Chapter 14: Miss Wei is the Princess's Future Daughter-in-Law
Inside the Censorate.
Although Gu Yan was a new official, he had already had contacts with officials in the Censorate due to his investigation of tea taxes in Jiangnan. Moreover, Gu Yan was of noble birth, so today, on his first day in the yamen, everyone in the Censorate was very caring towards him.
But even if it was a favor, it was almost the end of the year, which was the busiest time for the Censors, so Gu Yan would not have a day off.
At lunchtime, Gu Yan invited his colleagues to have lunch at Linlang Restaurant.
Just as he arrived at the gate of the government office, Gu Yan saw the four maids in his courtyard rushing over to him and kneeling in front of him with tears in their eyes.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, we dare not have any illusions about you. We only hope to stay in Qingfeng Garden and get a meal. But Madam Yun thinks that we have ulterior motives and will not allow us to stay with you. She drove the four of us out of the Princess's Mansion and left us no way to survive."
Zhu Yi knelt in front of Gu Yan with tears in her eyes and kowtowed, saying, "Please don't drive me away, my lord. I am willing to do anything..."
Gu Yan frowned when he heard this.
Lian Yi knelt down in front of Gu Yan and said, "My Lord, I have no relatives in my family for a long time. Now Madam Yun has kicked me out of the Princess's Mansion. In the cold winter during the New Year, I don't even know where to get my next meal."
Gu Yan's brows furrowed even more. He looked at the looks coming from his colleagues in the Imperial Censorate and said to the four maids in front of him, "All of you get up."
Mei Yi kowtowed and said, "Prince, please don't drive us away."
Gu Yan's face darkened and he signaled with his eyes to Qing Ming, the servant beside him.
Seeing this, Qing Ming signaled with his eyes to the people sitting in the tea stall at the gate of the yamen. Those people were the guards around Gu Yan in disguise. They came over and pulled Zhu Yi and others away.
Zhu Yi cried out, "Prince, we have served you for many years and have never dared to have second thoughts. Yun is jealous of our beauty and cannot bear to see us by your side. She wants us to die. It is okay for us to not be able to return to the Princess's Mansion, but I am afraid that Yun is so jealous that it may cause great harm to you in the future."
The offices surrounding the Censorate were all offices where officials from Chang'an City were stationed. It happened that the surrounding offices were also having lunch break, and Zhu Yi's crying and shouting attracted the attention of many officials from other offices.
Seeing the secret guards taking Zhu Yi away, Gu Yan acted as if nothing had happened and invited several colleagues to have dinner at the Linlang Restaurant.
Inside Linlang Restaurant.
Yun Xiangye held Nuonuo in her arms and sat down with Gu Jingyu in the Tianzi box.
The eldest princess intends to hand over Linlang Restaurant to herself, so Yun Xiangye must want to make some achievements there, so Yun Xiangye wants to come to Linlang Restaurant to take a look at it at noon today.
It happened that Gu Jingyu was free, and Yun Xiangye had just arrived, so she followed Gu Jingyu to Linlang Restaurant.
Gu Jingyu smiled at Yun Xiangye and said, "Sister-in-law, this Linlang Restaurant has been open for many years. In the past, the medicinal food in Linlang Restaurant was hard to get. Now the business is mediocre, but there are still many customers coming."
Yun Xiangye asked, "I see that the dishes here are no longer medicinal dishes?"
Gu Jingyu smiled and said, "There are many rules for medicinal food, and many people cannot eat it casually. Later, it simply became an ordinary restaurant. In the past two years, two chefs have been replaced, and business has been tepid. After Aunt Xia Lian left, the accounts in this restaurant were also very messy. Mother was usually busy with the affairs of the medicine shop and treating patients, so the business of this restaurant was delayed."
Yun Xiangye looked at a booklet in the private room and said, "This is really strange. All the dishes are written in a booklet."
Gu Jingyu smiled and said, "This is called a menu. It was figured out by my grandmother."
Yun Xiangye picked out two light and glutinous dishes and planned to try the food in the restaurant.
Although Yun Xiangye runs an embroidery workshop and has never opened a restaurant, she feels that the same principles apply to a restaurant and an embroidery workshop. The most important thing is that the goods are genuine and the prices are fair, and that everyone is treated fairly.
The embroidery workshop of Yun Xiangye's family is famous in the surrounding villages of Fangqiao Town because of its excellent embroidery skills and high-quality embroidery threads. Almost every customer who comes here thinks it's worth it.
For a restaurant to do good business, it must have good food, good taste and good color, and reasonable prices and sufficient quantity.
Gu Jingyu ordered five or six more dishes. Yun Xiangye was pouring a glass of water for Nuonuo when she heard a noise coming from outside.
"Sir, there are guests in the Tianzi box today. Would you like to go to the next room?"
Yun Xiangye heard Gu Yan's voice coming from outside, "Who is in the Tianzi box?"
“Daddy!”
When Nuonuo heard Gu Yan's voice, she was very excited. She got down from the stool and opened the door, "Daddy."
Seeing his soft and tender little daughter, Gu Yan smiled faintly and leaned over to pick up Nuonuo, "Nuonuo, why are you here?"
Yun Xiangye came out of the side room. She thought that Gu Yan was the only one there, but unexpectedly, there were five or six men in official robes behind Gu Yan.
A middle-aged official behind Gu Yan praised: "Brother Gu, your daughter is so pretty. If your daughter is so pretty, I'm sure your sister-in-law must be as beautiful as a fairy..."
"Look at what you said, Old Hu. Brother Gu is so handsome, his wife must be a fairy from heaven. I wonder if I can see her face today?"
Yun Xiangye was listening to the discussions of the officials around Gu Yan at the door. She frowned slightly. Doesn't she look like Gu Yan's wife?
Gu Yan glanced at Yun Xiangye, put down Nuonuo in his arms and said, "Daddy has something else to do, you and mom can eat first."
Xiao Nuonuo nodded obediently and said, "Yes, Daddy."
Gu Yan took a few colleagues to the next box.
Yun Xiangye snorted softly. What a Gu Yan! Now he is even unwilling to introduce himself as his wife in front of his colleagues.
Yun Xiangye held Xiao Nuonuo's hand and went back to the private room. About a quarter of an hour later, the waiter started serving the dishes.
Yun Xiangye looked at the dishes in front of him and said, "Why are these dishes so rare? Doesn't this white-cut chicken cost three taels of silver? Three taels of silver only buys half a chicken?"
Yun Xiangye looked at the small, delicate chicken on the plate in front of her. Three taels of silver were enough to buy five or six chickens, but this small plate of chicken probably only accounted for a quarter of a chicken.
The waiter said, "The people who come to our restaurant are all rich and powerful, not the ones who do manual labor at the docks. The dishes here are about quality and taste, not the more the better..."
Yun Xiangye frowned slightly, "These dignitaries are not fools. Money doesn't come from the wind. Only corrupt officials and profiteers would dare to spend so much. No wonder the business of this restaurant is so tepid."
The waiter took a look at Yun Xiangye's clothes and the jewelry she was wearing, and said in a cold voice: "Who are you? This Linlang Restaurant is opened by Her Royal Highness the Princess. If you think this place is too expensive, go to the restaurant by the pier to eat. There, you can have as many chickens as you like for three coins!"
Gu Jingyu frowned and said, "You are so rude, waiter. Do you know that the person in front of you is the new owner of Linlang Restaurant?"
The waiter sneered, "The new owner of Linlang Restaurant? You dare to make up stories? Let me tell you the truth. My aunt is the wet nurse of the daughter of Duke Wei. The eldest daughter of the Wei family will sooner or later be the daughter-in-law of the princess. The accountant who manages Linlang Restaurant now is my cousin, the wet brother of the eldest daughter of Wei. Sooner or later, the owner of Linlang Restaurant will be in my cousin's pocket."
Yun Xiangye frowned slightly when she heard what the waiter said. Wei Xi's hand was quite deep, and he had even planted people at Linlang Restaurant.
I think Wei Xi really regarded herself as Gu Yan's future wife, which is why she placed her own people in Linlang Restaurant.
Yun Xiangye originally wanted to make some achievements in Linlang Restaurant to let Gu Yan know that he was just looking down on others, but the people he arranged now were Wei Xi's people, and it would be a bit troublesome to manage the restaurant now.
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