The king's family sent an envoy to offer sacrifices before the ceremony.

  Zui Xiang Lou, Wang Yugang was currently reviewing the accounts of the wine house for the past half month with a gloomy face, his expression getting worse as he flipped through the pages. He really hadn't expected that in just over ten days, the performance of his own wine house would plummet straight down to the point where it was almost deserted.

  Wang Yugang's temples bulged with rage as he glared at the shopkeeper standing beside him, "What is going on here? The customers don't even make up one tenth of what they used to. If this continues, won't the tavern have to close down?"

  To know that the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion has always been a favorite of Kyoto's high-ranking officials and nobles, it has always been crowded with people, and every seat is occupied. Every month, I don't know how much income it can bring to the royal family, and it's not an exaggeration to say that they make a fortune every day.

  Now, however, the whole building is cold and deserted, where has the bustling scene of more than a dozen days ago gone? Since he entered just now, there hasn't been a single customer coming in.

  The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice, "Young master, this is also an unavoidable thing. Since the 'Warm Smoke Building' on the opposite street opened, most of our customers have been taken away. The other two wine houses on this street have already closed down." He then secretly added in his heart: It's not easy for our Drunken Fragrance Building to hold on until now.

  Wang Yugang glared at the shopkeeper, "Then you won't think of a way to get all the customers back?" What did they invite him to do, just to eat for free? Not even a bit useful, what kind of excuse is this.

  The shopkeeper could only secretly lament in his heart, and hesitantly opened his mouth to say, "Young master, since the number of customers started decreasing, our restaurant was one of the first to introduce new dishes. However, we still can't compare with Warm Smoke Building on that side. Almost every dish there is an original creation, never seen before in other restaurants. Moreover, they are extremely delicious and mouthwatering. Any customer who has tried it once usually becomes a repeat customer."

  Even he himself is no exception, the other day he personally went to Nuan Yan Lou to try their dishes. It's really eight treasures jade food, and after eating, it leaves a fragrant aftertaste that makes his heart itch, always thinking of going back to eat again. The dishes at others' restaurants are indeed not something that Zui Xiang Lou can compare with, which is why business has been so bleak. I really don't know how their chef came up with these excellent dishes.

  Wang Yugang furrowed his brow and gazed at the "Warm Smoke Building" across from him, several shops away. He saw that the entrance was filled with luxurious cars and horses, and people were coming and going constantly, business was booming.

  Looking at the little second who was welcoming guests at the opposite door, he couldn't help but feel furious and extremely annoyed. He slammed his hand down on the account book, stormed out of the Drunken Fragrance Building, got into his carriage, and headed home.

  At the entrance of Wang's house, Wang Yugang jumped off the horse carriage with ease and strode through the gate towards the main hall.

  As soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw Wang Yuguang's father, Wang Chengyi, sitting in his seat sipping tea, looking very comfortable.

  Wang Yugang quickened his pace and bowed saying "Father."

  Wang Chengyi smiled and looked at his son, saying "You're back, how was the inspection of the shop?"

  After struggling in business for so many years, he is now gradually getting old, it's time to let go properly and let his son slowly get familiar with and take over the Wang family business.

  As soon as this was mentioned, Wang Yugang's face turned cold and he said, "Son, I was just about to talk to you about this. I just checked the accounts of the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion for the past ten or so days, and found that our business has plummeted. If things continue like this, I'm afraid we'll have to close up shop before long."

  Wang Chengyi's hand, which was holding the teacup, paused, and his eyes widened in surprise as he said, "What's going on? Jiu Xiang Lou has always been fine all these years." How did it suddenly come to the point where it had to close down? This was a big deal for the Wang family.

  Wang Yugang furrowed his brow and said, "It's that new 'Warm Smoke Building' that just opened. According to the shopkeeper, the dishes at that restaurant are extremely good. As soon as it opened, it attracted a large number of customers, and even some of the new dishes we introduced at Drunken Fragrance Building can't compare to theirs. All the customers have been snatched away by them."

  Wang Chengyi's index finger tapped lightly on the table, deep in thought: it was this newly opened wine tower that had taken away his Wang family's business. He had also noticed this wine tower before because of its special style, after all, the grand occasion of the Flower Lamp Festival was unprecedented. But since his own wine tower had been dominating Kyoto for many years, he didn't take the new one seriously. However, now that his son said so, it turned out that the opponent had already taken away their customers for over a dozen days in a row just after opening. Then this Warm Smoke Tower really couldn't be allowed to continue operating like this. Otherwise, wouldn't his Wang family's Drunken Fragrance Tower really face the situation of closing down?

  Wang Chengyi turned to his son and instructed, "Geng Er, think of a way to bribe the staff at Nuan Yan Lou, see if you can steal their menu and bring it back here. Best case scenario is that we can even poach their chef. Once everything is settled, have someone spike the food at Nuan Yan Lou with medicine. That way, when something happens over there, we'll have new dishes to offer and those customers will naturally come back to us."

  And as long as there is a cook who can match the other side, and then renovate the Warm Smoke Building. The business of Drunken Fragrance Building will not have to worry about it anymore, on the contrary, it can even go up another level.

  He didn't believe it. He was a seasoned veteran of the business world, and he would easily take down a newly opened wine house. In just a few days, he would be able to shut them down for good.

  Wang Yugang nodded in agreement, "The child knows that as long as a high profit is offered, someone will definitely be tempted." Father is indeed an old hand in the business world, knowing how to strike at his opponents most effectively.

  Wang Chengyi nodded and casually asked, "Where's Yu Jiao? I haven't seen your sister for several days."

  As soon as his sister Wang Yu Jiao was mentioned, Wang Yu Gang's face turned somewhat dark. "Her? She's probably smashing things in the room again."

  Wang Chengyi was taken aback and asked, "What's going on?"

  "Who knows what's wrong with her?" Wang Yugang said, rolling his eyes. "Last time she went out and came back, she was in a terrible mood, smashing everything in the house that could be smashed. She kept scolding and cursing, saying things like 'cheap woman' and 'won't come to a good end'. Heaven knows who she had another fight with this time. I asked her maid and found out that she had taken a liking to a hairpin worn by another woman and wanted to buy it from her. But the other woman refused, and they got into an argument. In the end, she was scolded and threatened by the other woman. When she came back, she wouldn't calm down, and went to every jewelry store in the capital looking for that hairpin, but couldn't find it anywhere. She even made a scene at several stores, I'm really tired of dealing with her, who would want a wife with such a spoiled temper?"

  Although the sister's maid said it very tactfully, he wouldn't misunderstand his own sister's temperament. She must have been the one who went to provoke them first and probably did something to annoy the other party. Maybe she even wanted to take action directly. Otherwise, how could she be scolded and threatened by others? It's not like she had nothing better to do than to go buy someone else's hairpin.

  Wang Chengyi furrowed his brow and said, "This Yu Jiao is also too much. It's just a hairpin, isn't it? Her room shouldn't have less than 80 or 100 of them. Why does she only look at other people's good things? This capital city is not like any other place, everywhere are high-ranking officials and nobles. If one accidentally offends the young lady of a wealthy and influential family, who knows how to deal with it later?"

  This daughter has been spoiled by him since she was a child, and has always been dressed in finery and fed delicacies. He just wanted her to marry into a good family and also bring some help to the Wang family business. Unfortunately, this daughter is becoming more and more unreasonable as she grows older, and her temper is becoming increasingly arrogant and overbearing.

  Wang Yuguang coldly sneered, "With her temperament, it's only a matter of time before she gets into trouble. If we continue to spoil her like this, not only will it be difficult for her to marry well and form connections with the Wang family, but even finding an in-law's house might be a tough task."

  "Brother, what bad things are you saying about me?" A loud and clear voice came from the doorway. Wang Yujiao, dressed in a pink dress, rushed in with the wind at her feet, and the gold and silver jewelry on her body clinked and jingled loudly.

  She walked up and stood beside Wang Chengyi, her big apricot eyes staring at her own brother with dissatisfaction.

  Wang Chengyi frowned and looked at his daughter, "Yu Jiao, as a girl, how can you be so unbridled? If outsiders see this, it would be terrible."

  Wang Yu'jiao pouted, muttered a few dissatisfied sentences, then smiled and looked at Wang Chengyi "Dad, I know, it won't happen again next time."

  Wang Chengyi finally relaxed his eyebrows and nodded in satisfaction. "En, that's right. You came over here, is there something going on?"

  His daughter, who usually likes to collect gold and silver jewelry and brocade clothes, why would she run into the hall today.

  Wang Yu jiao hastily approached and said "Dad, I saw some accessories outside that I want to buy back. But the silver money is not enough."

  She went out today and found a new jewelry store, the decorations inside were really beautiful. Each one made her love it so much that she wanted to buy them all back home. But when she asked the price, she knew that the silver money she brought could only buy two pieces of jewelry at most. So she hurried back home, wanting to get the silver money from her father to buy the decorations.

  Wang Chengyi raised an eyebrow, "The jewelry in your room is already piled up like a mountain, why do you still want to buy more?" This was too much pampering for his daughter and wasn't a good thing. Every month, the amount of silver spent just on buying her jewelry was unknown, not to mention other daily expenses.

  "Father, you don't know how beautiful the jewelry is in that 'Zhen Bao Xuan' store. That dead woman must have bought her hairpin there last time. No matter what, I must buy jewelry from 'Zhen Bao Xuan', and it has to be more beautiful than hers. Father, please agree quickly, how can my jewelry lose to someone else's?"

  She saw a beautiful jade hairpin at Zhenbao Pavilion, with a bright green and translucent texture, carved into a very fashionable style, with fine silver threads and pearls flowing from one end. It was much more beautiful than the jewelry she had bought before. If she bought it and wore it on her head, it would make her look even more lovely and charming.

  As soon as she thought of this, she shook her father's arm vigorously and pouted.

  Wang Chengyi was dazed for a moment, and scolded, "Yu Jiao, how can you speak without any measure? You don't even know what that woman's background is, yet you dare to curse her out. This temper of yours must be restrained, or else if you accidentally offend those young ladies from official families, they won't be polite to you."

  Wang Yuqiao hummed discontentedly, "Dad, don't worry about it. What's her background anyway? If she really had any connections, they would have shown up at our doorstep long ago. In my opinion, she's probably just some poor family's daughter who doesn't even know her own place. And yet she still dares to threaten me so brazenly. Next time I run into her, I'll definitely teach her a good lesson."

  She actually dared to cheat her and made her lose face. If she meets her again, she won't be polite to her anymore.

  Wang Chengyi helplessly waved his hand "Alright, alright, don't make a fuss. Go to the accounting room to get the silver, our family can afford it, why bother looking at others."

  Although his daughter was being reckless this time, he also felt that she was right. The other party shouldn't be anyone important; otherwise, they would have come knocking on their door a long time ago.

  Thinking of this, Wang Chengyi didn't take the matter to heart anymore. As long as his daughter didn't offend any young lady from a high-ranking official or noble family, he would let her be.

  As soon as Wang Yujiao heard her father agree, she hastily ran out of the door to the accounting room to fetch the silver.

  Wang Yugang didn't say a word from start to finish, he was afraid that once he opened his mouth, he would be driven mad by his sister's arrogant and overbearing personality.

  He didn't furrow his brow until he saw his sister leave, then he said "Father, aren't you going to do anything about her? Letting her go on like this?"

  Wang Chengyi sighed, "When she's done buying jewelry and comes back, let your mother take good care of her and temper that temperament of hers, lest one day she really gets into some big trouble."

  Warm Smoke Building, Xia Ting sat at the table listening to Chen Zhuang's report on the situation in the building over the past few days.

  "Miss, Warm Smoke Building has been booming since its opening, almost all the guests in Kyoto have come to us. I heard that the other two wine houses on the next street had already closed down a few days ago. At this rate, it won't be long before Warm Smoke Building becomes the largest wine house in Kyoto."

  "Summer listened intently, nodded her head and responded with a 'yes, that's good.' By the way, have you been keeping an eye on the guys in the building and the kitchen staff these past few days? Has anything unusual happened?" Calculating the time, shouldn't the other wine houses be making their move too?

  Chen Zhanggui's face turned serious, and he said, "I was just about to tell Miss about this matter. The other day, the kitchen's Zhang cook came to find me and said that the Drunken Fragrance Building had sent someone to contact him, offering a large sum of money to poach him away to work for them, but he refused. These past few days, I've also discovered that one of the new young servants in the building keeps trying to sneak into the kitchen, always poking his head around. After having someone keep a close eye on him, it was discovered that this scoundrel has been colluding with the Wang family! He's probably here to steal our recipes from the wine shop. What a despicable thing, Miss, what fault did you find in him? The treatment he received in this building is already the best in all of Kyoto, and yet he still..."

  Chen Zhanggui's face grew more and more indignant as he spoke, abandoning his proper work to engage in such foolish and disloyal activities.

  Summer listened intently and suddenly became interested "Are you sure it's the Wang family?" This chef is actually not bad, hasn't been blinded by money. She wasn't afraid that the chef would be poached or the dishes would be learned by others, the dishes in Warm Smoke Building were all taught by her to several chefs, even if they were poached, it didn't matter, she could still teach a few thousand more. Besides, Chinese food culture has a long history, those dishes must use some seasonings and spices that this dynasty doesn't have, the proportions and processes of those things only she knows, even if the chef leaves, the dishes are stolen, they can't make the authentic Warm Smoke Building dishes.

  Chen the shopkeeper nodded affirmatively, "It's definitely the Wang family. Last time we sent someone to follow that young man and saw him in contact with people from the Wang family. Miss, don't you think it would be better to fire him now?" The master had always been kind to them, yet this person still dared to do such a despicable thing.

  Xia Ting Cong shook her head with a mysterious smile "Not yet, I still need this guy to help me with something." Since the Wang family's wine house was delivered to her doorstep, she wouldn't be polite.

  Mr. Chen was puzzled at once "What does the young lady want this person to do?" What can such a selfish person do for the young lady?

  Xia Ting smiled slightly and beckoned Chen Zhuanggui to come closer, saying "Come a bit closer and listen."

  Boss Chen curiously took a few steps closer, and Xia Tingjing whispered something in his ear.

  Mr. Chen was suddenly enlightened and gave Xia Ting a thumbs up "Miss, you're really great."

  "You go and take care of it." Xia Ting said with a smile.

  Mr. Chen nodded and was about to turn around and leave, but suddenly remembered another thing and carefully asked Xia Ting "Miss, I'm overstepping my bounds by asking, but what's going on with your marriage to the quiet prince..."

  These days, the whole Kyoto is talking about it. The emperor personally issued a decree to marry the young lady to the Jing Wang Fu. He was indeed worried, although it is said that after marrying, she would become the wife of the crown prince, with an identity as noble as can be spoken. But the crown prince of Jing Wang is a congenitally deficient person, and it is said that he will not live beyond 20 years old. If this young lady marries him, won't she have to be a widow?

  Xia Ting looked at Chen Zhanggui's worried expression and knew what he was thinking, so she smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have a way to take care of his body. He will live to be 80 or 90 years old."

  Chen the shopkeeper heard this and put his mind at ease. He knew Miss's abilities, didn't he? The various medicinal dishes in Yu Yan Lou were all thought up by Miss, after all. Being well-versed in the art of medicine was a given; since Prince Jing could be cured, Chen felt reassured.

  The smiling old slave said "I'll go and take care of it now."

  After Chen Zhanggui left, Xia Tingjing gently stroked the Luyu people's jade bangle on her right wrist, and slightly hooked up the corner of her mouth.

  On the second day, Nuan Yan Lou launched a very delicious dish called "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall", which was well received by customers and became a signature dish that must be ordered at every meal.

  Unfortunately, Warm Smoke House only supplies twenty portions every day, leaving those customers who came after smelling the fragrance to clench their fists and sigh in regret. Such a good dish is not necessarily available even with money.

  On this clear morning, the Warm Smoke Building had just opened for business. The young apprentice, He Chun, was sneaking around, taking advantage of the distraction to slip into the kitchen. However, he found that the kitchen door was tightly closed. After a moment's hesitation, he suddenly realized that Chef Zhang must be inside cooking his signature dish, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. This dish had been extremely popular since its introduction a few days ago, and every day it would sell out as soon as it was cooked, with demand far exceeding supply.

  It's just that no one knows how the dish is made, and Chef Zhang is very cautious. Every time he stews this "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall", he closes the kitchen door and works on it alone.

  He Chun looked at the tightly closed door, his eyes rolling around, if he could find out how this Buddha jumped over the wall was made and tell the people on the Wang family side, wouldn't he be able to get a lot of silver?

  He Chun crouched down and walked to the kitchen door, carefully pushing it open a crack, and peeked inside with narrowed eyes. He saw Zhang Da chef processing ingredient after ingredient, frying, stir-frying, braising, and deep-frying in a very complicated manner. He Chun watched intently, his eyes fixed on the scene without blinking, committing those ingredients to memory. This was something that could bring him a lot of silver.

  He stared for a good half an hour, until he saw Chef Zhang layering all the ingredients into the large jar, sealing it tightly. Hei Chuncai then slipped away, making up an excuse to leave the Warming Smoke Building and rushing straight to the Drunken Fragrance Building of the Wang family.

  Little did he know that on the second floor of Warm Smoke Building, Xia Ting and Chen Zhanggui were sitting by the window watching him hurry away.

  Xia Ting turned the tea cup around and said, "After this matter is settled, fire him."

  Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion, she wasn't some kind-hearted person, once disloyal, no need to use her a hundred times. This kind of treacherous servant should be eliminated as soon as possible.

  Boss Chen nodded to show his understanding, but secretly sighed in his heart. What was wrong with He Chun? The silver he earned every month from working at Warm Smoke Building wasn't enough, and now he wanted to lose a good job for some extra money.

  That afternoon, Drunken Fragrance House also released news and launched a new dish 'Buddha Jumps Over the Wall', which is not limited in supply.

  Travelers from all directions were curious and wanted to go and try the drunken wall of Xianglu Pavilion, whether it was as fragrant as Nuanyanlou's, making people drool three feet.

  In less than an hour, officials and nobles who heard the news flocked to Zui Xiang Lou, asking for the newly launched "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall".

  Seeing the Drunken Fragrance Building finally regain its former popularity, the shopkeeper couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions and hastily instructed his staff to quickly serve the freshly cooked Buddha Jumps Over the Wall to the guests.

  The buddies quickly brought up the large urn, someone lifted the lotus leaf cover, smelled the wine fragrance, and was intoxicated, couldn't help but praise "this is really similar to Warm Smoke Building, let me try a sip." After speaking, he picked up his chopsticks, pinched a piece of tendon and threw it into his mouth, feeling soft, tender, rich and savory, couldn't help but pick up his chopsticks again and eat continuously, then drank a full mouthful of the soup base, shouting "absolutely delicious".

  Others followed suit and tasted it with chopsticks, and everyone praised the delicious taste of "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall".

  The shopkeeper stood by with a pleased smile, and finally, the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion was able to win back its customers.

  Suddenly, someone shouted "Ah" and covered their stomach. The person who started eating the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" first felt a wave of abdominal pain and couldn't help but cry out.

  The other guests were all shocked by this sudden situation and looked at each other in dismay. Immediately afterwards, some people also began to feel unwell and started shouting.

  Everyone finally understood what had happened and threw down their chopsticks, shouting "Don't eat anymore, this dish is poisonous!" The crowd was in an uproar, and they couldn't help but glare at the owner of Drunken Fragrance Pavilion. Someone bellowed, "What's going on with your restaurant? You dare to serve us such a dish, are you trying to poison us to death?"

  Others, upon hearing this, also loudly condemned and criticized. They were all people of high social status in the capital city, their lives had always been precious, if they were really poisoned to death, wouldn't that be a miscarriage of justice?

  The shopkeeper was stunned by the scene in front of him and hastily waved his hand to explain, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is absolutely a misunderstanding. How could our Drunken Fragrance Pavilion possibly serve poisonous dishes? It must be a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

  "What misunderstanding? In broad daylight, these people are all suffering from stomach pain after eating your things. You still dare to say it's a misunderstanding."

  "It's just too much, you're taking advantage of people at Drunken Fragrance Pavilion."

  "If anything goes wrong, you won't be able to escape punishment from this Drunken Fragrance Building."

  “……”

  “……”

  ………

  All kinds of accusations came one after another, and the shopkeeper was really speechless, so he could only hurry to order his assistant to quickly go and invite the doctor, and also find someone to inform the Wang family. The people present were either high-ranking officials or dignitaries. No matter who had an accident, it was not something that this small shopkeeper could afford to take responsibility for.

  On the second day, the news that the dishes at Drunken Fragrance Pavilion were poisonous spread throughout Kyoto, and no one dared to dine there again. The several high-ranking officials who had eaten bad food also reported to the Kyoto government office, although after examination by doctors, the Buddha-jumping-wall was indeed non-toxic. However, since then, no one has been willing to patronize Drunken Fragrance Pavilion again.

  In just two days, Zui Xiang Lou, once the most famous restaurant in Kyoto, closed its doors for good.

  Wang Chengyi and his son were like dumb people eating bitter melon, with a bitter taste that couldn't be expressed. They both thought that there must have been some mistake in the method they had learned, otherwise why would the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" dish made by Nuan Yan Lou not cause any problems after eating, while their own dish would cause stomach pain?

  They knew it was the work of Warm Smoke Building, but they couldn't say it out loud. Once they opened their mouths, wouldn't they be admitting that their dishes were stolen? After all, businessmen value reputation above all else. Without reputation, who would dare do business with them? So how could they bring up this self-inflicted wound? This dumb loss was something they had to swallow themselves.

  The Wang family lost the Drunken Fragrance Building, a major industry, and it's not mentioned how suffocated they were. Moreover, due to the matter of the Drunken Fragrance Building, other businesses under the name of the Wang family were also affected to varying degrees. The profit earned this month plummeted, causing Wang Chengyi's purse to shrink greatly.

  Wang Chengyi was about to vomit blood, he had been struggling in the business world for many years, and didn't expect that one day he would fall down at this newly opened Warm Smoke Building. The most frustrating thing is that no matter how hard he tried to investigate, he couldn't find out who the real owner of the Warm Smoke Building was, only knowing that it was a mysterious businessman named "Junmo Wen", isn't this obviously a fake name? Junmo Wen, what a great Junmo Wen indeed.

  Unable to find an opponent, the Wang family's business suffered a significant blow.

  Wang Chengyi was so angry that he puffed out his beard and glared, just as Wang Yugang arrived with Wang Yujuan in front of him.

  He took one look at his son's ashen face and knew that something bad must have happened. He hastily asked, "Gangzi, what's wrong? Has something gone wrong?"

  After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze to his daughter standing beside his son, and his intuition told him that this matter might have something to do with his daughter.

  Wang Gang's face turned iron-green, and he said in a bad tone, "Dad should ask what good things your precious daughter has done." He really lost face today.

  Wang Chengyi immediately looked at his daughter Wang Yujiao, with a clear questioning meaning in his eyes.

  Wang Yujiao pouted and said discontentedly, "What good thing have I done? It's obviously Huang Xiuyun's fault, how can you blame me?"

  Wang Chengyi's eyelids twitched as soon as he heard this. Because of the incident at Zui Xiang Lou, his family's business had been hit one after another. He thought and thought, and still decided to hurry up and find a powerful family to marry his daughter into, so that they could use their power to protect the Wang family.

  After selecting for several days, they finally set their sights on the second son of Huang Daren's family, a fourth-rank official. With great difficulty, they managed to climb up to his level. The other party also had intentions and thought that marrying a rich young lady would bring in a lot of silver to pave the way for an official career, so they nodded in agreement to consider it.

  Now all they have to do is wait for the other party to take a look at their daughter and then they can get married. Today is actually the day when they let their son accompany their daughter to meet with the second young master of the Huang family to get in touch with each other's feelings, it shouldn't be that something unexpected happens, right?

  At the thought of this, Wang Chengyi hastily said "Quickly speak, what have you done?" This marriage matter won't just fly away like this, will it?

  Wang Yujiao muttered, "It's all because of that Huang Xiuyun. She actually said my clothes are ugly. This is a high-quality golden silk embroidered edge brocade dress. She's just jealous because her family is poor and can't afford such clothes."

  Everything she has is of high quality, what's ugly about that? She can see the envy in Huang Xiuyun's eyes, it's all because she's jealous that she has such beautiful and luxurious clothes to wear, unlike herself who only wears cheap accessories that don't even add up to the value of the two bracelets on her wrists. With a face full of poverty and misery, she would never marry into a family like that.

  Wang Chengyi's heart tightened, and then he heard his son say in a loud voice, "How dare you say that! Although the Huang family's daughter is a bit narrow-minded, you can't retort by saying they're poor devils. You even had a big argument with her on the street in front of Huang Gongzi. How dare you still say it's all their fault?"

  Wang Chengyi's heart sank when he heard his son's words. It's all over, this marriage is really off. Which family would want to marry such a disobedient and rude daughter-in-law? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

  Wang Chengyi looked at his daughter Wang Yujiao, furious to the point where his voice was trembling. "You, you ungrateful girl! Your father is going to be driven to death by you!"

  Wang Yu-jiao huffed and said "Anyway, I just don't want to marry that poor devil." After finishing speaking, she directly turned around and ran out.

  Wang Chengyi was so angry that he lay in bed for several days with a burning heart.

  Xia Ting sat in a luxurious room at Warm Smoke Building, savoring the Buddha Jumps Over The Wall dish that was savory but not greasy, tender but not rotten, and fragrant with aromas wafting everywhere.

  "Miss, your method is indeed effective. Now this Drunken Fragrance Pavilion has closed down for good." He said with a subtle shake of his head, after all, it was once a renowned winery in Kyoto, who would have thought that it would end up like this, it's truly sigh-worthy.

  Xia Ting picked up a piece of soft and smooth tofu, absorbing the delicious soup base with the sea cucumber, took a bite and said "This is what happens to those who dare to challenge the owner of Warm Smoke Building. Business is like war, I don't know what mercy is when it comes to enemies. Since Drunken Fragrance Building has fallen, you go and acquire it, that building isn't bad, just right for opening another Warm Smoke Building."

  That day she deliberately let He Chun see the method of Buddha jumping over the wall, but he asked Zhang chef to add something inside, that is water caltrop.

  The ingredients of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall include pork, and eating pork with water caltrop can cause stomach pain. Neither is toxic, so the doctor won't find anything.

  And this is just her first step in attacking the Wang family, that arrogant and domineering Wang Yujiao must be able to withstand it.

  Chen the shopkeeper nodded understandingly, "So is He Chun to be dismissed immediately?" This young man had been acting strangely since he received the silver from the Wang family. Every day, he was in high spirits and couldn't find his bearings, and his work wasn't done properly either. It seemed that with the silver in hand, he even straightened up his waist. In the past two days, he had even dared to ignore Chen's words as if they were nothing but a gentle breeze on the side of his ear.

  Taking advantage of every opportunity to be deceitful and cunning, even when disaster is looming ahead, they still don't know.

  "Alright, I'll go downstairs and fire him later. And don't bother paying him this month's wages either. Warn the others in the building again, if they dare to make another mistake, they will end up like him."

  How can her wine shop accommodate such an unscrupulous person? Now that things are done, it's natural to ask him to sweep the floor and leave. Being dismissed like this, other shops will definitely not hire him again. After all, being fired means there is a problem with the person, otherwise, if he was doing well, why would they want to get rid of him?

  He He Chun could no longer stay in Kyoto, so he had to make a living with the silver given by the Wang family. When selling the wine house, he didn't think about it, this silver looks a lot, but can he have it every day? But Nuan Yan Lou is different, as long as he works hard, there will be monthly silver to collect every month. Can the silver given by the Wang family give him a lifetime of food and clothing without worry?

  Xia Ting's deep and profound gaze looked out of the window: Some people are always blinded by the wealth and glory in front of them, unable to see the distant future.

  In the middle of December, early in the morning, Jing Wangfei got up and checked the betrothal gifts that were about to be sent to Xia Fu. There were a total of 248 boxes, including various precious items from the treasury of Jing Wangfu, as well as some rare treasures selected by the Empress from the national treasury according to the Emperor's wishes.

  These betrothal gifts are all top-notch, and even the maids in the palace who are used to seeing gold, silver, and jewels can't help but stare with envy. This second miss of the Xia family is really lucky, a concubine-born daughter who was granted marriage by the emperor and became the official wife, and now she's getting so many betrothal gifts that it's almost as if she's being treated like an imperial princess. Just look at these treasures, each one is worth a fortune.

  The queen carefully checked each and every one of these things. None of them were ordinary objects. Each was a treasure, so they had to be treated with care.

  It took more than half an hour to finish counting all these things.

  After confirming that nothing was missing, Jing Wangfei casually placed the gift list on the table and slightly moved her somewhat sore shoulders.

  Mrs. Li smiled and stepped forward to pat her shoulder, saying "Princess Wang, the betrothal gifts have all been counted and are ready, shall we set off to the Xia residence for the engagement ceremony?"

  The queen slightly furrowed her brow and said, "Nanny, if I were to personally go and offer the betrothal gifts, wouldn't that be giving them too much face?" The many betrothal gifts they had prepared already gave them a tremendous amount of face; if she were to personally go and offer them, wouldn't that make their face even greater than heaven? Although she was no longer opposed to this marriage after being persuaded by the king, there were still some small misgivings in her heart.

  She didn't know what kind of character Xia Jing had, and although she wanted to take this opportunity to go and see what the second miss of the Xia family was like, she was also worried that if the other party wasn't an outstanding woman, her actions would be in vain. Those who didn't know might even think she liked this future daughter-in-law a lot.

  Although she didn't say she dislikes him, after all, they haven't met before, how can she like him.

  Mrs. Li's hand paused, and she said slowly, "This is indeed the case, after all, the princess's status is noble, and going in person to offer betrothal gifts shows that this marriage is highly valued."

  That summer residence is just a fourth-rank official's family, and who knows what kind of people they are. If the princess were to personally go there for the betrothal in such an impetuous manner, it doesn't seem quite right.

  The queen only felt that the other party had spoken into her heart, so she asked, "Since you also think so, then what do you think is better?"

  That summer, Ting heard that Jing'er liked and valued the woman, although she didn't know what kind of person she was. But she couldn't just casually point to someone to make a marriage proposal, otherwise wouldn't it give others the wrong impression that she looked down on them? This won't do, after all, the other party is going to marry into the Wang household, if she really looked down on them, then she wouldn't have agreed with Jing'er's idea and prepared such a generous betrothal gift.

  The old lady thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, why don't we do it this way? I'll personally go to the Xia residence to propose the marriage. Although you won't be going yourself, I am after all someone by your side, so it won't give them too much face, nor will it seem like you're not giving them enough respect. And I can also help you take a look at what kind of character the second young lady of the Xia residence has."

  The Empress Dowager listened and nodded in agreement, smiling. "This is a good idea. You bring several maidservants to carry these betrothal gifts to the Xia Manor for the engagement ceremony. Be sure to observe Xia Lian carefully and tell me about it when you return."

  Madam Li said with a smile, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I'll take care of everything."

  Having said that, she directed the people to carry the betrothal gifts out of the door, planning to go to the Xia residence to offer the engagement gifts. Unexpectedly, as soon as they stepped out of the door, they saw Qingyu, the guard beside the young master, walking towards her.

  Mrs. Li stood there in some confusion, what was this young guard doing here?

  Qing Yu walked straight up to Li Mama and nodded at her, saying "Mama, are you going to the Xia Manor for a betrothal?"

  Mrs. Li nodded slightly "Yes, the princess ordered me to go to Xia's house in person to deliver the betrothal gift. I don't know if you, Qing Shuaiwei, have any business?"

  Otherwise, why does he always come over when she's about to leave?

  Qing Yu nodded and looked at Li Mama, saying "The young master has spoken clearly. After you go to the Xia residence this summer, be sure to carefully observe the etiquette of respect and inferiority, and do not slack off in front of Miss Xia." This meant that he wanted Li Mama to treat her as if she were already the official wife of the young master.

  Mrs. Li paused for a moment and nodded after a while, saying "Since it's the young master's order, I'll definitely follow it."

  After Qingyu finished speaking, he nodded and turned around to leave again.

  Mrs. Li was already shocked by Baili Rongyin's words, and she really didn't expect the young master to value this Xia girl so much. It seems that later on, she must be careful with her words and actions.

  Silently remembering the thoughts in her mind, Mrs. Li turned around and waved her hand, then led a large group of servants carrying betrothal gifts to the Xia residence for the engagement ceremony.

  Digression

  Guys, I've updated again.