LOT – Chapter 33 What the hell did you carve? The species has changed!

That morning was all about eating royal melons—and not gonna lie, royal melons really do taste sweeter!

Not long after the Second Prince got home, a whole crowd of people came knocking.

“Your Highness, this was sent by the Crown Prince. He asked me to tell you to take a good look at it if you have time.”

“This is from the Third Prince. He also left a message for you: Learning never ends!”

“Your Highness, this is from His Majesty. He said, Don’t embarrass me. If you’ve got nothing else to do, you should study more.”

Even various other ministers sent over a whole bunch of random stuff, quickly filling up half the room.

There were even items meant for body nourishment—covering everything you could possibly imagine!

Second Prince: “…”

What the hell is wrong with you people?! What’s with all the herbal medicine?! My body’s perfectly fine!

Meanwhile, Lin Mo had just gotten home and immediately went to work on her wood carving. She had already picked out the wood in advance, just hadn’t started yet. And yes—not even a little bit of it had been carved!

“Ahhhhh! Why is this so hard?!”

Lin Mo collapsed onto the table, wailing nonstop. The system had no clue how to help her either.

[Didn’t you used to be pretty good at wood carving? When you had nothing better to do, you made all sorts of weird things. Like that duck under your bed.]

Lin Mo responded with a blank stare: [That’s not a duck. That’s a swan.]

System: “……”

[That thing on your desk right now… that’s a dog, right? Looks a lot like that long-haired mutt you used to have at home.]

Expressionless, Lin Mo answered: [No. That’s a lion. Can’t you tell it’s a lion?]

She’d carved it so realistically, so vividly—how could anyone not see it?

System: “……”

The system suddenly felt like suggesting she make a wood carving was maybe… not the best idea. She wasn’t just mis-carving—she was changing species entirely!

After a moment of contemplation, the system said with great seriousness:

[Maybe… you should try making a different kind of gift instead. Your carving is, uh, good. Really good. Just… a little abstract. You’re like an abstract artist. But hey, all abstract artists start out misunderstood.]

The system was trying to be as tactful as possible—and it was so tactful that Lin Mo genuinely felt like it was complimenting her.

Feeling touched, she said:

[I knew it! You’re the one who understands me best. I always felt I was an artist too! Just… not many people out there get me. Sigh~]

System: “…uh, wait. I think you missed the point. My point was that abstract artists aren’t necessarily real artists.”

Sometimes, it felt like this host of its was occasionally brilliant. Just when the system thought she was clever, she’d do something dumb. But when it thought she was hopeless, she’d come up with something surprisingly sharp.

Basically, she had this talent for being clueless when she should be sharp—and overly sharp when there was no need to be.

To be fair, back in the modern world, Lin Mo’s brain used to work just fine. She had to think fast to survive.

But after living in this era for over a decade—and slacking off for just as long—she’d ended up simplifying her entire way of thinking.

Isn’t it nice to just live happily every day? Why bother worrying about so many annoying things? And so, over time, she just stopped using her brain altogether.

As she kept living in this world, it was like her brain slowly rusted over, and that’s how she ended up the way she was now.

Lin Mo didn’t catch the system’s silent frustration. Holding onto the piece of wood with full confidence, she declared:

[Since I’m going to be an artist, I can’t give up halfway! I will carve a perfect piece! I’ll definitely impress His Majesty!]

The system suddenly had a bad feeling. Could she really carve something “perfect”? Why did it just not believe her?

That whole day, Lin Mo actually stayed obediently in her room working away. The system watched as she slowly shaped the wood into a humanoid figure.

Just as it was about to let out a breath of relief, it came back later and saw—

The humanoid figure had turned into a primate. And not just any primate, but one with a crown on its head.

The system sucked in a sharp breath: [What the heck did you carve?!]

Girl, the species has changed! If you actually present this to the emperor, I swear, you might get beheaded!

Without even lifting her head, Lin Mo replied: [You don’t get it. It’s still a work in progress. Once it’s finished, you’ll see how beautiful it is. It might not look great now, but when it’s done, it’ll look amazing.]

You sure about that?! Really?! Even as a “work in progress,” you shouldn’t be changing species! Are you carving the emperor or the ancestor of humankind?! Is this what you think the emperor looks like?!

Meanwhile, the emperor had no idea his image had just been destroyed beyond recognition. He was still cheerfully listening to his shadow guard’s report.

“I didn’t expect that girl would actually calm down and get to work on the carving. I really want to see what kind of gift she’ll give me.”

Honestly, Emperor Xuande was kind of looking forward to it.

Every year for his birthday, the civil and military officials would gift him all sorts of things—some valuable, some more heartfelt, a real mixed bag.

As for the expensive stuff, the emperor secretly had it sold off to refill the national treasury. The more sentimental items? Well, those got to stay (because no one wanted to buy them). So now, his private storeroom was filled with “heartfelt gifts.”

Seriously though, to be an emperor this frugal? He was truly one of a kind.

Lin Mo toiled away through the whole afternoon and evening. Apart from the system, no one had any idea what her carving actually looked like.

Minister Lin didn’t get home until later that night—after all, the Second Prince from Xijiang was arriving the next day, and they had to prepare accordingly.

As a major nation, they needed to show the proper dignity and grace. The ceremonial stuff had to be on point.

The first thing Minister Lin did when he got back was ask his wife if Lin Mo had caused any trouble.

Lady Lin gave him an annoyed look and said, “Why is it that whenever you talk about our daughter, it’s always like she’s off causing chaos? Mo’er was very well-behaved today. As soon as she came home, she locked herself in her room and hasn’t come out since. I heard she’s working on a carved gift for the emperor.”

Minister Lin paused with the book in his hand, then asked suspiciously, “Did any of you see what she’s actually carving? Do you know what it is?”

Madam Lin shook her head. “No, but the maids outside said they overheard Mo’er praising herself nonstop, calling herself some kind of ‘artist’ and all that. So I guess whatever she’s carving must be pretty good, right?”

Minister Lin still looked doubtful. Well, whatever. No point worrying about that girl right now. Might as well go to bed early. The Second Prince of Xijiang would be arriving tomorrow morning.

He was actually pretty curious about this Second Prince from Xijiang—after all, he was a legendary figure who had apparently slept his way through his father’s entire harem.

Meanwhile, the emperor was having a bit of a sleepless night.

“What if… what if people from other countries can also hear Lin Mo talking to that system?” That was what truly worried him.

They could laugh at the scandals of other nations all they wanted, but under no circumstances could their own embarrassing stories be leaked to outsiders!

Eunuch Li thought for a moment, then replied, “We’ll find out with a little test tomorrow. Lord Xiao Lin will be attending the foreign envoy reception anyway.”