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

It was late at night, and all around was quiet.

Occasionally, a few insects chirped.

Moon Palace

Shen Shuhua, who was already lying in bed, was so shocked by the Emperor's words that she jumped up from the bed.

"what?!"

"You said Ji Lingfeng likes grass."

"No, I don't agree with either of them."

The two are way too far apart in age.

The Emperor knew what she was thinking, "The two of them are actually only six years apart in age."

"That won't work either. According to seniority, Cao'er should call Ji Lingfeng 'Uncle'."

Shen Shuhua's voice was a little loud, and she was somewhat agitated.

The Emperor sat up and embraced her, saying, "Don't worry, I didn't agree to his request."

"That's what I think too, the two are from different generations."

The Emperor glanced down and saw that Shen Shuhua was clearly very satisfied with his attitude, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You know Lingfeng, right? He says he likes her, and it seems he's set his mind on Cao'er for life."

"Moreover, this is something that cannot be stopped simply because we disagree with it."

"We know Ling Feng's attitude now, but we don't know Cao'er's attitude yet."

“Yes.” Shen Shuhua sat up from the Emperor’s lap. “We’ll ask Cao’er what she thinks when she enters the palace in a few days.”

Her daughter deserves the best man in the world.

The Emperor touched his chin, which had been accidentally bumped by Shen Shuhua, and silently prayed for Ji Lingfeng. Judging from Shuhua's attitude, his marriage was likely to be fraught with difficulties.

Good luck to you, that's all he can do to help.

……

After the matters in the capital were settled, Grand Tutor Zhou resumed eating at the Shen family's house every day.

Today, as soon as Grand Tutor Zhou entered the room, he saw that most of the dishes on the table were his favorite foods.

Shen Cao and Wan Yue sat on his left and right, respectively. During the meal, the two of them served him food and toasted him.

He ate very happily.

After the meal, Grand Tutor Zhou did not leave.

"Speak, what do you need my help with this time?" Grand Tutor Zhou stroked his beard and spoke to Shen Cao, his posture of being ready to get to work making Shen Cao and Wan Yue a little embarrassed.

"Hehe, Grand Tutor Zhou, how did you know we needed your help?"

"Offering favors for no reason." Grand Tutor Zhou gave them a fond, disdainful look.

"He who takes a man's money is bound to be grateful for his food. I've already eaten his food, so let's talk."

"Then let's go to the study." Shen Cao gestured for him to proceed and led Grand Tutor Zhou to the study.

Grand Tutor Zhou carefully examined the study; this was the first time he had ever visited a study in the capital.

Apart from having fewer books, the overall layout is similar to that of Xin'an County.

He sat at his desk, and Shen Cao handed him a booklet with a floor plan of the restaurant.

"I heard that when Grand Tutor Zhou was young, he was quite interested in the affairs of craftsmen and often went to the Ministry of Works."

Grand Tutor Zhou stroked his beard. "It was Lili who told you, wasn't it?"

"When I was young, the place I really wanted to go was the Ministry of Works. But my teacher insisted that I go to the Hanlin Academy with him."

He looked regretful.

"Actually, we'd like you to help design the storefront and interior layout of our restaurant," Shen Cao said with a smile.

"I heard that Xiangmanlou was designed by someone from the Ministry of Works. If we want to open a restaurant that is better than Xiangmanlou, we must hire someone even more capable than the person from the Ministry of Works for the design."

"You have no idea how worried we were a while ago." After saying that, Shen Cao winked at Wan Yue, who was standing next to her.

"Yes."

"Later, when Sister Lili told us, we realized that the person we were looking for was actually you."

Grand Tutor Zhou was very pleased with what he said, and his eyes narrowed as he smiled.

He might not be happy if others praise his high level of knowledge.

But if you praise him for these things, he will appreciate it very much.

He immediately became serious, picked up the booklet, and looked at it carefully.

"I'll take this booklet back and take a good look at it."

"Tomorrow you will come with me to that place. I want to see what kind of house it is that has given you such a headache."

With the help of Grand Tutor Zhou, the renovation of the restaurant proceeded quickly.

Grand Tutor Zhou would go to the restaurant to help supervise the construction whenever he had nothing to do, which saved Shen Cao some trouble.

More than half a month later...

The 18th of August is an auspicious day for opening a business.

Wanyue and Shencao arrived at the restaurant early in the morning.

Wei Siyu has been helping out a lot during this time. When it comes to this restaurant, besides Shen Cao and Wan Yue, he is the one who is most familiar with it.

Early in the morning, he specially invited the best lion dance troupe in the capital.

They started beating drums and gongs as soon as it was light.

When Granny Zhang came to Beijing before, Li Xiaoyu accompanied her.

Li Xiaoyu handed everything over to Xiaoqiao in Xin'an County, and Xiaoqiao is now considered Li Xiaoyu's personal disciple.

Oh, and Xiaoqiao also found her younger brother.

As luck would have it, Xiaoqiao's younger brother is Tiger, and that tall and strong guy who looks even taller than Ji Lingfeng is only fifteen years old.

Now, all the affairs of Xin'an County have been handed over to the siblings.

Li Xiaoyu and Granny Zhang planned to stay in the capital to help Shen Cao.

After Xiaoqi finished explaining everything in Xin'an County, she came to the capital.

The sound of gongs and drums attracted many passersby.

Everyone was speculating about what this newly opened shop did.

Look at this grand and exquisite storefront; I guess it's a restaurant.

[It reminds me a bit of embroidery.]

[It's a restaurant. It was renovated a while ago, and I saw a lot of tables and chairs moved in. It's definitely a restaurant.]

[Ah! Wasn't this shop's previous owner a restaurant? It went out of business after only a few months. Who would dare to open a restaurant here?]

Who knows? I heard the shopkeeper has connections; some even came to supervise the construction himself, just like Grand Tutor Zhou.

【…】

The lively discussion below did not affect Shen Cao's good mood at all.

As expected of Grand Tutor Zhou, she was quite shocked when she saw the restaurant after it was renovated.

It's even better than Baicaoyuan in Xin'an County.

There are four floors in total. Except for the first floor, which is a large hall, the rest of the floors are all designed as private rooms.

This was done by Grand Tutor Zhou specifically in light of the situation in the capital.

The capital city was full of high-ranking officials and nobles, so they naturally didn't like to be seen eating.

Each floor has a private room that is one level higher in class than the last.

The interior decorations are not only luxurious but also elegant.

The restaurant's backyard was designed as a garden landscape, with several pavilions separated by different views in the middle of the garden.

Scholars and literati could gather in the pavilion; it was incredibly elegant.

In short, Shen Cao was extremely satisfied.

"The auspicious time has come!"

With a loud shout, Shen Cao and Wan Yue together pulled back the red silk hanging on the plaque above the door.

The three characters 'Snow Moon Pavilion' immediately appeared before everyone's eyes.