Since they had decided to have a good time, it wouldn't be appropriate to bring so many people. With that in mind, Li Guang ordered the dozens of soldiers who accompanied him to return to Shuixian Village first, leaving only Princess Li Xue's four guards behind. In this way, their group consisted of only seven people.
To avoid drawing attention, they all wore casual clothes, and their identities could not be discerned from their attire.
The group replanned their return journey, which would pass through several important towns. These places are not only beautiful but also have a rich historical heritage, making them well worth a visit.
And so, the group strolled along, stopping frequently to admire the beautiful scenery, savor the delicious food, and experience the local customs and traditions. Their moods were greatly relaxed, and they felt quite at ease.
That day, they arrived in Pingyang County. Although it was not one of the major towns they had planned to visit, its unique natural scenery caught everyone's eye.
This isn't Jiangnan, but once you arrive in the county town, it gives you the feeling of a Jiangnan water town.
Looking at the scenery before him, Li Guang recalled the time when Li Xue took him to Jiangnan.
That trip to the south of the Yangtze River was of great significance to Li Guang. Not only did he receive the extraordinary book "Gu Chan Ce" from the Taoist priest, but he also met Meng Yaoyao.
This scene felt strangely familiar, and it stirred up a myriad of emotions in Li Guang.
Seeing this, Li Xue spoke up:
"Li Guang, are you thinking of Lianqiao Water Town?"
"There is a bit of that, but it can't compare to the real water towns of Jiangnan. Lianqiao Water Town is attached to the water system and has naturally formed over thousands of years."
Pingyang County is deliberately being built into a water town. While it looks nice overall, it lacks a soul. However, it's still quite good and definitely worth a visit.
Zhao Xian carefully observed the scenery and found that Pingyang County was well-planned overall, and most of the buildings still had a strong sense of history, making it a veritable ancient town.
Zhao Xian quite liked this kind of scenery.
The county town was very lively. Due to the pleasant temperature, it was teeming with tourists. There were vendors hawking their wares everywhere. In addition, there was a river in the town with small boats shuttling back and forth on the water, just like the scene depicted in the painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
The group was in high spirits, walking and looking around, and buying and tasting local delicacies whenever they came across them.
Suddenly, Li Xue saw a restaurant ahead and immediately became excited.
"Brother Zhao, look, Qinghe Restaurant, when did you open a restaurant here?"
Zhao Xian looked and, sure enough, there was a Qinghe Restaurant in front of him, and even the four characters on the door were exactly the same as those on the Qinghe Restaurant in Qing'an Prefecture.
Clearly, this should be a franchise branch of Qinghe Restaurant in Pingyang County.
“Princess, this should be a franchise store that Liu Xuan opened in Pingyang County.”
"Really? Is Liu Xuan in this store?"
"That's not necessarily true, but Liu Xuan must have been here. She should have come here to guide the restaurant's operation when it opened."
"Then let's go in and have a look, and try some spicy crabs," Li Xue said excitedly.
It was lunchtime, and since there was a Qinghe Restaurant nearby, why not go in and try their food?
However, Zhao Xian thought it was unlikely that Li Xue would be able to eat spicy crabs, since crabs were not yet in season at this time, and even if they could eat crabs, they would mostly be empty shells with little to no crab roe.
Spicy crabs made with such ingredients will definitely taste much less delicious.
As soon as the group entered the restaurant, the waiter immediately came to greet them.
"Please come upstairs, esteemed guests."
Zhao Xian nodded, and the group followed the waiter upstairs to the second floor.
The restaurant's private rooms are nicely decorated, similar in style to Qinghe Restaurant in Qing'an Prefecture. It seems that Liu Xuan pays great attention to detail in managing her franchise stores.
At this moment, the waiter handed over the menu and said:
"This is our menu. Please feel free to order what you would like to eat."
"Do you have spicy crab?" Li Xue asked.
"Gentlemen, you are in a good mood. Normally, crabs are not yet available at this time of year, but fortunately, our manager returned from Qing'an Prefecture yesterday and brought back some crabs."
Although the quantity is small, it's enough to serve a plate of spicy crabs to a few guests.
Zhao Xian nodded and said:
"Alright, besides crabs, what other local delicacies do you have here? Just bring us some."
"Alright, gentlemen, please wait a moment, the dishes will be served shortly." The waiter called out and hurried downstairs.
Before long, the waiter started serving the dishes, and soon the table was full.
Looking at the delicious food in front of her and smelling its aroma, one can tell that Liu Xuan manages the franchise store very well.
The seasonings and some special ingredients used in this restaurant are all provided by the Qinghe Restaurant flagship store.
Zhao Xian didn't know how many franchise stores Qinghe Restaurant currently had, but it seemed that each franchise store was doing well, and these franchise stores could bring him huge profits every year.
Next, everyone began to taste the food. As Zhao Xian had predicted, the crabs now had neither meat nor roe; they were basically just empty shells, and at most, they could only taste the flavor.
Since they had already eaten some snacks, they weren't very hungry and quickly finished eating.
Just then, the waiter came up and, seeing that the group had almost finished eating, asked:
"Would you gentlemen like anything else?"
Zhao Xian smiled and said:
“We’ve already eaten, so we don’t need anything else. We’ve just arrived in this town and found the scenery quite nice. We’re planning to explore the area. Could you tell us about some good spots?”
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