu Su could also recognize other types of plants that could be used as vegetables.
"How about this? Do you know what it is?" Zhu Su raised the leaf that made him curious for the first time.
But once again, he found the peasants shook their heads as they replied, "We apologize, Your Highness... but we don't know..."
Zhu Su sighed in disappointment. Just now his hope to get the plant's name grew up when he found that the farmers were knowledgeable and could tell him everything, yet for the umpteenth time that hope had to be broken again.
"It is called Heshangcai (Adenocaulon himalaicum Edgew.) - Monk's Vegetable."
Everyone turned their heads to the direction of the sound. Evidently, it was said by an old man.
"Monk's Vegetable? Interesting! So it is called Monk's Vegetable!" Hoping so much to know the name of this leaf, Zhu Su unexpectedly found that this leaf had a very attractive name. "Why is it called that, Grandsire?"
The old man cleared his throat, he stepped forward. "There was a monk who was intending to do Mind Cultivation. Thus, he went to the south. But his intention did not meet any results, he couldn't beg alms because he mostly walked in barren areas where no wild plants grew. He was forced to go to the mountains to get wild plants. There he was suddenly wounded. Then he found a plant, it has an incredible indication - even a dead horse can be back alive. He tried to rub it on his wound, and miraculously, the wound was healed. He also used it to heal wounded people. Since then, it becomes popular among the people as Monk's Vegetable."
"Dead horse can revive? The wound can be healed? Fantastic! But... it also has a side effect that is harmful to the body..."
"In my opinion, the more effective a medicine is, the bigger the side effect it has. From the information Grandsire has told us, the efficacy of Heshangcai must be very strong. And that girl ate lots of it, so the side effect she suffered is then bigger." Li Heng concluded.
Liu Ku, who had been silent from before, suddenly took a closer look at his right side. "Hey, it is Chumu (Ailanthus altissima), isn't it! Doesn't it only grow in fertile soil and good weather? Why can it be here now?"
"Oh, you can find it everywhere, Sir." A middle-aged farmer replied, "Here we call it Chunshuya."
"It is recorded as Chumu in ancient books."
"Maybe the ancient books you read have aged hundreds of years, Liu Ku. It hasn't synchronized with the present," Zhu Su commented.
"Hm... yeah... I think those books are passed down from my ancestors in the Tang Dynasty," Liu Ku said.
The ancient books no longer matched the facts at present? This was definitely an interesting fact that must be noted. Zhu Su took his notebook again and wrote it down. "Chunshuya. The ancient scriptures recorded it as Chumu. Now it grows everywhere..."
"But Chunshuya doesn't appear in botanical garden, does it?..."
The members of the Team of Wellbeing looked at each other.
"You are right, Lord. None of us watches it."
"Then it hasn't been available yet. Take the part of this tree to the palace. I want to plant and research it. Who knows, we might find other interesting facts."
"As you wish, Your Highness." The soldiers immediately took some parts of Chumu and wrapped it, together with the soil.
Zhu Su now stared at the villagers who were watching their activity with wide eyes, as if they wanted to ask something but did not dare to do it.
"Thank you so much for your help. We get a lot of information which we don't realize for so long. And the people from other regions don't know about this, either. Their poor knowledge leads them to misidentify food and eventually get sick or die of food poisoning. The research I'm doing is to give information to all Kaifeng people, in order to provide all people with nutritious food, and help them become healthy and live prosperously. I want to return the happy smiles to their faces."
"The news I heard is indeed correct..." The Grandsire said slowly. "His Highness Zhou Wang is really struggling to help the people escape the famine..."
"Your Highness, you are not just an ordinary leader, you are a Saint. You are willing to go outside of your palace and feel directly the hardships of the people, something which is usually taboo for nobles... Very much the same with what the people in the city said..."
"Yes! This is indeed the truth. Not those obscure rumors!"
"I never believe those rumors, since the spreaders have unclear origins. I always thought that no need for the common people know so many things about politics, whatever it is!... What we need to know, is the kind charity based on the intention of helping others!"
"We curse anyone who spreads that terrible slander about you!"
"Hopefully Kaifeng people know your true intentions and stop their riots!"
"Long live Your Highness! We wish you success!"
Zhu Su stared at all of them, his eyes sparkled as he was deeply moved. His chest was full of joyfulness. How happy he was, seeing that the people appreciated the results of his hard work, and not criticized it, let alone blasphemed and scorned it. His smirked so broadly. In sudden, he could hear the wind whispering.
"Good intentions, will definitely result in goodness at last. Even if you doubt yourself, even if other people blaspheme you and push you to the edge of the abyss and you almost fall down... however, in the end, if you are persistent, you don't give up... it will always be good in the end."