Chapter 232
Further ahead was a pastry shop. A sweet aroma wafted from within, and standard pastries like walnut cookies and mung bean cakes were displayed on the counter.
This sweet fragrance made Yue Fuguang even hungrier!
She couldn't help but ask, "Second Brother Xian, are we almost at Zuilai Restaurant?"
Yu Huaixian smiled and said, "Seventh Sister, you must be hungry. Look, what's that?"
As they conversed, the carriage happened to stop in front of a shop.
Yue Fuguang looked through the lattice window and saw the three large golden characters for 'Zuilai Restaurant' sparkling in the sunlight.
It was a three-story wooden building, taller and grander than the shops on either side. A large, conspicuous signboard hung above the entrance, flanked by strings of red lanterns on the left and right, giving it a very festive look.
By the door stood hitching posts and a wine flag bearing the three large characters for Zuilai Restaurant. Like the plaque, the calligraphy was vigorous and powerful, clearly the work of a master.
A waiter stood at the entrance of the restaurant. Seeing guests arrive, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.
Led by Yue Fuguang, the group walked into the ground-floor dining hall, which was furnished with many square tables and long benches.
Most of the tables were occupied, making the place seem quite lively.
Against the wall was a wooden counter. The shopkeeper stood behind it, holding an abacus and flicking the beads from time to time.
Seeing the group's attire, he immediately knew they were distinguished guests.
He was extremely attentive in his greeting, though of course, before he could even reach Yue Fuguang, he was sent away by Yu Huaixian and the others.
Yue Fuguang noticed several jars of wine on the shelves behind the counter, labeled with red paper bearing the names of the wines. She wondered how their taste would compare to the white liquor she planned to brew this year.
Judging by their clothes, the diners in the hall were all wealthy. It made sense; Zuilai Restaurant was considered one of the top three restaurants in the East Market.
Without some wealth, one wouldn't come here. She observed many people eating while conversing in low voices. Like teahouses and taverns, this place was a hub for information. Nanyue had chosen this as one of their strongholds—truly a clever calculation.
To her surprise, Yue Fuguang saw a couple of stir-fried dishes on some tables. Zuilai Restaurant certainly lived up to its role as a spy network; they had already brought stir-fried dishes, which were currently only popular among the upper echelons of the Great Yan Dynasty, to their tables.
Although the young waiter saw that Yue Fuguang was young, her clothes and entourage told him that this young lady wearing a veiled hat must be a noblewoman from a prominent family.
Not daring to be negligent, he noticed her turning her head to look at the nearby tables. He guided the group toward the second floor up a relatively wide staircase that was swept quite clean.
As they walked, the young waiter introduced, "Noble lady, our humble establishment has recently introduced a new style of cuisine called stir-frying. You can order a few dishes to try later.
These stir-fried dishes are different from stews, the taste is..."
He had originally wanted to boast about it as usual, but considering this lady's attire, she had surely eaten stir-fried dishes before.
So he sheepishly stopped himself and began recommending other signature dishes.
Like the third floor, half of the second floor consisted of private rooms. Most of the doors were closed. Occasionally, a waiter carrying a tray of food would open a door to enter, revealing even more elegantly dressed guests sitting inside.
Yue Fuguang chose the second floor because it was crowded and 'lively.' She didn't request a private room. For one thing, a private room only had one large table, and her guards naturally wouldn't be willing to eat at the same table as her.
She couldn't just let them watch her eat. She wasn't used to it, and it wouldn't help her show grace and win over their loyalty.
More importantly, a private room would only have her own people, which wasn't conducive to her 'stirring up trouble'!
Yue Fuguang's group occupied three tables by the window. Looking out from the second-floor window, they could perfectly see the signboard of Fuman Restaurant across the street.
With these two restaurants opening right across from each other, if they weren't owned by the same family, they were definitely bitter rivals.
There were no menus here; instead, a glib-tongued waiter who was adept at reciting dish names introduced the options to her.
Listening to him rattle off a string of dish names made Yue Fuguang even hungrier, so she said, "Bring a few of your signature dishes to each table, along with some stir-fried dishes. No wine."
They would have to fight later, and she was afraid that drinking wine would affect their performance.
As for the lack of wine, Zhang Fang, Xu Chunshan, and the others didn't feel disappointed. After all, the 'Pear Blossom White' bestowed by the Junior Preceptor suited their tastes much better.
Having tasted Pear Blossom White, drinking any other wine now would seem rather bland!
Cuizhu, Shen Chunying, Shen Dongxue, and a few other women sat at the table closest to Yue Fuguang. Among this group of beauties, Yu Huaixian was the only man mixed in.
Faced with the women's eye-rolls, Yu Huaixian remained as steady as a mountain, his face not flushing in the slightest.
So what if he was a single speck of green amidst a bed of flowers? Who asked this table to be the closest to his cousin?
They were outside now, not at a family banquet, so he naturally wouldn't agree to eat at the same table as Yue Fuguang.
The absolute status and majesty of the Junior Preceptor was something their family had to carefully uphold.
Yue Fuguang felt that although both were second children in their respective branches, Brother Boming, who was one year older than the seventeen-year-old Yu Huaixian, was still far inferior to him in terms of composure.
Everyone in the group knew exactly what they were here for. Being on their first proper mission, they couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
They were afraid that outsiders might spot a flaw and ruin their cousin's plan.
While waiting for the food, Yu Huaixian took the lead in breaking the silence. "Seventh Sister, your brother is riding on your coattails today to be able to eat so many dishes at Zuilai Restaurant."
He said this in a pitiful tone. Although the Yu family's ancestors had only become wealthy a few generations ago, the elders managed their businesses well, and the descendants all lived comfortably.
When the family was divided, her grandfather, as the legitimate eldest son, took the lion's share, but with his care, her second great-uncle's family also received a substantial portion.
No matter how you looked at him, Yu Huaixian didn't seem like someone who couldn't afford to eat at Zuilai Restaurant. But looking at his expression and the reactions of the others, she knew her second cousin wasn't lying.
So she probed, "Why, are the dishes here very expensive?"
"Aren't they! Just the dishes you ordered just now will cost no less than fifty or sixty taels of silver per table." His monthly allowance in the past hadn't even been that much.
It was only after following his cousin for over a month that his purse had bulged. His grandfather had tripled his monthly allowance, making it the highest among all the brothers in the two branches!
Even Brother Boming couldn't compare to him. Who asked him to be by Seventh Sister's side now!
"If it's that expensive, the taste shouldn't be bad!"
Yu Huaixian nodded. "I guarantee you'll want more after eating. This shop relies on repeat customers."
As everyone chatted, the dishes were quickly served. Yue Fuguang first took a bite of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots, and couldn't help but pause her chopsticks.
Seeing Yue Fuguang stop her chopsticks, the others also froze with their hands extended in mid-air.
Yue Fuguang thought for a moment, then picked up a chopstick-full of wild vegetables. She nodded silently and proceeded to try the rest, taking a bite from each of the ten dishes.
She frowned. 'Little Zhu, help me check if poppy husks were added to these meat dishes.'
[Please wait a moment, Master... Master, there are indeed poppy husks in them.]
'No wonder Second Brother Xian said this place mainly relies on repeat customers, and that people want more after eating. It turns out the root cause isn't the taste, but this thing causing mischief!'
[The Emperor and the officials are too incompetent. This harmful thing has already made its way onto the dining tables of the Great Yan people, and they are still completely unaware.]