Chapter 45 The Man in the Cone Hat
"Your Majesty, are these bean sprouts vegetables, or are they obtained by some other method?"
Vegetables are not easy to preserve in winter, but these bean sprouts are fresh and delicious.
Yan Xuanyu was very surprised that Zhang Yuezhi actually took the initiative to talk to him.
"Speaking of it, bean sprouts are actually very easy to get. Bean sprouts are not vegetables, but are made by soaking beans..." Yan Xuanyu said, feeling spicy in his mouth again.
He quickly picked up the cup at hand and took a few big sips.
The food was delicious, but the spiciness was painful.
Yan Xuanyu really couldn't help but want to hit himself. He had finally recovered most of his sense of taste, but he was so easily irritated again!
It's really embarrassing that Zhang Yuezhi, who has never eaten chili oil hotpot, adapted better than him.
Zhang Yuezhi asked, "Your Majesty, could you tell me how difficult it is to soak bean sprouts? And how long does it take?"
"It's very simple, it takes about four or five days." Yan Xuanyu said, "The bean sprouts are indeed fresh and crisp."
Zhang Yuezhi smiled and said, "I am truly blessed with a delicious meal today. Beans are easy to come by, but vegetables are hard to come by in winter."
Yan Xuanyu was about to nod when he was suddenly enlightened by these words!
Yes, vegetables are hard to come by in winter, and ordinary people can't eat them at all! Although bean sprouts are not very nutritious, they can still be a delicious dish on the table of ordinary people!
Zhang Yuezhi saw Yan Xuanyu was stunned but pretended not to notice and continued to eat a few chewy hand-made pork meatballs.
Yan Xuanyu thought, how could he forget this?!
Because he likes to eat bean sprouts in hot pot, now that hot pot is ready, he asked Mr. Gu and others to soak the bean sprouts. They soaked soybean sprouts, but other beans can also be soaked.
He made a mental note and decided to push the bean sprout out.
When Zhang Yuezhi saw his reaction, she felt the fog in her heart slowly dissipate, and she seemed to be able to see something.
But even if she knew, she wouldn't show it.
The two of them ate their own food, and apart from a few words about bean sprouts, there was almost no other conversation.
What surprised Yan Xuanyu was that Zhang Yuezhi slowly relaxed in front of him because of the hotpot meal - he didn't know that Zhang Yuezhi had guessed something based on his reaction, and he thought that it was because Zhang Yuezhi had eaten hotpot with him.
"Your Majesty, when do you plan to open the hot pot restaurant?" Zhang Yuezhi asked.
Yan Xuanyu leaned back in his chair to rest and said lazily, "Just for a few days, winter is the perfect time."
"This hot pot is delicious and a novelty. Eating it in winter warms you up completely. But, Your Majesty, have you thought about what to do in the summer?"
Summer? Yan Xuanyu thought about it. In fact, eating hot pot in summer is also very enjoyable, but it can only be enjoyed in an air-conditioned room. The summer in the Great Zhou is already very hot, and no one would like to eat a sticky sweat.
"What would you do if it were you?" Yan Xuanyu suddenly asked.
Zhang Yuezhi smiled and said, "In my humble opinion, we can introduce another kind of food for the summer, but I see that Your Majesty already has an idea."
Yan Xuanyu sat up straight. He did have an idea. As Zhang Yuezhi had suggested, what better way to eat something in the summer than barbecue?
However, the fact that Zhang Yuezhi could say these words to him was a big change compared to before.
Yan Xuanyu also suddenly remembered that Zhang Yuezhi seemed to be from a merchant family in the south before entering the Prince's Palace. Through observation and conversation, Yan Xuanyu found that Zhang Yuezhi was actually very smart.
She always knew how to protect herself. She gave up the position of imperial concubine without knowing his attitude, and then tried her best to reduce her presence.
But deep down, these may not be what she wants.
That's why I feel depressed.
...
Yan Xuanyu can be very relaxed in front of Concubine Zhang and others because they pose no threat to him.
Yan Xuanyu was a man who acted on his thoughts. He asked, "If I asked you to manage the hot pot restaurant, would you be able to do it well?"
"Your servant...?" Zhang Yuezhi widened her eyes with a look of disbelief.
Yan Xuanyu waved his hand. "Don't be so quick to refuse. Just think of it as something I'm giving you to pass the time. You also know that things will only get worse in and outside the palace. I hired Master Gu as a wandering official, and I don't know if he's loyal or not."
He paused, then continued, "You are my concubine after all. I am at ease leaving this matter to you. You must have been exposed to the ways of business when you were at home. I can also see that you are smart."
"Hotpot restaurants are here to make money, and those restaurants are often backed by wealthy families. I'm worried about having only one person in charge, Gu."
Zhang Yuezhi just listened silently without giving any response.
But the more this happened, the more it proved that Yan Xuanyu's words moved her. The fact that she didn't use remarks like "I am a concubine in the harem" to refuse proved that she was also interested, even if it was only two or three points out of ten.
Yan Xuanyu continued, "As for leaving the palace, you can come and go as you please with my token. The harem is managed by Concubine Wang, and assisted by Concubine Li. You deliberately minimized your presence before, but now you can use it."
Having said that, Yan Xuanyu doesn't need to say anything more.
After a moment, Zhang Yuezhi stood up and said cautiously, "I accept your order."
"I will do my best to accomplish what Your Majesty has entrusted to me."
The two of them knew everything about Yan Xuanyu's matter. Zhang Yuezhi knew that the emperor was not as he acted, and he was waiting for an opportunity to purge the court.
Zhang Yuezhi was not entirely moved by Yan Xuanyu Dehua. Half of the reason was because of this novel hot pot. She had some idea how popular the hot pot restaurant would be once it opened. The eating method was novel and delicious enough, which also made Zhang Yuezhi feel an indescribable sense of strangeness and familiarity in her heart.
Before she was sent to the capital, she had run several shops for her family. The abilities she showed far surpassed those of her stepmother's younger brother, but in the end she was still sent to the capital by her father for the family's future.
Unfortunately, she did not fulfill her father's wish. After entering the capital, she did not bring any help to the family. Her father had miscalculated. Once entering the capital, Zhang Yuezhi would no longer be the Zhang Yuezhi who was controlled by him.
But she is not the same person she used to be.
She knew she couldn't believe everything she heard today, but her heart was beating fast. She was capable...
Why be trapped in the harem?
She knew very well why she was depressed, why she had to accept her fate and why she was unwilling to live in a world of limitations for the rest of her life.
Coming back from her thoughts, she looked up and saw the emperor in front of her.
...
When Yan Xuanyu was about to leave after enjoying a hearty hotpot meal, the conspiracy between the man in the bamboo hat and Jiang Yuanhua was nearing its end.
Jiang Yuanhua left first, and the man in the bamboo hat disappeared around the corner.
Soon, a masked follower landed silently beside him.
"Master, Jiang Yuanhua's men have already escaped."
The man in the bamboo hat was playing with the jade Buddha in his hand. He said slowly, "Give them some clues. Let them know that I'm in the capital now."
The "they" he mentioned were certainly not Jiang Yuanhua's people. Perhaps in the eyes of the man in the bamboo hat, Jiang Yuanhua's people were not even worth his attention.
"We already said it was a collaboration, so being so defensive is pointless."
"This Central Plains is really fun." The man's voice was filled with laughter.
"It's a pity that it fell into the hands of a bunch of stupid pigs."
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