Early the next morning.

When Lin Shuyun woke up, Jiang Changtian was gone.

She washed her face and went outside, only to see Jiang Changtian walking around in the yard.

He saw her, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke softly, "Yunyun, good morning."

He couldn't sleep all night, and got up to take a shower as soon as it was light to calm down his restlessness.

He suspected it was because he had been eating too many hot and spicy foods lately.

"Hmph." Lin Shuyun pouted and called out to the kitchen, "Auntie, I have to go out for a bit, don't bother leaving me breakfast."

"What's up? Have breakfast first!"

Qin Niangzi poked her head out of the kitchen with a spoon in her hand.

"I'm just going out to buy some things. If I go too late, they'll be sold out." Lin Shuyun replied casually, and then went out.

Jiang Changtian's words were stuck in his throat, neither coming out nor coming out.

I want to follow, but I don't dare.

After hesitating for a moment, I went inside.

Not long after Lin Shuyun left, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

"Hey kid, go open the door!"

When Qin Niangzi saw Xiaoqing brushing his teeth in the yard, she directed him to open the door.

"I'm not going. We're all human, why are you ordering me around?" Xiaoqing turned around and faced away from Qin Niangzi.

"Wow, so tough." Madam Qin thought this kid had really hurt his brain and something was wrong.

If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to go; she can go by herself.

When Madam Qin opened the door, it turned out to be Gui Tong, who had been with Director Zhang the day before.

"What are you doing knocking on the door so early in the morning?!"

Gui Tong looked at Qin Niangzi in surprise, then at the doorway. He hadn't gone to the wrong place!

This is the place! The voice sounds just like theirs, but why don't they look alike?

"Speak up, are you mute?" Qin Niangzi asked impatiently.

"Um... well... we've moved to the house diagonally across the street. My husband asked me to bring this over, hoping that we can look out for each other as neighbors in the future."

Gui Tong handed a basket of eggs and two catties of meat to Qin Niangzi.

He thought the old man was simply insane; who exchanges so many gifts between neighbors?

Qin Niangzi raised an eyebrow and took it. "Alright, I got it. Is there anything else?"

"never mind."

The moment Gui Tonghua finished speaking, the door was slammed shut.

Gui Tong thought to himself that this person was really rude, and turned around with a wrinkled face.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Director Zhang grabbed him and demanded, "Was the delivery made? Who opened the door? Did they accept it?"

There were three questions at once, and Gui Tong opened his mouth and answered them one by one.

"It was delivered and accepted. The woman who opened the door was the same woman from yesterday, but it doesn't seem to be her."

Dean Zhang was stunned. "What do you mean, 'seems like but isn't'? Are you trying to give me a riddle?"

"Their voices are very similar, and they wear the same clothes, but their appearances are different," Gui Tong explained earnestly.

Chief Zhang immediately realized that the Empress must have been hiding her true appearance; otherwise, living in the countryside and city all these years, she would have been spied on by those with ill intentions long ago.

"Silly girl, a woman looks different when she's wearing makeup. Alright, just take the things and hurry up and start a fire to cook."

Gui Tong stood still. "Master, I don't know how. I only know how to brew medicine."

"Neither you nor I know how to cook, what are we going to do?" Chief Zhang frowned, wondering if they would have to hire another cook.

Gui Tong suggested, "Why don't we just buy it?"

Dean Zhang's eyes lit up. "Great idea! We'll go knock on that door later."

He could take the opportunity to play the victim, and the Empress, being kind-hearted, might just take him in.

Gui Tong: ...

He meant to buy it at a restaurant.

……

……

Lin Shuyun went directly to Yaoyue Tower.

Early in the morning, brothels and entertainment venues are closed and asleep, only opening to welcome customers after dark.

The thug recognized Lin Shuyun, yawned, and let her in, telling her to sit in the lobby. Then he went to call for the doorman.

"Hey, what brings you here today?"

After a while, the door mother came downstairs with her eyes half-closed, pulling her clothes together as if she hadn't woken up yet.

There were a few more guests last night, so Mom went to bed late.

After sitting down, Auntie Men yawned again. "Aren't you planning to open that restaurant? I'm craving your braised pork. I feel uneasy if I don't eat it for two or three days."

"I came to thank you. If you hadn't gone to inform the academy, my old man might be gone."

After finishing her sentence, Lin Shuyun answered the second question, "The restaurant is closed. I opened it in the first place just to have something to do, but I never expected this to happen."

Today, she smelled braised meat everywhere, and although the smell was slightly different from hers, it was still quite similar.

After a moment of clarity, the doorkeeper yelled into the room, "Where are they all? Can't you see we have guests? Bring tea!"

"No need for tea, bring me a pen and paper." Lin Shuyun didn't come here for tea today.

The doorkeeper's mother added a sentence about paper and pen.

Then he said to Lin Shuyun, "You don't know, after that scarred guy ran away and the people from the academy left, that group of people went crazy. They even snatched the dirty brine lying on the ground. It was truly shameful."

In the past two days, there has been a sudden increase in the number of braised meat vendors. Although the taste is not as authentic as the braised meat in Lin Shuyun's restaurant, it is pretty close.

"It's just human nature." Lin Shuyun didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Then the mother across the hall said, "Braised meat has a strong flavor and is not suitable for selling here. I'll write down a few recipes for cold dishes for you. When the girls entertain guests, they can persuade them to order these as appetizers. They taste good, and the price can be higher."

"Oh my god, God, you're really going to do this!"

The door's mother was overjoyed; she never expected that simply doing a good deed would bring her such a reward.

She knew exactly how delicious Lin Shuyun's cooking was.

Paper and pen arrived, and Lin Shuyun began to write.

Madam Men blinked. "Didn't you already give me ten taels of silver as a thank-you gift? You're really going to give me a recipe for cold dishes?"

"Well, let me also teach you a way to do business."

After Lin Shuyun finished writing, she began to tell the doorkeeper how to create hype, package and style the girl, and make customers flock to her.

Hearing this, the mother's eyes widened, and she picked up her pen and started writing furiously.

After I finished writing, my fingers were so stiff I couldn't move them, and I was completely dazed.

"My goodness, you didn't do something to betray me, did you?"

If she puts this business acumen into practice, will she still worry about not having customers at her Invitation Moon Pavilion?

Why worry that her girls won't become famous?

Even Chunfeng Tower was no match for her!

It feels like a dream.

"Would you believe me if I said no?" Lin Shuyun said, standing up. "Could you please ask around for me, Mama Men, where that scarred man is hiding?"

“Of course I believe you, why wouldn’t I?” Mother Men patted her chest. “Okay, I’ll take care of this person. I’ll find out for you.”

"It's getting late, I have to go home. I wish Mama Men all the best in her business."

Lin Shuyun left after speaking, without even taking a sip of tea.

After the man left, another thug came over and said, "Madam, why didn't you mention our top courtesan? Didn't we see it clearly last time? That top courtesan is at Madam Lin's house."

The doorkeeper's mother held a thick stack of papers, her mouth almost stretched to her ears in a wide grin. "What nonsense! Just pretend this never happened! The person is long dead. Remember, this is my cash cow!"

Madam Men is unaware that it was precisely because of her kind act at the time that her Yaoyue Tower would later become the number one brothel in the State of Qi.

……

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