Or perhaps those who paid tribute in the past were dishonest and only sent inferior goods.

Either there was good tea in the countryside, but it went undiscovered, or it was secretly withheld and not paid as tribute.

The former can be eliminated first.

Because the tea he's drinking now is definitely not any of the tribute teas.

The second option...

The retired emperor narrowed his eyes.

Upon seeing this, Old Master Sun said, "Sir, why don't you taste the dishes first before making a decision?"

Having served as a subject for decades, he naturally understood his old master well and knew exactly what he was thinking.

They had all considered this possibility.

But the fine things that Yun Zhiyi brought out were far more than just this exquisite tea.

Those fruits and vegetables that I've never seen before, and the ingredients with extremely strong medicinal properties, are all rare delicacies that even the palace doesn't have.

Such things, once they exist, will eventually be exposed.

One or two things would be fine, but so many is unusual.

Besides, if the other party really wanted to hide it, they wouldn't just take it out and give it to people to eat and drink.

Being able to produce it means you're not afraid of being investigated.

Although he didn't have much contact with Yun Zhiyi, he prided himself on having some ability to judge people.

This person is neither impulsive nor foolish, nor short-sighted; he would never do anything to harm himself without certainty.

The retired emperor frowned, gave him a meaningful look, gently stroked the teacup, took a sip, and then turned to look at his grandson.

"It seems you haven't investigated enough."

Where is he going, and what is he going to do?

He would investigate and make arrangements in advance for anything his grandson knew.

This time is no exception.

But judging from his expression, he clearly didn't know many things either.

Sun Tzu is always meticulous and thorough in his work; he would never be careless in this matter.

Now that an oversight has occurred, there is only one point that can explain it.

Those conducting the investigation were unable to delve deeper.

In other words, what you can find out is what the other party has made public; as for the deeper aspects, it depends on whether the other party is willing to reveal their secrets.

The retired emperor couldn't help but recall the girl who had acted with excessive calmness and decisiveness in the courtroom back then.

Although I admire the girl's way of doing things, I don't think that just a little girl could have such abilities.

He suspected that there was someone else behind the other party.

But he didn't know which side she was from; he just hoped the girl wouldn't disappoint him.

After all, any one of these things could be profitable.

Whether someone pushed them out to accumulate resources, nobody knows.

In an instant, his mind was filled with images of his children and grandchildren.

Fu Tingchen didn't show much expression, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Old Master Sun saw that the Emperor Emeritus was pondering something while drinking tea one sip after another.

Thinking back to my first time here, it was the same; my stomach was full of tea, and in the end, I could only look at the table full of dishes with tears in my eyes.

He couldn't help but reach out to stop him, "Old man, you shouldn't drink too much tea."

The retired emperor snapped out of his reverie and raised an eyebrow.

I was once again struck by how highly they regarded the food at Wei Man Zhai.

He had come here to enjoy the food, and although the tea was also excellent, he reluctantly put it aside for now.

Shortly afterward, dishes were served one after another.

In recent days, the menu at Wei Man Zhai has increased from ten dishes to more than thirty.

There are now more than twenty people in the kitchen, just in charge of cooking.

There are also dozens of apprentices.

The key to good food is the quality of the ingredients, so the restaurant isn't worried about other chefs copying their techniques.

Lu Jingyi even hoped that other restaurants would send more chefs to gather information.

There are now several people in the kitchen who were secretly sent by other restaurants.

But now they have all become loyal chefs at Wei Man Zhai.

For chefs, finding good ingredients can elevate their culinary skills to a whole new level; that's what they strive for.

Basically, any chef who can get into Wei Man Zhai will do so, even if it's not to improve their culinary skills or reputation.

They couldn't bear to leave just for those three meals a day.

Today, the three of us ordered nine dishes and one soup.

Li Kui's two main dishes will definitely be served.

In addition, there were several other dishes he created later that were also very popular.

They are drunken chicken, steamed mutton with rice flour, and fish cake.

The ingredients still come from Yunzhiyi's space.

The chickens and ducks are the poultry that Qiuqiu and his family raise.

Those guys eat and drink well, and reproduce incredibly fast.

Previously, the children were worried that the balls would reproduce too quickly and take up the entire space.

Later, upon learning that Yun Zhiyi ran a restaurant outside and needed these livestock and poultry every day, he stopped suppressing their nature and let them reproduce freely.

There's enough to supply the restaurants anyway.

Yun Zhiyi also fenced off a piece of land in the mountains behind the manor, set aside some land, and had people graze the animals there every day.

Chickens and ducks are fine, they grow quickly, so we can send more to restaurants.

Pigs and sheep grow relatively slowly, so the number that can be delivered is naturally smaller.

The daily delivery is still the same as what was originally in the space.

Only ten sheep are allowed per day.

With limited ingredients, the quantity of vegetables is naturally also limited.

They basically offer only one hundred lamb dishes during two daily business hours, and they stop serving them once they're all made.

I arrived early today, and luckily there were still plenty of vegetables available.

"Old man, please try this drunken chicken. I would call it the best in the restaurant."

Using serving chopsticks, Old Master Sun placed a tender piece of chicken leg meat on the Emperor Emeritus's plate.

The Drunken Chicken uses the white-feathered black-footed chicken breed from the space.

When these chickens grow to adulthood, they only weigh about one pound at most, which is slightly larger than a pigeon.

But the meat is very tender.

After tasting the meat, Li Kui decided to use it to make drunken chicken.

This type of chicken doesn't have a gamey smell; instead, it has a unique, light fruity and woody aroma.

Marinating with special fruit wine and spirits results in a more delicate and smooth texture, as well as a more layered and mellow flavor.

The Emperor Emeritus took a bite, and his eyes suddenly lit up as he nodded repeatedly.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

As she spoke, she quickly picked up a piece for her grandson, who hadn't moved yet.

"Aheng, this drunken chicken is really good, you should try it."

Old Sun immediately looked over as well, his eyes filled with a hint of expectation.

Today's menu was decided by Mr. Sun first.

He was naturally aware of the old man's biggest worry.

He actually revealed the true excellence of Wei Man Zhai's dishes in his letter.

The old man made his grandson travel a long way to accompany him, enduring all the hardship.

It's not simply about enjoying a delicious meal.

His real purpose was to claim, as Old Sun had said in his letter, that the vegetables had medicinal effects.

Whether it works or not, it's always worth a try.

I just didn't want my grandson to object, so I never brought it up.

Old Master Sun specifically consulted a doctor and, based on Prince Cheng's approximate physical condition, selected this set of dishes.

They can all provide a gentle nourishing effect and will not cause the body to be unable to tolerate the nourishment.

However, Wei Man Zhai's dishes generally do not cause the condition of being unable to tolerate the nourishment.

The effects of Wei Man Zhai's dishes on the body are gradual, rather than being so potent as to cure all at once.

He wasn't sure if these would work on Prince Cheng, but he still had to give it a try.

Fu Tingchen knew exactly what they were thinking.

He was the one who sent the person to investigate, so he naturally knew the situation regarding Wei Man Zhai's dishes, but he just didn't expose the old man.

He reluctantly picked up his chopsticks, looked at the glistening, tender chicken, and unconsciously frowned, but still brought it to his lips and took a bite.