The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Butler Ji did not rush to ask Ma Liangcai to leave after hearing the young lady's instructions.

He was used to such scenes.

He watched the two bickering with a smile, then quietly slipped out.

In the reception room, Ji Fu sat in a chair, her eyelids slightly upturned, looking at Ma Liangcai with a playful expression. "What do you want to say?"

Ma Liangcai, with a mysterious expression, pulled up his stool and sat down in front of Ji Fu. He put his left hand to his mouth and spoke very carefully, "I heard that the Jingzhao Prefecture has started investigating the bandits who roamed the outskirts of the capital a month ago."

"I just don't know why they stopped after investigating for a few days."

"Do you think they've already caught them?"

Ji Fu sat demurely in place, lowering her eyelids as she glanced at him, trying to discern a trace of his lying in his eyes, but the result disappointed her.

"Didn't you report the case?"

Ma Liangcai shook his head, "This involves your reputation, how could I possibly report it to the police?"

After speaking, he seemed to have thought of something, paused for a while, and then muttered softly, "Could it be Brother Ji?"

"My older brother?" Ji Fu was clearly excited.

Ma Liangcai moved the stool back a little, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Ma! Liang! Cai!"

Ma Liangcai felt a chill run down his neck and dared not move.

His eyes darted left and right, and he hesitated to speak.

Ji Fu was a little angry. She had clearly told Ma Liangcai not to tell anyone, but he had let his older brother know.

She flicked her sleeves and angrily prepared to leave.

Ma Liangcai quickly grabbed her sleeve, looked down at his feet, swayed his arms from side to side, and said in a slightly coquettish voice, "I didn't mean to."

"Brother Ji is so terrifying, I was completely dumbfounded in front of him."

"That's what we said."

"But don't worry, Brother Ji specifically told me that no fourth person can know about this."

Ji Fu, enraged, hit him a few times, yelling, "What can you do? What can you do?!"

After venting her anger, she calmed down.

Ah, it's still my eldest brother who's reliable; outsiders can't even compare to him half as much.

If Ma Liangcai knew what Ji Fu was thinking, he probably would never have said a word to her in his entire life.

One sentence led to Ji Fu comparing him to her older brother no matter what he did afterward, but what was even more upsetting was that he couldn't compare to her in anything.

Ji Fu looked at the outsider in front of her and said, "Alright, I know what happened. You can leave now."

Knowing he had said something wrong and angered her again, Ma Liangcai had no choice but to leave with Ma Jiu and wait for her to calm down before coming back to find her.

Meanwhile, Ji Lingfeng set off from the capital overnight, riding a fast horse all night.

After daybreak, he found a restaurant to have some breakfast, and let his horse and himself rest for a while before continuing his journey.

"Waiter, bring me two of your restaurant's signature dishes."

"Also, prepare some fine grass to feed my horse."

The waiter sized up Ji Lingfeng, who was dressed in brocade and even had hairpins made of top-quality black jade, and knew that he was a man who was not short of money.

He immediately ordered the kitchen to cook two signature dishes, and then he went to the backyard to feed his horse the Shen family's fine herbs that the shopkeeper had bought.

I also prepared some carrots for the horse.

Once all the dishes were served, the waiter specially introduced the small, unassuming plate of meat sauce next to Ji Lingfeng.

"Sir, you must try this meat sauce. You can't find this flavor anywhere else in the capital."

Ji Lingfeng didn't take it seriously. He had eaten early yesterday afternoon and hadn't eaten anything in his rush to leave last night, so his stomach was already empty.

He only ate a couple of bites before slowing down his eating pace.

The taste was indescribable, but he had to force himself to eat it in order to fill his stomach.

Left with no other choice, he reached for the small plate of meat sauce that the waiter had just recommended.

He added some meat sauce to the bowl of rice and took a bite with the stir-fried vegetables.

With just one bite, his eyes brightened; it was a familiar taste.

With that small plate of meat sauce, the food, which was originally rather unappetizing, suddenly became more palatable.

He finished eating quickly.

"Waiter, your meat sauce is quite good!"

The waiter happily continued, "Isn't it delicious? This is a taste you can't find in the capital."

"Ever since my boss bought this meat sauce, business has been significantly better than before."

"This spring grass meat sauce was specially bought by my boss from a very far place."

"It's said that if you don't make a reservation with the shopkeeper in advance, you won't be able to get any."

"Spring Grass Meat Sauce," Ji Lingfeng chuckled softly, a slight smile playing on his lips.

I don't know who came up with this name.

However, he didn't expect that this girl's meat sauce business had spread all the way here, which is less than a day's journey from the capital.

I'm afraid that before long, my business will expand to the capital.

"Waiter, do you sell this meat sauce separately? I'll pay a hefty price for it."

The waiter hesitated for a moment, "Please allow me to ask the manager."

A short while later, the waiter led a man who looked to be about forty or fifty years old to Ji Lingfeng.

The man asked Ji Lingfeng, "Sir, my waiter said you'd like to buy this meat sauce?"

Ji Lingfeng nodded. "Name your price."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper knew that this person was not short of money, and he said with some difficulty, "I bought this meat sauce from a very far place, and this is the only jar left."

"They're sold out. I don't even know if I'll be able to buy one."

"Since this gentleman is so sincere in wanting it, here is the price, please take it."

The shopkeeper held up five fingers.

"Okay, deal!"

The shopkeeper spoke tremblingly, "Sir, please look carefully, that's fifty taels."

"I know."

Sure enough, there's no shortage of wealthy people in the capital. He bought this jar of meat sauce for only one hundred coins.

Fifty taels for a jar of meat sauce is an astronomical price, yet this customer didn't even blink an eye.

Ji Lingfeng knew, of course, that the jar of meat sauce wasn't worth that much money, but he didn't know how many more meals he would have to eat along the way, and he didn't want to make himself suffer. So he figured he might as well spend the money.

When he went to the stable to fetch his horse, he found that the waiter had indeed fed his horse the best Shen family fodder as he had instructed, and had even given the horse a few carrots.

He first stroked the horse's face and talked to it for a while.

He turned around and gave the waiter a silver ingot, saying, "Well done."

After saying that, he mounted his horse and continued on his way.

After a short rest, the horse regained its energy and galloped all the way until it finally caught up with General Ma and his men at dawn.

When they arrived at General Ma's encampment, the horses were too exhausted to stand.

Ji Lingfeng summoned people and told them to take good care of his horse.

He went to General Ma's camp first and told him about what the Prefect of Jingzhao had discovered two days earlier.

Upon hearing this, Ma Hongtao frowned deeply. This fourth prince of the Great Qing Kingdom was truly still harboring treacherous intentions.

“General Ji, Dongfang Ming has been by my side for so many years, I know him quite well.”

“This incident definitely wasn’t his doing; he wouldn’t be that stupid.”

Ji Lingfeng nodded, completely agreeing with him.

"By the way, General Ma, this time we will split up. You will take them directly back to the camp, and I will take the brothers of the Crane Battalion to Xin'an County."