Chapter 116: Regarding the matter of private money, Xiu Yu is already a wealthy tycoon...
The Emperor personally led the army to the Forbidden City with Concubine Yi, and when he finally returned, he even summoned Concubine Yi to sleep with him on the first night. The women in the harem felt quite "unbearable to watch". Some were jealous, some were envious, but most of them just talked about it as a topic of conversation after dinner.
In the Qianqing Palace, Xiu Yu changed into a soft inner garment, letting her long hair flow freely as she sat beside Xuan Ye. She said angrily, "I thought you were just talking, but you really turned my card over?"
"I'm used to it." Xuanye held Xiuyu's hand and let her lie down. "I'm not fully recovered yet, so they don't know much about me. It's best for you, who knows me best, to stay by my side."
Seeing that Xuanye didn't look worried at all, Xiu Yu felt relieved: "Then have a good sleep."
"I miss your cooking." Xuanye closed his eyes obediently, but he didn't stop talking. "It's not your barbecue skills, I miss your soups, steamed cakes, and stir-fries."
"Then..." Xiu Yu suddenly had an idea: "If the Emperor doesn't have any major business tomorrow, why don't we go out of the palace? I'll take you to my first shop, the 'old brand'!"
"Okay." Xuanye agreed casually. "Come to think of it, ever since you took your craft outside the palace, I haven't actually been to see it. I'll go see it tomorrow."
"I promise you it will be worth the trip!"
Everyone in the palace knew that Xuanye had contracted malaria on his way back to the capital, so when he returned to the palace the next day and stopped attending court to rest, the ministers didn't think it was a big deal.
Sitting in the carriage, Xiu Yu, dressed in men's clothing, felt somewhat guilty: "If they kidnapped you like this, and they go to the Qianqing Palace to visit the emperor and find that he's not there, will the censors submit another memorial?"
"You're a scoundrel who brought disaster upon the nation?" Xuanye laughed. "No, you followed me into battle and won victories. It would be a shame if I didn't leave my name in history."
"I just want to live my life to the fullest," Xiu Yu said, expressing her thoughts at the moment. "History books are left for future generations to read. Their opinions are irrelevant."
Xuanye didn't expect Xiuyu to think this way.
"I, it seems, am not as clear-sighted as you. I cannot say I haven't worked hard as an emperor. I certainly hope that the people can live a good life, but I also hope that history books will give me a fair evaluation."
"It's a good evaluation, isn't it?" Xiu Yu smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, you've done a better job as the reigning emperor than the founding emperor. You've accomplished everything you wanted to do, so naturally you'll get good evaluations."
Xuanye's smile was somewhat forced. "Back then, the Empress Dowager told me that those whose names were recorded in history books were often either praised or infamous. I didn't believe it then, but now I have to. After all, no one is a saint. Life is so long, and we're bound to make mistakes. It doesn't matter if we make a mistake. As long as we stop in time, everything will be fine, right?"
There was expectation in his eyes. Xiu Yu clearly felt that Xuanye had something else to say, probably referring to the prince.
"Yuer believes that those who can stop themselves before it's too late are only making minor mistakes. Minor mistakes can naturally be corrected and forgiven."
"Yes, I can correct it, I can forgive it." Xuanye's mouth curled slightly, and he raised his hand to lift the carriage curtain: "Your shop is quite far from the Forbidden City."
"Do we have to open it at the foot of the Imperial City?" Xiu Yu looked out the window at the people coming and going outside. "If we really open it at the foot of the Imperial City, I'm afraid someone will accuse me of taking advantage of the Emperor's favor to amass the ministers' wealth. Although I don't really care what others say, these nonsense are really unnecessary."
The carriage finally stopped. The shop that Xiu Yu brought Xuan Ye to looked ordinary. Even the plaque did not have the words "Imperial Concubine" written on it, but there were quite a few diners coming and going.
"Do you also open this shop?" Xuanye opened his folding fan, fanned it slowly, and walked into the inner room.
Xiu Yu followed Xuan Ye and said, "This is the first one. You were arguing with me back then. I thought I could make a name for myself without using the name 'Huang Fei'. But regular customers know that the ones in the surrounding areas and outside Beijing are owned by the same owner as this one."
The shopkeeper saw Xiu Yu coming and hurried forward, saying, "Boss, your private room is cleaned every day by a special person, and it's finished today."
Xiu Yu went upstairs and asked, "How's business lately?"
The shopkeeper replied, "You've seen it too. There's a constant stream of customers coming to our restaurant, not just from the capital, but also from outside the capital."
Xiu Yu nodded: "Bring the accounts over here, and clear out the small kitchen for me. I will cook for myself today."
Seeing the noble appearance of the middle-aged man beside Xiu Yu, the shopkeeper naturally did not dare to treat him with disrespect: "You cook for us yourself, so today's guests are very lucky."
"Since you said so, why not ask a noodle chef to help you?"
After entering the private room on the second floor, Liang Jiugong naturally waited outside.
Xuanye looked at the layout of the room, sat down at the round table, and said, "It's a little different from the layout of your warm room, but the style is still the same. Your shopkeeper, did you know that you are my imperial concubine?"
Xiu Yu smiled and said, "He can only guess, but guesses are not reliable. Besides, he probably wouldn't have thought that the imperial concubine in the palace would open a restaurant. Besides, I gave him enough money, so he naturally wouldn't ask questions that he shouldn't ask."
"As expected, businessmen are still interested in money." Xuanye saw the old accounts on the bookshelf beside him and said, "Boss, can you allow me, the 'boss lady', to take a look at the current accounts?"
Xiu Yu raised her head slightly, pondered for a moment, and while reaching for the account book, she asked Xuanye, "Do you want to see how much private money I have?"
"Yes." Xuanye had already flipped through the book. "My beloved concubine opened a restaurant. I don't know the accounts. Is that inappropriate?"
Xiu Yu thought to herself: "It's inappropriate for you to know clearly." However, she naturally didn't say so, but just poured tea for Xuanye.
After reading page after page of the account book, Xuanye had to look at Xiu Yu with admiration.
"You... have made a lot of money now."
"If you need anything, you can always take it." Xiu Yu put the account book away: "I am not a stingy person. I can take out my private money to the court at any time."
Xuanye laughed out loud: "You'd better donate it to the temple and use your money. Your emperor is not that poor."
"Then I will obey the emperor's order and donate more silver to the temple and give more alms."
Xuanye had come here to try Xiuyu's cooking. In fact, Xiuyu had already passed on all his skills to the chefs at the restaurant, teaching them everything he knew. But cooking, after all, was a one-person job, with a unique flavor. Whenever Xiuyu came to the restaurant to check the bills and cook, the diners were amazed.
This time, since Xuanye was the main guest, the other dishes could only be prepared for Xuanye. However, for the pastries, Xiu Yu asked the noodle chef to help, and an extra plum blossom cake was added to each table as a thank you to the regular customers.
Xuanye waited in the house for more than an hour, and the dishes were finally served.
After Xiu Yu washed her hands, she sat across from Xuan Ye and said apologetically, "It's been a while since I last did this. My hands are a little rusty and my speed is slow."
"It's still delicious, fragrant and tasty. Why does it feel even more appetizing than what is cooked in the palace?" Xuanye said as he picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks.
Xiu Yu served Xuanye some soup and said, "If I say the spices here are more complete than those in my Yikun Palace's small kitchen, you won't be angry, right?"
Xuanye also thought it through: "You have people coming here from both the capital and other places. I'm afraid there are also some people selling spices. It's only natural that they have a full range of varieties."
"I'll bring some back to the palace later. You can come to my place for dinner. I won't treat you badly." Xiu Yu also started eating, boasting: "The spices are good, and my cooking skills are not bad either."
During the meal, Xiu Yu introduced the cooking methods of each dish to Xuanye. When they were almost done eating, they talked about some things on the battlefield and even speculated when Galdan would make a comeback.
Later, Xuanye had the most sound sleep he had had in several months on the couch. After waking up, he drank the refreshing soup prepared by Xiu Yu for him, and then he sat in the carriage contentedly.
"If you don't want to go back to the Forbidden City, why not live in Changchun Garden?" Xuanye lazily leaned against the car. "It's still more comfortable to live in Changchun Garden. After all, Changchun Garden has everything we need. We just need to move the memorials there."
Xiu Yu agreed with Xuanye: "Whatever you say, it's fine. We can go to Changchun Garden for convenience and go out anytime. We can go to the restaurant nearby later."
"As a boss, can't you just sit at home and collect the cash? Why do you have to cook for yourself?"
"I give my customers some surprises occasionally, and they find my restaurant more interesting and well-deserved of its reputation." Xiu Yu said his own reasoning.
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