Seeing how capable the young man was, the market supervisors all retreated.

One of the supervisors pointed at the young man, trembling, and said, "You... how could you hit someone? Do you know that assaulting a supervisor in this county is... will get you imprisoned."

The young man chuckled disdainfully, not even glancing at the market supervisors behind him. He lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaped into the air, and quickly disappeared.

The market inspectors were dumbfounded; they had met their match, this was clearly a master!

Gu Nanjiao and the other two were panting heavily, constantly wiping the sweat from their foreheads. They had run halfway when they heard someone shout from behind, "Stop running!"

The three, who had intended to stop, ran even faster after hearing the words "Don't run!"

At a corner, she was suddenly stopped by someone. Gu Nanjiao looked closely and realized that it was the young man who wanted to buy garlic bullfrog.

"Hey sir, it's you!" Gu Nanjiao breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought it was a city management officer, which had given her quite a fright.

After Gu Nanjiao and the other two stopped, the young man said angrily, "I shouted after you to stop, but the more you ran, the harder it was to catch up with you."

Lu's mother said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm so sorry, we ran into the market inspector. If our stall is smashed, all three of us will have worked for nothing. We're just afraid of being caught."

The young man waved his hand and said, "It's alright. I know you guys have it tough. Hurry up and pack the garlic bullfrog and offal for me. My husband is getting impatient."

"Okay, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!" Gu Nanjiao said apologetically as she quickly packed up the garlic bullfrog, pork offal, and spicy strips and handed them to the deliveryman.

The deliveryman put the food in his food box, took a few steps, then turned back and asked, "Are you coming again tomorrow?"

Gu Nanjiao looked troubled: "This... I'm afraid I can't come. The market supervision is very strict."

After listening, the young man seemed to be thinking about it. After a while, he looked up and smiled and said, "Why don't you set up a stall on the right street of Nanxiang Academy? There is a food street there. The food you sell will definitely suit the students' tastes. The stall fee is also reasonable, and you won't have to run around and hide from the market supervisor."

“Nanxiang Academy?” Lu’s mother muttered a few words, then suddenly looked at Gu Nanjiao and said with delight, “Isn’t that the academy Yanzhao attends? It’s a sacred place for studying, and they even sell food there.”

The young man was embarrassed upon hearing this. Scholars need to eat too, and they also enjoy good food. Where there's demand, there's supply; food streets are born out of demand.

“Mother, scholars need to eat and drink too. Yanzhao is also studying at Nanxiang Academy. Why don’t we rent a stall nearby? That way, the whole family can see each other every day.” Gu Nanjiao thought her brother’s suggestion was a good one. Although there would be a stall fee, it would at least bring stability.

Lu's mother nodded, agreeing with Gu Nanjiao's words.

The young man grinned when he saw they agreed. He thought about how they would be setting up a stall near the academy, and he wouldn't have to travel all that way to the morning market to queue anymore.

Gu Nanjiao smiled at the deliveryman and said, "What's your surname, sir? Thank you so much for your valuable suggestion. I don't know how to thank you enough." After saying that, she packed another serving of bullfrog and put it in the deliveryman's food box.

The young man scratched his head sheepishly, revealing his bright white teeth as he smiled and said, "My surname is Zheng, and I'm the eleventh in my family. You can just call me Zheng Eleven."

Gu Nanjiao naturally couldn't call him by his name directly, as that would be impolite. She smiled and said, "Brother Zheng, we're going to Nanxiang Academy. Do you know how to get there? Could you please tell me the route?"

They had never been to Lu Yanzhao's new academy, so naturally they didn't know how to get there.

Zheng Shiyi said, "Hey, it's no big deal. I'll take you there and help you find a stall."

The three men's eyes lit up; that would be perfect.

Zheng Shiyi led the three to the right side of Nanxiang Academy, where a commercial and food street called Changyang Street was located. As the most famous academy in Luoshui County, Nanxiang Academy had a wide, flat, and well-connected Changyang Street. In addition to various shops, there were also many roadside stalls around the academy, selling wontons, plain noodles, and sesame cakes, all of which were doing good business.

Brother Zheng helped me inquire about a stall that was for sale. It was run by an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes. It was getting hot, and the sweet potatoes were no longer in season, so he wasn't planning to continue selling them.

After discussing it, the group paid a transfer fee of 500 coins and a monthly rent of 300 coins, which was a bit more expensive than expected.

The stall fee was temporarily paid for three months, which was 900 coins. After that, Lu's mother and the other two breathed a sigh of relief and put down the wooden pot and basin stand they were carrying. They had been carrying it and running all the way, and they could finally sit down and rest in peace.

After saying goodbye to Gu Nanjiao, Zheng Shiyi hurriedly left.

Carrying the food box, they arrived at the Zheng residence, and the guards at the gate opened the gate on their own initiative.

The timing was perfect; it was lunchtime. Master Zheng looked at the table full of delicious food, shook his head, and his slightly plump, refined face was full of dissatisfaction.

"Hasn't Zheng Shiyi returned yet?" Master Zheng asked.

The butler bowed and replied, "Master, they have not returned yet."

Master Zheng sighed softly; he really missed the pig offal from yesterday.

Just as I was thinking about this, Zheng Shiyi's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Master, the pig offal and garlic bullfrog are here!"

Zheng Kanye's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed with delight, "The pig offal is here!"

The butler frowned. "Master, pig offal smells terrible. Is it safe to eat?"

Master Zheng said, "Nonsense, I ate it yesterday, and it was definitely delicious."

Zheng Shiyi took out the garlic bullfrog and pork offal from the food box, and kept the spicy strips and the portion that Gu Nanjiao had given him separately.

Old Master Zheng sniffed and pointed to something next to the pig offal: "Is this garlic bullfrog?"

Zheng Shiyi nodded: "Yes, sir."

Without saying a word, Mr. Zheng picked up his chopsticks and began to eat heartily, completely abandoning his previous refined demeanor.

The butler, watching from the side, frowned.

After Master Zheng had eaten and drunk his fill, Zheng Shiyi stepped forward and recounted the events of the day, including the incident of injuring the market supervisor.

Master Zheng snorted coldly: "A few mere lackeys, let them fight it, no need to take it to heart."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shiyi breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully stepped aside.

The steward frowned: "Master, you no longer hold an official position, and Guard Zheng has assaulted government officials. I'm afraid there might be trouble later, in case..."

Before the steward could finish speaking, Master Zheng interrupted him: "What are you afraid of? Can't we handle a few small fry? Even if I resign, so what? Haven't you heard that even a starved camel is bigger than a horse? Even the county magistrate will still have to be respectful to me."

"My lord, you have lost power now, and the Crown Prince is missing. I am afraid that if His Majesty finds something to hold against us, we...we..."

After hearing the butler's words, Master Zheng fell silent.

Zheng Shiyi, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore: "Does being afraid mean he won't find something to hold against him? If he wants to punish someone, it's just a matter of a word."

Master Zheng waved his hand impatiently and said, "Alright, alright, stop talking about this. It's giving me a headache." He then looked at the steward beside him and asked, "Tell me, is there any news about the Crown Prince's whereabouts?"