As dawn breaks, a layer of rosy morning glow drifts over Chang'an. On the ridges of the fields, the seasoned farmers whisper that it will be another fine day.

There were many people selling food in Chang'an Lane. Many families got up before dawn to prepare, and when it was time to eat breakfast, the area around Guangfu Street was filled with billowing white steam. They sold all sorts of things:

mutton steamed buns, pork steamed buns, steamed pear steamed buns, jujube flower buns, fried sugar cakes, candied fruits, sesame flatbreads, wontons, soup dumplings...

In late autumn, a good autumn rain fell a few days ago, and it has gotten a bit colder.

For five coins, you could buy a bowl of piping hot mutton and tomato soup with flatbread near a teahouse, along with a fragrant, crispy sesame flatbread. A sip of soup, a bite of flatbread, a bite of meat—that's how a day in Chang'an begins.

The neighbors on Guangfu Street witnessed something strange.

The Shan Hai Restaurant, which had been closed for quite some time, has reopened its banners today, with its doors wide open. The owner, Madam Xu, is standing at the entrance, smiling as she butchers a sheep.

The sheep's fur was completely removed, revealing its brownish-red skin. Its hooves, head, and tail were cut off and thrown aside, and the muttony smell seemed to waft from a great distance.

Slaughtering sheep is not unusual, nor is it unusual to slaughter sheep in the morning. The sheep butchers who deliver meat to Chang'an restaurants in the East Market slaughter seven or eight sheep a day.

What's strange is that the one slaughtering the sheep is the woman who hasn't been seen for many days, while the black-faced assistant stands to the side with a bruised and swollen face.

Madam Xu was skilled with a knife. With a swift, sweeping motion, she cut the lamb's neck, and half a piece of lamb was laid out like tofu.

Without her exerting any effort, the sheep was soon separated from its bones and flesh, with pieces of still-steaming mutton falling into the basket, a feat that seemed almost miraculous.

Dai Zi lay beside the table, watching intently. After Xu Milu finished dissecting the mutton, she helped carry the meat, wipe the table, and move the large stove...

She was short, and when the basket, which was about her height, blocked her view, onlookers would think that the basket itself had grown legs and was running.

"Milu, are we having mutton today?"

Aqing's eyes were bulging with envy as she stared at the two baskets of mutton, drooling: "Are we having mutton wontons?"

"This sheep was sent by Eleventh Sister. She said it was a medicinal sheep that grew up on Kunlun Mountain, drinking snow water and eating snow lotus. It would be a waste to make wontons with it. It would be better to stew a pot of it. Autumn is dry, so it's perfect to drink sheep soup to nourish the body."

Xu Milu packed the sheep's head, hooves, internal organs, and tail together, covered them with banana leaves, and placed them outside the shop for anyone who wanted to take them.

People in Chang'an love to eat mutton, but mutton is expensive, and many people can't afford to eat mutton even once a year. Although it is troublesome to prepare mutton head and trotters, there are still many people who want them.

Aqing glanced at the "pig-headed monster" squatting beside her and couldn't help but secretly ask Xu Milu:

"Do you still have wild boar spirits in your shop?"

The man standing to the side was tall and slender, dressed in black with composure. Apart from his face, which had been beaten into a pig's head, he could barely be considered a "handsome man".

...

"hehe!"

Xu Milu glanced to the side following A Qing's gaze, and the man in black shivered, clutching his bruised and battered face as he groaned:

"This is a terrible injustice to this little demon! My wife must seek justice for me!"

The little demon went to visit her mother and bumped into a seahorse spirit at the banquet.

I only asked a few questions because I didn't recognize the seahorse spirit, but who knew... who knew that she would turn around and conspire with her seventy-one sisters to force me to stay in her house as her son-in-law.

"I refused, so they imprisoned me for over half a month. They...they even treated me so cruelly!"

"Serves you right."

Xu Milu flicked the sparrow bone in her hand, using her spiritual power to wipe away the bloodstains, before slowly saying:

"This has always been the way of the Seahorse Spirits. Women are respected, and a woman in the tribe can only marry one man in order to continue the lineage."

I don't believe that seahorse spirit would forcibly take you as her husband for no reason. It's probably because you saw how beautiful she was and offended her with your words, which is why she thinks you intend to be the father of their child.

If you ask me, if all else fails, you should just become a live-in son-in-law. With seventy-two wives, you'd be the only one they'd dote on—wouldn't that be wonderful?

"My lady, don't frighten me!"

Mo Xuan's face turned green, then even greener, as if recalling some terrifying memory, and he suddenly shuddered:

"Now I understand what a 'beautiful woman and a skeleton' truly means—"

If what the lady said is true, and he really goes to the seahorse spirit's house to become his son-in-law, he will probably die of exhaustion within a year.

Upon imagining that scene, Mo Xuan hissed, quickly dropped the topic, covered his face, and said to Xu Milu:

"My lady, have you brought back another little demon? Look around, where can a little demon find shelter in this restaurant these days..."

He spoke with a sense of grievance, yet his face was full of bitterness, as if he had been abandoned by a heartless person.

Xu Milu glanced at him, didn't answer, and turned to go into the restaurant to get a large pot—stewing mutton requires a large stove, and since the restaurant's large pot couldn't fit, she simply moved it to the entrance to cook it.

Hearing Mo Xuan's words, A Qing, who was standing nearby, retorted angrily:

"You little demon, how rude! I am the one and only Zhen bird in the entire world, the only one of its kind in all of China, I am not some little demon!"

"Evil spirit?"

Mo Xuan hadn't looked closely before, but now that he saw A Qing's beautiful face flushed with anger, he felt his bones melt.

Taking advantage of Xu Milu turning around, he quickly took a few steps forward, wiped his face, and the swelling disappeared, replaced by a handsome face.

Relying on his decent looks, Mo Xuan shamelessly tried to get close to A Qing:

"Oh dear, it's Miss Qing! My apologies for my rudeness. My mouth has offended you, Miss Qing. I deserve a good beating!"

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