A child who cannot grow flowers

In ancient times a country was ruled by a wise king. She has no children. One day the king thought, "I will find the most conscientious child in the country and adopt him as my son," and ordered all the children in the country to share flower seeds.
"Whoever grows the most beautiful flower from this seed will be my son or daughter," he declared.
All the children began to sow and care for the seeds.
A boy named Rustambek also planted seeds and took good care of them. But a month later, the seeds sown in the flowerbed did not germinate.
"How did that happen?" Rustambek said in surprise, and finally asked his mother.
"Why don't the seeds I planted sprout?"
His mother was also worried:
"Renew the soil," he said.
Rustambek replaced the soil in the flowerbed. This time, too, the seeds did not sprout.
The day came when the king saw the flowers. All the children dressed up and set off, carrying the flowers they had grown in the pots. They all dreamed of becoming crown princes. For some reason the king passed by all the children, looking at the flowers. There was no spark of joy on his face.
He saw Rustambek crying in front of a house carrying an empty pan.
"Why are you holding an empty pan?" He asked.
Rustambek burst into tears and told that one day someone had picked an apple from someone's garden without informing the owner, which is probably why he couldn't get the seed no matter how hard he tried.
When he heard this, he pointed to King Rustambek and said:
"Here is my son of good conscience," he said.
There was a commotion among the people:
"Why did the king adopt the empty boy?"
Then the king explained:
“O people, the flower seed I shared with the children was boiled.
Only then did the people agree with the king's opinion. The faces of the children, who were carrying colorful flowers, blushed with embarrassment. Because they all found another flower seed and planted it.

Source: A child who cannot grow flowers