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

The sun hung high in the sky.

The silver plaque shone brightly under the light.

The edge of the plaque is decorated with a circle of auspicious clouds and butterfly patterns, which were made of silver by craftsmen.

The overall color is ebony, and the interior is inlaid with mother-of-pearl using a technique, featuring colorful patterns such as butterflies, moons, and small grasses.

In the very center is the calligraphy by Grand Tutor Zhou, "Xueyuelou" (Snow Moon Pavilion), written with elegant strokes and crisp finish.

There is also Grand Tutor Zhou's private seal in the lower right corner.

Shen Cao still remembers when the plaque was finished and brought back, Wei Siyu joked, "Even if you don't have money, you can still get a lot of money by pawning this plaque."

Fortunately, the entrance to Xueyue Tower was tall enough, otherwise Shen Cao was really afraid that someone would try to steal the plaque.

Shen Cao positioned her newly opened Xueyuelou restaurant as a high-end establishment, so on the opening day, she specifically asked Wei Siyu to help invite some of her colleagues from the capital.

Her status as a princess has not yet been made public, so no dignitaries from the capital were invited.

As the sound of firecrackers gradually faded, not a single guest arrived.

What Shen Cao didn't know was that all the other shopkeepers in the capital were gathered at Xiangmanlou at that moment.

Inside the private room, everyone looked at the manager of Xiangmanlou Restaurant. "Manager Ma, should we go today?"

Manager Ma looked down at the invitation in his hand. "Go, but don't go too early."

The invitation was personally delivered to him by the young master of the Wei family, which can be said to have been a great honor for him.

Although it is unknown what the relationship is between the young master and the manager of Xueyuelou, Xiangmanlou is likely to lose the young master of the Wei family as a customer in the future.

After all, he had moved all his belongings out of the private room three days ago.

Although he lost this customer, Manager Ma still intended to give him face.

After all, the Wei family controlled the entire Grand Canal transport business of the Great Xia Kingdom.

Businessmen, after all, will one day need to use the favors they've done in the past.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Manager Ma's words.

I heard there are people upstairs at Xueyue Tower, otherwise they wouldn't have invited Grand Tutor Zhou.

Many of these people wanted to visit Xueyue Tower to see its splendor, as they had heard that Grand Tutor Zhou was particularly skilled in the Ministry of Works' repair techniques when he was young.

In addition, he was the greatest Confucian scholar in the Great Xia Kingdom. Everyone was very curious about the restaurant that such a person personally supervised.

Actually, what attracted them most was a piece of calligraphy.

I heard that the manager of Xueyue Tower is actually the current emperor's daughter and a good friend of Princess Wanyue.

It is said that Princess Wanyue personally made the connection and obtained a piece of calligraphy by the Emperor.

I heard it's placed right in the middle of the main hall of Xueyue Tower.

That's the Emperor's calligraphy! Not to mention Xiangmanlou, which restaurant in the whole world would have such grandeur?

The background of this Snow Moon Pavilion must be unfathomable.

Perhaps because everyone had thought of these things, some people became restless.

Manager Ma looked at the restless group and sneered inwardly. If they were afraid, they shouldn't have come to him first. They wanted to give Xueyue Tower a hard time, but they didn't dare to offend anyone.

Hmph! They're all so hypocritical, it's disgusting.

Just then, a waiter from Xiangmanlou rushed over and whispered a few words in Manager Ma's ear.

Manager Ma's expression also changed.

"What happened?"

Someone asked anxiously.

Manager Ma took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up, and glanced in the direction of Xueyue Tower.

"Let's hurry over there, or it will be too late."

Everyone was puzzled as to why Manager Ma's attitude had changed so quickly.

"A distinguished guest has gone to Xueyue Tower."

"what?!"

Manager Ma didn't have time to explain in detail. He quickly straightened his clothes and waved his hand, "Hurry up and bring over the congratulatory gift I prepared."

"No, go to my room and bring me that treasured calligraphy and painting from my cabinet."

If that important person hadn't come, his gift would have been acceptable, but since that person had come, his gift seemed somewhat inadequate.

Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished that Manager Ma had brought out his treasured calligraphy and paintings, and they all instructed their subordinates to go back and retrieve their own items.

The entrance to Xueyue Tower was crowded with people who came to watch the excitement.

They were all very curious and peered inside through the gate. Although they couldn't see clearly, they could imagine the luxury inside from the glimpses they made.

But isn't this a newly opened store? Why isn't there a single customer?

Why are there so few customers at Snow Moon Pavilion?

Yes, I heard the invitations were sent out three days ago, and no one has come yet. I guess not many people will come today.

[Well, this restaurant isn't for ordinary folks like us anyway, so we're just here to watch the show.]

Yeah, we're just here to watch the show.

This area used to be home to restaurants, but they went out of business after only a few months. I wonder how long Xueyue Tower can last.

Xueyue Tower is located in a rather special location, so many ordinary people have come to watch the spectacle today.

For quite some time now, no one had gone into Snow Moon Pavilion. Just when everyone thought no one would come, a carriage suddenly appeared at the intersection.

"It's the Shen family's carriage!" A sharp-eyed person had already recognized that the carriage belonged to the Shen family, the most prominent imperial merchant family in the capital, and exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone turned to look at the carriage.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of Xueyue Tower, and Shen Cao and the others also arrived at the entrance.

Old Mrs. Shen was helped down from the carriage by Li Chengxie, Shen Yu'an's mother.

"Grandmother, why did you come in person?" Wanyue was overjoyed.

Grandma Shen smiled and looked around, her gaze lingering on the signboard for a moment. Then, she took Wanyue and Shencao's hands with satisfaction and said, "Of course I had to come and see your restaurant opening in person."

"Yu'an, you know without me saying it, you need to take good care of your two younger sisters' businesses in the future."

Shen Yu'an put away his jade-bone fan and nodded, "Of course, but I'm afraid I'll need my two younger sisters to help me out."

"Hahaha," Li Chengxie laughed. The fact that his son could say such a thing meant that Shen Cao had the ability. "Then you'd better work harder, or your sister will take away the reputation of our Shen family."

"Anyway, they're all on our side."

"Grandmother, let's go inside and talk." Shen Cao welcomed the old lady Shen inside and led her to the "Spring" private room on the fourth floor.

Just as Grandma Shen and her family went inside, another carriage stopped at the gate.

It was the Wei family's carriage. Wei Siyu's parents, along with Wei Siyu's older sister and brother-in-law, had come to support Shen Cao.

Wanyue personally led the people to the "Spring" private room. The Wei family and the Shen family were very familiar with each other, so Shen Cao arranged for them to be in the same private room.

The fourth floor of Xueyue Tower was even larger than the fourth floor of Baicao Garden, and Shen Cao still divided it into four private rooms, named 'Spring', 'Summer', 'Autumn', and 'Winter'.

Each private room can accommodate at least twenty people.

After the Wei and Shen families sat down, the private room still looked somewhat empty.

Just as Shen Cao was arranging for guests upstairs, more guests arrived.

The guests this time were somewhat special, causing a brief commotion among the onlookers.