Inside the Yun family kitchen.
“Lüliu, there aren’t enough people in the kitchen. Where can we find more help?” Yun Zhiyue was utterly exhausted. There were simply too many dishes she needed to make.
There was no way one person could handle it all alone.
Lüliu hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat.
“Miss, please rest a bit. If there aren’t enough cooks, we can just buy some from the slave market. Why should Miss personally do all the work?”
“And for food preparation, it’s safer to use people we purchase ourselves.”
Slave market. Buying people. Human trafficking.
Yun Zhiyue paused.
She had nearly forgotten—this was ancient times, where slave trading was legal.
After struggling inwardly for a moment, she decided she had to adapt to the reality of this era.
“Then let’s go.”
The two tidied themselves up and were about to head out when they encountered Master Yun near the entrance.
“Father.”
“Master.”
Master Yun nodded.
“Yue’er, where are you going?”
“There aren’t enough workers in the household. I want to visit the slave market.”
Looking at his beautiful daughter, Master Yun raised a hand and summoned two servants.
“You two follow the young miss and ensure her safety.”
There were four slave markets within the capital.
Yun Zhiyue chose one with a fairly good reputation.
As they entered the courtyard, the steward immediately came forward. Narrowing his eyes as he sized them up, he broke into a grin.
“Oh, honored guests, please sit. What kind of slaves are you looking for? We have everything here.”
Yun Zhiyue frowned.
His gaze made her deeply uncomfortable. She only wanted to finish quickly and leave.
“Do you have any who can cook?”
The steward chuckled.
“Yes.”
He clapped his hands, and soon over a dozen women and older wives entered and stood in a row.
“Take your time choosing.”
Yun Zhiyue looked over them carefully.
Some appeared restrained, some expressionless, some frightened, others anxious.
Every sort of expression could be seen.
“Hold out your hands for me.”
After examining them closely, she quickly selected eight women whose fingernails were clean and whose clothes were neat.
“Are you willing to come with me? If not, I won’t force anyone.”
The women exchanged glances and all agreed—except for one middle-aged woman who suddenly knelt.
“Young miss, could you also buy my son along with me?”
Yun Zhiyue looked puzzled.
“Where is your son?”
The woman looked pleadingly toward the steward.
With a helpless sigh, he waved his hand.
“Bring her son in.”
A little boy wearing a gray short jacket was led inside. The moment he entered, he rushed into the woman’s arms.
“Mother!”
The steward secretly observed Yun Zhiyue’s expression.
“Honored guest, the boy can’t really do any work anyway. If you want him, I’ll sell him cheaply. Three taels of silver is enough.”
Seeing how pitiful they looked, Yun Zhiyue eventually agreed to buy him too.
After returning to the Yun residence—
Yun Zhiyue wrote out a list.
“Lüliu, go buy the ingredients listed here.”
After glancing at the list, Lüliu’s expression became strange.
“Miss… why are you only buying things nobody wants?”
Yun Zhiyue: ……
At that moment, the eight women stood waiting in the courtyard for instructions from their new master.
Yun Zhiyue turned toward them, her tone extremely serious.
“The only reason I bought you is to make food.”
“You must keep your hands clean and remain absolutely loyal.”
“Starting tomorrow, I will teach you how to prepare dishes.”
“Anyone who betrays me or leaks the recipes—light punishment means being handed over to the authorities; severe punishment means being beaten to death.”
“Your contracts of sale are all in my possession. Before any of you dare commit acts of disloyalty, think carefully about how many lives you have.”
“Of course, if you remain loyal to me, I won’t treat you poorly.”
“Every month, I will pay each of you one tael of silver. If you perform well, there will also be additional rewards.”
“Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded in unison.
“Yes, we understand.”
After several days of teaching and training, the eight women had largely mastered the preparation methods for the dishes.
The next day.
Inside the room, Yun Zhiyue calmly flipped through the old account books of the teahouse while seated at a dark purple low table.
A moment later, Lüliu hurried in excitedly.
“Miss! The Third Princess has arrived!”
Yun Zhiyue froze.
Why was she here?
Without asking aloud, she rose and walked outside, with Lüliu following behind.
“Miss, the Third Princess is in the reception hall. Master and Madam are there too.”
Inside the reception hall—
Four armed guards stood on each side of the room, while two maidservants dressed in emerald brocade stood beside the Third Princess.
Master Yun and Madam Yun sat stiffly upright, too intimidated to say much.
Xiao Zhaoning sat in the seat of honor, boredly looking around from time to time while occasionally glancing toward the doorway.
“Why hasn’t Zhiyue come out yet?”
Master Yun wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
“Please wait a moment, young lady. Yue’er should arrive shortly.”
Just as he finished speaking, Yun Zhiyue entered the reception hall.
She quickly stepped inside and was about to bow when Xiao Zhaoning lightly stopped her.
“Enough. Since we’re outside the palace, there’s no need for such formalities between us. Just call me Zhaoning.”
“Alright.”
Yun Zhiyue turned toward her parents.
“Father, Mother, this is my friend. There’s no need to be nervous.”
Master Yun and Madam Yun finally relaxed slightly.
Judging by the entourage—eight guards and two maids—this young woman clearly held no ordinary status. Such arrangements usually belonged only to officials or imperial nobility.
If Xiao Zhaoning heard that, she would probably say this was already reduced.
Originally, she had sixteen guards, four maids, and two hidden guards. She had intentionally cut the number in half.
Outside in the corridor.
The two walked side by side.
Seeing Yun Zhiyue’s blank expression, Xiao Zhaoning spoke first.
“I’ve been thinking these past few days. If I only hand you silver notes and let you handle everything yourself, wouldn’t that be unfair?”
“I want to personally experience it too. Otherwise, where’s the sense of participation?”
“I can’t let you tire yourself out alone.”
“I suddenly came to visit—did I disturb you?”
Yun Zhiyue snapped back to attention.
“Of course not. I’m naturally happy that you came.”
“I was just thinking about the teahouse layout.”
“My father runs a teahouse with poor business, so I took it over. I plan to redesign it and introduce innovative teas and foods.”
“These past few days, I’ve also developed new dishes. Would Zhaoning like to come take a look with me?”
“Of course! Take me to see it.”
Xiao Zhaoning was immediately full of excitement.
Inside the teahouse.
The kitchen, originally equipped with two stoves, had been expanded to four, doubling its size.
The eight cooks bustled about in full swing.
Before long, ten snack dishes were brought out.
Yun Zhiyue picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup, and handed it to Xiao Zhaoning.
“Zhaoning, these are the new dishes I developed over the past few days. Try them and see what you think.”
Xiao Zhaoning eagerly picked up her chopsticks and sampled them one by one.
Her eyes widened in astonishment.
“Earlier I thought you were just boasting to fool me, but I never expected you could truly make all this.”
“It seems I judged correctly. Zhiyue, I can’t wait to see this teahouse open.”
Yun Zhiyue was very confident.
“No rush. There are also several teas here for you to try.”
“Originally, our partnership was for a restaurant. Once the teahouse opens, I’ll begin preparing the restaurant.”
“Now that the teahouse is about to open, would Zhaoning like to officially invest?”
While eating and drinking, Xiao Zhaoning nodded repeatedly.
“Yes. This time I’ll invest three thousand taels. How about it? Is that enough?”
Yun Zhiyue smiled faintly.
“That works. Same as before—we split profits fifty-fifty.”
The princess had money, connections, and influence. Yun Zhiyue contributed the labor. A mutually beneficial partnership.
Standing nearby, Lüliu secretly thought:
Three thousand taels? There’s no need for that much. Even buying all these ingredients in bulk would cost no more than two hundred taels.
One thousand copper coins equaled one tael of silver.
Since the capital was filled with wealthy nobles, dish prices were much higher than elsewhere.
Take rice and flour, for example:
In the capital, one dou of premium rice cost fifty copper coins, while one dou of white flour cost sixty.
Elsewhere, premium rice cost only thirty coins per dou, and flour forty.
Meanwhile, Yun Zhiyue silently considered how to price the dishes.
The teahouse mainly sold snacks and tea. Costs were low, so prices didn’t need to be too high.
Thinking this through, she quickly wrote out a menu and handed it to Xiao Zhaoning.
“This is the menu I drafted. Zhaoning, take a look and see if there’s anything lacking.”
Each dish represented one serving.