Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Now the people in the courtyard are basically idle and have no fixed jobs, except for Wang Ergou and Liang Dahai who are busy doing the tasks assigned by Zhang Jingwei every day. Qian Ming, as a servant, has been staying by Zhang Jingwei's side, chopping wood, practicing with an axe, and occasionally hunting some game. Zhang Shiyi just stays with the donkey all day, either trimming its hooves or scraping its hair. Liu Guanjin is the most idle, and he gladly accepted the task of looking after Li Yi assigned to him by Zhang Jingwei today.

As soon as he entered the restaurant, Zhang Jingwei waved his hand and shouted, "Second Boss, bring us all the delicious dishes you have!"

In this day and age, you wouldn't dare ask for beef in a restaurant. All you get are steamed sea bass, garlic ribs, roast goose, roast duck, and braised pig's trotters...

Zhang Liu stared with wide eyes at the mountain of food in front of him and couldn't help but exclaimed: "This is too much!" He really couldn't imagine how so much food could be eaten.

Zhang Jingwei, standing by, seemed much calmer. He confidently said, "Just cook some corn or sweet potatoes as the staple food! Add a few vegetables, and it should be enough for everyone."

Zhang Liu quickly waved his hand to dissuade him, "Master! You absolutely cannot waste it like this! This food is hard-earned, we should cherish it."

Zhang Jingwei laughed heartily, pointing at the people wolfing down their food, and replied confidently, "Don't worry, look at them, they're all like starving ghosts, there's absolutely no waste."

Zhang Liu shook his head helplessly, watching everyone eat with gusto, and sighed in his heart. At this time, Mu Tou suddenly noticed that Zhang Jingwei had not touched his chopsticks, and asked curiously: "Young Master, why don't you eat?"

Zhang Jingwei frowned and replied, "Oh, it's nothing, I just don't have much of an appetite. There's nothing spicy in this."

Mu Tou suddenly had an idea and suggested, "How about I get you two green onions with dipping sauce?"

Zhang Jingwei waved his hands repeatedly and said in disgust, "No, no, that taste is too strong. It's not the spicy taste I want at all."

Mu Tou nodded thoughtfully, then asked tentatively, "When Master speaks of spicy, is it like the spicy taste of strong liquor?"

Zhang Jingwei still denied Mu Tou's guess, "It's not that spicy! Oh, I can't explain it, but it's the kind of 'spicy' I like to eat!"

Eat delicious food and drink spicy food, which means eating meat and drinking wine. Good meat is delicious and good wine is spicy.

Zhang Shiyi said excitedly, "Back then, when I was still living on the farm, I saw the owner carefully caring for a pot of rare Hubang flowers. The flowers were extremely beautiful, and the fruits were even more beautiful, with red and green complementing each other, so beautiful! At that time, I was young, ignorant, and greedy. I couldn't contain my curiosity, so when no one was paying attention, I secretly picked one and tasted it. Oh, who would have thought that one bite would almost kill me! The taste almost scalded me to death!"

Zhang Jingwei's eyes widened after hearing this, and he asked in disbelief, "How can this fruit be so hot if it grew out of the soil?"

Zhang Shiyi scratched his head and replied somewhat embarrassedly, "I was young at the time, so how could I understand all this? I just remember that as soon as I bit into the fruit, my mouth felt like it was on fire, and a burning pain quickly spread. After that, no matter where I touched my body, it would cause a tingling sensation. The feeling was truly unforgettable! It wasn't until later that my parents noticed something was wrong with me. After some questioning and understanding, they told me that this feeling is called 'spicy', which is what you often call 'spicy' today!"

Zhang Jingwei nodded in sudden realization, then asked, "Uncle Eleven, do you know what this magical thing is called?"

Zhang Shiding calmed down, recalled for a moment, and then slowly replied, "From what I know, this thing seems to be a chili pepper. It's not expensive. However, I've heard that someone lost their life from consuming too much of it, so the government later banned it from sale!"

Zhang Jingwei swallowed his saliva, thinking that it was most likely the chili pepper he had imagined. Then he whispered something to Wang Ergou.

Wang Ergou frowned and said nothing for a long time. After hesitating for a while, he asked in a low voice: "Master, do you want that thing for food?"

Zhang Jingwei whispered, "I don't just eat, I also want to grow!"

Wang Ergou became nervous, but tried to keep his voice down: "Didn't Zhang Shiyi just say that eating too much of that stuff can kill people!"

Zhang Jingwei said to Wang Ergou in a serious tone, "Who cares? Just get it!"

Zhang Jingwei himself liked spicy food very much. There were no chili peppers in the Middle Ages, so this might be his way to make a fortune.

It was getting dark. After having a good meal and a few people were about to go back, a burly middle-aged man stopped Zhang Jingwei.

The middle-aged man stepped forward with a broad smile on his face, bowed slightly, and asked softly, "Excuse me, is this Young Master Zhang?"

Zhang Jingwei looked the middle-aged man in front of him up and down, and responded doubtfully: "I wonder who you are?"

The middle-aged man hurriedly bowed and said respectfully: "I am from the Tian family. A few days ago, those useless relatives of mine went to the Yang family to blackmail them. Thanks to your help, you helped the Yang family out of trouble!" After saying this, gratitude appeared in his eyes.

Zhang Jingwei heard this and asked unhappily, "Oh? So that's what's going on. Then why did you come to see me today?"

The middle-aged man quickly pulled out a stack of flower notes from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Jingwei, explaining with a smile, "Young Master, please don't blame me. My relatives are country folk who have never seen the world. They are used to being rough and unruly and don't know any etiquette. Look, these two hundred taels of flower notes that I extorted from the Yang family are useless to them. So after much thought, I think it's best to return them to their original owner as a token of our Tian family's apology and gratitude to you!"

Zhang Jingwei took the flower ticket, flipped through it casually, then stared at the middle-aged man sharply and questioned, "You, the Tian family, are quite reasonable... But how do I know if you are going to blackmail the Yang family again?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man's face instantly turned a little awkward, but he quickly regained his composure and patted his chest to assure, "Absolutely not, Young Master, don't worry! I've already severely punished them after returning, and warned them never to do such despicable things again in the future. If there is a next time, Young Master, you don't have to do anything, I will be the first to spare them!"

Zhang Jingwei nodded in agreement, then pressed on, "So, you came here just to return these flower notes to me?"

The middle-aged man scratched his head and smiled innocently, "Hehe, to be honest, I came here mainly to visit my nephew who is imprisoned. I originally planned to have lunch here, but I didn't expect to meet you here, Master Zhang. It's just the right time to return the flower ticket together."