"Princess, a thief broke into the Zhu residence, but he has been chased away. It's alright now, you can go to sleep," Qingyan replied in a low voice.
But Xingxing was no longer sleepy. She sat up, lifted the mosquito net and was about to get out of bed when she saw Qingyan quickly come in from outside. She took down a cloak hanging on one side and put it on Xingxing.
"It's snowing outside, and it's very cold. Princess, you'd better not go out. It's just a few gluttons who want to sneak into the Zhu residence at night," Qingyan said irritably.
"Why are they still not giving up? Besides, the Zhu family mansion is just an ordinary house, not some kind of treasure. I don't understand why these people keep trying to sneak in. What are they trying to do?" Xingxing said speechlessly.
Ever since Zhu Lin defeated a group of noble families in the marriage contest and became famous, the Zhu family mansion has become a mysterious place. Every now and then, those noble families would send people to sneak into the Zhu family mansion at night, and no one knew what their purpose was.
However, even the servants in the Zhu family knew martial arts. Those who came to sneak in at night were caught red-handed and thrown out before they could even climb over the wall. The more they couldn't get in, the more curious and persistent they became. Even after several months, there were still people who were not afraid of death coming to the Zhu family to cause trouble.
Previously, Zhu Chumo had set a trap with poison near the wall. Once someone climbed over the wall, the trap would be triggered, and they would be immediately poisoned. Although the poison was not immediately fatal, it was extremely difficult to cure and could torture a person half to death.
It's quite resilient that it hasn't scared those people at all.
"Two men in black came just now, but Master Zhu Wu took care of them by throwing two hidden weapons at them." Qingyan kept her voice very low, as if raising it even slightly would startle the princess.
If you're always breaking into other people's houses at night, you should be prepared for someone to die at any time. If you're too lenient, it will only go on forever.
Xingxing waved her hand to indicate that she understood, and instead of going out to get cold, she lay down and continued to sleep.
The following day, Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu's eatery officially opened. The two brothers were really hardworking. They came early in the morning and made a lot of steamed buns, dumplings, and wontons. The shop sold a lot of food, as well as noodles and pancakes.
"When the weather gets warmer, we'll sell rice and vegetables again. As long as there are people who want to eat, we'll make it." Zhou Erfu looked ambitious. This shop was his and Sifu's way of making money, and they had to make it a success.
"Okay, you and Fourth Brother can handle it. Now, give me a bowl of wontons first." There were six square tables in the shop. Xingxing sat at the innermost table, which was sheltered from the wind, and Zhu Lin sat opposite her.
Zhou Erfu glanced at the boy in white, "Brother Lin, would you like a bowl too?"
"Okay, three more meat buns, please," Zhu Lin replied naturally.
"You don't know how to be polite. Today, for our opening day, our meat buns are bigger than bowls, and the filling is generous." Zhou Erfu ordered some wontons and then took three meat buns and put them on a plate for him.
Zhu Lin picked up a steamed bun and broke it in half. Sure enough, it was very generously filled. "Opening on such a cold day, and it's almost noon, and only Xingxing and I have come to patronize this place. Did you make the meat buns so big because you had no customers and wanted to eat them yourselves?"
Tsk, why not just see through it and not say anything? Why does this person always like to undermine others?
"It's alright, we're not short of money, there's no rush to make money." Xingxing smiled at the two Fu brothers.
Just then, several carriages arrived at the gate, and a servant helped a noble lady down from each carriage. The noble ladies then entered the "Jin Fu Restaurant" together. Jin Fu Restaurant was the name given to the restaurant by Er Fu and Si Fu.
As Xingxing watched the noble ladies enter the shop, she took a closer look and realized that they were familiar faces. They were the same ones who had caused trouble at the Dharma Protector Temple. It was freezing cold, and instead of staying at home, they came here to cause trouble.
Xingxing only glanced at them a few times and then ignored them, continuing to eat with her head down. With Zhu Lin and the two Fu brothers there, they could easily drive these people away without her having to worry.
"Boss, give each of us a bowl of wontons and a meat bun," one of the maids said.
Then the other maids also ordered food. After the food was served, these noble ladies actually finished it all. After they finished eating, they even asked the servants to pack up a few more portions and gave them extra money as a tip when they paid.
After doing all this, the noble ladies calmly boarded their carriages and left, as if Jin Fu Restaurant was a very famous establishment with exceptionally delicious food, which was why they had come all the way here to try it.
Erfu and Sifu were unaware that these noble ladies had a past conflict with Xingxing, and they were all delighted to receive the money.
"Five noble ladies, each given two taels of silver, and they made ten taels in one go. At this rate, they'll become rich!" The five noble ladies ate less than two taels of silver in total, including the leftovers they packed later. They made eight extra taels. How could they not be overjoyed?
"They're not here to cause trouble, are they here specifically to deliver money? Why?" Xingxing asked, puzzled.
Zhu Lin had seen those noble ladies before. He lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "These women also went to Xuantian Gate to watch the marriage contest. They must have recognized you then. They didn't know your identity before, so they were so ignorant and offended you."
Now that I know, I'll have to find a chance to make a good impression on you, firstly to apologize, and secondly to appease you and hopefully make you forgive them.
"Why are you only showing your skills now? Isn't your reaction time a bit too slow?" Xingxing said, stroking her chin. After all, the marriage contest had been over for two months.
Zhu Lin continued her analysis: "You used to stay in the palace and rarely came out, so they couldn't find an opportunity. Later, they must have been sending people to keep an eye on the Zhou residence. Now that they've finally found an opportunity to show off, they've come to patronize your two brothers' businesses."
"That's too stingy. You think you can just fob me off with ten taels of silver? That won't do. You'll have to come more often." Xingxing said seriously. She decided that if those noble ladies could keep coming to the restaurant for a month, she would consider forgiving them.
After several carriages left the restaurant, the noble ladies went into a teahouse together and went upstairs to a private room. They distributed the packed food to the servants and chatted about the princess in the private room.
"Do you think what we're doing will appease the princess? I think she didn't even want to look at us just now," one of the noble ladies said.
Another noblewoman lowered her voice and replied, "I've asked around in the palace. The eldest princess is actually very easy to talk to, kind-hearted, and doesn't fuss over trivial matters. She never makes things difficult for the palace staff and has a very good temperament. Someone with such a good temperament shouldn't hold a grudge, right?"
“One time is definitely not enough. From now on, we will send people to the restaurant to buy food every day. In time, we will surely win over the princess and make her put aside her resentment towards us.”
"I hope so. There's no better way right now, so I can only come and buy food every day."
After that, these noble ladies indeed sent their servants to Jinfu Restaurant every day to buy food. They did this for two months straight, and continued until the end of the year. They got tired of the food after eating it a few times, so they distributed the food they bought to the servants in their mansion.
The servants of the mansion took turns eating at Jinfu Restaurant, and they were quite happy about it. After all, it was a gift from their master, and it didn't cost any money. Besides their three meals a day, these snacks were extra food. With the cold weather, they got hungry quickly, and having some snacks was just what they needed to warm their stomachs.
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