As Hu Qinqin spoke, she gently brushed her hand across the phoenix coronet and wedding gown on the table.
Hu Qinqin eventually persuaded the Fourth Prince to take the initiative to propose marriage.
The Emperor, acknowledging the Fourth Prince's merit in quelling the epidemic, agreed to bestow the marriage upon him. Thus, even though the Prime Minister disagreed, Hu Qinqin's marriage was considered settled.
All four princes, except for the Second Prince, have returned to the capital.
The Third Prince's methods in dealing with the epidemic were extremely ruthless; he burned all those infected with the plague alive, destroying most of the city. Although he achieved some success, the Emperor did not reward him.
The Fourth Prince, thanks to the prescription spread by Ma Heng, brought the epidemic under control.
It has now basically disappeared; it only requires strict control and will subside in a few days.
The Fifth Prince was quite lucky; the epidemic wasn't severe, and it disappeared on its own as temperatures rose, so he got a good deal.
Upon careful consideration, the only one who truly brought the epidemic under control was His Highness the Second Prince.
The emperor didn't say anything openly, but he was very clear about it in his heart, so he was also looking forward to the return of the second prince.
Originally, a celebration banquet was to be held after the princes returned, but it was delayed. Everyone knew that the emperor was waiting for the second prince.
"I never expected that in just a few days, my second sister-in-law would double the size of the pancake shop. She is really capable."
Li Youran looked at the renovated pancake shop with a look of surprise and delight. She saw that Cuiping's shop had two more rooms than before she left.
It turned out that after Li Youran left, Zhao Lanzhi rented the two shops next door and combined them together to form the huge Li Family Pancake Shop.
Nowadays, the Li Family Crispy Cake Shop's signboard has become well-known in the capital, and many officials and wealthy families would drive their carriages and send servants to buy from it.
Many restaurants have signed contracts with pancake shops to provide pancakes on a long-term basis.
In no time, the business of Li's pancake shop was much better. There were people queuing up to buy at all four windows. Even after hiring more than a dozen more employees, the shop was still too busy to keep up with demand.
"This is all thanks to my younger sister."
Li Youran looked puzzled when she heard Zhao Lanzhi's words.
"Although His Highness the Second Prince only returned to the capital today, everyone knows what happened in Liaocheng. In particular, everyone knows that His Highness the Second Prince is accompanied by a resourceful and wise princess who invented high-proof liquor for disinfection; otherwise, the epidemic would not have been brought under control so quickly."
After hearing Zhao Lanzhi's explanation, Li Youran suddenly realized that she hadn't expected these things to have spread to the capital so quickly.
"Our steamed buns are still the best. Otherwise, customers would only come once and wouldn't come back again and again."
As Li Tairan spoke, he wiped the sweat from his brow and walked over, looking at Li Youran with a joyful expression.
"Little sister, your second sister-in-law has been making new sugar-coated and savory steamed buns these days, which has improved the texture of the buns."
Originally, steamed buns were a staple food for ordinary people, but people in the capital got tired of eating such refined foods, so steamed buns were only bought as dry food.
Zhao Lanzhi accidentally discovered that there were vendors selling baked buns in the capital, some with sugar and some with salt. She wondered if she could make both sweet and savory versions of the buns, would her business be even better?
So after some thought, they developed a new type of steamed bun.
The new products were sold out on the first day of their launch. Zhao Lanzhi realized the business opportunity behind this, so she quickly put more effort into figuring out how to make these two types of steamed buns.
Sweet steamed buns are divided into white sugar steamed buns, brown sugar steamed buns, and rose-flavored steamed buns. Savory steamed buns include five-spice steamed buns and scallion crispy buns.
"I really married a treasure when I married your second sister-in-law. She's so capable even when she's heavily pregnant."
Zhao Lanzhi felt a little embarrassed by Li Tairen's praise, and Li Youran hurriedly told her to go back and rest.
Taking advantage of the break, she chatted with Li Tairan about the things that had been happening frequently these days.
"Little sister, just as you predicted, Zhou Yingying has already taken action in the short time you've been gone for only three days."
Li Tairan said angrily.
It turned out that when Li Youran left the capital, she asked Li Tairan to keep an eye on Zhou Yingying, to see what tricks Zhou Yingying would play after she left.
"Zhou Yingying and Wang Xiangyu conspired together. After you left, Zhou Yingying secretly went to see Wang Xiangyu. Then the two of them went to a courtyard together. After returning, Zhou Yingying seemed absent-minded and repeatedly offered to go to your courtyard to help you pack your things, but fortunately, her mother refused each time."
After hearing Li Tairan's words, Li Youran nodded.
Sure enough, after she left, Zhou Yingying set her sights on it. Luckily, she had previously left Dajun in the yard to guard it. Otherwise, Zhou Yingying would have found an opening.
Li Youran has now roughly figured out the underlying connections: Zhou Yingying and Wang Xiangyu are both connected to the prime minister's mistress.
As for the prime minister's mistress, Hongxiu, Li Youran really didn't take her seriously.
If she really wanted to get rid of Hongxiu, she had a thousand ways to do it.
However, the fact that Hongxiu could so openly oppose her meant that someone was behind it, and the Prime Minister must have known about it.
Li Youran knew that the prime minister's opposition to her was definitely aimed at the Second Prince.
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