Seeing the young man, who was a generation younger than her, acting so aggressively, Meng Yun'er almost fainted from anger. "I don't need you to chase me away. I have legs and I can walk!"

The group of boys were not reassured by this, and followed Meng Yun'er to the edge of the village. After seeing that she had really left the village, they waited at the village entrance for a while before turning back into the village.

The old village chief's house, the main house.

The young girl, her face slightly pale, lay on the newly made pear-blossom bed, her eyelids half-open. "How did things go at the county government office?"

Yan Yi replied in a low voice, "Your Highness, Meng Yongfu is dead, and Meng Fu has been exiled to Gucheng. As for Meng Yongfu's body, it has been taken to the mortuary on the outskirts of the city. When I returned just now, I ran into Meng Yun'er, and she already knew about it."

"Okay, I understand." Jun Qingcheng nodded. "Did you find the spicy hot pot I asked you to look for yesterday?"

Yan Yi cupped his hands and took off the oil paper package hanging on his wrist. "This red oil pot is called hot pot. Yesterday, I ordered my men to search all over Cangwu Town but they couldn't find it. Today, however, I stumbled upon it at Su Ji Restaurant in Qingshui County. Hot pot is their specialty, but it's not cheap. I'll buy three packs for now."

"Hot pot? Why does that word sound so familiar?" Jun Qingcheng took the oil paper package, put it to her nose and smelled it. "It smells quite good. Even through the oil paper package, it makes one's mouth water."

Cai Die frowned. "Last night, the ugly woman from the second branch of the Su family we met in the front yard mentioned hot pot! Su's Restaurant, could this Su refer to Su Hua's family?"

Jun Qingcheng paused slightly in her hand holding the oil paper package, then looked up at the man. "Is this Su's Restaurant a property of the Su family?"

“Yes, the restaurant is owned by the Su family.” Yan Yi cupped his hands. “I heard that the restaurant was built by Su Hua. The food there is very novel and popular with the people of Qingshui County. The line of people waiting to go there stretches from the front of the restaurant all the way to the alley entrance.”

The reason I returned late was because I was delayed in line for more than an hour.

"A queue that takes more than an hour?" The girl looked surprised. "Even Tianxiang Restaurant in the capital doesn't offer this kind of service! You said earlier that this hot pot base is quite expensive, how much does a packet cost?"

Yan Yi lowered his eyes and said, "I bought a packet of hot pot base, which cost one hundred taels of silver."

Before she could finish speaking, Cai Die gasped in shock, “One hundred taels for a packet?! How can something this small, no bigger than the palm of your hand be so expensive? Is the Su family used to robbing people?”

Yesterday, their princess wanted to stay at the Su family's house, but that wild girl named Azheng asked for an exorbitant price of 100,000 taels of silver per night.

Nowadays, a small piece of hot pot base in the Su family restaurant sells for a hundred taels of silver—it's outrageous!

Jun Qingcheng's eyes flickered slightly. "You said Su's Restaurant is doing very well, but one hundred taels is not a small amount. Qingshui County is a notoriously poor county. If it really sells for one hundred taels a pack, how can the people of Qingshui County afford it? This price is only for you and me, isn't it?"

“The princess is right.” Yan sighed, her usually cold face showing signs of restraint. “Su’s restaurant always sells this hot pot base for one tael per packet to outsiders, but only to subordinates does it cost one hundred taels.”

"This Su family is simply going too far!" Cai Die's anger surged to her head, and she was about to throw the oil paper package in her hand to the ground.

However, she had to stop halfway through smashing it. It cost one hundred taels, and the group of them together had less than one thousand taels in total. She couldn't afford to smash it!

Immediately, all his anger was directed at Yan Yi, "If Su Ji sold it to you for a hundred taels, couldn't you have asked someone else to buy it for you?"

Yan Yi's expression was also not good. "I had already thought of what Miss Caidie was thinking, but when the guests saw the price Su Erhu was charging me, none of them were willing to buy it for me. Even if they were given money, it wouldn't be worth it."

After saying that, she took the money pouch from her waist and presented it to Jun Qingcheng, "These are the remaining five hundred and thirty taels, Princess, please accept them."

Jun Qingcheng glanced at the money pouch. "Isn't the money your responsibility? Why are you suddenly handing it over to me?"

Yan Yi cupped his hands in greeting, "When I returned, I received an order from His Highness that we should go back immediately."

"Why did Father suddenly order you to return?" The girl frowned slightly. "Did he say why?"

Yan shook her head. "No."

Seeing this, Jun Qingcheng had no choice but to let Caidie accept the silver pouch. "Alright, you can go back now. When you return to the capital, please tell my father and mother that I'm doing well here and that they shouldn't worry."

Also, remember to have Mother send some silver notes.

She and Cai Die had run away from the capital and only managed to send a letter back after entering Wuxi Prefecture. However, the letter was slow, and by the time her father sent a group of secret guards to Wuxi Prefecture, all their money had been stolen by the shady inn. Now they were even struggling to make ends meet in the village.

"Yes, I understand." Yan Yi bowed and withdrew.

Cai Die clutched the few remaining silver notes in her hand, biting her lip in resentment. "Princess, Meng Yun'er once said that Su Hua was possessed by a vengeful ghost. What Yan Yifang just said about hot pot, spicy hot pot, barbecue, and hot and sour noodles is something we've never even heard of. I'm afraid these are all ghostly things she brought from the ghost realm."

She has humiliated you time and time again. Why don't we invite a highly virtuous monk to subdue her and end the matter once and for all?"

"Ha! There are no demons or monsters in this world. They are just fools who deceive themselves. They are just like that crazy monk in Yunwu Temple who cheats people out of food and drink. They are not worth worrying about."

Jun Qingcheng smiled and said, "Let's boil this hot pot later and see what's going on inside."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Cai Die had no choice but to take the hot pot to the kitchen.

As the sun dipped below the mountain and the sky gradually darkened, the lights in Shanghe Village went out. A small, thin figure emerged from behind a crooked sycamore tree at the village entrance and tiptoed toward the east end of the village.