The Prince's residence was still some distance from the western suburbs of the capital, so Li Xue had a servant drive the carriage towards the western suburbs.
Compared to other parts of the capital, the western suburbs are quite remote. In addition, there are not many shops and few pedestrians, so Tingyu Pavilion is indeed not easy to find.
Normally, running a teahouse requires choosing a good location; you can only make money in a place with high foot traffic.
However, this teahouse is operating in a remote location, which is against common sense.
Walking into a small grove of trees, I finally saw this teahouse. It wasn't a shop at all, but a building.
Surrounding the building is a tall wall, and two young men, dressed as pageboys, stand at the entrance to the courtyard to show that there is a strong cultural atmosphere here.
Seeing Li Xue approaching with a servant, he went to greet her.
The two men looked Li Xue up and down before speaking:
“Young master, please follow me,” one of them said.
It's called a teahouse, but it's actually a tea restaurant. The main hall is very large, and there's an accountant sitting behind the counter. He looks to be in his forties.
Judging from his appearance, this person is very kind, somewhat like the smiling tiger people talk about.
There was a waiter in the hall, and besides that, there was a row of stunningly beautiful women in the center of the hall.
These women were all around sixteen years old, with different faces, and it was clear at a glance that they came from all over the country.
After the page led Li Xue in, he handed her over to the waiter to attend to, while he went out to continue standing at the gate of the wall to greet guests.
"Young master, deposit of twenty taels." The waiter called out, and the accountant behind the counter immediately looked up and began to sized up Li Xue.
It seems that the cost of living here is indeed quite high; even a deposit of twenty taels of silver is required. Li Xue couldn't help but sigh.
At the waiter's shout, Li Xue's servants immediately started yelling in response.
"You're blind! I'm here with our young master, you two."
The waiter, not to be outdone, immediately changed his tune:
"One young master, one attendant, and a deposit of forty taels."
Upon hearing this, Li Xue was also a little displeased. She coughed and said:
"I've come here to enjoy tea; is there a charge?"
At this moment, the accountant behind the counter stood up, looked Li Xue over again, and said:
"Since you are an official, why are you not wearing official robes? We cannot tell that you are a court official."
This statement sounds reasonable, but Li Xue does not agree with it.
“I’m just going out for tea and I have to wear official robes? This isn’t like I’m going to see the Emperor. Is this the rule you set?” Li Xue said.
"Open your dog eyes and take a look! Our young master is a fourth-rank official in the Military Affairs Department. If you offend him, we'll tear your teahouse down!" the servant said arrogantly.
Li Xue was very satisfied with the servant's performance; when it was time to bite, one should still show one's teeth.
Seeing that the accountant still didn't quite believe her, Li Xue didn't want to argue with them, so she took off her waist tag and threw it to the accountant.
The accountant examined the waist tag carefully. It was indeed made by the Imperial Household Department of the court, without a doubt.
This seemingly frail scholar is actually a fourth-rank official in the Grand Council; it's hard to believe.
To become a fourth-rank official in the imperial court at such a young age can only mean that this person has an illustrious background, and the teahouse cannot afford to offend him.
"Greetings, Your Honor. I was blind and ignorant. Please forgive me." The accountant quickly bowed to Li Xue.
"Let it go, ignorance is no excuse," Li Xue said.
"Please select a tea lady to brew tea for you, Your Excellency." Li Xue nodded and went to the women.
These women all stared longingly at Li Xue, hoping to catch the eye of this handsome and young official.
Li Xue began walking around in front of these women, sizing them up, preparing to choose one of them.
Li Xue knew that if people were truly there to appreciate tea, they would usually choose tea girls from Jiangnan, as Jiangnan women were quite skilled at tea ceremony.
However, she had come to investigate and wanted to uncover the mystery of this place, so she first fell for a tea girl with a Western Region appearance.
“I’ll choose her. I want to experience tea ceremony with an exotic flavor,” Li Xue said.
The woman with the appearance of someone from the Western Regions never dreamed she would be chosen, and she was overjoyed.
You should know that the guests who come here generally prefer Eastern women, and they are not very interested in Western women.
They would only choose women from the Western Regions if there were a large number of guests and little room for other options.
The waiter was also very puzzled. At this time, it was not yet the peak season for customers, and there was a lot of room to choose tea girls. There were clearly many beautiful women to choose from.
But the young official chose this plain-looking woman from the Western Regions.
This only shows that this person has special interests and unique tastes.
The chosen woman immediately stepped forward, took Li Xue's arm, and prepared to lead her upstairs.
The woman's actions made Li Xue a little uncomfortable, but she was a woman herself, so it wasn't a big deal.
The servant standing nearby panicked and quickly asked, "Young master, what about me?"
Li Xue turned her head, glared at him, and said:
"You wait in the carriage outside, don't go anywhere."
The servant was dumbfounded. He had wanted to come out with the princess and have some fun, but the princess asked him to look after the carriage, which made him feel depressed.
Upon seeing this, the waiter immediately gloated. Who told him to call him a dog with eyes like a dog? He was the one who was abusing his master's power.
Soon, Li Xue was led upstairs by the woman from the Western Regions and into a rather elegantly decorated room.
The room was entirely made of wood, with posters about tea ceremony hanging on the walls. On one wooden wall, there were many cabinets filled with various kinds of tea.
There was a floor-to-ceiling window in the room. The woman opened the window, and the air in the room immediately became fresh.
In the middle of the house, there was a large tea table, and in front of the tea table was a large chair. The woman asked Li Xue to sit down in the chair, and then she went to the opposite side of the tea table, knelt down, and prepared to make tea for Li Xue.
The woman first lit a charcoal stove and began boiling water.
Since there were no thermos flasks in ancient times, hot water for making tea had to be boiled and used immediately. That large floor-to-ceiling window was probably designed for air convection.
With this large window, one wouldn't get poisoned while burning charcoal; it seems the ancients were quite clever.
A set of exquisite tea utensils, all made of porcelain, was placed on the coffee table.
At that time, porcelain had just appeared and was very expensive, even more valuable than silverware.
When Li Xue usually drinks tea, she simply puts some tea leaves into a teacup, adds hot water, covers it, waits a moment, and then it's ready to drink.
The woman from the Western Regions before me was skilled in tea making; it was clear at a glance that she was an excellent tea connoisseur and had likely received professional training.
The water in the copper kettle has now boiled, and it's time to make tea.
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