She lowered her head as she spoke, looking as if she were the one who had been wronged.
Consort De looked at them and roughly understood the cause and effect.
"Ah Yue, it's just about making a meal, why do you have to fall out with someone?" Consort De said, pulling on Xu Yuehuai's arm and gesturing for her to go.
When Consort Jia heard Consort De say this, her face immediately fell.
Seeing this, Consort De quickly went over to comfort her: "Consort Jia, don't worry, just let A-Yue go and see what tricks Noble Lady Shen is up to?"
Consort Jia glanced at her but didn't say anything.
Consort De then said, "Oh dear, sister, given your relationship with A-Yue and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, you certainly won't be persuaded by anyone."
"Alright then." Consort Jia thought it made some sense and finally agreed.
Seeing that Consort Jia had agreed, Xu Yuehuai nodded in agreement, indicating that she was also willing to go.
...
Outside the palace, Third Sister's fried chicken shop quickly opened.
At first, many people didn't know what was sold here, and no one came to inquire. But after Third Sister fried a few chickens, the aroma naturally wafted out, immediately attracting some people.
They tried it out of curiosity, and to their surprise, it tasted amazing. Word spread quickly, and the fried chicken shop became famous. Every day, people flocked to buy it, and long queues formed outside the shop.
As expected of a shrewd businesswoman, Third Sister saw how popular fried chicken was and introduced a limited-production method, frying only 150 chickens a day, no more than that. As a result, even more people came to buy it.
Fried chicken restaurants have sparked a new wave of popularity in Beijing, and are even showing signs of surpassing Tianxianglou.
However, San Niang naturally wouldn't let that happen. She discussed it with Zhou Wan and prepared to strike while the iron was hot and launch a second event.
Customers who dine at Tianxianglou can get a free serving of fried chicken if their order exceeds 50 coins. This fried chicken is not included in the 150-serving limit. As a result, Tianxianglou's business has boomed. The two shops complement each other and both make a fortune.
But while some were happy, others were sad. Zhou Wan, San Niang, and their companions were overjoyed, while Xu Mingzhi was green with envy.
He went to see Marquis Ningyuan indignantly and said in a fit of rage: "My lord, Xu Yuehuai has opened another fried chicken shop in the city. It has a limited supply every day, but there are still long queues. Tianxianglou is also running a promotion. As long as you spend fifty coins, you can get that limited supply of fried chicken. Now the doorstep is almost worn down by people."
"I've heard about it too. What kind of things are going on in Xu Yuehuai's head? How could he even come up with such things?" Marquis Ningyuan nodded and said.
“My lord, what I mean is that we can seize this fried chicken shop and open it ourselves. Then we can naturally pay off the money we owe the Ministry of Revenue. Moreover, we can suppress Xu Yuehuai at the same time. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?” Xu Mingzhi rarely had a moment of clarity and thought the same thing as Marquis Ningyuan.
“The fried chicken shop is certainly good, but I don’t want to give up Tianxianglou. After all, how can that small shop compare to a big restaurant? So you should try to get your hands on Tianxianglou, and I’ll think of a way to shut down that fried chicken shop.” The two hit it off immediately, and Xu Mingzhi went to do the work without stopping.
Although Xu Mingzhi agreed to Ningyuan Hou's request, he couldn't help but feel troubled.
Right now, everyone at Tianxianglou treats him like a plague, avoiding him at all costs. It's difficult for him to even get in, let alone take over Tianxianglou.
After much thought, he decided to ask his mother to go and try it.
That being said, although Cui Rou knelt on the street for two days that day, the Xu family father and son didn't even give her a second glance.
She was so hungry that her stomach was practically sticking to her back, but she was too embarrassed to ask Xu Yuehuai for help again. So she took odd jobs to earn money for her old home. Although she didn't earn much, it was enough to keep her fed and clothed.
Xu Mingzhi guessed that she would be here, and immediately came looking for her.
Cui Rou was fetching water to wash her clothes when she saw Xu Mingzhi suddenly standing at the door. She thought she was seeing things.
She reached up and rubbed her mouth; Xu Mingzhi was still standing there by the door.
Xu Mingzhi even strode over, took the bucket of water from Cui Rou's hand, and asked with a worried look, "Mother, why are you living here by yourself? Didn't Xu Yuehuai take you away?"
“Mingzhi…” Cui Rou’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
"You really are determined..."
"My son, you've finally come to see your mother." She cried and couldn't help but hug him tightly.
Cui Rou had only injured her left ear.
However, because she has been using only one ear to hear sounds these days, her right ear is also not working very well.
Xu Mingzhi was unaware of these things.
But in order to complete the task assigned by Marquis Ningyuan as soon as possible and take over Tianxiang Tower, he could only pretend to hug her and said with heartache, "Mother, you must not blame your son for being heartless. I always thought that Xu Yuehuai had taken you away. I never expected that she would leave you here alone."
“Come on, let’s stop living such a miserable life. I’ll take you to her to reason with her.”
As he spoke, he took the person's hand and led them outside.
Cui Rou, however, was unwilling to follow him at all, and even shook her head: "Mingzhi, let's forget about it..."
"She's not our biological child after all. What can we do even if we go to her door?"
She sighed, but then suddenly remembered something happy and quickly said, "Now that you've become a high-ranking official, our Xu family has a successor. Why bother looking for her again? Wouldn't it be better for our family to live a peaceful life together?"
Although Cui Rou wasn't Xu Yuehuai's biological mother, she still felt sorry for the many grievances Xu Yuehuai had suffered while living with her family. Now that the truth had come out, she naturally felt embarrassed to cause any more trouble for Xu Yuehuai.
Upon hearing this, Xu Mingzhi felt a surge of anger.
If he hadn't gone to find Xu Yuehuai, how would he have gotten his hands on Tianxianglou?
“Mother, even if you aren’t her biological parents, you still raised her. Besides, she doesn’t even know it herself…”
“She already knows,” Cui Rou interrupted.
At this point, Xu Mingzhi wished he could immediately snap Cui Rou's neck.
After thinking it over, he realized that only Cui Rou could accomplish this, so he started crying and making a scene: "Mother, you keep saying that little bitch isn't your daughter, but I can tell she's clearly your own flesh and blood. Otherwise, why do you only care about her and not about my life or death?"
“Child, how could I not care about you?” Cui Rou said with some disappointment.
Over the years, she has put just as much effort into Xu Mingzhi as she has into anyone else.
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