Qu Jinshu calmly recounted everything that had happened on the mountain.
After hearing everything, Yunshui slammed her hand on the table and stood up.
“Miss, you’re amazing! You actually took the initiative to ask the Emperor for permission to participate in the wrestling competition. This time, Second Young Master won’t be able to cheat his way through it!”
She could already imagine the miserable sight of Qu Zhao being thrown to the ground.
“Miss, what about General He…?”
Yunshui looked at Qu Jinshu nervously again.
She still couldn’t figure out exactly how her young lady felt about General He.
“He and I are on different paths, so we cannot work together. From now on, we can only be enemies, not allies.” Qu Jinshu answered concisely.
Seeing that Qu Jinshu wasn’t joking in the slightest, Yunshui finally let out a sigh of relief. It was about time!
Although General He was outstanding, in her eyes, her young lady deserved the finest man in the world. There was no need for her to suffer so much for General He.
Soon, the dishes began arriving.
Before long, the entire table was overflowing with food. Yunshui had never seen most of these dishes before.
Noticing her repeatedly swallowing, Qu Jinshu suppressed a smile and said, “Go ahead and eat. You don’t have to be so reserved when you’re with me.”
Only then did Yunshui cautiously pick up her chopsticks.
Qu Jinshu also picked up her bowl and chopsticks. The food really was amazing. Her money had been well spent.
While eating, Yunshui gave a thumbs up. “Miss, this cook is incredible! Why don’t we hire him, then?”
With the money they currently had, they could easily afford to buy out not just one cook but ten.
Just then, the waiter came in with another dish. Qu Jinshu stopped him.
“Wait a moment. Go ask your employer whether he’s willing to let the cook who prepared today’s dishes come work for me. I know Manyue Pavilion’s rules. I can only hire him for one month at most. Once the month is over, I’ll send him back.”
It had to be said that the owner of Manyue Pavilion had come up with a truly unprecedented business model.
Customers could pay a hefty sum to hire one of the restaurant’s cooks, but they could employ that cook for only one month at most. Once the time was up, they had to send him back to Manyue Pavilion.
By then, wouldn’t customers who had grown accustomed to that cook’s cooking end up returning to Manyue Pavilion every day to enjoy its outrageously expensive dishes?
However one looked at it, the business seemed somewhat unfair to the customers.
But now that Qu Jinshu had money, she wasn’t going to keep it all to herself. If something was worth buying, she would spend the money.
“Ah?” The waiter’s face immediately fell.
He gave an awkward smile. “Today’s cook is a little special. Please allow me to ask the owner first.”
After closing the door to Qu Jinshu’s private room, the waiter hurried to another private room on the top floor.
Meanwhile, inside that room…
Shen Lanzhou, the son of the Minister of Rites, leisurely poured wine for the man sitting opposite him.
“I heard you had a high fever last night. Are you really well enough to drink?”
“Forget it. Since we’re already here, let’s at least have a drink.”
“Manyue Pavilion belongs to you, so don’t be stingy. Have them bring out all the good wine they have left later.”
Jingfeng and the others were standing by the door. When they heard a knock, Jingfeng went out to answer it.
When he returned, his expression looked rather troubled.
“Master, someone wants to buy out our cook.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jingxing, who was sitting opposite Shen Lanzhou, lifted his wine cup and replied calmly, “Just handle it yourself.”
However, Jingfeng looked even more troubled.
“Master, it would be fine if it were any other cook. But when Elder Chi heard that you were here today, he personally went into the kitchen. He even prepared dishes for all the guests on the top floor.”
“Pfft…”
Shen Lanzhou nearly spat out his wine.
“This customer certainly has some nerve! That’s Elder Chi we’re talking about!”
Elder Chi’s status was practically equivalent to Jingxing’s own maternal grandfather.
“Enough, enough. Just have someone come up with an excuse to refuse. It would be ridiculous to let Elder Chi be hired away.”
Shen Lanzhou waved his hand and instructed Jingfeng.
Seeing that his master had no objections, Jingfeng went to handle the matter.
He had intended to tell the waiter to reject the request, but just then, the door of the room opposite opened slightly. With his sharp eyesight, he immediately spotted Qu Jinshu sitting inside.
M-Miss Qu?
He hurriedly slipped back into the room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
The sudden noise startled Shen Lanzhou so much that his hand trembled.
“Jingfeng, you’ve always been a steady and composed person. Why are you acting so jumpy today? You almost made me spill this fine wine!” Shen Lanzhou said helplessly.
Jingfeng had no time to answer him. Instead, he strode straight toward Zhao Jingxing. “Master, the person in the private room opposite is also the one who wants to hire Elder Chi. And it’s actually Qu Jinshu!”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jingxing’s hand holding the teacup paused slightly. A flicker of emotion passed through his dark eyes.
Nevertheless, he kept his lips pressed together and made no comment.
“Qu Jinshu? That name sounds familiar. Who is she?” Shen Lanzhou immediately became interested.
“Wait! Could this Qu Jinshu be the woman for whom Qu Zhao requested an exemption from the death penalty today?”
Shen Lanzhou had also been at Yunwu Mountain that day, so he knew exactly what had happened.
“A death exemption token is practically a family heirloom, yet Qu Zhao specifically requested that only his younger half sister be allowed to use it. It’s not just other people who can’t understand his intentions. Even I can’t figure out what he’s thinking.”
“That man is truly strange. Sometimes he seems dignified and impressive, but other times he looks like a complete good for nothing.”
“Forget it. Although I dislike him, considering that he saved your life, I’ll reluctantly acknowledge him as a decent person.”
Shen Lanzhou went on a lengthy rant without holding back.
As for his history with ‘Qu Zhao’, it certainly wasn’t something that could be explained in just a few words.
Before Qu Zhao suddenly rose to prominence, Shen Lanzhou had been as famous as He Xiujun. Both had been exceptionally talented young men who had made names for themselves at an early age.
Although he had no intention of entering officialdom, the Shen family was the Empress Dowager’s maternal clan. His status alone was enough to make countless people look up to him.
Moreover, like He Xiujun, he had achieved top honors in both the civil and military examinations when he was young. He had simply turned down the official position offered by the Emperor.
He had been proud for so many years. Even He Xiujun could only draw with him in their contests. Who would have thought that he would lose to Qu Zhao in last year’s horseback archery competition?
To him, it had been a tremendous humiliation.
But he wasn’t someone who couldn’t accept defeat. Losing was losing.
However, that bastard Qu Zhao had actually mocked him the next time they met.
Just thinking about losing to such a despicable person made him so disgusted that he could barely eat.
“Wait a minute! Right now, all the influential families in the capital are curious about who Qu Jinshu is. Yet she’s never shown her face in public. Jingfeng, how did you recognize her at a single glance?”
Shen Lanzhou suddenly turned his head and looked at Jingfeng with a strange expression.
“Master… C-can I tell him?”
Jingfeng hesitated. It seemed he had a lot to say, but he still needed his master’s permission.
“Mm.” Zhao Jingxing replied without the slightest change in his tone.
Jingfeng let out a sigh of relief and quickly said to Shen Lanzhou, “Young Master Shen, Qu Jinshu is Qu Zhao.”
“What? What did you just say?” Shen Lanzhou sprang straight out of his chair.