Zhong Muyu said, "I know what I'm doing, and I haven't done much work. It's almost time, so I should get myself ready properly to avoid being mistaken for the cook, which would be too embarrassing."

"Even if she's a cook, she's the most beautiful cook."

Lu Ziyuan looked at her gently and lightly wiped away a small patch of dust that had gotten on her face.

Zhong Muyu smiled, took off her apron, and went out.

Half an hour later, almost everyone had arrived. Looking at the rows of ingredients and seasonings, and the small pot of broth in front of them, they couldn't help but look puzzled.

At this moment, Lu Ziyuan and Zhong Muyu came downstairs hand in hand.

Everyone bowed and greeted the Prince and Princess.

Lu Ziyuan raised his hand slightly and said, "No need for formalities. Today is a celebration banquet for our family. Everyone, please don't stand on ceremony and just enjoy the food and drinks."

At this moment, Uncle Qiu stared at the small pot in front of him, completely puzzled: "If it's a banquet, then why is there a pot here?"

Lu Ziyuan smiled mysteriously: "I'll leave that to the Princess Consort to answer for everyone."

After he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Zhong Muyu.

Zhong Muyu called Chengfeng and Zaochun over. First, he asked Chengfeng to light the charcoal under the pot. After the pot boiled, he asked Zaochun to put in all kinds of ingredients. After seeing this, the others followed suit.

Some people find it strange: "If that's the case, how is it any different from cooking for yourself?"

Zhong Muyu said, "It's about choosing your own way of eating. You can pick any of these ingredients you want, control the cooking time yourself, and mix and match the sauces as you like. You can eat whatever you want. Isn't that a lot of freedom?"

Because she was familiar with Zhong Muyu, Liu Niang couldn't wait to try it and immediately praised it highly: "It's really delicious! The soup base is very flavorful, and the sauce is also very good!"

Uncle Qiu was very pleased: "The princess has a great eye for food, even the imperial chefs in the palace can't compare! You've all dined at Linggang Restaurant, don't you know that?"

Hearing what he said, everyone agreed that it made sense and started trying it out.

Zaochun helped Zhong Muyu to her seat, and Zhong Muyu said, "You and Chengfeng take everyone to the back to eat. There are enough servants and maids here to handle things."

Lu Ziyuan chimed in, "Yes, today is a day for everyone to celebrate together. You've all worked hard preparing all this. Let's go down together."

"Since Your Highness says so, then your subordinate and Zaochun will take our leave."

Chengfeng lowered its head, then pulled early spring back behind it.

Inside the hall, Zhong Muyu had prepared more than a dozen tables. The one in the middle was for everyone to eat, while the surrounding area was filled with ingredients. Everyone could help themselves or have their servants help them.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became much more harmonious, and the innkeepers used the excuse of toasting to start a conversation with Lu Ziyuan.

Zhong Muyu listened attentively, and when Lu Ziyuan mentioned the recipes for those seasonings and some unfamiliar ingredients, he mentioned Zhong Muyu.

The shopkeepers were quite surprised: "These were all raised by the Princess?"

"Of course, why would I deceive you?"

"Your Highness, may we see the plants that produce these ingredients? These are all valuable things; they will surely be very useful in the future!"

Zhong Muyu smiled and said, "Of course I understand. I also had this idea for today's banquet, but I can't show it to you today. All the crops grown in the restaurant have been made into food for everyone to eat. However, I also grow crops in other places, and I will invite everyone to come and discuss it in detail later!"

"In that case, we will await news from the Princess."

Those people were clearly very excited, and they talked with Lu Ziyuan for a long time before leaving.

Unlike them, Lu Ziyuan and Zhong Muyu shared a slightly larger pot, which contained chili oil and chili peppers. Lu Ziyuan seemed to really enjoy it, and he was sweating profusely as he ate.

Zhong Muyu handed him a handkerchief: "Try to control yourself, or you'll get a fire bladder from all the spiciness."

Lu Ziyuan was still a little embarrassed when the topic of the past came up: "Can we not talk about the past? Besides, I ate spicy food with you for half a year, and my stomach is not as fragile as it used to be."

"What you ate with me before was only mildly spicy, but my broth is really spicy, much hotter than the barbecue we had before. If you insist on eating with me, fine, but don't blame me for not warning you later."

Zhong Muyu scooped out a slice of cooked meat and ate it with relish. Lu Ziyuan was not to be outdone: "It'll be fine. Besides, I like eating from the same pot as my wife."

Zhong Muyu ate quite a bit, her face flushed, and she was so spicy that she didn't know what to say, so she quickly drank a cup of tea.

Lu Ziyuan asked, "What do you plan to do about what you promised them?"

"What do you mean, what to do? There are still large fields of crops in Qingshui Village, right? Don't worry, I've already asked Uncle Zheng and the others to take good care of them. We'll have potatoes, corn, and peppers to eat. Once the planting is promoted, every family will be eating hot pot next year!"

After saying it all in one breath, Zhong Muyu let out a long sigh of relief, feeling great from the spiciness!

A group of people were eating in the front hall, while Zaochun and the others were eating in a room in the backyard. Amidst the clinking of glasses, it was already late at night.

At the entrance of the restaurant, the managers boarded their own horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, and donkey carts and left. After they all left, the hall was a complete mess.

Zhong Muyu looked at the scene helplessly: "These people can really eat. They didn't leave a single drop of wine."

Lu Ziyuan chimed in, "Doesn't that just prove that the hot pot you prepared is delicious?"

At this moment, Liu Fu came out from behind and directed people to clean up the scene. Zhong Muyu walked over with a smile: "Uncle Liu, did you have a good time tonight?"

Liu Fu said with a happy expression, "The banquet prepared by the Princess is truly excellent, and everyone is very happy. However, given the current state, it might not be a good time to open for business tomorrow."

"It's alright, let's rest for a day. We've almost finished eating the ingredients and drinking the wine. Let Liu Ping and the others go get more supplies tomorrow."

"Alright, then this old servant will go and inform them immediately. Your Highness, should we add hot pot to the restaurant's menu from now on?"

Zhong Muyu thought for a moment and said, "No need for now. This thing requires a lot of tools and is troublesome to set up. Let's just do it the usual way."

Zhong Muyu arranged for them to handle the aftermath of the restaurant's affairs in an orderly manner, truly resembling a capable restaurant owner.

After everything was taken care of and they returned home, the two were so exhausted that they collapsed onto the bed.

In the middle of the night...

Zhong Muyu had planned to rest well until dawn, or even stay in bed, but unexpectedly, Lu Ziyuan developed an upset stomach.

So the servants summoned the sleepy-eyed physician, who prescribed medicine, and Zhong Muyu also got up in the dark to make him some herbal tea.

Looking at Lu Ziyuan lying paralyzed on the bed, Zhong Muyu was both annoyed and amused as she placed the herbal tea on the bedside table.

"Here you go, I told you to watch your step, but you wouldn't listen. Now you regret it, don't you?"

"I didn't know it would be like this. I thought it would be fine. It seems I still need to practice."

"Is this something you can build up through exercise? Maybe your stomach just isn't suited to it. You should probably say goodbye to spicy seasonings."