Chapter 77077 You Ancients
Chapter 77
Meng Yuning's face lit up when she heard this, a bright smile in her eyes, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Qi Jingyan raised the corners of his lips slightly, without saying much, just looking at her quietly with gentle eyes.
Meng Yuning suddenly frowned again, her tone filled with worry. "Your Highness, if we really destroy the brothel and the gambling house tomorrow, I'm afraid the Zhang family and the Third Prince won't let it go. Will they come back to Your Majesty and spread rumors and frame you?"
Seeing that Ah Ning's every word was meant for him, Qi Jingyan's eyes softened. He raised his hand and gently stroked the top of her head, "It's okay, Ah Ning, don't worry."
Seeing that she was still frowning, he told her the conversation between Mu Shan and Mu Jiang.
"I see." Meng Yuning suddenly understood, the worry in her eyes vanishing. She clenched her fist and said, "If that's the case, then I'm going to give him a good beating tomorrow to vent my anger."
Qi Jingyan's smile deepened, and he said softly, "Will An Ning take charge tomorrow?"
Meng Yuning's eyes lit up, and she couldn't hide her excitement, "Really? Can I do it?"
She is not a violent person, but she still wants to take part in dealing with bad guys.
Qi Jingyan nodded and said encouragingly, "Of course you can."
Meng Yuning thought about commanding her guards to slaughter everyone tomorrow, and her heart surged with emotion. She quickly lay back on her pillow, closing her eyes impatiently. "Sleep, sleep, sleep quickly."
Qi Jingyan smiled and said "Okay", but did not lie down. He still leaned on the pillow and continued to fan her.
Meng Yuning opened her eyes again and turned her head to look at him: "Your Highness, we can destroy those places, but what should we do with the people inside?"
Qi Jingyan asked gently, "Who is An Ning talking about?"
Meng Yuning rolled over and lay down, resting her elbows on the pillow. She held her chin in her hand and said seriously, "Let's talk about those thugs in the gambling house first. We can't let them get away with it and then go and harm people somewhere else in the future, right?"
"Don't worry about that," Qi Jingyan said gently, "Tomorrow I will have them escorted to the County Magistrate's Mansion and handed over to County Magistrate Chen for strict punishment according to the law. I will never allow them to harm the people again."
"That's good." Meng Yuning nodded and asked, "What about the women in Zui Xiang Lou? Where should they go?"
Qi Jingyan didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked up at her with encouragement in his eyes: "A Ning, do you have any rules?"
Meng Yuning held her chin with both hands, thought for a moment, and said, "That depends on how they entered the brothel. If they went there voluntarily..."
At this point, she shook her head. "No, you ancients, especially women, valued your reputation the most. How could anyone willingly fall into prostitution? I'm sure everyone had their own reasons."
Qi Jingyan keenly caught the hint in her words and raised his eyebrows slightly: "You ancient people?"
Meng Yuning secretly thought that she had spoken too quickly again, and quickly waved her hand to brush it off, "Oh, don't worry about these trivial details. The important thing right now is how to accommodate them when the time comes. If Zui Xiang Lou is gone, they will have nowhere to go."
Seeing that she was playing dumb again, Qi Jingyan didn't ask any more questions. He raised the corner of his lips slightly and said, "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble An Ning to take care of this matter."
Qi Jingyan had said this to her the last time they encountered Qiulian. Meng Yuning nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do it. The first time is raw, the second time is familiar."
Then he sighed: "Oh, this is difficult."
Qi Jingyan: "What's the problem?"
Meng Yuning counted on her fingers and said, "Look, there are so many people here. We can't just take them all in regardless of their origins. Who knows if there are any spies or informants among them? Otherwise, wouldn't that be bad news?"
Jing Yan nodded: "A Ning has thought it through carefully."
Meng Yuning continued, "In my opinion, we should first inquire about each person's background. If they have a home to return to or relatives to rely on, we can send people to escort them back home safely. If they have no one to rely on, we can find another place for them to live."
"Anyway, everyone needs to be carefully questioned about their past and present before making any plans for the next step."
Seeing her thorough and organized thinking, Qi Jingyan's eyes were filled with admiration: "A Ning is smart."
Meng Yuning thought for a while, then turned over and lay down: "Don't think about it for now. Everything will wait until we meet the person tomorrow, and then we can act according to the situation."
As he said that, he yawned and said, "Your Highness, you should go to bed early too."
Qi Jingyan lay down as he was told.
Meng Yuning raised her head again and said, "Good night, Your Highness."
Qi Jingyan reached out and gently pressed her head back onto the pillow: "Good night, An Ning."
---
The next morning.
When Meng Yuning woke up, Yi'er had finished his morning exercise. Meng Yuning washed up, walked out the door, and greeted the two brothers in a cheerful tone.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
"Good morning, Xiao Yi'er."
As soon as he saw An Ning come out, Yi'er's eyes curved up immediately, and he jumped over like a happy little rabbit, grabbed her sleeve, and said excitedly: "An Ning! Brother said that after I finish writing this afternoon, he will take us out of the house to play!"
Meng Yuning squatted down with a smile, took the little guy into her arms, squeezed his chubby little hand, and said softly, "Okay, then we'll go together."
She glanced at Qi Jingyan and her heart moved slightly.
If Yi'er was a child from an ordinary family, she would definitely persuade Qi Jingyan not to take her with him, so as not to scare the child.
But Yi'er's identity is different. She grew up in the turbulent imperial palace. The environment she will live in in the future will be full of life and death dangers. Qi Jingyan wants to take Yi'er to see it, and he must have his reasons. She will not interfere rashly.
If the situation is really scary, she will cover Yi'er's eyes and ears.
The three of them had breakfast under the pavilion in the courtyard. After the meal, they sat together and chatted for a while. Then Yi'er followed Qi Jingyan to Qingke Hall to attend class.
Mu Li and Meng Jin did not go out today, so Meng Yuning called them to the west wing to ask about the situation.
Since Mu Li was mainly accompanying them, Meng Yuning let Meng Jin speak. After Meng Jin bowed, he respectfully replied, "Miss, we have visited all the markets in the city these past few days."
"There are a total of thirty-eight restaurants and taverns in the city, large and small. They are all shops with official facades, but most of the people who eat there are wealthy officials and gentry, and the prices are quite high. Ordinary people simply can't afford it."
Meng Yuning nodded slightly. In this era, ordinary people didn't have the spare money to eat at a restaurant. She had originally intended to do business with the rich.
She then asked, "How does it taste? Have you ever tried it?"
Meng Jin blushed and quickly shook her head: "I haven't tasted it yet."
Mu Li continued, "Originally, I picked out a few places that looked good and wanted to go in and try the food, but Meng Jin said they were too expensive and refused to let me in."
Meng Yuning chuckled: "The money I gave you for the food tasting is originally for you to taste the flavors, so there is no need to feel stingy about it."
In fact, if she wanted to taste the food, it would be more effective for her to go there herself, but she wanted to cultivate Meng Jin, so she asked her to go and find out first.
Meng Jin is a steady person, but he has been confined in the backyard of several previous masters for more than ten years, doing rough work all day long and rarely going out. He has never been anywhere, so it is inevitable that he is a little timid.
It is obvious that he has become much more generous in his words and deeds when he has been out these days. It seems that it is useful to go out and see the world more.
But this matter cannot be rushed. She is reluctant to spend money. If she is forced to spend it, she will feel guilty and will not be able to enjoy it.
Seeing Meng Jin's clenched fingers and a look of panic on his face, Meng Yuning comforted him gently, "It's okay, if you didn't try it, then you didn't try it. I'll be free in a few days and take you to try it together."
Hearing that the girl did not blame him but comforted him, Meng Jin's eyes warmed and he nodded heavily: "Yes."
Meng Yuning asked again, "Have you seen any empty shops, or any that are for sale?"
Mu Li and Meng Jin shook their heads: "We haven't seen it yet."
"No rush, just pay attention slowly." Meng Yuning picked up the teacup and took a sip, thinking that he should go out for a walk in a few days.
Opening a restaurant is no easy task, but once you've decided, you have to take it one step at a time. First, you have to find a suitable location, and then you have to test the quality of restaurants in the city. Only then can you understand yourself and your competitors and create your own unique restaurant.
With this in mind, he said softly, "You've all been working hard these past few days. Meng Jin, go back and rest first. Your Highness, the Little Prince, and I are going out this afternoon. You should all come with us to broaden our horizons."
Meng Jin agreed, bowed and left.
Meng Yuning sat for a while, and since she had nothing to do, she took Mu Ying and Mu Li to see Aunt Lin.
Seeing that Aunt Lin and Ping'an were fine, and Old Man Lin was able to get up to eat and walk around, he gave her a few words of advice and left, going to the kitchen.
After entering the kitchen, she found a large basket of crabs of various colors. She asked in surprise, "Where did this come from? There are so many, there must be hundreds of them, right?"
"Greetings, Miss Meng." Mu Shan stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said with a smile, "Yesterday, Mu Feng and his friends had nothing better to do, so they told His Highness they were going to the beach. They returned this morning with a large basket of crabs. I just counted them, and there are one hundred and seven of them."
When she heard that they picked it up at the beach for free, Meng Yuning's eyes lit up: "Tell Mu Feng and the others to go again tomorrow and pick up some more shells and conchs."
Mu Shan couldn't help laughing: "They are all catching up on their sleep in the house right now. They said they would go tonight."
Meng Yuning smiled and said yes, then rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let's have a good meal at noon today."
Everyone helped, and Meng Yuning showed off her cooking skills. In just one hour, everything was ready.
She picked four big ones and steamed them. She, Qi Jingyan, Yi'er, and Doctor Tang each had one.
The remaining ones were all made into spicy crabs, which filled two large pots, enough for everyone to share.
When Yi'er and Qi Jingyan returned to Yanfu Residence, Meng Yuning asked them to wash their hands, and then the three of them sat around the table.
The first thing Yi'er saw were the three large steamed crabs on the table. His eyes widened and he hugged himself with his two small hands: "A Ning, these crabs are so big! Will they bite Yi'er?"
Meng Yuning laughed and touched Yier's little head: "Don't be afraid, Yier, this crab is cooked and won't move. Come, let Aning peel it for you to eat."
As he spoke, he picked up one and, with a "click, click, click", he removed all the crab's legs with great skill and roughness.
Then he picked up a pair of scissors that he had prepared long ago and deftly cut off the meatless part of the crab legs. Finally, he picked up a pair of chopsticks and poked out all the meat from the crab legs.
Then he placed the crab legs neatly on the plate and said, "Come on, Yi'er, eat it."
Yi'er was shocked by Aning's actions and clapped her hands: "Aning is so amazing, she defeated the big crab."
Meng Yuning laughed heartily, picking up a crab leg and feeding it to Yi'er. Yi'er bit one end of the crab leg and took the whole piece of meat into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he squinted his eyes and said, "A Ning, Yi'er likes this meat."
Meng Yuning then handed the plate of crab legs to Yi'er: "Here, I'll give it all to you. Ning will open it first."
After she finished speaking, she looked up and met Qi Jingyan's silent gaze, which was filled with surprise and inquiry.
Meng Yuning wondered, "What's wrong?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Jingyan asked casually, "Have you, An Ning, often eaten crabs?"
Meng Yuning: "Ah, I guess so." It's not surprising for the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion to eat crabs a few more times.
Qi Jingyan asked again: "A Ning always does it herself?"
Meng Yuning glanced at the pair of scissors she had borrowed from Qiulian and boiled in boiling water, then glanced at the crab legs on Yier's plate. Her heart suddenly felt empty, and she hurriedly explained, "I'm..."
Qi Jingyan nodded, and naturally reached out to take the heavy pair of scissors from her hand. He smiled slightly and said, "I know, An Ning must have learned this from that book 'Lingnan Food Notes'."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
