Song He was quickly bound by the handymen and sent off to the authorities. The diners were also guided back to the main hall by Shopkeeper Xu and the waiter. Rong Se whispered a few words to Blue Oriole, who nodded softly, then walked out into the main hall and announced in a clear voice.
“Today, we sincerely thank all the esteemed guests for bearing witness for our proprietor. Our proprietor has given orders: every table will receive an additional complimentary side dish! Please bear with us for a moment, esteemed guests!”
“The proprietor is magnanimous!”
“We’ll wait! This is definitely worth waiting for!”
The diners laughed and readily agreed. Only Yan Shuning wore an ugly expression. As a scholar, he cared most about his face, and today he had lost face in front of Cao Haoyun because of Fusheng, leaving him boiling with resentment. Then, he heard Cao Haoyun say, “Lady Blue.”
Blue Oriole stepped forward. “What are the esteemed guest’s instructions?”
Cao Haoyun’s father was an imperial relative of high status and great power, and his arrogant behavior far surpassed that of Zhu Lanshan. He cut straight to the point, “Our young master wishes to elevate your proprietor; tell him to come out.”
Cao Lun’s faction had always been at odds with the Prince Regent. Suppressing an urge to roll her eyes, Blue Oriole forced a smile and said, “Our proprietor does not see guests.”
Cao Haoyun had heard of this before, but he hadn’t taken it to heart. No matter how much skill a mere cook possessed, he was still just a cook, no different from an ant in his eyes. Hearing this response, he sneered, “Ridiculous. When our young master wishes to see him, how could there be any reason to be turned away at a closed door?” At this point, his expression abruptly sank. “Let him come out!”
Ji Miaotong, standing nearby, frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and smiled politely. “Young Master Cao, Fusheng-gongzi’s rule of not seeing guests is the regulation of this restaurant; why force someone against their will?”
Cao Haoyun possessed a clever, handsome face and had been pampered into an arrogant disposition. He smiled coldly, “Today, our young master insists on seeing him.”
Unwilling to spark a conflict with him, Ji Miaotong frowned and said no more, only to hear a gentle, unhurried laugh ring out.
“Such imposing momentum.”
Liang Shenyu was dressed in a crimson wide-sleeved robe, his hair secured with a gold crown, his posture tall and upright. Unlike the arrogant and domineering behavior of the noble scions, fourteen years of garrisoning the borderlands had tempered him into a fierce and merciless spear, though his sharp edges were concealed in the shadows. Handsome in appearance, with a casual and untamed wildness between his brows, he looked far gentler and more composed by comparison.
“Marquis.” Ji Miaotong quickly stepped forward to offer a bow.
“Lord Ji need not stand on ceremony,” Liang Shenyu said, supporting him with a gesture before turning and walking over to the table of Cao Haoyun and Yan Shuning.
Though he appeared gentle and scholarly, as he walked over with true condescending authority, Cao Haoyun felt an intense wave of pressure wash over him, forcing him to stiffen his spine.
“Young Master Cao, which article of the Great Jin laws states that when your Cao family wishes to see someone, that person must come to see you?” Liang Shenyu articulated every word clearly, then let out a laugh. “It’s fortunate that Fusheng-gongzi is a man; if he were a woman, I’m afraid Young Master Cao would be mistaken for a bullying, tyrannical scoundrel forcibly seizing civilian girls.”
Blue Oriole let out a soft snort of laughter.
Unable to hold onto his face, Cao Haoyun slammed his hand on the table, “Liang Shuyun, what do you mean by this?”
Liang Shenyu stood unshaken, his gaze suddenly turning cold and sharp. “Young Master Cao, in all things, going too far is as bad as falling short.”
Seeing that Liang Shenyu was dead set on protecting this restaurant, Cao Haoyun’s expression shifted through several changes before he said, “If he won’t see us, then he won’t. Since he doesn’t know what’s good for him, so be it. But he can at least hand over his recipes.”
Blue Oriole raised an eyebrow. “Are recipes something that can be handed over casually? Young Master, do you understand the rules? If you truly want to learn real skills, you must kowtow nine times and kneel three times to perform the grand master-accepting ceremony to our proprietor, and wait upon your master for three years before you can attain the true teachings. For you to open your mouth and demand someone else’s culinary livelihood, if word gets out, you’ll be laughed at by ten thousand people!”
Cao Haoyun understood nothing of pugilist rules. Being reprimanded like this by a woman made his complexion even uglier.
“Lady Blue speaks correctly,” Liang Shenyu chimed in. “Young Master Cao, if you want to eat, sit down and eat properly. Don’t go ruining other people’s good moods.”
With that, he turned his gaze toward Yan Shuning, offering a seemingly well-intentioned reminder, “And Young Master Yan, this Marquis happened to pass by a gambling den just now and chanced to see your esteemed father in a rather precarious situation. If Young Master Yan hurries over now, you might still be able to save one of his hands.”
Yan Shuning turned pale with disbelief. “What did you say?”
Liang Shenyu said no more, casting a meaningful glance at Cao Haoyun and Yan Shuning before turning to summon Song Yan to an empty table to order food, his mood exceptionally good.
After Blue Oriole bowed and thanked Liang Shenyu, she returned to the kitchen with a complex expression to report to Rong Se, feeling utterly baffled.
This Liang Shenyu had seen her before and knew whose property Fusheng Pavilion was; why on earth would he step out to help them today?
Shouldn’t it be a life-or-death struggle between him and her master?
Cao Haoyun had lost face, and Yan Shuning was disturbed on account of his father. Neither of them lingered, departing in a hurried manner.
As soon as Liang Shenyu finished ordering his dishes, Song Yan leaned in and whispered, “Master, what is the meaning of this Cao family? Are they making it clear that they’re going to go toe-to-toe with us?”
How could the Cao family not know about the feud between the Prince of Huanyang and the Marquis of Dingbei’s estate? Yet they had openly extended an olive branch to the Yan family, placing the face of the Marquis of Dingbei’s estate nowhere.
Liang Shenyu chuckled softly. “Do you think the Cao family is helping the Yan family?”
Song Yan looked blank.
“The Cao family is just using the Prince of Huanyang’s estate; several memorials of theirs were written purely to impeach the Prince Regent.” Liang Shenyu’s voice grew slightly cold. “They are eagerly sending them to their deaths.”
Song Yan let out an exclamation, failing to grasp the deep implication and mockery in Liang Shenyu’s tone. “Well, that can still be considered helping us vent some pent-up anger.”
Liang Shenyu’s voice was very soft. “If they genuinely wanted to help this Marquis vent his anger, they wouldn’t have waited until today.”
He had long seen through the fact that this was a goodwill gesture from the Cao clan. But as for the feud between his Liang family and the Prince of Huanyang’s estate, why would he ever need to borrow someone else’s knife to kill?
The Prince of Huanyang was heavily in debt and naturally greedy; with just a tiny bit of enticement, he had forgotten how his family fortune ended up squandered in the gambling dens. Today, he had gone over specifically to watch the show, watching enough before coming over to inform Yan Shuning, watching that pair of father and son struggle bitterly and march step by step toward the abyss.
Taking what shouldn’t be taken meant he deserved to drown in the golden cave of gambling before it could be counted as retribution.
Liang Shenyu silently curled the corners of his lips.
He just hadn’t expected to arrive right on time.
After the waiter served two dishes, Blue Oriole walked over briskly and said in a low voice, “Our proprietor invites you.”
Hearing this, Liang Shenyu stood up, and Song Yan immediately moved to rise with him.
“Our proprietor only wishes to see you alone,” Blue Oriole said quickly.
Liang Shenyu remained silent for a brief moment. For a fraction of a second, he was inexplicably pleased by those words.
“Wait here,” Liang Shenyu instructed.
In the innermost private pavilion on the second floor, Rong Se sat before the table with his mask removed. Even after bustling about in the kitchen for a while, his black attire remained impeccably neat.
When Liang Shenyu entered the room, he caught sight of the Prince Regent, whom all the civil and military officials feared to the core, sitting there in an orderly manner, looking almost well-behaved.
The deep, cold ink-black garments did not make him look gloomy; instead, they sloped upward to reveal a slender stretch of warm jade neck, and further up was a face of unworldly, piercing beauty. Yet his pair of eyes were crystal clear and gentle, bright as the moon, blending softness into his gorgeous features so that he resembled a harmless, fluffy little animal.
Liang Shenyu once again fell uncontrollably into deep contemplation.
With a look like this, how on earth did he manage to stir up such bloody storms in the imperial court?