Liu Che looked at Wei Deng and smiled, "I... I'm not afraid, why are you panicking?"
Wei Deng said with a sad face: "What if you get sick from eating... How am I going to explain this to the Lord... and the young master?"
Before Liu Che could say anything, a young lady came over and placed mutton soup and glutinous rice cakes on the table. She said in a clear voice, "My family uses only the best mutton and glutinous rice. Please feel free to eat them. If you get sick, we will compensate you!"
At this time, someone beside him also said, "Yes, this place is famous for its clean and delicious food. We are all regular customers here, so you can eat without worry, my dear."
Liu Che turned around and found that the person who spoke was actually an old man who looked to be about 60 years old. On a whim, he couldn't help but ask, "Does the old man often visit his house?"
The old man had a kind face and was drinking mutton soup from a large bowl when he spoke. He put the bowl down, turned around, and asked, "Is this young man's first time in the capital?"
Liu Che raised his eyebrows: "Can the old man see it?"
The old man smiled and said, "Of course, everyone in the capital knows that the Wuyan family's mutton soup and glutinous rice cake barbecue are specialties. This is their ancestral craftsmanship!"
Liu Che asked, "Inherited from ancestors? Has this shop been open for a long time? I don't think his family is from the Central Plains."
The old man said, "Oh, their family fled here. Although Wu Yan looks like a Xiongnu, he was raised inside the Great Wall. His mother is also Han Chinese, but he looks more like his father."
Liu Che nodded in understanding. Wei Deng, standing beside him, asked curiously, "Since his family has been in business for so long, why doesn't they open a new store?"
"What else could it be? No money." The young lady just now came over again. Liu Che took a look and thought that there were probably fewer people around at this time, so the young lady came over to join in the fun when she had the chance.
Wei Deng smiled and asked, "Shop rents in the capital are very cheap these days. His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory has ordered subsidies for the next two years. Your business is so prosperous, how can you not afford the rent?"
The young lady was also lively and said immediately, "Selling for a long time doesn't mean making money. Father said we are different from people in the Central Plains. We must do business honestly. If we cheat people, they will never trust us again. So we must use good ingredients. But good ingredients are expensive. In the past, not many people could afford it, so naturally we couldn't make much money."
The old man beside him also said: "Yes, my family is pretty well-off. We could only eat here once during festivals. We couldn't afford it on weekdays."
Liu Che was a little surprised: "But aren't there a lot of people here now?"
The young lady said crisply, "That's because His Royal Highness the King of the North has come. Before His Royal Highness the King of the North came, Shuofang City was very dilapidated. After His Royal Highness came, he moved the fairy palace in heaven to the human world, allowing us to live like gods. The court no longer collects taxes, and His Royal Highness the King of the North even hires everyone to work. Those who go there are given food, drink, and money. Naturally, they have the money to come to my house."
The old man was also excited at this time and said, "That's right, my house used to be made of rammed earth. I worked hard all my life just to live in a brick house. Finally, His Majesty the King of the Northern Territory gave us items used by gods. Now my house is much better than a brick house."
Liu Che's eyes were narrowed with laughter at this time. Nothing could make a parent happier than hearing praise for his child from others.
Even Liu Che was not immune to this.
He said modestly, "The King of the North is just average."
When others praise their children, parents will generally be humble.
But the problem was that the two people in front of him didn't know his identity, and they immediately became unhappy when they heard what he said.
It wasn't just these two people. The people who had just been listening to their conversation were also unhappy. One middle-aged man said unhappily, "How can you talk like that? What's the King of the North doing? We'd believe him if he said he was a god."
"Hmm?" Liu Che was a little surprised: "Have you also received favors from the King of the Northern Territory?"
The man sighed and said, "Yes, back then our family was so poor that we couldn't even find a wife. Several of our brothers and sisters-in-law starved to death, and our parents almost starved to death. That was two years ago! I'm not kidding. Just ask around and you'll know what the situation was like in our village back then. Later, when the King of the Northern Territory arrived, he did just as the young lady said and started recruiting workers. Everyone thought we were going to have to do corvée labor, because the corvée labor back then was indeed a bit low. But to our surprise, His Highness not only exempted us from taxes and corvée labor, but also provided us with food, lodging, and wages."
The man's eyes reddened as he spoke: "His Royal Highness the King of the North is a god sent down to earth to save us."
The young lady beside her clasped her hands and said, "So every morning when we wake up, we pray to God to bless His Majesty and His Highness with eternal life."
Liu Che, who had been listening to a lot of rumors about the King of the Northern Territory, was caught off guard when she mentioned him. He couldn't help but ask, "Hmm? Your Majesty?"
The young lady said, "Yes, His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory said that the tax exemption was personally approved by His Majesty, and His Majesty often sends money to subsidize us, so the national treasury has so much money to subsidize us. After a while, my family will be able to save enough to rent a shop. This is all thanks to the kindness of His Majesty and His Royal Highness."
The man who had just spoken interrupted, "If you ask me, these are all minor matters. Haven't you noticed that since His Highness the King of the Northern Territory came, the Huns haven't dared to come? Last year, the Huns took advantage of His Highness's absence to come and plunder. This year, all the Huns who came were beaten back by His Highness. I heard that His Highness is not leaving this year, so the Huns are afraid of him and are still opening... opening a trade."
"Mutual trade? What is mutual trade?" The young lady was a little curious.
Wei Deng, who was standing by, heard the man keep referring to the Huns. The young woman, who looked quite Hun-like, didn't care and couldn't help but find it a little amusing. So he said, "It's a place where they do business with the Huns."
The young lady pouted and said, "Who wants to do business with them? They are not good people!"
The man said mysteriously, "We heard that His Highness is only using the trade to keep the Xiongnu at bay, and he will fight back sooner or later."
Liu Che twitched his lips and said, "Why haven't I heard of them? The Xiongnu are so powerful. Now that the Northern Kingdom is doing better, the King of the Northern Kingdom shouldn't start a war, right?"
How could the man understand this? He argued to himself, "Of course ordinary people can't do anything about it, but His Highness is not an ordinary person. He is a star god who came down from heaven!"
The old man drank the last mouthful of mutton soup and said, "That's right, that's right. It was His Majesty who conferred His Highness to the Northern Territory. His Majesty has sent a god to us."
Liu Che couldn't help laughing when he heard this. It turned out that he was not the only one in the world who thought his son was a god.
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