Chapter 104

When Jiang Yanyi left the private room, she met Chu Shubao and her sister on the stairs leading to the third floor. They were sitting on the wooden stairs, each holding a bowl of small glutinous rice balls.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi, Chu Shubao hurriedly called her: "Ayi, these glutinous rice balls are delicious, you should also scoop a bowl to taste."

It was already past noon, and because there were still many guests eating upstairs, the waiters upstairs were still busy. In order not to add burden to the kitchen, Chu Shubao and her sister ate some cakes and sweet soup to fill their stomachs when they were hungry.

Jiang Yanyi asked the kitchen to cook two large buckets of sweet soup for the whole day. One bucket was Tremella and Wolfberry soup, and the other bucket was soft and delicious small glutinous rice balls. Although it was cooked in a large pot, it tasted better than what some people's chefs cooked at home.

Jiang Yanyi and Feng Shuo had just finished a hot pot, and they were not hungry, so he said, "You guys eat, I'll go downstairs to take a look."

And make them something delicious.

Chu Jiabao suddenly asked, "Second sister, why have you been in the Zhuzihao private room for so long?"

They could see the Zhuzihao private room from where they were standing. The two sisters had already finished most of the bowl of glutinous rice balls here. They had to pass through here to get to the Zhuzihao private room. They didn't see Jiang Yanyi passing by, which meant that Jiang Yanyi had entered the private room before they came here to eat the glutinous rice balls.

Jiang Yanyi was embarrassed to say that it was Feng Shuo who came over, so she evaded the question by saying, "An old lady didn't know how to

cook shabu-shabu meat, so I helped her cook it for a while." Watching her go downstairs, Chu Shubao held the bowl in one hand, rested her elbow on her knee with the other hand, and dragged her face with her palm. She tilted her head and looked at Chu Jiabao and said, "Jiabao, I'll eat the hot pot later, so you can cook shabu-shabu meat for me."

Chu Jiabao ate the sweet, soft and sticky little glutinous rice balls, and said without raising her head, "Shabu-shabu yourself!"

Chu Shubao tilted her head and saw the door of the Zhuzihao private room open. The man who came out was wearing a dark-colored fine brocade silk robe and a heavy fox fur coat on his shoulders. Although only half of his face could be seen clearly, he was still as handsome as a crown of jade.

Chu Shubao was stunned. Is this the "old lady" that Jiang Yanyi mentioned?

Before Feng Shuo came over, she quickly pulled Chu Jiabao up to the third floor: "Hurry up, hurry up."

"What's the matter?" Chu Jiabao was dragged to the third floor by her cousin.

Chu Shubao took her cousin to hide at the staircase of the third floor and watched the man walk from the second floor. A guard behind him lowered his voice and reported something to him: "Prince, Xing'an Marquis..."

The guard just started to speak, and the man in the cloak seemed to have noticed something, raised his hand to stop the guard from continuing, and looked up at the third floor, his eyes were deep and narrow, it was just a look, but the moment he was stared at, the back of his neck seemed to be against countless sharp blades.

Feng Shuo quickly retracted his gaze and left with Xing Yao.

Chu Shubao and Chu Jiabao were so scared that they sat paralyzed on the railing of the wooden stairs on the third floor, with a chill running down their backs.

Chu Jiabao said with lingering fear: "Who... who is this person?"

Chu Shubao's face turned pale: "How many princes are there in Xizhou City?"

Chu Jiabao shuddered.

Chu Shubao couldn't help feeling sorry for Jiang Yanyi when she thought of how Jiang Yanyi had just been with Feng Shuo. No wonder Jiang Yanyi refused to tell them the truth, maybe because he was afraid that they would worry. The look of this King of Liaoning was so scary. If she stayed in the same room with him, she would faint directly.

For the sake of Jiang Yanyi's reputation, she did not tell Chu Jiabao about it.

Chu Jiabao shivered but said: "Second sister's Ruyilou opened, the King of Liaoning came to support it, the three of us sisters are here, why don't we see second brother coming?"

Chu Shubao thought about it carefully, it seemed to be true, her dissatisfaction with Chu Chengmao was greater than her fear of Feng Shuo, she said: "Don't embellish his purse this year!"

At this time, Chu Chengmao, who was missed by Chu Shubao and her sister, was still drinking with others in the wine shop. He was brought up by Chu Changping since he was a child and grew up in the military camp. He knew better than anyone what kind of morals the military ruffians were.

He knew that the Chu family was weak in Xizhou and needed to gain a foothold as soon as possible. On the way back to Xizhou, he tried his best to get along with the grassroots soldiers. So far, he has gotten to know many small leaders.

The knife in the wine pot was empty, so Chu Chengmao kicked the empty wine pot under his feet, stood up shakily while holding onto the table, and pointed at a group of drunk soldiers and said, "You bastards lost. You have to go to Ruyi Tower for dinner tonight!"

The drunk soldiers didn't hear what he said clearly, and only responded vaguely, "Go, go."

Chu Chengmao also knew that he was drunk. He shook his head, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured a pot of cold water on his face before he sobered up a little.

He kicked a drunken leader who fell to the ground and cursed him: "How can you go to Ruyi Tower and play with me when you are so drunk?"

The waiter of the tavern saw that he was still sober, and hurried over to him with a smile on his face to settle the bill: "Sir, the total bill for the wine is five taels and seven cents, what do you think?"

Chu Chengmao took out a handful of silver from his waistband, counted out six taels and handed it to the waiter.

The waiter saw that he was well-dressed and drunk, so he didn't plan to change the money. He said happily: "Thank you, sir!"

He turned around with the silver in his pocket and wanted to run, but someone grabbed him by the back of the collar.

Chu Chengmao practiced martial arts. Although he was not a burly man, he was over nine feet tall, with muscular arms. He carried the waiter like a chicken.

The waiter was almost crying: "Master, what are you doing?"

Chu Chengmao held out his hand: "Change."

The waiter cried and gave Chu Chengmao three pieces of silver. Chu Chengmao then let go of his collar.

A servant from the Chu family stumbled in at the door: "Master Chengmao, I found you!"

Several girls from the Chu family were doing business outside. Old Mrs. Chu was worried and sent a servant to watch at the door of the store. If anything happened, she could notify her family in time.

When several big men went to make trouble, the servant of the Chu family saw that the situation was not good, so he immediately ran back to the Chu family to report the news.

The Chu family is now managed by Xue. Chu Changping is in the army, so she sent the Chu family's guards to Ruyi Tower and asked the servant to find Chu Chengmao.

However, as soon as the Chu family's guards left the house, they heard that the dispute had been resolved at Ruyi Tower, so they gave up.

The servant sent to find Chu Chengmao did not withdraw. The servant also ran to many places before finding out Chu Chengmao's whereabouts.

Chu Chengmao's eyes were a little red from the smell of alcohol. He looked at the servant with a tearful face and asked, "What do you want to find me for?"

The servant said, "Someone is making trouble in the second lady's Ruyi Tower..."

Chu Chengmao rolled up his sleeves and was about to walk out.

The servant was so scared that he hugged Chu Chengmao's calf quickly and said, "Young Master Chengmao, please listen to what I have to say first. The person who caused the trouble has been punished by the county lord of Xing'an Marquis. The young lady is worried and wants you to go to Ruyi Tower to see the young ladies."

Chu Chengmao was seven parts drunk and his mind was a little confused. He pinched his eyebrows and said, "I'll go over now."

The servant saw that Chu Chengmao could not even walk steadily, so he didn't dare to let him walk over on foot. He used himself as a human crutch and helped Chu Chengmao leave the tavern to stop the ox cart.

A drunken little leader in the tavern seemed to have heard the servant's words, and he chuckled twice, talking nonsense after drinking, saying: "Brother Chu...Brother Chu, the short sissy you saved that day is...the county lord of Xing'an Marquis..."

The birthday banquet in the day was safe and sound, except that Mrs. An broke her teeth outside her store, which was a bit unlucky. Whether it was the dishes or the service of Ruyi Pavilion, the guests who came today praised it.

Jiang Yanyi settled the silver for the banquet with Madam An, and Madam An gave her an extra ten taels of silver to express her gratitude. Jiang Yanyi asked the kitchen to pack a box of flower cakes suitable for the elderly and give it to Madam An to take back.

Many wealthy families thought the birthday banquet was well organized and six or seven of them came to inquire about the price. Some old customers who wanted to use the place to hold a banquet were much more efficient and gave a deposit directly. As a result, Ruyilou’s banquet business for the next three days was fully booked.

When Madam An was about to leave surrounded by the servants of the An Mansion, Jiang Yanyi hesitated for a long time, but finally stopped her and said, "I checked the accounts just now and found that there is a sum of money that has not been settled. Please come upstairs with me to recalculate it."

Madam An knew that Jiang Yanyi wanted to talk to her alone, so she told the servants, "Put the birthday gifts for grandmother on the carriage first."

When some guests got the news, they did not go to the An Mansion anymore, but came directly to Ruyi Tower, and the birthday gifts were naturally brought to Ruyi Tower as well.

A senior maid said in a gloomy tone, "Young Madam, Madam has fallen and the general is not at home. We all know that you are filial. It is almost past the 3:00 pm. You should go back to see Madam as soon as possible."

Madam An was a little embarrassed. The maid was Madam An's close friend. She was saying that she was being unfilial to Madam An if she didn't go back to serve her.

She said, "Mother Liu, I have sent someone to the Xizhou camp to inform the general. My mother cannot leave you. You should go back to the house with the birthday gift for my grandmother. I will come back later."

It was unreasonable for a servant to leave first and leave the master behind.

But the mother-in-law is a person close to Mrs. An. The mother-in-law knows very well what Mrs. An's attitude towards Young Madam An is. She immediately said with a smile: "I am worried about Madam. The Young Madam has said so, so I will go back first."

The old lady left with the servants of the An family in high spirits, leaving only Mrs. An's personal maid waiting for her.

Seeing that Mrs. An's eyes were red, Jiang Yanyi sighed softly, said nothing, and took Mrs. An to a private room on the second floor.

"What does Miss Chu want to say to me?" After Mrs. An sat down, she didn't follow Jiang Yanyi in circles and asked straight to the point.

As soon as Jiang Yanyi heard what she called him, he knew that Mrs. An must also know her current identity.

She poured a cup of tea for Madam An Shao, "Madam, don't be nervous. This is the Junshan Yinzhen tea from before the New Year. Please try it."

Madam An Shao pinched her hand and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Chu. It's just that I am very crude and cannot taste the flavor of these good teas, so I won't waste Miss Chu's tea."

Every word she said was to belittle herself, but her real purpose was not to touch the tea here. Jiang Yanyi admired her vigilance.

Jiang Yanyi did not persuade her again. He took a sip and said, "Although it may be a bit presumptuous, I still want to ask you, Madam. Do you know Lord Lu Linyuan?"

Madam An's face changed almost instantly. She stood up and said, "I have to go back."

Jiang Yanyi's voice was still calm and steady: "I know that you and General An had a disagreement because of Lord Lu. Madam, you just need to answer this question. I have a way to make you and General An reconcile."

Madam An's nails had already scratched her palms. She looked at Jiang Yanyi with a wry smile: "He asked me to marry An Yongyuan!"