Chapter 309: Selling Royal Wine
Sang Ru was stunned by Xie Zhili's words. Aren't they sitting at the same table? Why did the second master have to order dishes in order of front and back?
Seeing Sang Ru passing by him and asking Mu Huaian, Xie Zhili felt very unhappy. He had suffered a lot from Mu Huaian at Yu Qinghuan's place on weekdays, but now even a little maid like Sang Ru ignored him. How could he accept it? He was determined to compete with Mu Huaian for the first place.
Mu Huaian smiled without saying anything, signaling Sang Ru to take care of Xie Zhili first and not to worry about him.
Sang Ru also realized something at this time, and thought: What a sin, the man that the girl has provoked has to be jealous, and I, the maid, have to bear it on my behalf.
She smiled broadly at Xie Zhili and asked, "What would this distinguished guest like to eat?"
Xie Zhili felt relieved. "What's there to eat?"
Sang Ru smiled and said, "We have three signature dishes today at Fuyanlou, as well as a specially brewed wine. Would you like to have a portion, my dear guest?"
Xie Zhili said without hesitation: "One each."
Naturally, he had to show his support to Yu Qinghuan's restaurant.
Lin Jing, who was standing by, reminded him in a low voice, "Master Xie, the food and drinks here are not cheap..."
Xie Zhili had a decent impression of Lin Jing and waved his hand, "It's okay."
He specially brought one hundred taels with him today, which was enough for a meal.
Lin Jing paused and thought: That's right, the Xie family is a marquisate after all. Even if Xie Zhili is a concubine's son, he has no shortage of money, not to mention that he is now a favorite of the emperor.
Sang Ru was visibly happy, the Second Master was truly generous.
"Please wait a moment, sir."
After Sang Ru left, Xie Zhili looked at Mu Huaian with obvious disdain, "You're not going to order any food?"
Mu Huaian said truthfully, "I didn't bring any money, so I can only ask Brother Xie for a meal."
A light groan escaped from Xie Zhili's throat, and he dug hard.
"I don't know what she sees in you."
As he spoke, he glanced at Mu Huaian and thought: What on earth does that woman Yu Qinghuan want from someone who is inferior to me from head to toe?
Soon, the dishes and wine were all served on the table of Tang, Mai and the other two.
The Imperial Censor Mai Lang was not a foodie, but after tasting the three dishes before him, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This chef's cooking skills are even better than those of the imperial chefs in the palace."
The other two had also attended palace banquets of all sizes, and now they agreed with Mai Lang's words.
The three of them raised their glasses and drank together. The moment the wine entered their throats, their expressions were different.
Lord Tang and Lord Dai looked at each other. It was indeed a good wine, but the taste was very familiar, as if they had tasted it somewhere before.
Censor Mai seldom drank alcohol, and would only have a couple of drinks at palace banquets, so when he tasted it, he discovered that the wine sold in Fuyan Tower was actually the imperial wine from the palace!
It was obvious that some scoundrels in the palace stole the imperial wine and sold it in private restaurants. This was a serious crime punishable by deceiving the emperor and being beheaded.
Censor Mai slammed the table and stood up, "How ridiculous! Where is the shopkeeper?"
Suddenly, everyone in the building looked at him.
Xie Zhili, who was drinking, pursed his lips slightly, his eyes unfriendly, "What's wrong with Master Mai?"
Do you want to cause trouble here?
Censor Mai blew his beard and glared, "This wine is clearly the imperial wine!"
Lord Tang and Lord Dai standing by immediately remembered that this wine tasted the same as the Thousand Days Brew they had drunk at the palace banquet a year ago.
Lin Jing was surprised and looked down at the wine glass in his hand. Imperial wine?
That can't be possible. The imperial wine was brought up from Fuyan Tower.
Hearing this, Mu Huaian frowned slightly, reached out to pick up the wine jug and poured a cup. The wine went down his throat and he had a familiar taste. It was indeed the royal wine of the palace - Thousand Days Brew.
He looked towards the distance and saw that Yu Qinghuan, who was there just now, had disappeared.
He had never heard Yu Qinghuan mention this matter, and for a moment he didn't know whether it was Xie Zhili's idea or the one in the palace.
At this moment, Xie Zhili raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard what Censor Mai said, and retorted, "This is just a small restaurant. How can there be any imperial wine here? Lord Mai, you must be mistaken."
Censor Mai said, "How could I be mistaken, Master Xie? You drank quite a bit at the palace banquet. How could you not know what kind of wine this is?"
Xie Zhili twirled the wine glass with his fingers, watching the wine sway gently in the glass, and kindly reminded, "Censor Mai, it's best to be a little confused when you're an official. There are some things you shouldn't get involved in, and you can't get involved in."
But when these words reached the ears of Censor Mai, they were interpreted as Xie Zhili threatening him.
How could the upright and upright Chief Censor be threatened by such threats? He immediately looked at the other two people at the table and said, "Master Tang, Master Dai, please judge for yourself. Is this a Thousand Days' Brew?"
The two looked at each other, pretending to be confused and laughing dryly. "Master Mai, we haven't even tried the Thousand Day Brew, so how would we know what kind of wine this is?"
You can be smart as a person, but you cannot be too smart as an official, otherwise you will offend people, and in serious cases, you may even lose your head.
How could someone who could steal Thousand Days Wine from the palace and sell it outside be just a small person?
They don't want to get into trouble.
Seeing the two pretending to be confused, Censor Mai's face turned pale. He looked at Lin Jing, who was still shocked because he had drunk the imperial wine Thousand Days Brew, and said, "Master Lin, you——"
Before he could finish, Lin Jing laughed awkwardly, "Sir Mai, I've never been to a palace banquet before. I've never had the chance to drink the imperial wine you mentioned."
Censor Mai: "...Okay, okay, you all just pretend to be confused!"
Seeing his colleagues in the court pretending to be dumb, he was filled with indignation. He knew that Fuyanlou was definitely colluding with the court officials. "You are pretending to be ignorant and not daring to offend others, but I am not afraid! I will definitely bring these scoundrels who are selling the imperial wine to justice!"
After saying that, he picked up the chopsticks and put the remaining piece of duck meat in the bowl into his mouth, then left with a flick of his sleeves.
After watching Censor Mai leave, Xie Zhili picked up his chopsticks and started eating. If nothing else, the dish was quite good.
Mu Huaian raised his hand and held down his chopstick hand, "What's going on?"
Xie Zhili: "What's going on?"
Mu Huaian frowned slightly, "What's going on with the Thousand Days Brew?"
Judging from Xie Zhili's reaction just now, he felt that Xie Zhili was involved in this matter. Selling imperial wine was a serious crime.
Xie Zhili said with a smile, "Do you think it has something to do with me?"
Mu Huaian: "Isn't it?"
If it had nothing to do with him, why would he have taken the initiative to do this?
Xie Zhili poured another glass of wine and drank, "You think too highly of me."
Although Xie Zhili was bold, he was not stupid enough to use the imperial wine to please Yu Qinghuan. That would be handing the handle to Xiao Jinghe, allowing him to be manipulated.
He spoke just now only because he couldn't bear to see Censor Mai involved in this matter.
Not far away, Sang Ru witnessed all this. Although he didn't know what the crime of selling imperial wine from the palace was, he knew that it must be no small matter if it could cause such a big reaction from the Lord Censor.
She hurried upstairs to find her girl.
After listening to Sang Ru's description of the incident, Yu Qinghuan frowned slightly. She had tasted the wine brought by Xiao Jinghe when she was at the manor before and thought it was delicious, so she asked Xiao Jinghe for more than ten jars this time. She had no idea that it was imperial wine.
She looked at Cheng Gongjin beside her...
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