Su Jin had made a trip to the Fengyuan County Magistrate’s residence today. It was a path which she had become accustomed to. Previously, she only visited whenever she had business with Jiang Ru Yan. But as her food business prospered and grew rapidly, she naturally attracted the magistrate’s attention, and was granted an audience with him.
Since then, her visits to the magistrate’s residence had gone much smoother. Every time she came to their doors, the servant would automatically guide her without having to say anything.
“You have finally found some time in your busy schedule to visit. As expected of a successful businesswoman, it was so hard to meet you before my wedding.” Jiang Ru Yan complained playfully.
Although not yet at the level that could be called close friends, their relationship could be considered to be more than normal friends with all the interactions and exchanges they had had over the past few years. Now that Jiang Ru Yan was about to get married, their chances of meeting up would be less in the future. Realizing this, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
Shrugging her shoulders helplessly, Su Jin casually slumped into the cushioned chair and replied: “Well, I’m here now. Anyway, there’s still three months until your wedding, why are you in such a hurry to meet?”
Su Jin stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth as she continued, “So… what is the real reason you had to contact me urgently this time?”
Jiang Ru Yan’s playful expression turned serious as she spoke, “Are you aware that you have been targeted by someone?”
Su Jin remained calm as her eyebrows raised. “Oh? Do elaborate. This is not the first time that someone had intended to harm me. I’m used to situations like that. For the lady to personally warn me this time, does my opponent have a strong backing this time?”
“My father hinted it to me a few days ago in a peculiar fashion. After thinking, I realized that he might have wanted me to convey a precautionary warning to you to be on your guard.”
Realizing that Su Jin seemed barely concerned about the matter, Jiang Ru Yan couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
With a solemn expression, Su Jin clasped Jiang Ru Yan’s hands. “Please convey my thanks to Magistrate Jiang for the warning. I have taken appropriate countermeasures, so there is no need to worry. I can handle it.”
This was not the first time she had to face an opponent attempting to coerce her into surrendering her trade secrets. No big deal.
She wouldn’t claim herself to be a magnanimous and kind-hearted person either. If her opponent approached with aggression, she would reciprocate the same with pride. If she wanted to, eliminating her enemies would be as easy as crushing ants. With a single shot of an arrow, her targets would never know how they died.
The world before her second transmigration was much more brutal than her present one. Conflicts between tribes happened almost every other day, and that often resulted in the complete destruction of one side. Life and death was such a trivial occurrence that she had grown numb to it.
Moreover, the skills she had painstakingly trained in the past were not just for decoration, especially since her current body seemed to have completely integrated with the body she had in the past.
Every inch of her body and bones had been tempered over decades of harsh training. Even her archery skill, which was dedicated to hunt down raptors and other giant beasts, was far beyond the standards of ordinary people in this world.
Furthermore…
Su Jin subconsciously brushed the corner of her eye. Su Jin had some rough guess about the identity of the person Jiang Ru Yan mentioned.
A cold murderous aura filled the air. Regardless of whether her opponent was royalty or from a noble lineage, as long as they dared to bare their fangs at her, she would show no mercy.
Jiang Ru Yan felt reassured by Su Jin’s words. She greatly admired and respected Su Jin, a woman with no background and connections but was still able to forge her own path to her current level of success.
Hearing that Su Jin seemed to have proper countermeasures in place, Jiang Ru Yan changed the subject and started discussing about her wedding dress instead…
……
In the west courtyard of the Jiang family’s residence, Jiang Wan avoided the maid’s watchful gaze and quietly hid in a room, chewing and slurping endlessly. Just as she stuffed the last piece of spicy gluten strip into her mouth, the door suddenly opened.
The maid, Qinghe, sniffed the air and sighed helplessly. She shouted across the room, “Second young lady, why are you secretly eating snacks again? If the Madam finds out, she will punish you again. Dear missy, please stop hiding and come out now.”
Jiang Wan stepped out from the back of an oriental folding screen, maintaining a calm expression. “That’s not true. Don’t make things up. I didn’t eat any snacks in secret. Don’t blindly accuse me?”
Qinghe rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Missy, can you wipe the chilli oil stains from your mouth before speaking?”
Even if she blindly took her missy’s words at face value, the stains around her young lady’s lips told a different story.
God knows what kind of influence caused her young lady to pick up such clumsy antics. Compared to her mother, who was crafty and overbearing when dealing with matters, the daughter was a silly airhead, although somewhat adorable whenever she tried to imitate her mother’s methods, often putting up an arrogant and domineering front to cover up her true nature.
Qinghe had long since resigned herself to loyally serve this silly young lady. After meticulously tidying up the lady, she conveyed the Madam’s message, “The Madam has a message for you, second young lady. Su Jin has come to visit our residence again today. Madam wishes for you to interact with her more frequently.”
Although Su Jin was of commoner background, she now had immense wealth from her successful businesses. Prior to this, the Madam had looked down on her and even reprimanded Jiang Wan for associating with Su Jin.
But things were different now. Even the Master had personally praised Su Jin, so the Madam had no reason to go against him. She had even encouraged Jiang Wan to get closer to Su Jin.
Jiang Wan’s eyes lit up at the mention of Su Jin, and she was about to rush out while holding the hems of her dress. In her heart, Su Jin was equivalent to the god of spicy strips. Naturally, it goes without saying that she would maintain a close relationship with Su Jin even if it was just for her own sake.
……
While Su Jin and Jiang Ru Yan were engrossed in their conversation, a notification from the System informed Su Jin that someone was lurking outside the door.
“Huh??”
Was the security at the Magistrate’s residence so lax that an intruder could easily break in?
Su Jin stopped talking and gestured to Jiang Ru Yan to not make any noise. She quietly approached the door and suddenly swung it open.
“Uwahh…”
A young lady wearing a pleated emerald dress suddenly plunged forward, screaming in fright as her whole body was about to crash onto the floor.
Su Jin sighed in resignation and extended a hand to support the balance of the new entrant, preventing her fall.
Jiang Ru Yan looked at the unexpected visitor in surprise. With slightly raised eyebrows, she questioned the uninvited guest, “Jiang Wan, why are you here?”
They were half-siblings from the same father but different mother, and rarely crossed paths with each other. She did not understand why Jiang Wan would come over today.
There were rumours floating around that the second young lady of the Jiang family had a domineering personality and enjoyed tormenting others. In short, Jiang Wan was not easy to get along with. Although Jiang Ru Yan did not completely believe the rumours, she kept her distance and avoided unnecessary contact with her stepsister.
Jiang Wan regained her balance and adjusted the hems of her dress. With her head raised arrogantly, she firmly declared, “I came to visit. Or am I not allowed to do that?”
Her tone was haughty but the words could hardly match her domineering antics.
Su Jin vividly remembered this young lady. After all, it was rare to come across someone so exceptionally foolish. She had a good impression of her and suggested with a smile, “Would you like to take a seat and chat together…?”
Before Su Jin could finish speaking, Jiang Wan quickly sat down with a proud look on her face. “Since you have proposed, I shall graciously impose on your goodwill.”
Jiang Ru Yan was not bothered by it. She was just confused about the purpose of her stepsister’s visit. After looking at Jiang Wan suspiciously, she decided not to think too much about it and continued their discussion on the designs of her wedding dress.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, Jiang Wan was panicking inwardly, all the while maintaining her condescending and cold act as she sipped her tea. How could she participate in the conversation without making it awkward? Her mind was in chaos as she struggled internally.
At this moment, her ears suddenly picked up the phrase, “spicy snacks”, which brought her attention back.
“Spicy strips!? Which flavour?”
Jiang Wan blurted out without thinking, eager to join in the discussion.
Su Jin: “…”
(Not only was this second young lady an airhead, was she suffering from hallucinations as well? Who said anything about spicy strips?)
Su Jin simply suggested to Jiang Ru Yan that lace strips would suit her dress. How on earth did Jiang Wan’s head interpret it as “spicy strips”? Su Jin had a complicated expression on her face. Was lowering of IQ a potential side effect of overconsumption of spicy strips?
Her recipe did not contain any harmful additives either. She’s not assuming responsibility for this!
The person in question, who had yet to figure out the situation, was still looking at Su Jin enthusiastically.
The System laughed uncontrollably like a madman. “Look at the drool on her face. There is still some in my storage. Quickly take it out and let her have a taste. Initially, I was doubtful and had not expected that spicy strips would become popular in this ancient era, but I guess they really do have an inexplicable magic.”
Jiang Ru Yan massaged her forehead, feeling deeply ashamed. How did she never realize that her stepsister was a glutton?
Su Jin pretended to reach into her chest pocket to pull out the spicy snacks from the System’s spatial storage. She handed them over to Jiang Wan and said, “New flavour, extra spicy.”
Some people were only capable of thinking with their stomach anyway.
Witnessing this scene, Jiang Ru Yan had a questioning gaze as she asked: “You carry spicy strips on you wherever you go?”
Su Jin was dressed lightly. Where did she even find the space to hide them?
Su Jin casually made up a nonsensical excuse without blinking, “Uh huh, for refreshment purposes.”
“Indeed! This snack is so refreshing. Slurp… ha … slurp-“Jiang Wan clearly no longer cared about her image and happily indulged herself in the snacks. The new flavour was really spicy and invigorating.
Uncertain if this flavour would be available for sale on her next visit to the spicy snack store, she decided to preserve some of them.
Jiang Ru Yan: “…”
How was she supposed to look at her stepsister with a straight face in the future after discovering her true nature?
……
In a courtyard, a man was holding a long sword. With a flick of his wrist, his entire figure moved so swiftly that it almost left a trail of afterimages, causing the leaves to rustle with each stroke of his sword.
“Reporting to your highness, I have heard that there is an amazing restaurant in Fengyuan County. The wine served there is said to be exceptionally mellow. Would you like to try it?”
Sitting on top of a tree branch, Zuo Yi casually observed at Ming Jun who was practicing the sword below. He had a relaxed demeanour, unlike the usual serious and dutiful image he carried.
He had been serving Prince Li since he was a child, and usually acted prim and proper when handling official matters. But in private, he was allowed to treat the prince casually like a childhood friend.
Ming Jue sheathed his sword, evidently interested in it. “Oh? Can it be compared with the first-class restaurants in the capital?”
Seeing that his lord was interested, Zuo Yi jumped down from the tree and patted his sleeves, bowing with his fists clasped. “It is rumoured to be on par, if not even better than the best restaurants in the capital.”
“Let’s go find out then.”
He wanted to taste for himself, what kind of fine wine and alcohol this small county had to offer, that could even rival the famous restaurants which had a history of more than a century in the capital.
Before long, the two of them found themselves in front of a three-story building that occupied a considerable area of land.
At the top of the building, three gold-gilded characters were prominently embedded on the signboard, shining under the reflection of sunlight. The name of the building was “Bai Wei Fang” (Hundred Flavours Tavern). Ming Jue’s pupils immediately shrunk when he saw the signboard. He stared at those three words, with a look of admiration on his face.
“What’s the matter, Your Highness?”
Zuo Yi was puzzled when he noticed that his lord had become lost in thoughts for a while, and had to interrupt him.
“It’s nothing. This restaurant does not seem simple.”
Just these three simple words, when put together, had expressed the profoundness of the restaurant. Ming Jue could not help but wonder who came up with this name.
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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