Pei Weixuan sat behind Yu Niang and kneaded several acupuncture points on her head for about a quarter of an hour. He heard Yu Niang's happy voice, "It really doesn't hurt that much anymore. Fourth brother is really amazing."

Xu Qinyu still admired Fourth Brother very much. He was smart, knew medicine, and was also good at martial arts. He just didn't like to talk. But he was handsome and kept himself clean. In fact, a man like Fourth Brother would be a good husband.

Feeling that the headache was not so painful anymore, Xu Qinyu turned around and thanked her fourth brother.

The two of them chatted for a while while boiling water as usual, with Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan talking about what happened in the past two months.

Pei Weixuan listened carefully.

When Wen got up, she saw that the two of them looked normal, but Yu Niang had a look of embarrassment on her face that she herself had not even noticed.

She knew that Yu Niang would not ask for a divorce from Xuan Ge'er again, but it seemed that the relationship between the two was still unclear, so she guessed that she had to take it slow. It was fine this way, as long as Yu Niang did not want a divorce.

After washing up, Xu Qinyu went to Xu's.

Pei Weixuan went with her. He didn't need to look after the glass workshop for the time being, and there was nothing else to do on the island, so he could stay at home for half a month.

Xu Qinyu really didn't plan to mention the divorce again and planned to let things take their own course. She couldn't figure out her feelings for her fourth brother, so she might as well let things take their own course.

While Fourth Brother was around, Xu Qinyu told him what was in her mind.

Even if she didn't leave the Pei family, she still wanted to open a bigger restaurant in Raozhou City. Now that she had Dong Qian and Chef Wang, Xu Ji could be handed over to them, and she could go to Raozhou City to take a look.

Pei Weixuan naturally supported Yu Niang. Apart from divorce, Yu Niang could do whatever she wanted.

Xu Qinyu said, "Then can you spare some time tomorrow to accompany me to visit Raozhou City?"

"good."

In the evening, Xu Qinyu told everyone at Xu's Restaurant that she would go to Raozhou City to look at shops or land tomorrow, hoping to open a big restaurant or wine shop in Raozhou City.

As for whether to open a wine shop or a restaurant, she was unsure for the moment.

We will be leaving tomorrow and it will probably take two or three days, so Xu Ji will leave it to them.

Everyone told her not to worry and to go out without worry.

The next day, Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan went to Raozhou City.

When she was exiled to the southwest, the first place she came to was Raozhou City. Also, she had been here twice before when she cooked for Old Lady Zhu.

The state is naturally different from the town. There are a lot more people in the state than in the town, and it is more prosperous, with people coming and going in the streets and markets.

The regional division of Raozhou City is not much different from that of Yuanbao Town, also divided into four major directions: east, west, south and north. However, because the city is larger, unlike Yuanbao Town, which only has a few main streets, the market streets and alleys in every direction of Raozhou City are crisscrossed, and the population is at least ten times that of Yuanbao Town.

The population of Yuanbao Town is almost 10,000, and the population of Raozhou City is at least 200,000 to 300,000.

Because of the relationship between the Pei family and the Zhu family, Pei Weixuan and Xu Qinyu were not in a position to visit Governor Zhu. For fear of being noticed by someone with ulterior motives, the two of them first stayed at the Bafang Inn.

When they were first exiled to the southwest, they lived in the Bafang Inn. Xu Qinyu borrowed the kitchen of the Bafang Inn to cook and earned ten taels of silver. This also brought her into contact with the inn's shopkeeper Zhou and chef Zhou.

Xu Qinyu also taught Chef Zhou some recipes and cooking techniques.

A year and a half ago, because of Mrs. Zhu's matter, she met with the Zhou father and son of Bafang Inn, and allowed Chef Zhou to use the dishes she taught to attract customers at Bafang Inn. After that, during the holidays, Chef Zhou and Manager Zhou would bring their families to visit her to wish her a happy new year.

In the eyes of the two, Xu Qinyu is already half-master of Chef Zhou.

Shopkeeper Zhou is currently counting the bills in the inn.

Over the past year or so, because Miss Xu taught her son how to cook several dishes and allowed her son to use these dishes to attract customers, the business of the Banfang Inn has been getting better and better, and the hotel has been packed with guests.

Therefore, Shopkeeper Zhou was particularly grateful to Miss Xu.

I was calculating the bill when I suddenly heard a voice saying, "Boss, check in."

Chef Zhou suddenly felt that the voice was familiar. When he raised his head, he saw Miss Xu looking at him with a smile.

Shopkeeper Zhou was surprised and asked, "Ms. Xu, why are you here in Raozhou?"

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "I want to open a wine shop in Raozhou City, so I came here to take a look. I have no place to stay, so I will stay here for a few days, Manager Zhou."

Shopkeeper Zhou was of course very welcoming and booked a top-notch room for them. He knew that Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan were a couple, so he booked a room for them.

Xu Qinyu hesitated for a moment. She originally wanted to ask Manager Zhou to open two rooms, but Manager Zhou would definitely not be willing to accept money from her for staying in the inn. Moreover, it was a top-notch room, so she couldn't ask for another one.

After thinking about it, Xu Qinyu didn't say anything. She just asked Manager Zhou to bring in another mattress later.

The two of them entered the room and put their things away first. Xu Qinyu went out for a walk in the city with her fourth brother.

Chef Zhou was still busy in the kitchen, so Xu Qinyu didn't go to see him yet.

After leaving the inn, Xu Qinyu didn't have any specific estimates in her mind, so she could only walk around. After walking around for half an hour, she noticed that the guards in Raozhou City seemed to be much stricter. She couldn't help but look up at her fourth brother and asked in a low voice, "Fourth brother, is the guard in the city a bit stricter?"

Pei Weixuan hummed, his eyes a little heavy, "The capital has sent an imperial emissary to investigate the military pay embezzlement case in the barracks, so the security in Raozhou City has been relatively strict recently."

Seeing that Fourth Brother looked a little gloomy, Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat and she continued to ask in a low voice, "Fourth Brother, is the situation not good?"

"Yes." Pei Weixuan did not hide it from Yu Niang, "A large number of officials in the court in the capital have been replaced. The people who came this time seem to be the people of the King of Handong. After arriving in Raozhou, they just ate, drank and had fun. The governor was afraid of any accidents, so he sent a lot of guards in the city."

He knew not only that, but it was the King of Handong who embezzled the military pay.

So this time we sent someone to investigate, but in the end nothing was done.

I'm afraid even Empress Dowager Fu knew in her heart who was the one who was corrupt this time. Since Empress Dowager Fu allowed her own brother to do such a thing, it also shows that Empress Dowager Fu also thinks that these soldiers guarding the border city are not very important. She may think that the state of Bi next to the southwestern border is not a threat. She thinks that the state of Bi had been frightened by her eldest brother five years ago, and its military strength was weakened, so it dared not invade again.

In order to save military pay at the border, some soldiers in the barracks may even be dismissed.

The final result of disbanding the troops was that the State of Bi would see an opportunity and, thinking that the military strength in the southwest had weakened, they would probably continue to have some plans.

Pei Weixuan didn't tell Yu Niang about this.

But Xu Qinyu was already very angry after hearing this, "You dare to embezzle military pay, you don't even care about the safety of the people of Dasheng."

Even if she didn't understand politics, she knew that in all historical dynasties, border defense has always been of paramount importance. Otherwise, if the military defense is weak, wouldn't it give others the opportunity to attack their own country?

The southwest is one of the frontier areas, and the military defense is the same. However, Empress Dowager Fu’s own brother dared to embezzle even the military pay. Is there anything else he dare not do?

Xu Qinyu felt a little depressed because of this matter, and she was hesitant for a while, not knowing whether to open a restaurant in Raozhou City.

I have a feeling that with the way the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu govern the country, chaos will arise sooner or later. The southwest is a border area, so it will be even more affected.

But the fourth brother seemed to understand her thoughts and said to her, "Don't worry, Yu Niang, it's okay to open a wine shop and a restaurant. Even in troubled times, it's easier for a wealthy family to survive than ordinary people."

What the fourth brother said seemed to make sense. With a large family and many guards at home, it would be easier for them to survive than ordinary people. They would have people to flee when the time came. It was no wonder that she wanted to flee. If a war really broke out, how could the southwest fight without troops? Then the people in the southwest would definitely retreat inwards.

It is useless to be timid in doing business.

She still plans to open a wine shop or a restaurant.

She and her fourth brother did not return until almost dinner time, and they saw two shops being rented or sold. Both were three-story shops that could also be used as restaurants.

The largest restaurant in Raozhou City is called Zuixianlou. It is five stories high and does good business. It is the most famous restaurant in Raozhou City. When she and her fourth brother turned around, they saw the imperial messenger from the capital being escorted in for dinner.

Fourth brother pulled her away.

Xu Qinyu sighed and then went back to the inn with her fourth brother.

After returning to the inn, she went to the kitchen to look for Chef Zhou.

When Chef Zhou saw her, he called her "Master" in a polite manner.

It was time for dinner and there were quite a few diners in front. Chef Zhou had hired an assistant and brought two apprentices with him, and they were very busy.

Xu Qinyu asked him to prepare the food first, and she also ordered two stir-fried dishes for herself.

After finishing her evening meal with her fourth brother, Xu Qinyu went back to her room with her fourth brother to wash up. After she finished washing up, she went downstairs to find Chef Zhou and discuss cooking skills with him.

When he went back to his room to sleep at night, his fourth brother had already asked the shopkeeper Zhou for an extra quilt.

Fourth brother slept on the floor. Fortunately, the weather was not cold at the moment and they were in the Tianzi room with wooden floors, so there was not much difference.

Xu Qinyu even tried to give in to the fourth brother, but he directly took her hand and led her to the bed, letting her sleep on it.

Fourth brother had held her hand before, but this time, for some reason, when Fourth brother held her hand, Xu Qinyu's face turned red and she felt as if her hands were electrocuted. When Fourth brother asked her to sleep on the bed, she just nodded and didn't dare to say anything in rebuttal.

Maybe it was because I changed my bed and didn’t sleep well at night, so I woke up early in the morning.

The fourth brother also woke up and went to the yard to practice swordplay, while Xu Qinyu went to the kitchen.

After breakfast, Xu Qinyu and her fourth brother planned to continue walking around the city. She and her fourth brother did not finish their tour of the city yesterday, so they could go outside the city tomorrow. If they wanted to open a big restaurant that combines food, drink and entertainment, there might not be such a large piece of land in the city. They could only go outside the city, where they needed a place close to mountains and rivers.

Just as he was about to go out, an ordinary-looking man came over and accidentally bumped into Fourth Brother.

After everyone left, Pei Weixuan found a piece of paper in his hand. He opened it and took a look. Xu Qinyu also reacted and asked in a low voice, "Fourth brother, was it handed to you by the person who bumped into you just now?"

Pei Weixuan nodded. He had already read the note and said to Yu Niang, "Yu Niang, let's go back to our room first."

Xu Qinyu nodded, knowing that it must be something urgent.

After returning to the room, Pei Weixuan told her, "My uncle and grandfather knew that I was coming to Raozhou and wanted to discuss something with me, so he sent a letter to me. So I have to go to the governor's mansion in a while and can't accompany Yu Niang out. Yu Niang, please rest in the inn for a day. I will accompany you out tomorrow, okay?"

Xu Qinyu waved her hands, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother. You go to the prefect's mansion, and I can go out by myself."

She is so old, it is no problem for her to move around by herself.

Pei Weixuan glanced at her face and did not persuade her any further. He just said, "Yu Niang can change her clothes before going out."

Xu Qinyu was stunned for a moment, "Change clothes?"

Pei Weixuan was just a little worried. Yu Niang was born smart and beautiful, but she herself didn't realize it. In fact, Yu Niang would attract a lot of attention when she went out.

He was not familiar with Raozhou City, but he was worried that Yu Niang might meet some bad people with ulterior motives on the way.

He told her about his concerns and told her that she could dress as a man.

Xu Qinyu said, "That's fine too."

But in the past, when watching TV, you could tell at a glance that girls wanted to wear men's clothes.

But it would be bad to reject Fourth Brother's kindness.

There was a ready-made clothing shop nearby, so Pei Weixuan went out and bought a green robe that suited Xu Qinyu's height, and gave her a gauze chest wrap, asking her to change into it first.

Xu Qinyu went behind the screen, wrapped her chest, and changed into her robe. When she looked in the bronze mirror, she found that her face was still very beautiful, with a pair of sparkling eyes. Except for her body, her face looked like that of a girl.

When Pei Weixuan saw Yu Niang dressed like this, he was stunned and the tips of his ears turned slightly red.

He helped Yu Niang tie her long black hair into a bun and tied it with a cloth strip. He also took a bottle of ointment from his body and smeared it on Yu Niang's exposed face, neck, palms and backs of hands. He also smeared more on her throat. When Xu Qinyu went to find the bronze mirror again, he found that his appearance had changed a lot. Although his facial features were the same, he no longer had the delicate beauty of a girl. He was just an ordinary-looking boy with a dark skin.

Even when she opened her mouth and called out "Fourth Brother", she found that her voice had changed a little, becoming a little rougher and no longer as soft and beautiful as a girl's. It should be due to the ointment applied on her throat.

Xu Qinyu felt that Fourth Brother’s medical skills were truly amazing, and this ointment must have been prepared by him.

Pei Weixuan also went in and dressed up. When he came out after applying the plaster, he was a completely different person. Except for his height, he didn't look like his fourth brother at all.

Xu Qinyu found that even his facial features had changed a little. She was a little shocked. She couldn't help but touch Fourth Brother's face and murmured, "Why has Fourth Brother's appearance changed?"

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but only saw Fourth Brother's appearance from outside, she would not have recognized him at all.

Pei Weixuan said: "The misalignment of some meridians and acupuncture points on the face will cause changes in the face."

Even his voice changed.

Not only that, he can also shrink his bones, but now he has only changed his appearance, so there is no need to shrink his bones.

This was the first time Xu Qinyu had seen such amazing disguise skills other than on TV, so she watched with interest for a long time.

After Fourth Brother had fixed his hair, the two of them left the inn.

Even the shopkeeper Zhou, who was counting the accounts, did not recognize the two people and thought they were guests from other rooms.

After leaving the inn, Xu Qinyu waved to her fourth brother and whispered, "Fourth brother, go quickly. I'm going out by myself too."

Pei Weixuan nodded, and the two went their separate ways.

Xu Qinyu didn't have any specific place she wanted to see, so she could only look around.

This trip was to observe the location of the wine shop and restaurant, and also to take a chance to rest for a few days.

She arrived at a market street called Qingguhu, which was even more spacious than the market on East Street in Yuanbao Town. There were all kinds of shops inside, as well as two three-story restaurants, one called Qingyun Restaurant and the other Zhujia Restaurant, as well as a dim sum shop and two small restaurants. The rest were snack food stalls, plus some other shops and small vendors setting up stalls. It was bustling with people coming and going.

Seeing that there were quite a few people queuing in front of the snack shop, Xu Qinyu decided to buy some to try, so she went over and queued up.

The line was quite long, and there were several small vegetable vendors around, and many people were also buying vegetables.

Xu Qinyu was standing in line when she suddenly felt someone pat her shoulder. She turned around and saw a woman in her forties with a gentle face. The woman patted her shoulder and said with a smile, "Young master, take care of your wallet and be careful of thieves."

Xu Qinyu quickly lowered her head and discovered that the purse tied around her waist was a little loose. She had tied it tightly when she went out, so it was obvious that someone had touched her purse just now.

When she went out today, she actually carried a bag given to her by Sister Ning, which was made of satin and gauze, and matched the dress she was wearing in the morning very well. But now she had changed into a robe worn by a man, so it was naturally impossible for her to carry a bag, so she used an ordinary purse to carry a few coins when she went out for a stroll.

Xu Qinyu hurriedly thanked the gentle woman, "Thank you, auntie." If the auntie hadn't reminded her, her purse would have been stolen.

The woman waved to her, smiled, and left.

The woman was also pulling a small cart filled with vegetables and ingredients, which were usually purchased from restaurants or hotels.

Xu Qinyu guessed that this kind-hearted woman should be a buyer in a restaurant or wine shop.

After the woman left, Xu Qinyu looked around and saw a crouching man not far away, staring at the purse on her waist. He should be the man who wanted to steal her purse just now.

She just pretended not to see the man, untied the purse and held it in her hand. Seeing this, the thief looked around to see if there were any other purses to steal, and left when he saw none.

After all, the law is strict, and thieves dare not be too brazen.

In fact, there are thieves even in Yuanbao Town, but I have never encountered them on a daily basis. Xu Qinyu didn't expect that she would encounter a thief when she was out for a walk. She must be more careful in the future. If her fourth brother was with her, he would definitely have noticed the thief a long time ago.

Xu Qinyu didn't care too much and continued to queue up to buy snacks.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, it was finally her turn.

This shop sells stuffed pastries in five flavors: osmanthus, red bean, mung bean, peanut, and salt and pepper pork, four sweet flavors and one salty flavor.

Xu Qinyu bought some and tried them. The taste was okay, with a thin and crispy skin and plenty of fillings. The sweet one was a bit too sweet, and the salty filling was not well seasoned. But it was pretty satisfactory and there was nothing wrong with it.

After buying the snacks, Xu Qinyu continued shopping with the snacks in her hand.

She strolled for more than two hours, from the west to the south, and then back to Qingguhu. She planned to go back later to see if her fourth brother had returned. If he had, she would come to Qingguhu for dinner in the evening.

She originally wanted to go to Zuixianlou to try the food in the largest restaurant in Raozhou City, but after running into the imperial servant who was almost as fat as a ball yesterday, she didn't plan to go to Zuixianlou for fear of causing trouble for her fourth brother.

It's no wonder that she didn't like the imperial eunuch. He was the King of Handong's man. He came to investigate the case of military pay in the southwest, but he was only interested in eating and drinking. It was obvious that he was just like the King of Handong, a person who was greedy for pleasure. I'm afraid that this case of military pay will be left unresolved.

So since she couldn't go to Zuixianlou, she planned to try the two restaurants in Qingguhu.

As soon as Xu Qinyu returned to Qingguhu, she saw a lot of people gathered in front of the Zhu family restaurant.

She stood outside the crowd for a while, hesitated, and then squeezed in. Only then did she see clearly what was going on.

Xu Qinyu saw two men in official uniforms walking out of the Zhu family restaurant, followed by several soldiers.

Xu Qinyu had an impression of these two people. These two people were with the fat officer Qin yesterday.

When they came out of Zhu's Restaurant, the crowd immediately made way for them, and Xu Qinyu followed suit. When they left, the people around them started to talk about it, "Mrs. Zhu from Zhu's Restaurant is so pitiful. I didn't expect that master would come to Zhu's Restaurant for dinner. Hey, they were not even satisfied with the food at Zuixian Restaurant. Yesterday, they beat Zuixian Restaurant's chef with ten strokes of the cane, saying that the master was not happy with the meal, so he had to be beaten. Today, she has come to Zhu's Restaurant again."

"Who is that lord? He is so tyrannical in Raozhou City, but the governor doesn't care about him?"

"What do you know? He is an imperial envoy, sent by the emperor in the capital to investigate the case. How can the governor dare to intervene? If you offend this imperial envoy, the governor will be in big trouble."

Zhu's Restaurant? Madam Zhu?

Xu Qinyu remembered that the wife of Magistrate Zhu also had the surname Zhu, but she seemed to have never heard her talk about her maiden family. So, was it a coincidence that this Zhu's restaurant and the lady Zhu in the restaurant had the same surname as the wife of the Magistrate?

"Alas, the governor has always been dedicated to the people of the southwest. He is a good official, but now he has to endure such humiliation."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you remember the relationship between Madam Zhu and the governor's wife?"

The people around them suddenly realized, "Oh, right, Madam Zhu and the governor's wife are sisters, so this imperial envoy is not trying to embarrass Madam Zhu on purpose to slap the governor in the face, right?"

Xu Qinyu was stunned. It turned out that Madam Zhu from Zhu's Restaurant and the wife of the prefect were sisters.

It is true that I have not heard the prefect and his wife mention it, but last year I had more contact with Old Madam Zhu. The prefect and his wife could only come to see the old lady when they were free. They didn't chat much with Zhu, not to mention that she was busy at Xu's all day and had hardly seen the prefect's wife.

It’s probably not a good idea to bring it up, so I never mentioned it.

Xu Qinyu listened to the people around her continue talking.

"Mrs. Zhu is also a good person. The food in the restaurant is affordable and tastes good. She usually gives the leftover food to the beggars in the city. It's amazing that a woman is in charge of cooking. I hope she won't be beaten by this messenger."

"Even the chef of Zuixianlou was beaten. Although Madam Zhu's cooking skills are not bad, she is still not as good as the chef of Zuixianlou. I'm afraid she can't escape this beating. Even if the governor comes, I'm afraid there is nothing he can do."

"This messenger did it on purpose!"