Chapter 437: Shady Shop

Translator: Henyee Translations | Editor: Henyee Translations

It was interesting. The key was that the Emperor realized that he was really hungry by the smell.

The first to act in this group was Eunuch De. He picked up the bamboo stick and was about to taste it for His Majesty when he heard the server say tactfully It s windy outside. Why don’t you go in with me and sit down to taste it slowly?”

The Emperor glanced at the commoners who were queuing up to taste the food and did not say anything. The hall was filled with people. There was a steaming pot on every table, and there were no empty seats as far as the eye could see. The server did not stop and brought them straight into the private room. Imperial Censor Zuo had a lot to say.

As soon as the server left, he couldn’t wait. “Your Majesty, you don’t leave the palace often. Perhaps you can’t tell. This is clearly a shady shop!” The Emperor took the mutton skewers that Eunuch De had already tried and asked absent-mindedly, “Oh?”

Imperial Censor Zuo said righteously, “We didn’t say that we wanted to eat inside, so the server tricked us into going to the private room. He said that it was a free tasting. Later, he will definitely force us to eat. Otherwise, it will be a clever excuse to charge a high fee!”

He spoke logically. The Emperor ate happily. When he realized that the others did not make a move, he simply ate all the mutton skewers that they had just given away. Then, he felt a little tired.

At this moment, the server returned with a pot of tea. He quickly poured a cup for everyone and was about to leave.

It was the Emperor who stopped him and took the initiative to ask, “What price should I pay?”

The server grinned. “Look at what you’re saying. We agreed not to charge you It’s free.”

Imperial Censor Zuo took a step forward. His face was full of confidence “I’ve already seen through you.” “Then what’s the price of the tea?”

!!..

The server bowed. “It’s just a few glasses of water. It’s nothing.”

Seeing that he really had no intention of collecting money, Imperial Censor

Zuo was dumbfounded. However, he still insisted on his opinion-

“They’re unaccountably solicitous. They’re up to no good!”

The Emperor did not say anything and just led the way out. The server’s smile did not change at all. He was still warm and polite. “Take care, guest! Welcome back next time!”

However, the Emperor stopped in his tracks and laughed. “This pot in your shop is quite novel. How do we eat it?”

The server’s smile instantly became more real. “This is your first time here right? This is called a charcoal hotpot. The thick soup that is boiled over a high fire, will be simmered with charcoal. Then, you can put in your favorite ingredients and cook them. It’s enough to eat like this if you like light flavors. If you like other flavors, you can even make a dipping sauce yourself!” Imperial Censor Zuo was dumbfounded as he watched the Emperor sit back down and really finish his lunch here.

As an Emperor who had always restrained himself, he had only tried a total of three sauces, but every one of them made him praise and reminisce.

Seeing that Imperial Censor Zuo was making a fuss over nothing, the Emperor said confidently, “Didn’t Imperial Censor Zuo say that they were either evil or illegal. Then let’s have a meal and see how evil they can be.” in the end, after finishing the large table of meat and vegetarian dishes, it was only two taels of silver when the bill was paid. This was because the dishes ordered by the Emperor were more expensive. Just look at the dishes in the hall outside. They were only worth less than one tael.

The Emperor, who had eaten and drunk his fill, carried the server’s tea to relieve his tiredness. He looked at Imperial Censor Zuo with a meaningful expression.

“Is this the ‘shady shop’ that Imperial Censor Zuo mentioned?”

“I don’t know when a restaurant became so affordable. One tael of silver is already an unbelievable price. According to this, can anyone be considered a profiteer as long as the price exceeds this pot?”

Imperial Censor Zuo was speechless. Just now, in order to show his integrity he did not eat a single bite. Now, even the remaining fragrance at the bottom of the soup seemed to be mocking him.

That shouldn’t be the case. Everyone in the world came for benefits. Wasn’t the reason why the Xiao Family spent so much effort to build such a pot shop to get rich?      r

The Emperor left in satisfaction, but Imperial Censor Zuo still didn’t believe it. He sent someone to wait for a few days… The person who was waiting couldn’t help but eat a few meals, but he didn’t find any dirt.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of throwing some rats and cockroaches into the pot or finding someone to cause trouble and frame them, but he couldn’t find an opportunity.

The kitchen of Mutton Mutton Mutton Restaurant was like an iron bucket Not only did the chef in charge of boiling the soup base know kung fu, but he was also loyal to the shopkeeper. The most ridiculous thing was that when they encountered a lobbyist, they directly sent him to the government office.

It was also at that time that Imperial Censor Zuo knew that most of the people hired in this shop were veterans or their families who had been to the battlefield before. These people were probably as loyal to the Xiao Family as they were to His Majesty.

In the eyes of the veterans who had walked out of life and death battles, their tricks were just child’s play. This road was blocked, but the stubborn Imperial Censor Zuo was not discouraged. He went to the bosses of other restaurants to form a team to deal with Mutton Mutton Mutton.

Something even more incomprehensible happened. Not long after, a few more restaurants served hot pots. Smelling them, they seemed to be extremely similar to Mutton Mutton Mutton.

According to the shopkeepers of these shops, this was called a franchise shop.

eir boss, Li Muyan, said that he wanted to open this pot shop to more places before the cold winter and let more people have a warm winter.

Imperial Censor Zuo’s eyebrows twitched. These shopkeepers even offered benefits to his people. “Brother, do you want to join the franchise together? The price is fair and honest!”

What did the Xiao Family want? Was it a small profit and a lot of sales? Xiaoxiao had long heard that someone had designs on Second Brother’s hotpot restaurant, but she was not worried at all and continued to take care of her flowers and plants.

Ning Anhui told her, “Although your franchise fee is very low, there are still people who disregard their dignity and imitate us.”

Xiaoxiao waved her hand and said, “It’s not difficult to make a hot pot.”

Ning Anhui asked, “Then what’s difficult?”

Xiaoxiao chuckled. “Brother, what do you think is the difference between the charcoal I sent to you and ordinary charcoal?”

Ning Anhui was also a nimble person. Not long after, he went back to count the money with his hands behind his back.

Not long after, those hot pot shops that followed the trend closed their doors and resumed their old business. There was no other reason. Their charcoal smoke was too thick and the customers could not eat at all. Only then did they realize that there was no smoke throughout the boiling of the pot in all the shops of Mutton Mutton Mutton.

The Emperor had recently coaxed and pestered Xiao Ran for a lot of hot pot dips. He was already very surprised, but he heard another piece of good news from the morning court assembly today.

The Xiao Family’s daughter built a charcoal workshop in the house he had rewarded. Then… she burned cheap smokeless charcoal.

“In other words, can people use better smoke-free charcoal at the price of ordinary charcoal in the future?”

Senior Sister must have done too many good things, which was why she gave birth to such a lucky star for Great Xia!

What made even more people’s jaws drop was that not long after the smoke-free charcoal was developed, she sold the formula to the Li Family and asked them to be fully in charge of the smoke-free charcoal production while she only put in her name as the partner.

Even Li Muyan was shocked. “You’re really giving it to me?” And at such a casual price? In his opinion, this was no different from giving it to him.

Xiaoxiao nodded. “There’s only one request. The charcoal workshop must prioritize hiring retired soldiers, and they can’t fire them for no reason..”