Wu Yi scrambled out.
Meng Jiangming looked at the soup on the table. After a long while, he picked it up and took a sip. Frowning, he quickly put it down.
He secretly lamented that he still couldn't enjoy royal cuisine.
"Yo, what kind of soup is this? Just what I needed, I'm thirsty."
Zhao Yanluo entered and saw a bowl of soup on the table. He directly reached out to grab it.
Seeing this, Meng Jiangming quickly stopped him, "Don't drink it."
Zhao Yanluo heard this and said, "Young Master, surely you're not that stingy? Not even letting me have a bowl of soup?"
"You cannot drink this soup," Meng Jiangming said.
Zhao Yanluo's interest was piqued, and he asked, "Why can't I drink it? Young Master, you must give me a reason."
Meng Jiangming heard this and looked up at Zhao Yanluo, who was standing, and said, "Princess Xingyue personally made this soup. You want to drink it?"
Zhao Yanluo was stunned. He looked at Meng Jiangming with disbelief and said, "You... you're saying this soup was made by Princess Xingyue for you? Personally?"
Seeing Zhao Yanluo's surprised expression, Meng Jiangming felt pleased. He couldn't help but boast, "Yes, Princess Xingyue, born of noble lineage, made soup for me. Honestly, I feel unworthy."
Zhao Yanluo's brow furrowed slightly. "Young Master, you're not lying to me, are you?"
Meng Jiangming was displeased. "For a bowl of soup, I'd lie to you? Am I that kind of person?"
Although Zhao Yanluo was surprised, he knew Meng Jiangming well enough to not believe he would lie for a bowl of soup.
But Princess Xingyue made it herself? He couldn't quite believe it. Why would Princess Xingyue make soup for Meng Jiangming? It didn't make sense.
Seeing Zhao Yanluo's surprise, Meng Jiangming felt that the soup wasn't that difficult to drink anymore.
"Why are you here?" Meng Jiangming suddenly remembered why Zhao Yanluo, who never came without a reason, had shown up.
Zhao Yanluo heard this, curled his lips, opened his fan, and sat opposite Meng Jiangming. "Young Master, surely you haven't forgotten what you said yesterday?"
Meng Jiangming was startled and asked, "What did I say yesterday?"
Zhao Yanluo said, "Young Master, you truly have a good memory for important matters. You've forgotten that yesterday you promised me the Wan Jun Restaurant for a year..."
Meng Jiangming suddenly remembered. Yesterday he had bragged, promising to cover the Wan Jun Restaurant from now on.
Thinking of this, Meng Jiangming wanted to slap himself. How could he have made such a bold promise? Promising to cover the Wan Jun Restaurant from now on, how much did he have to cover it?
"Young Master, if you've forgotten, shall I help you recall?" Zhao Yanluo smiled like a fox.
Meng Jiangming said, "Am I that kind of person? How could I forget what I've said and done? But I said from now on, I'd cover it. What? You don't trust me?"
"Of course not. I'm not here for that matter today," Zhao Yanluo said.
Meng Jiangming breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what is it?"
Zhao Yanluo said, "Yesterday, Young Master got into a fight in the private room and broke the displayed items. How should this be handled?"
Meng Jiangming heard this and said, "It wasn't me who broke them."
Zhao Yanluo smiled and stood up. "Alright, I understand. Sorry to bother you, Young Master."
Meng Jiangming was taken aback. For the first time, he had a sense of doubt. When had Zhao Yanluo become so agreeable?
Before, he never gave up until he achieved his goal. He felt a sense of unease and asked, "Is that all?"
Zhao Yanluo said, "Of course not, but as you said, it wasn't you who broke them, so I'll go find the person who broke them to compensate."
"The... the person who broke them?"
Zhao Yanluo nodded. "I've found out. The person who fought with you yesterday was a fourth-rank imperial guard with a sword under Princess Xingyue. His name seems to be Feng Wu. I'll go find him to compensate."
With that, Zhao Yanluo was about to leave.
Go find Feng Wu to compensate? Wouldn't Princess Xingyue find out? No, Meng Jiangming thought, and grabbed Zhao Yanluo's sleeve, saying, "You can't go."
Zhao Yanluo looked up at Meng Jiangming and said, "Young Master, you are quite strange. You told me to find the person who broke them, and now you're telling me not to go?"
"How much, I'll compensate you," Meng Jiangming said.
Zhao Yanluo's eyes lit up. He sat down, took out an abacus from his sleeve, and started calculating.
Meng Jiangming twitched his mouth. He was indeed well-prepared.
In just a moment, Zhao Yanluo moved the last bead and looked up at Meng Jiangming, smiling slightly. "Young Master, it's a total of twelve hundred taels. I'll waive the fractional part."
Meng Jiangming was shocked and angry. "Zhao Yanluo, you're ripping me off! What could be so expensive?"
Zhao Yanluo glanced at Meng Jiangming. "Young Master, you might not know, but the item on the left is the Linglong Pagoda made by Master Fan Yu of the Linglong Workshop in the capital. You know that anything from Master Fan Yu is priceless and immeasurable."
Meng Jiangming said angrily, "Fan Yu is your cousin. When have you ever paid for his things?"
Zhao Yanluo said, "Indeed, Fan Yu is my cousin, but am I not giving you the lowest price? The other day, during the birthday of the old Duke of the Chang Sheng Marquis's residence, someone gifted the old Duke an artifact made by Fan Yu, valued at five hundred taels... of gold..."
Meng Jiangming, while taking out silver notes from his sleeve, gritted his teeth and said, "Zhao Yanluo, you'd better not need my help for anything else."
Zhao Yanluo looked at the silver notes and said, "Young Master, what I just said was all in gold."
Meng Jiangming suddenly jumped up, furious. "One thousand taels of gold? Zhao Yanluo, why don't you become a bandit?"
Zhao Yanluo chuckled. "Young Master, you're mistaken, it's twelve hundred taels of gold."
"You..."
"Of course, if Young Master is unwilling, I won't force you. I'll go to the Princess's mansion..."
"I'll pay, I'll pay, alright?" Meng Jiangming furiously took out a chest from inside and threw it at Zhao Yanluo.
Zhao Yanluo was slightly taken aback. "Young Master, this is...?"
"This is about one thousand taels of gold. I'll give you the remaining two hundred taels later."
Seeing Zhao Yanluo remain silent, Meng Jiangming said, "Zhao Yanluo, if you don't agree to this, then in the future..."
"I agree," Zhao Yanluo replied before Meng Jiangming could finish.
Meng Jiangming glanced at Zhao Yanluo and said, "Hurry up and leave. Just looking at you annoys me."
Zhao Yanluo picked up the chest and said, "Then I'll take my leave."
Meng Jiangming said, "Get lost."
His small treasury was gone like this. He felt bitter.
Outside the Ningguo Duke's mansion, Zhao Yanluo was happily holding the chest and about to get into his carriage. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. It wasn't his carriage at all. He quickly got down, but a hand had already grabbed his jade belt. He knew he couldn't leave.
"Wuran, why are you here?" Zhao Yanluo turned around and saw Ji Wuran's handsome and stern face, and said with a smile.
Ji Wuran held out his hand and said, "How much?"
Zhao Yanluo felt like crying. This was something he had worked hard to get, why did he have to share half of it with Ji Wuran?