CH 27

Chapter 27 - Trouble

Su Yu first went to King Zhao’s Wangfu. Over the past few days, Yang Gonggong had mentioned many things about him, and among the influential officials, he only knew An Hongyi.

He could live in the Tianzi room because of the care of His Highness King Zhao. Moreover, he had to trouble King Zhao to discuss with Ling Wangye about the chili pepper.

When he arrived at the Wangfu, the housekeeper told Su Yu that King Zhao had been away for several days and did not know when he would return.

Mister Yuan was there, and he was planning to go to Xianmantang to sit at the counter.

“Where did Wangye go?” Su Yu carried the straw basket on his shoulder and was ready to leave with Mister Yuan. However, he startled the housekeeper of the Wangfu on the side.

“Niangniang, quickly put it down, let this little one come, ba.” King Zhao’s Wangfu was naturally well-informed.

The housekeeper did not dare to let Su Yu do any labor now, so he quickly called a young servant to help him.

Su Yu pressed his throbbing forehead. One by one, they all called him Niangniang, how can he live like this?

Just as he was about to correct the housekeeper’s title, Mister Yuan at the side followed.

“Niangniang does not know, Wangye and the Emperor have always been close to each other and he often stays in the palace. I’m afraid he will stay in the palace all the time because of the Imperial Concubine Selection these days.”

Su Yu: “Mister Yuan…”

“Hm?” Mister Yuan looked at Su Yu, who was not looking well.

“Niangniang, don’t worry, Wangye has entrusted me with many affairs, if there’s anything important, this Yuan will do his best to help.”

“Forget it…” Su Yu silently turned around and left. No matter whether they were Yuanmou people or cavemen, they cannot communicate with each other.

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The business at Xianmantang was still flourishing. The two little disciples each served seven dishes, enough to support the small restaurant.

“Shifu, you’re back!” Wang Feng, who was killing fish, saw Su Yu and rushed over with a knife in his hand.

Su Yu quickly dodged the bloody welcome and patted Zhang Cheng, who was honestly marinating shrimp, he then called the two disciples together.

“I have to enter the palace soon. I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back for a while, so I’m planning to divide Xianmantang between the two of you.”

The two little disciples were shocked, without any rhyme or reason, how come he can’t return?

In the beginning, it was agreed with King Zhao that Su Yu accounted for 40% of Xianmantang. Su Yu planned to divide half of the dividends from himself to his two apprentices, counting them as technical shares.

“No, Shifu, we can’t have this!” Wang Feng had a big round face, and now his head was shaking like a rattle.

“Shifu, you have already paid more than enough for the work!” Zhang Cheng looked at Mister Yuan, who was standing by, expecting the shopkeeper to help persuade him with a few words.

They, two poor boys, could follow Su Yu to learn his craft, and could still earn so much money, they were already very content.

Mister Yuan was also a little surprised by Su Yu’s decision, but it was reasonable when you thought about it. After all, when you enter the palace, you won’t know how long it will take to come out.

The Su family had no foundation in court, and Xianmantang was Su Yu’s only livelihood. Now he could only rely on his two disciples to support him.

“There’s no need to refuse, in the future, Xianmantang will have to rely on your skills, but the dividends in Niangniang’s hands are not much. As such, I will take the initiative to share 10% of Wangye’s dividends and 10% of Niangniang’s contribution counting as two people, how about it?”

“Shifu, by doing this, do you not trust us? We…” Zhang Cheng started to become anxious.

“What are you talking about?” Wang Feng hurried to pull him back.

Su Yu waved his hand and motioned them to sit down.

“Xianmantang’s potential is far more than that, I have long discussed with Wangye that we will open more restaurants in the future.”

This was indeed planned by him, Xianmantang looks very high-end, but in fact, it took the fast-food route. If you want to make big money, you need to open more restaurants, Su Yu alone was definitely not enough.

For the two apprentices, they were actually trained according to the core executives of an enterprise, and it was absolutely necessary to divide the shares appropriately.

In the next few years in the palace, Su Yu may not have much control over the business, but now he was one family with King Zhao, and so King Zhao's Wangfu will naturally help.

What’s more, when he is released, he will be at least a Count, and it will not be difficult then to spread Xianmantang North and South of the Yangtze River.

After listening carefully to Su Yu’s plan for Xianmantang, not to mention the two little disciples, even Mister Yuan felt his blood boiling.

After signing a new contract, and throwing the two excited and teary-eyed apprentices off to do the dishes, Su Yu took out a box and handed it over to Mister Yuan.

“There are one thousand taels of silver in it, I hope Mister can help me buy a piece of land.”

Su Yu had no choice but to accept the money from Marquis Changchun’s Shizi.

On one hand, as Cen Gongzi said, the Su family had no foundation. If you wanted to survive in the palace, you must have an ally, so at least you can get some information;

Moreover, he did not have much savings in his hands now, and his legitimate mother and concubine sister did not know how to run a business. Once he enters the palace, he’s afraid their lives will be difficult.

”Niangniang wants to buy land, as a matter of fact, it’s not difficult, merely, I don’t know what for?” Mister Yuan did not refuse.

“The fertile farmland will be used to grow grain, and the annual harvest is to be sent to the Su Residence for my Muqin to take care of.” Su Yu took out a chili pepper and broke it apart, pouring out a handful of pepper seeds.

“Additionally, set aside a separate place to grow this.”

He didn’t know whether the chili peppers could survive, so he can’t promote the dishes with chili peppers for the time being, but this didn’t affect Su Yu’s enjoyment.

He gave half of them to Mister Yuan to try planting the seeds and kept the rest. At noon, Su Yu personally cooked and made spicy shrimps.

The thick shrimp soup stock and ground chili powder were boiled together in the hot oil, and the lining dish was topped with sweet potato strips, green vegetables, and shelled peanuts.

The fat shrimps’ backs were cut open and then had hot and spicy oil sprinkled over them. The rich aroma was so strong that attracted passers-by frequently.

“Shopkeeper, what is cooking in the back kitchen, why is it so fragrant?” The guests in Xianmantang asked one after another.

“Our boss is trying new dishes.” After explaining this, Mister Yuan hurried to the back kitchen.

He was also very curious about the dishes made with the strange chili pepper.

“Too, too delicious…” Zhang Cheng ate a spicy shrimp and he couldn't speak a complete sentence.

Mister Yuan ate three shrimps in a row, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“This chili pepper, I will certainly plant it for you!”

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When he returned to the Su Residence in the evening, several people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were happily discussing the dowry with Zhao Shi.

“These silver taels are enough. Furen can rest assured, we can get everything ready tomorrow.” Li Daren held a stack of silver banknotes in his hand, laughing till his teeth disappeared.

There were no betrothal gifts for imperial concubines entering the palace. If their family prepared their articles of daily use in advance, there won’t be many matters to involve the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

But most of the imperial concubines do not know if they would enter the palace before they were selected. In a hurry, their families would directly pay the money to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for them to handle the dowry [TL_Note: Articles of daily use].

All the things of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were ready-made, just took the money and directly carried it.[TL_Note: Articles of daily use, such as the bed, furniture, cupboard, bedding. In ancient times, the bed, furniture, and cupboard are the main dowry for a girl, furniture was expensive at that time. I would like to thank wō niú = BB for helping with this part]

Su Yu frowned and hurried forward.

“Muqin, where did this silver come from?” Zhao Shi’s private savings were only a hundred taels of silver.

Later, Su Yu gave a lot of money one time after another and the total was definitely less than five hundred taels. However, looking at the stack of silver banknotes, there were at least a few thousand taels.

“I was about to tell you about it.” Zhao Shi looked at the few people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and hesitated.

“It’s getting late, I’ll discuss the dowry with Furen tomorrow.” It was obvious that Su Yu and his mother had something to talk about.

The people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew how to behave in delicate situations and said their goodbyes in advance. The silver banknotes were also left on the table, they only said that they would come to pick them up early in the morning.

Su Yu picked them up and counted, there were three thousand taels, and his heart sank slightly.

“Muqin, what’s going on?” Marquis Changchun’s family gave him a thousand taels, and there were endless troubles.

This extra three thousand taels that appeared out of thin air may drive him to his death.

“This was sent by the Wangye who befriended you.” Zhao Shi smiled and continued.

“You have truly met a noble person. You are not at home these days, but Wangye has been very helpful.”

Wangye? When Su Yu heard this, his frown deepened.

The only Wangye he was familiar with was An Hongyi, and that person had been in the palace all these says. How could he come to his house to help?

Zhao Shi kept talking about what happened these days.

Since Su Ming was hurt in Su Yu’s courtyard last time, he had become sneaky. As soon he regained the ability to walk, he went to gamble with people.

He lost until his eyes went red and actually went as far as to want to pawn his sister off to others, however, Su Ying was in the Imperial Concubine Selection in the palace, so Su Ming said that Su Zhi, the concubine daughter of the second branch, was also his sister.

Zhao Shi was so angry that she wanted to denounce it to the officials, but it was not good for Su Zhi’s reputation to publicize this kind of thing. She was afraid that it would be difficult to marry into a good family in the future.

“It’s fortunate that you know Wangye. Wangye had someone teach Su Ming a lesson and paid off the gambling debts, so as not to tarnish Xiao Zhi’s reputation. ” Zhao Shi sighed with relief and was very grateful to Wangye.

“Wangye also sent money today especially to add to your trousseau.”

The more Su Yu listened, the more he felt something was not right.

“Muqin, what’s the name of that Wangye?”

“Isn’t it King Mu? He even asked you to go to Drunken Immortal House for a drink tomorrow.” Zhao Shi smiled.

King Mu, the full name King Mu Jun, was the eldest prince An Hongzhuo. Su Yu was sure that he had never met this person, he only heard from King Zhao that this man was the elder brother of the Emperor.

Since he had not yet been granted a fief, he was still in court for the time being. King Zhao didn’t seem to like this elder brother and reminded Su Yu that if he saw that man eating in Xianmantang, by all means, he must not let him off lightly.

“Muqin, I don’t know King Mu, so I cannot take this silver.” Su Yu sighed.

He didn’t want to cause trouble, but trouble came one after another.

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The next day, Su Yu took the three thousand taels of silver and went to Drunken Immortal House.

Before going, he did not forget to send a letter to Mister Yuan, after all, this imperial family matter implicated too much, so it was necessary to let King Zhao know.

“It’s really not easy to meet Boss Su.” King Mu had a pair of extraordinary long and narrow eyes, which made Su Yu feel scared in his heart.

“Wangye has helped me a great deal these days, this Su can’t thank you enough. It’s just that I cannot accept such a heavy gift from Wangye.” Su Yu directly put the silver banknotes on the table, turned around, and left.

The affairs of the Imperial Family were too complicated. No matter what King Mu’s plan was, he didn’t want to be involved with this snake-like Wangye at all, besides, the plump His Highness King Zhao looked more like a good person.

An Hongzhuo didn’t expect Su Yu to fail to appreciate one’s favor.

He actually didn’t ask anything or say anything. He just directly threw the silver notes to this face and left, and the speech that he had prepared was stuck in his throat.

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Niangniang -> Imperial Concubine

Yuanmou people -> fossil remains found in Yunnan

North and South of the Yangtze River -> all over the country

Muqin -> mother

trousseau -> the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares