Pei Weixuan sat behind Yu Niang and massaged a few acupuncture points on her head. After about a quarter of an hour, he heard Yu Niang's joyful voice, "It really doesn't hurt much anymore. Fourth brother is really amazing."

Xu Qinyu still admired her fourth brother very much. He was smart, had medical skills, and was also good at martial arts. He was just not talkative, but he was handsome and kept himself clean. In fact, a man like her fourth brother would be a good husband.

Feeling that the headache was less severe, Xu Qinyu turned around and thanked her fourth brother.

The two chatted for a while while boiling water as usual, with Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan talking about what had happened in the past two months.

Pei Weixuan listened carefully.

When Wen got up, she saw that the two of them looked normal, but there was a hint of embarrassment on Yu Niang's face that she herself had not even noticed.

She knew that Yu Niang would not ask for divorce from Xuan Ge'er again, but it seemed that the relationship between the two was still unclear, so she guessed that they would have to take it slow. This was fine, as long as Yu Niang did not ask for divorce.

After washing up, Xu Qinyu went to Xu Ji.

Pei Weixuan accompanied her there. He didn't need to look after the glass workshop for the time being, and there was nothing else to do on the island, so he could stay at home for half a month.

Xu Qinyu really didn't plan to mention the divorce again and planned to let things take their course. She had never been able to figure out her feelings for her fourth brother, so it was better to let things take their course.

While her fourth brother was around, Xu Qinyu told him what was in her mind.

Even if she didn't divorce or leave the Pei family, she still wanted to go to Raozhou City to open a bigger restaurant. Now that she had Dong Qian and Chef Wang, Xu Ji could be handed over to them, and she could go to Raozhou City to take a look.

Pei Weixuan naturally also supports Yu Niang. Apart from divorce, Yu Niang can do whatever she wants.

Xu Qinyu said, "Then, if you have time tomorrow, Fourth Brother, can you accompany me to visit Raozhou City?"

"good."

In the evening, Xu Qinyu told everyone at Xu's Restaurant that she would go to Raozhou City to look for shops or land tomorrow, hoping to open a big restaurant or restaurant in Raozhou City.

As for whether to open a restaurant or a restaurant, she was unsure for a moment.

It will take about two or three days to go out tomorrow, so Xu Ji asked them to do it.

Everyone also told her not to worry and to go out without worry.

The next day, Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan went to Raozhou City.

When she was exiled to the southwest, the first place she came to was Raozhou City. Also, she had been here twice before when she cooked for Old Lady Zhu.

The state is naturally different from the town. There are a lot more people in the state than in the town, and it is more prosperous. The streets and markets are full of people coming and going.

The regional division of Raozhou City is not much different from that of Yuanbao Town, and it is also divided into four major directions: east, west, south and north. However, because the city is larger, unlike Yuanbao Town, which only has a few main streets, the market streets and alleys in every direction of Raozhou City are crisscrossed, and the population is at least ten times that of Yuanbao Town.

The population of Yuanbao Town is almost 10,000, and the population of Raozhou City is at least 200,000 to 300,000.

Because of the relationship between the Pei and Zhu families, Pei Weixuan and Xu Qinyu were not in a position to visit Governor Zhu. For fear of being noticed by someone with ulterior motives, the two of them first stayed at the Bafang Inn.

When they were first exiled to the southwest, they lived in the Bafang Inn. Xu Qinyu borrowed the kitchen of the Bafang Inn to cook and earned ten taels of silver. Because of this, she became acquainted with the innkeeper Zhou and chef Zhou of the Bafang Inn.

Xu Qinyu also taught Chef Zhou some recipes and cooking tips.

A year and a half ago, because of the matter of Old Lady Zhu, she met with the Zhou father and son of the Bafang Inn, and asked Chef Zhou to use the dishes she taught to attract customers to the Bafang Inn. After that, during the holidays, Chef Zhou and Manager Zhou would bring their families to visit her to wish her a happy new year.

In the eyes of the two, Xu Qinyu was already half-master of Chef Zhou.

Manager Zhou is currently settling accounts in the inn.

Over the past year, because Miss Xu taught her son how to cook several dishes and allowed her son to use these dishes to attract customers, the business of the Bafang Inn has been getting better and better, and the hotel has been filled with guests.

So Shopkeeper Zhou was particularly grateful to Miss Xu.

I was just calculating the bill when I suddenly heard a voice, "Boss, please stay at the hotel."

Chef Zhou suddenly felt that the voice was familiar. When he looked up, he saw Miss Xu looking at him with a smile.

Shopkeeper Zhou was surprised and asked, "Miss Xu, why are you here in Raozhou City?"

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "I wanted to open a restaurant in Raozhou City, so I came here to take a look. I don't have a place to stay, so I came to stay with you, Manager Zhou, for a few days."

Manager Zhou was of course very welcoming and booked a top-notch room for them. He knew that Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan were a couple, so he booked a room for them.

Xu Qinyu hesitated. She originally wanted to ask Manager Zhou to open two rooms for her, but since she came to stay in the inn, Manager Zhou would definitely not be willing to accept money from her. Moreover, it was a top-notch hotel, so she couldn't ask for another room.

After thinking about it, Xu Qinyu didn't say anything. She just asked Manager Zhou to send in another mattress later.

The two of them entered the room and put their things away first. Xu Qinyu then went out for a walk in the city with her fourth brother.

Chef Zhou was still busy in the kitchen, so Xu Qinyu didn't go to see him yet.

After leaving the inn, Xu Qinyu didn't have any specific estimates in mind, so she could only wander around. After wandering for half an hour, she noticed that the security in Raozhou City seemed to be much stricter. She couldn't help but look up at her fourth brother and whispered, "Fourth brother, are the guards in the city stricter?"

Pei Weixuan hummed, his eyes darkening. "The capital has sent an imperial envoy to investigate the military pay corruption case, so the security in Raozhou City has been very tight recently."

Seeing that Fourth Brother's face was a little solemn, Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat and continued to ask in a low voice, "Fourth Brother, is the situation not good?"

"Yes." Pei Weixuan did not hide it from Yu Niang, "A large number of officials in the court in the capital have been replaced. The people who came this time seem to be the people of the King of Handong. After arriving in Raozhou, they just ate, drank and had fun. The governor was afraid of any accidents, so he sent a lot of guards in the city."

He knew that not only that, but it was the King of Handong who embezzled military pay.

So this time we sent people to investigate, but in the end it ended up in nothing.

I'm afraid even Empress Dowager Fu knew in her heart who was responsible for the corruption this time. Since Empress Dowager Fu allowed her own brother to do such a thing, it also shows that Empress Dowager Fu also felt that these soldiers guarding the border city were not very important. She probably felt that the Bi State next to the southwestern border posed no threat. She felt that the Bi State had been frightened by her eldest brother five years ago, and its military strength had weakened, so it dared not invade again.

In order to save military pay on the border, some soldiers in the barracks may even be dismissed.

The final result of disbanding the troops was nothing more than giving the Bi State a sense of opportunity. They would think that the southwest's military strength had weakened, and they would probably continue to have some plans.

Pei Weixuan didn't tell Yu Niang about this.

But Xu Qinyu was already furious when she heard this. "They even dare to embezzle military pay. They don't even care about the safety of the people of Dasheng."

Even if she didn't understand politics, she knew that throughout all historical dynasties, military defense on the borders was of paramount importance. Otherwise, if the military defense was weakened, wouldn't it give others the opportunity to attack their own country?

As one of the border areas, the southwest has the same military defense. Empress Dowager Fu’s own brother dared to embezzle even military pay. What else would he not dare to do?

Xu Qinyu felt a little depressed because of this matter. She was hesitant for a while and didn't know whether to open a restaurant in Raozhou City.

I always feel that with the way the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu govern the country, chaos will arise sooner or later. The southwest is a border area, so it will be even more affected by the situation.

But the fourth brother seemed to understand her thoughts and said to her, "Don't worry, Yu Niang, it's okay to open a restaurant. Even in troubled times, it's easier for families with big fortunes to survive than ordinary people."

What Fourth Brother said seemed to make sense. A wealthy family with many guards at home wouldn't make it easier for them to survive than ordinary people. They'd have people to flee when the time came. It was no wonder she wanted to flee. If a war really broke out, how could the southwest fight without its troops? The people of the southwest would definitely retreat inwards.

It is not good to do business if you are timid.

She still plans to open a restaurant or a restaurant.

She and her fourth brother went back when it was almost dinner time and saw two shops for rent or sale. Both were three-story shops and could also be used as restaurants.

The largest restaurant in Raozhou City is called Zuixianlou. It is five stories high and does good business. It is the most famous restaurant in Raozhou City. When she and her fourth brother turned around, they saw the imperial envoy from the capital being escorted in for dinner.

Fourth brother pulled her away.

Xu Qinyu sighed and returned to the inn with her fourth brother.

After returning to the inn, she went to the kitchen to look for Chef Zhou.

When Chef Zhou saw her, he politely called her "Master".

It was time for dinner, and there were quite a few diners in front. Chef Zhou had hired a kitchen helper and brought two apprentices with him, and the restaurant was very busy.

Xu Qinyu asked him to prepare the food first, and she also ordered two stir-fried dishes for herself.

After finishing her evening meal with her fourth brother, Xu Qinyu went back to her room with her fourth brother to wash up. After she finished washing up, she went downstairs to find Chef Zhou and learn cooking skills from him.

When he returned to his room to sleep at night, his fourth brother had already asked Manager Zhou for an extra quilt.

Fourth brother slept on the floor. Fortunately, the weather was not cold at the moment, and they were in the Emperor's room with wooden floors, so there was not much difference.

Xu Qinyu was polite to her fourth brother, but he took her hand and led her to the bed, letting her sleep on it.

Fourth brother had held her hand before, but for some reason, this time, when Fourth brother held her hand, Xu Qinyu's face turned red and she felt an electric shock on her hand. When Fourth brother asked her to sleep on the bed, she just nodded and didn't dare to refute anything.

Maybe it was because I changed my bed and didn’t sleep well last night, so I woke up early in the morning.

Fourth brother also woke up and went to the yard to practice sword, while Xu Qinyu went to the kitchen.

After breakfast, Xu Qinyu and her fourth brother planned to continue walking around the city. They didn’t finish their tour of the city yesterday, so they could go outside the city tomorrow. If they wanted to open a large restaurant that combines food, drink and entertainment, there might not be such a large piece of land in the city, so they could only go outside the city and look for a place close to the mountains and rivers.

Just as he was about to go out, an ordinary-looking man came over and accidentally bumped into Fourth Brother.

After everyone left, Pei Weixuan found a piece of paper in his hand. He opened it and took a look. Xu Qinyu also realized what was happening and asked in a low voice, "Fourth brother, was this handed to you by the person who bumped into you just now?"

Pei Weixuan nodded. He had already read the note and said to Yu Niang, "Yun Niang, let's go back to the room first."

Xu Qinyu nodded, knowing that it must be something important.

After returning to the room, Pei Weixuan told her, "My uncle and grandfather knew I was coming to Raozhou and wanted to discuss something with me, so he sent a letter. So I have to go to the prefectural governor's residence soon and can't accompany Yu Niang out for a walk. Yu Niang, rest at the inn for a day, and I will accompany you out tomorrow, okay?"

Xu Qinyu waved her hand and said, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother. You go to the prefectural governor's residence, and I can go out by myself."

She's such a grown-up, it's no problem for her to walk around by herself.

Pei Weixuan glanced at her face and stopped trying to persuade her. He just said, "Yu Niang can change her clothes before going out."

Xu Qinyu was stunned for a moment, "Change clothes?"

Pei Weixuan was just a little worried. Yu Niang was born smart and pretty, but she herself didn't realize it. In fact, Yu Niang would attract a lot of attention when she went out.

He was not familiar with Raozhou City, but he was worried that Yu Niang would meet some bad people with ulterior motives on the way.

He expressed his concerns and told Yu Niang that she could dress as a man.

Xu Qinyu said, "That's fine too."

But in the past, when watching TV, you could tell at a glance that a girl wanted to wear men's clothes.

But it would be bad to reject Fourth Brother's kindness.

There was a ready-made clothing store nearby. Pei Weixuan went out and bought a green robe that suited Xu Qinyu's height, and gave her the gauze wrapped around her chest, asking her to change into it first.

Xu Qinyu went behind the screen, wrapped her chest, and changed into her robe. When she looked in the bronze mirror, she found that her face was still very beautiful, with a pair of sparkling eyes. Except for her body, her face looked like that of a girl.

When Pei Weixuan saw Yu Niang dressed like this, he was stunned and the tips of his ears turned slightly red.

He helped Yu Niang tie her long black hair into a bun, securing it with a cloth strip. He then took a bottle of ointment from his pocket and smeared it on her exposed face, neck, palms, and backs of her hands, applying more ointment to her throat. When Xu Qinyu went to look for the bronze mirror again, she discovered that her appearance had changed significantly. While her features remained the same, she no longer had the delicate beauty of a young woman. She was now just an ordinary-looking, dark-skinned teenager.

Even when she opened her mouth to call out "Fourth Brother", she found that her voice had changed a little, becoming a little rougher and no longer as soft and beautiful as a girl's. It should be due to the ointment applied to her throat.

Xu Qinyu felt that Fourth Brother’s medical skills were truly amazing, and this ointment must have been prepared by him.

Pei Weixuan also went in and dressed up. When he came out after applying the plaster, he was a completely different person. Except for his height, he didn't look like his fourth brother at all.

Xu Qinyu found that even his facial features had changed a little. She was a little shocked. She couldn't help but touch her fourth brother's face and murmured, "Why has his appearance changed?"

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but only saw Fourth Brother in this state from outside, she wouldn't have recognized him at all.

Pei Weixuan said: "The misalignment of some meridians and acupoints on the face will cause the face to change."

Even his voice changed.

Not only that, he can also shrink his bones, but now that his appearance has changed, there is no need to shrink his bones.

This was the first time Xu Qinyu had seen such amazing disguise skills other than on TV, and she watched with interest for a while.

After the fourth brother had fixed his hair, the two of them left the inn.

Even the shopkeeper Zhou, who was counting the accounts, did not recognize the two people and thought they were guests from other rooms.

After leaving the inn, Xu Qinyu waved to her fourth brother and whispered, "Fourth brother, go quickly. I'm going out by myself."

Pei Weixuan nodded, and the two went their separate ways.

Xu Qinyu didn't have any specific place she wanted to see, so she could only look around.

This trip was to observe the locations of restaurants and hotels, and also to take a chance to rest for a few days.

She arrived at a market called Qingguhu, which was even more spacious than the market on East Street in Yuanbao Town. There were all kinds of shops inside, as well as two three-story restaurants, one called Qingyun Restaurant and the other Zhujia Restaurant, a dim sum shop, two small restaurants, and the rest were snack stalls. Together with some other shops and small vendors setting up stalls, it was bustling with people coming and going.

Seeing that there were quite a few people queuing in front of the dim sum shop, Xu Qinyu decided to buy some to try, so she went over and joined the queue.

The line was quite long, and there were several small vegetable vendors around, and many people were also buying vegetables.

Xu Qinyu was standing in line when she suddenly felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw a gentle-looking woman in her forties. The woman patted her shoulder and said with a smile, "Young Master, take care of your purse and be careful of thieves."

Xu Qinyu quickly lowered her head and discovered that the purse tied around her waist was a little loose. She had tied it tightly when she went out, so it was obvious that someone had touched her purse just now.

When she went out today, she actually carried a bag that Sister Ning had given her. It was made of silk and gauze, and it matched the dress she wore in the morning very well. But now she had changed into the robe her brother was wearing, so it was naturally impossible for her to carry a bag. So she used an ordinary purse to carry a few taels of silver when she went out for a stroll.

Xu Qinyu hurriedly thanked the gentle woman, "Thank you, auntie." If the aunt had not reminded her, her purse would have been stolen.

The woman waved to her, smiled, and left.

The woman was also pulling a small cart filled with vegetables and ingredients, which were usually bought from restaurants or food stalls.

Xu Qinyu guessed that this kind-hearted woman must be a buyer for a restaurant or a food stall.

After the woman left, Xu Qinyu looked around and saw a timid man not far away, staring at the purse on her waist. He should be the man who wanted to steal her purse just now.

She just pretended not to see the man, opened the purse and held it in her hand. Seeing this, the thief looked around to see if there were any other purses to steal, and left when he saw none.

After all, the laws are strict, so thieves dare not be too blatant.

In fact, there are thieves even in Yuanbao Town, but they have never been encountered on a daily basis. Xu Qinyu didn't expect that she would encounter a thief just by going out for a walk. She must be more careful in the future. If her fourth brother was with her, he would definitely have noticed the thief a long time ago.

Xu Qinyu didn't care too much and continued to queue up to buy snacks.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, it was finally her turn.

This shop sells pie-type dim sum, with five flavors in total: osmanthus, red bean, mung bean, peanut, and salt and pepper meat flavors, four sweet and one salty.

Xu Qinyu bought some and tried them. The taste was okay, with a thin and crispy skin and plenty of fillings. The sweet ones were a bit too sweet, and the salty fillings were not well-seasoned. But they were pretty satisfactory and there was nothing wrong with them.

After buying the snacks, Xu Qinyu continued shopping with the snacks in her hand.

She strolled for more than two hours, from the west to the south, and then back to Qingguhu. She planned to go back later to see if her fourth brother had returned. If he had, she would come to Qingguhu for dinner in the evening.

She originally wanted to go to Zuixianlou to try the food in the largest restaurant in Raozhou City, but after running into the imperial envoy who was almost as fat as a ball yesterday, she didn't plan to go to Zuixianlou for fear of causing trouble for her fourth brother.

It's no wonder that she didn't have a good impression of the imperial envoy. He was the King of Handong's man. He came to investigate the case of military pay in the southwest, but he was only interested in eating and drinking outside. It can be seen that he was just like the King of Handong, a person who was greedy for pleasure. I'm afraid that this case of military pay will be left unresolved.

So since she couldn't go to Zuixianlou, she planned to try eating at the two restaurants in Qingguhu.

As soon as Xu Qinyu returned to Qingguhu, she saw a lot of people gathered in front of the Zhu family restaurant.

She stood outside the crowd for a while, hesitated, and then squeezed in. Only then did she see clearly what was going on.

Xu Qinyu saw two men in official uniforms walking out of the Zhu family restaurant, accompanied by several officers and soldiers.

Xu Qinyu had an impression of these two people. They were with the fat imperial envoy yesterday.

As they emerged from the Zhu Family Restaurant, the crowd immediately made way for them, and Xu Qinyu followed suit. As they left, the people around them began to discuss, "Poor thing for Madam Zhu from the Zhu Family Restaurant! She never expected that master would actually come to the Zhu Family Restaurant for dinner! They weren't even satisfied with the food at Zuixianlou, and yesterday they gave the chef ten smacks, saying that the master wasn't happy with the meal, so he deserved the punishment. And now he's bringing it back to the Zhu Family Restaurant again."

"Who is that lord? He's acting like a tyrant in Raozhou City, and the governor doesn't care?"

"What do you know? He's an imperial envoy, sent by the emperor to investigate the case in the capital. How could the governor dare to intervene? If he offends the imperial envoy, the governor will be in great trouble."

Zhu's Restaurant? Madam Zhu?

Xu Qinyu thought that the wife of the prefect Zhu also had the surname Zhu, but she seemed to have never heard the wife of the prefect talk about her maiden family. So, is it a coincidence that this Zhu Family Restaurant and the lady Zhu in the restaurant have the same surname as the wife of the prefect?

"Alas, the governor has devoted his life to the people of the southwest and is a good official, but now he has to endure this humiliation."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you remember the relationship between Madam Zhu and the prefect's wife?"

The crowd around them suddenly realized, "Oh right, Madam Zhu and the prefect's wife are sisters, so this imperial envoy is not trying to deliberately embarrass Madam Zhu and slap the prefect in the face, right?"

Xu Qinyu was stunned. Mrs. Zhu from the Zhu Family Restaurant and the prefect's wife were actually sisters.

It is true that I have never heard the prefect or his wife mention it, but last year I had more contact with Old Madam Zhu. The prefect and his wife could only come to see the old madam when they were free. They didn't chat much with Zhu, not to mention that she was busy at Xu's all day and didn't see the prefect's wife much.

It’s probably not convenient to bring it up, so I never mentioned it.

Xu Qinyu listened to the people around her continue talking.

"Madam Zhu is also a good person. The food in the restaurant is affordable and tastes good. She usually gives the leftover food to the beggars in the city. She is a great chef, and I hope she doesn't get punished by the imperial envoy."

"Even the chef of Zuixianlou was beaten with a stick. Although Madam Zhu's cooking skills are not bad, they are still not as good as the chef of Zuixianlou. I'm afraid she will not be able to escape the beating. Even if the prefect comes, I'm afraid there will be nothing he can do."

"This imperial envoy did it on purpose!"