120. Earthquake

Rong Se did not go to see Rong Zhan, firstly because Liang Shenyu was handling the matter, and secondly because he was the elder in terms of seniority and should not take the initiative to see Prince Ning, so he simply asked Yun Chu to take him to see each shop and check the accounts.

There are two dim sum shops and only one roast duck shop, but the income is considerable.

Scarcity makes things valuable, especially since it's under the Fu Sheng Lou name. Snacks are ok, but the roast duck is really expensive, half a duck for one hundred yuan, which is about the same as a full month's salary for a long-term worker.

But it's just a duck.

Ordinary people simply can't afford it.

Coming out of the shop and walking down the street, the place was full of ancient charm, but Rong Se's expression beneath the mask was a little gloomy.

Yun Chu was quick to notice that his master didn't seem very happy, so he stood half a step behind him and asked in a low voice, "Master, what's wrong?"

Rong Se was still dressed as a living being, so Yun Chu did not address him as Prince.

"It's too expensive." Rong Se frowned slightly, "A roast duck is not worth the price."

The dishes in Fu Sheng Lou were not expensive, unless you asked him to cook them himself, but this was just a marketing trick used by Rong Se when Fu Sheng Lou was not well-known at that time. Later, it was overcrowded and was often booked by the powerful and wealthy. It got much better after the expansion. Besides, common people would not go to the restaurant to eat every day, but selling a roast duck for one hundred yuan was really outrageous.

Yun Chu nodded thoughtfully, "Your Highness is right."

"Just now in the shop, there was one clerk and one manager, but there were five chefs making roast ducks in the back." Rong Se's voice was filled with displeasure, "It's impossible that I can only make a few ducks a day. I'm not a supplier to the rich and powerful. The price should be lowered, without making a loss, and there is no need for huge profits."

"I understand what you mean, sir." Yun Chu said softly, "Perhaps we can give each master a fixed amount."

Rong Se weighed it for a moment and nodded, "It's a good idea. It's just a snack bar, how can it be so noble? Opening a shop is to make money, but it's also to provide convenience to the people. It's enough. If the business is good, it's not impossible to open two more branches."

Rongse felt that the price of food was related to the production process and cost. Obviously, a roast duck was not worth the current price.

"yes."

Yun Chu agreed.

Rong Se looked at the sky, estimated the time, and said, "Let's go back to Fusheng Tower and wait for Marquis Dingbei to return home together."

.

When Rong Se returned to Fu Sheng Tower, the waiter came up and said, "The distinguished guest in the private room of the Marquis has just left. The Marquis has instructed that he is waiting for you there."

"knew."

Rong Se went straight to the private room. The room had been cleaned up, with only a few plates of snacks on the table. Liang Shenyu was sitting there alone. When there were no outsiders around, his tense demeanor relaxed a little, and his every move was careless and lazy. When he saw Rong Se, his eyes and brows became a little softer.

"My Lord, you are back."

"Yeah." Rong Se sat down next to him, "What did Prince Ning say?"

"He didn't say anything. He probably just wanted to be an outsider and watch from the sidelines." Liang Shenyu sneered, "He is quite cautious."

Anyway, he didn't believe it.

Rong Zhan must have a purpose for coming to Beijing.

Rong Se didn't really believe it either. After a moment of silence, he said, "Let him do whatever he wants. If he really wants to stay out of it, that's a good thing, so he doesn't get in the way of my business. Rong Jing and I have been at this point, and it's a fight to the death. It's best if Prince Ning really doesn't want to get involved."

"Don't worry." Liang Shenyu looked strange for some reason. "No matter what, Prince Ning will definitely not stand on your side."

Rong Se was suspicious, "Are you sure?"

Liang Shenyu thought of the conditions offered by the palace and Rong Zhan's sarcastic tone, and nodded slowly, very determined.

Rong Se was somewhat skeptical but finally felt relieved.

.

The assassination of the emperor was a big deal, and the food was tested for poison at every level, but His Majesty was still almost poisoned. Since the Regent ordered a thorough investigation, he was determined to find out something. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice conducted an extensive investigation for two days, checking all the people who had handled the food on that day, and even interrogated the chefs in the Regent's palace one by one.

But nothing was found.

The eunuch in charge committed suicide, and the eunuch who tested the poison was killed. The intention of silencing them was obvious.

Although Rong Se behaved openly, the rumors unfavorable to him still spread in the court. The officials under Rong Se were not to be outdone and immediately brought up the burning of the tablet of Emperor Yongshi in the Taimiao.

The open and covert struggles between the two parties are intensifying.

Rong Se also smelled the scent of impending storm, but he was not the helpless original owner in the original novel. The power under his command was his confidence, so he still lived a comfortable life.

Except for a minor incident at the roast duck restaurant.

Originally, there were five chefs making roast duck. When they were first selected, no one taught them only one step, roasting the duck on an assembly line. However, after the five of them got to know each other quickly, they naturally couldn't keep it a secret for long.

They used to have a lot of free time, working for a short while every day to make just a few ducks, and then selling them at high prices to wealthy families who had placed orders, making money easily. But Rongse stipulated that the price of roast ducks should be reduced and required each of them to make a fixed amount of roast ducks, so it was inevitable that some people complained.

One of them not only quit, but even spread the word that he knew how to roast duck and sold the method at a high price.

At night, Rong Se talked about this with Liang Shen Yu and sneered, "He is quite smart. He knows that it is useless to keep the recipe of roast duck. He can't make it in Jinjing, so he just sells the recipe to make some money."

"What do you plan to do with me, Your Majesty?" Liang Shenyu took off the crown that bound his hair, then went to the bed and took Rong Se into his arms. "We can't just let him get what he wants."

"Of course not." Rong Se snorted coldly, "Although I'm not afraid, there are many ways to cook duck, such as camphor tea duck and sweet water duck, but he can't take advantage of me. I let Yun Chu spend money to buy the recipe from him. The money is the stolen money, and the piece of paper with the recipe is the physical evidence. Yun Chu went to report to the police."

The laws of the Jin Dynasty did have this provision, which stated that all ancient books, calligraphy and paintings owned by the family belonged to the family and could not be copied or sold. Violators would be required to pay compensation.

Liang Shenyu kissed Rong Se's earlobe and praised him in his ear.

The warm breath wrapped in soft whispers blew into Rong Se's ears. She was completely wrapped in his arms and had no way to escape. So her ears turned red and she whispered, "Go to sleep——".

Before the other light voice came out, it was interrupted by a sudden shake. The curtains swayed, and the bed beneath her shook violently a few times. Before Rong Se could react, Liang Shenyu grabbed her in his arms. The two of them rolled inside. Rong Se felt dizzy for a moment, and then she found herself completely protected by the man's tall body. There was a sound of something falling outside.

After a few breaths, everything was calm.

Rong Se realized belatedly and said, "...What, what happened?"

Earthquake?

"It looks like an earthquake, but it's not serious." Liang Shenyu stood up, opened the curtain and got off the bed.

Rong Se hurriedly followed, only to find that the furnishings in the room had shifted slightly, the teapot on the table had fallen over, and even the porcelain on the antique shelf had fallen to the ground and shattered.

"It really was an earthquake." Rong Se was a little scared. He had lived to such an old age and had seen many human disasters, but he had never experienced a natural disaster. He kept saying, "Fortunately, fortunately, the house is strong enough."

The tremor just now was indeed very strong. Rong Se could even hear the muffled sound of the earth cracking coming from underground.

Although it was his first time, only some porcelain was broken. After asking someone to clean up the house, Rong Se called Liang Shenyu back to the couch to sleep. However, he was inexplicably uneasy in his heart and could not fall asleep after lying there for a long time.

"Can't sleep?"

In the darkness, Liang Shenyu's strong arms held his waist and he said gently, "Don't be afraid, Prince."

"I'm not scared." Rong Se paused for a long time before he said softly, "It just feels a bit sudden... I feel a bit nervous. It's okay, go to sleep."

When Rongse finally fell asleep, he began to have wild dreams. Each scene was blurry and fuzzy, as if covered by a layer of white gauze. He could not see the scenes clearly, but they made him feel panic for no reason.

It seems that if you lift this veil, you will see hell on earth.

In the second half of the night, it started snowing in Jinjing. The snow was like goose feathers, falling in large flakes. Even without moonlight, it was still a desolate white in the cold night.

"Tuttttt."

There was a knock on the door, but it was still more than an hour before time to get up, so Liang Shenyu woke up quickly, and Rong Se, who had been sleeping restlessly, also opened his eyes in a daze.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, there has been an incident in the eastern suburbs. The palace has sent people to urgently summon the six ministries, nine temples and other officials to the Xuanzheng Hall."

Perhaps it was because Yun Chu's tone was really anxious this time that Rong Se, who had not slept well in the first half of the night, quickly woke up. He immediately took advantage of Liang Shenyu's hand to sit up from the couch and said to the outsider, "Come in and talk."

Yun Chu hurried into the room with a lamp in his hand, brushing off the snow that had fallen on his body.

Rong Se and Liang Shenyu both put on their outer robes and walked out from behind the screen. Rong Se yawned and said sleepily, "Yun Chu, aren't you sleepy? You always come here at this time."

"...I just received the news at this time. The situation is urgent and I can only disturb you, Your Highness." Yun Chu forced himself to cheer up and said solemnly, "There was an earthquake today. I believe Your Highness has also noticed it. The West Market in the city is fine, but just now someone from outside the city came to the palace in the snow to report the earthquake. The real earthquake was in the suburbs of the city. Large areas of houses were destroyed. People were sleeping late at night. These people were buried under the ruins. And...there are mountains outside the city, and the villages at the foot of the mountains were not spared."

The door was not closed tightly, and cold wind mixed with snow blew in through the gap in the door, and a few light snowflakes fell to the ground.

Rong Se was completely awakened by the cold wind.

The earthquake just now had no effect on him. Rong Se felt it shook a few times at most, but he didn't expect that he was not the epicenter of the earthquake. The real epicenter was somewhere else.

Natural disasters never show mercy to humans.

From Yun Chu's few words, Rong Se knew how critical the disaster area was. He immediately stood up and ordered, "Prepare the carriage. I will go to the palace to take a look. You go find Yun Zhi and tell him to take the imperial guards to the earthquake source immediately to rescue people."

Rongse hurriedly put on his outer robe, paused, and gave a warning.

"Let him be very careful."

Yun Chu responded: "Yes."