Seeing their blatant attempt to harm Lu Yinghuai, Zifu was furious and about to curse them, but Lu Yinghuai stopped her.

"You actually took that as a joke seriously? If they wanted to harm me, they would have done it already. Hurry up and prepare some hot water; we're all exhausted from the long journey."

Zi Fu scratched the back of his head. So this was a joke. How could he not understand? But since his husband said so, then it must be. After all, his husband was witty and intelligent.

Zi Fu put aside his dissatisfaction with Yun Ling and the others, and quickly ran to the kitchen to boil water.

**

Yunling and Tangling naturally lived in the backyard, while Lu Yinghuai, Chen Jie, Gangzi, and Zifu lived in the frontyard. They tidied up their rooms, running around to buy whatever they needed. After much back and forth, they managed to set up their rooms before dark.

Exhausted from their work, even someone as restless as Yunling was yawning and rolling around on the new bed, completely forgetting about going out to play. And so the night passed.

After daybreak, Tang Ling brought a basin of hot water to help Yun Ling wash up.

It's already winter, and the weather is freezing cold. The water in the well is like ice; if you touch it, you'll freeze solid. So she gets up early to boil a pot of hot water in the kitchen for everyone to wash up.

Yunling didn't want to get out of bed. Her bed was so warm, with two hot water bottles and charcoal in the room. It felt the best.

Besides, when she's busy, she doesn't feel cold even on the coldest days; but when she's idle, she doesn't want to move at all and is very lazy.

"Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to get up early today and go for a stroll? Hurry up and get up, or the hot water will get cold."

Yunling rolled over in bed, reluctant to even open her eyes, and asked:

"Tang Ling, do you know when the Great Xiangguo Temple opens?"

"Daxiangguo Temple is only open five times a month. Today is the 12th, and it will be open once on the 15th."

Now Yunling felt even more at ease lying down. She thought she could have another sweet dream and reminisce with Morpheus, but her stomach was terribly empty and rumbling loudly. Last night, she had only thought about sleeping and had only casually ate a couple of mouthfuls of porridge. Now, the "karma" had come.

"Tang Ling, tell me, what good food is there around here?"

"There's so much! Cooked mutton head, red and white kidneys, beef tripe, beef honeycomb tripe, rabbit, quail, doves, and so on. Just now, when I was boiling water in the kitchen, the aroma of mutton wafted over from across the street, making my mouth water several times."

"So we're having mutton so early?"

"Of course, the shop opens at dawn, but the mutton, lamb leg, lamb chops, and lamb intestines have to be cooked an hour in advance so that they are flavorful."

Yunling couldn't stand it anymore. Just thinking about being able to eat a bowl of hot mutton noodles made her happy, and she quickened her pace as she dressed.

Tang Ling smiled and handed over the mouthwash cup. After Yun Ling finished rinsing her mouth, she offered her a warm face towel and continued:

"Young Master Lu has instructed that if the young lady encounters any troublesome matters or obstacles in the capital, she can go to Lu Family Business to find him. If she takes a fancy to anything new, she can also buy it on credit and have the owner settle the account at Lu Family Business."

"I wouldn't cause trouble, and I wouldn't run up debts. This person... he's gone out?"

"Yes, he gets up even earlier than me and goes out to work in the dark."

Yunling looked up at the sky speechlessly. This guy was richer than her, had a better family background, and worked harder than her. What reason did she have not to eat two more bowls of mutton noodles?

"What about the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort)? Did he go with him?"

"Yes, it seems they're dealing with the Lu family's merchant ships, but Zi Fu is staying at the residence."

Yunling nodded, agreeing that it was normal. Chen Jie was in charge of escorting this shipment of fruit, so naturally he had to take good care of it. In addition, he had to look after all the brothers in the escort agency, so he certainly didn't have much free time.

Yunling sighed, stuffed all her belongings into her bosom, and then led Tang Ling and Gangzi outside.

The weather was bad today, a gloomy and overcast day, which made the already cold weather even colder. The three of them hunched their shoulders and ran towards the aroma.

The mutton noodle shop wasn't big, but it was packed with customers. When Yunling and her group arrived, all the seats were already taken, and more and more people kept coming in. Yunling quickly grabbed a seat near the door.

The three sat down, their eyes immediately drawn to the two large pots next to each other. One pot was full of mutton, with small bubbles rising to the surface. The aroma of mutton mixed with spices wafted out continuously, like the wildest fox spirit, bewitching everyone's souls.

The other pot was held down by a hollowed-out round frame. Yunling smelled the aroma of mutton, but since she couldn't see it, she became curious and asked:

"Hey boss, is this pot of mutton too?"

The man laughed:

"I'm not the owner. Our owner has a shop over at Longjin Bridge. This is also mutton. See what you want to eat. We have mutton, offal, liver, leg, and chops. I'll cut it for you whatever you want."

"Then why use a rack to weigh it down? Can't you just cover it with a big pot lid?"

"Hehe, when you cook this mutton, it floats on the surface of the water, which makes it easy for it to not cook through and not absorb the flavor. So you have to press it down while cooking. Pressing it down like this also helps to remove the muttony smell. You should try it if you don't believe me."

Yunling wiped the drool from her mouth and asked:

How much did you sell these for?

"Regular mutton noodles are 60 coins, mutton offal noodles are 45 coins, mutton leg noodles are 50 coins, and mutton rib noodles are 55 coins. All of these noodles are thin noodles, each weighing two ounces."

"Then let's have one bowl of each, and try them."

Okay.

The thin noodles were brought out from inside the shop, bowl by bowl, and then placed in front, topped with the corresponding mutton, offal, leg of lamb, and ribs. Finally, a spoonful of mutton soup was poured over it, and a handful of chopped green onions were sprinkled on top. The moment Yunling saw it, her face turned black.

She wanted to call out to stop him, but she couldn't open her mouth as fast as he was sprinkling scallions, so she could only watch helplessly as the scallions were sprinkled onto her noodles.

Yunling was completely flustered. Tang Ling and Gangzi exchanged a smile, then picked up their chopsticks and joined the group picking out the scallions.

After picking out all the scallions, the noodles had clumped up slightly. The three of them quickly slurped up a mouthful of noodles. Because the noodles were thin, they absorbed the broth very well, making you want to eat another bite after just one.

As for the main ingredient, mutton, it wasn't gamey and had a slightly sweet taste. Yunling didn't really like it, so she only ate the mutton chop noodles and left the rest of the mutton noodles to Gangzi.