But even so, your body is so depleted—shouldn't you be taking better care of it?" Lin Yi suddenly realized this was a defeatist attitude! He wouldn't even use that ginseng.
"Mm, you're right." Gu Fang conceded readily, his tone gentle like coaxing a child. "I'll take good care of myself and strive to outlive you."
"No!" Lin Yi abruptly lifted her head from his embrace, catching a detail she had overlooked. "I've never seen you take any medicine these past days!"
Gu Fang stiffened almost imperceptibly. "The court physician said my condition is a depletion, not an acute illness, so there's no need for daily medication."
"Husband—" Lin Yi dragged out the word, her fingers lightly tugging his sleeve, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. "Could it be that you're afraid of the bitter taste and don't want to drink it? You just tensed up just now!"
She softened her body, snuggling closer to him, her voice light and tender. "Husband, if the body is depleted, it needs to be nourished. Isn't it good to take care of ourselves properly? Xiaoyi wants you to stay with me for a long, long time."
Gu Fang was silent for a moment, finally yielding to Lin Yi's clear gaze. He let out an almost inaudible sigh and compromised, "Alright. Whatever you say."
Plan successful! Lin Yi rejoiced inwardly. She knew Gu Fang was most susceptible to this tactic.
Before Gu Fang could fully recover from the tender moment, Lin Yi called out toward the door, "A Fu! A Fu!"
In a moment, A Fu appeared outside the study, asking respectfully, "Madam, what do you need?"
"Come in quickly, let's talk inside!" Lin Yi said excitedly.
As soon as A Fu entered, Lin Yi eagerly laid out her plan to "use medicinal herbs to properly regulate the General's health." The more A Fu listened, the wider his eyes grew, until finally he was moved to tears again. He couldn't help wiping his eyes with his sleeve, his voice choked: "Good, good! This is a great idea! I've pleaded with the General many times, but he always brushed it off. Now, with Madam, we can finally persuade him!"
Lin Yi grew curious: "A Fu, how did you try to persuade him before?"
"Your servant naturally implored earnestly, begging the General to value his health." A Fu said it as if it were obvious.
"That won't work," Lin Yi said, lowering her voice as if imparting wisdom. "You have to say, 'If anything happens to you, General, what will your servant do?' Best to make it sound as pitiful as possible. The more tragic, the better. The General's heart will soften, and he might agree."
"It... it can be like that!" A Fu suddenly enlightened, repeatedly marveling.
"Exactly! And I've noticed you have a huge advantage when facing the General," Lin Yi pointed at A Fu's red-rimmed eyes. "Your tear ducts are very developed; tears come on command! I've seen you cry three times today. Next time you plead, make full use of this advantage, and you're sure to succeed!"
"Ahem."
Gu Fang put down the scroll, his face full of helplessness. His gaze swept between the excited Lin Yi and the enlightened A Fu, finally resting on his forehead as he sighed, "Although I know it's rude to interrupt, I suggest that if you two want to discuss such strategies, perhaps you could do it when I'm not around?"
Lin Yi immediately turned around, expertly grabbed Gu Fang's arm, and pressed close to him, while giving A Fu a wink. Her voice was sweet and soft: "I know, I know! Husband, how about we start nourishing your body today, okay?"
A Fu received the signal and didn't give Gu Fang a chance to refuse. He quickly replied, speaking as fast as if racing against time: "The Chancellor's Mansion did send a lot of high-quality nourishing lingzhi a few days ago, excellent quality! This old servant will immediately instruct the kitchen to simmer it carefully and present it to the General at dinner!"
And so, that evening.
Before Gu Fang, besides the usual meal, there was indeed a bowl of dark, richly aromatic medicinal broth. More thoughtfully, even the rice in his bowl was replaced with carefully prepared medicinal cuisine.
Gu Fang stared at this 'all-nourishing' dinner in front of him, silent for a long time.
---
Late at night, all was quiet.
Light knocks sounded outside the side room.
On the bed, Gu Fang opened his eyes instantly, his gaze clear and devoid of sleepiness. He listened for a moment, confirming Lin Yi was fast asleep, then silently propped himself up, grabbed the crutch by the bed, and quietly slipped out of the door.
In the courtyard outside, a young man with nondescript face and clothing stood with hands at his sides, like a shadow merging into the night. Seeing Gu Fang, he clasped his fists respectfully and said in a very low voice: "General, the matter you ordered investigated today has results."
Gu Fang stood under the corridor leaning on his crutch, his voice calm: "Speak."
A dark guard named Xiao Yi reported in a low voice: "The results are the same as the initial investigation. Madam did indeed suffer long-term neglect at the Minister's Mansion. Except for necessary occasions, she kept to herself. Past records show her disposition was timid and introverted, completely different from how Madam behaves now. Should we continue to investigate the root of the change?"
Gu Fang looked down, his gaze resting on the cold moonlight on the stone slabs in the courtyard. After a moment of silence, he said softly, "No need. Stop here. Divert all personnel to clean up after the Emperor's matter. We must not let anyone discover us again."
"Understood." Xiao Yi said no more, bowed, and then his figure flickered as he melted into the dark corner, as if he had never been there.
Gu Fang stood still for a while longer, then gently pushed open the door and returned to the warm interior. He glanced at Lin Yi sleeping peacefully on the bed, carefully set down his crutch, lay down again, and closed his eyes.
The night remained deep, as if nothing had happened.
---
The next morning.
Xiao Zhu sat at the desk, holding her breath and concentrating, writing a visiting card on behalf of Lin Yi. There was no help for it; although Lin Yi had inherited the original body's memories, making her write elegant classical Chinese with a brush was truly difficult. Fortunately, she had Xiao Zhu as a capable assistant.
"Did you write down everything I just said?" Lin Yi leaned over to Xiao Zhu, looking at the nearly finished card. The handwriting was delicate and neat, the phrasing proper. She nodded in satisfaction, inwardly praising: Decided—I'll rely on you for paperwork from now on, Xiao Zhu!
"Miss, it's all written." Xiao Zhu gently put down the brush, carefully lifted a corner of the card, and softly fanned it to dry the ink faster.
"Good, good. Thank you for your hard work. Could you please take this card to the He residence later?" Lin Yi said as she stood up. "I'll head to the kitchen first and will probably be there for a while. When you come back, come find me directly in the kitchen."
"What are you going to the kitchen for, Miss?" Xiao Zhu quickly called out. "If you want anything to eat, just tell me or Butler A Fu to instruct the kitchen. Why go yourself?"
Lin Yi stopped and explained, "I'm not going to order food. I want to try to improve the preparation of soybeans."
"Soybeans?" Xiao Zhu didn't catch on at first.
"Oh, it's what you call 'shu'. I'm used to calling it soybeans," Lin Yi said patiently. "I heard from A Fu that many people don't like eating it. I want to try a different method to see if I can make it tasty, so more people are willing to accept it."
"Ah, it's shu." Xiao Zhu suddenly understood, but her face showed a sympathetic expression. "That stuff really is awful. Before I entered the Minister's Mansion as a child, my family often ate bean and grain rice. I still remember the taste."
"You know," Lin Yi shifted gears and began to explain seriously, "Although bean and grain rice doesn't taste great, from a health perspective, it's actually very healthy. On the contrary, many of the foods favored by the nobility—stewed, fried, heavily processed—if eaten long-term, can easily lay the groundwork for illness, causing three highs and damaging teeth. When a toothache comes, it's really painful."
"Ah? Is that so?" Xiao Zhu's eyes widened, clearly shocked by this subversive notion. "But I see that commoners are often sallow and thin, while people in wealthy families are usually plump. Why is that?"
"That's because the problems are completely different." Lin Yi patiently tried to explain in an easier way. "Commoners eat simple, coarse food with unbalanced nutrition, and they expend huge energy from daily labor, spending more than they take in, so they naturally look skinny. Wealthy families eat finely processed food that seems abundant, but many natural nutrients are lost during processing, and they accumulate a lot of useless burden. On top of that, they have little daily activity, so they can't burn off calories, and naturally gain weight."
Xiao Zhu listened in a daze, unfamiliar terms like 'nutrition', 'calories', and 'burden' spinning in her head. Her eyes gradually glazed over, and she wondered how her young mistress suddenly knew so much. Finally, holding the completed card, she walked out a bit unsteadily, her head spinning.
Lin Yi watched Xiao Zhu's staggering back, sighed softly, collected herself, and turned toward the kitchen. The kitchen manager A Zhi had already been informed and was waiting at the door. Seeing her, he said respectfully, "Madam, the beans sent by the butler yesterday have all been ground into fine powder as instructed. Shall we start trying to make new bean dishes now?"
"Mm, let me first see the preparations." Lin Yi nodded and stepped into the kitchen.
Lin Yi followed A Zhi into the kitchen. It was clean and tidy, with all kinds of ingredients categorized neatly, making everything clear at a glance.
Lin Yi's gaze quickly fell on a basket of pale yellow fine powder in the corner. She walked over and pinched some between her fingers; it felt fine and smooth. "Is this bean powder?"
"Yes, Madam," A Zhi replied respectfully. "I heard Madam wanted to develop a new way to cook beans for the common people, so I gave it some thought. Ordinary families usually rely on manual grinding, which is time-consuming and laborious. Our mansion uses a donkey to turn the mill, which is much faster. For comparison, I deliberately took a dou of beans and had both a strongman from the mansion and the donkey mill grind it. The strongman took nearly two hours to grind one dou. For ordinary people, it would probably take even longer and yield less."
This A Zhi is very thoughtful. Lin Yi praised inwardly. Yesterday when she and A Fu discussed it, they only thought about grinding into powder, completely ignoring the real bottleneck of processing efficiency. So she made a mental note: on her plan sheet, she needed to add an item about improving grain processing tools.