Ch 98: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

SHOUT OUT to Lucky Tiger for their Kofi support.

Very much appreciated 🙏

…

Since the restaurant had not officially opened, the main door was still fully boarded up, and no lights were lit. However, the aroma of grilled meat was so overpowering that the servant sent to find the food easily followed the scent and found his way to the door.

In a noble household, even the servants acted haughtily. When he knocked on the door, his tone was harsh, demanding to buy food.

Qiu Chuan, ever conscious of his role as a waiter, answered the door, holding a half-eaten skewer of chicken hearts in his hand.

“Young master, our restaurant hasn’t officially opened yet, and we’re just having a staff meal. The food is simple and may not be to your master’s liking.”

Standing closer to the source of the smell, the servant couldn’t believe it. The aroma was so tempting—how could this waiter claim it was just for the staff? Even the servants of their noble household didn’t eat this well!

At that moment, someone from the sedan chair called out, prompting Qiu Chuan to glance over. He saw two attendants holding lanterns near the chair, and no less than eight bearers in total!

Under the lantern light, the sedan chair appeared quite grand. Since it was already summer, the outer curtains had been removed, revealing intricately carved patterns on the wooden frame. Though the details were hard to make out, it was clear that the person inside was of high status.

A silver ingot, worth at least ten taels, was thrown into Qiu Chuan’s hands.

“Whatever food you have, pack it up in a food box quickly. If my master has to wait, you’ll be in trouble!”

Qiu Chuan’s mind raced, and he quickly agreed. He hurried back to Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque to explain the situation.

“Boss, little boss, should we take this business?”

He didn’t forget to mention the servant’s arrogant tone and the grandness of the eight-bearer sedan chair.

“Boss, the person inside must be a high-ranking official!” Yu Jiuque had just elegantly finished eating a grilled rice cake, with not a speck of jam on his lips. He tossed the bamboo skewer into the plate and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands.

“As per our dynasty’s regulations, sedan chairs for officials ranked third or higher are only allowed to have four bearers within the city. Only when traveling outside the city can they use eight bearers. So, anyone daring to use an eight-bearer sedan chair within the city is most likely a prince or a marquis.”

Everyone in the courtyard was stunned by the mention of “prince or marquis.”

Qiu Chuan stammered, “S-should we…sell the skewers or not?”

He had thought that with ten taels of silver, they could easily cover the cost of all the ingredients for the day. Since the noble insisted on having the food, it seemed like easy money.

But upon hearing the term “prince or marquis,” he hesitated. Even though he knew the little boss was also a high-ranking official, how could anyone outrank a prince or marquis?

At that moment, Qin Xia tossed the silver ingot in his hand and said, “Why not sell? The more you refuse, the more they’ll pester you. Our food is clean and well-made, so why not just settle this matter?”

Besides, even if trouble arose afterward, they had nothing to fear.

With that, he instructed Qiu Chuan to take some of the still-warm skewers and pack them in one of the red lacquered food boxes they had purchased earlier. The staff worked together, carefully removing the meat and vegetables from the bamboo skewers and placing them in different dishes, arranging them neatly in the box.

Surprisingly, the skewers, which had looked a bit charred on the sticks, took on a whole new level of elegance once properly plated.

When everything was ready, Qiu Chuan grabbed the box and hurried to the front door.

“Young master, here’s the food you requested. It’s what we’ve been eating ourselves, rest assured it’s clean!”

The servant from the Marquis’ household had already grown impatient, and he didn’t even regard the ten taels of silver as anything special, treating it as if it were no different from ten copper coins.

Once he saw the food box, he quickly grabbed it and left.

Back at the sedan chair, he respectfully presented the box inside.

“Young master, the food has arrived. It smells incredible! That restaurant looks quite proper and refined, so you can be sure it’s not anything unclean.”

As soon as the box was opened, the aroma filled the air inside the sedan.

The young heir of Marquis Changle, upon smelling the food, immediately felt more alert and sat up straight, eagerly taking the chopsticks.

“No wonder there was such a smoky smell—it’s grilled meat!”

He shoved a few pieces into his mouth and licked his lips.

“Such delicious food, but it’s a shame to eat it here. Let’s hurry back to the manor and set up a proper small banquet!”

The sedan quickly left, leaving behind only the lingering aroma of grilled meat that overpowered the stench of alcohol. The wind soon carried the smell even further.

Meanwhile, inside the courtyard, Xiao Shou still felt a bit unsettled.

“Shengjing is truly intimidating. You casually grill some meat skewers, and suddenly you’ve got royalty showing up!”

Qin Xia poured him another cup of wine.

“No matter who they are, to us, a customer is a customer.”

Of course, he couldn’t mention that even the emperor had tasted his pastries before.

As a time traveler, Qin Xia wasn’t intimidated at all.

Yu Jiuque’s earlier explanation about the “eight-bearer sedan chair” had piqued the curiosity of the others.

Xiao Shou raised a cup to toast him, saying, “Boss Jiu, you really are a man of Shengjing. You know all the ins and outs here. In the future, when we come to Shengjing, we’ll be relying on you and Boss Qin to look after us.”

Yu Jiuque, substituting water for wine, returned the toast and replied, “You’re too kind, Merchant Xiao. It’s nothing special. Living here under the emperor’s nose for so long, you pick things up. Besides, with our friendship, if you come to Shengjing and don’t visit Heguang Pavilion, Qin Xia and I would come looking for you myself.”

Xiao Shou laughed heartily and downed his drink in one gulp, proudly showing the empty bottom of his cup.

When all ten or so people in the courtyard were full, the last of the skewers were finished.

Xiao Shou, now a bit tipsy, was escorted back to the inn along with his two attendants by a sedan chair that Qiu Chuan had arranged for.

Gao Yang and the Huang brothers stayed behind to clean up the courtyard, while Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque headed home together.

Now, over at Marquis Changle’s estate…

The young heir, Xue Qi, returned to his residence and immediately ordered the kitchen to heat up some dishes and prepare more wine, completely ignoring the fact that he had already been drunk earlier.

This wasn’t unusual for him.

Xue Qi was notorious in Shengjing’s circle of nobility—famous for living a life of indulgence, obsessed with drinking, gambling, and entertainment, all while being an utterly useless wastrel.

His father, Marquis Changle, was at best mediocre and unremarkable in his duties.

But Xue Qi had taken it a step further, excelling even beyond his father in uselessness.

Soon the food and wine were warmed up, and Xue Qi lounged comfortably on a beauty couch, demanding to be fed. The ones serving him were two of his concubines, but his eyes kept drifting toward a young maid in the room, who was lowering her head while holding a tray.

“When did you start serving in my courtyard? You look unfamiliar,” he asked.

The two concubines exchanged a glance, inwardly sighing at the heir’s terrible memory.

The maid, named Ah Jin, was quite pretty. She had previously served the fourth young master, a son born of a concubine in the household. Xue Qi had little regard for his younger brother, who was still quite young but often followed him around like a shadow.

One day, Xue Qi spotted A Jin and was immediately struck by the mark on her forehead, which resembled a floral pattern. He’d insisted on having her transferred to his service but promptly forgot about her afterward.

The two concubines, in silent agreement, chose not to remind him.

The more women there were, the less each would be favored.

Xue Qi’s question to A Jin was casual, and after she responded meekly, he quickly returned to his wine and meat.

As for Ah Jin, she was relieved that the heir had forgotten her.

Though she had been kidnapped and sold into noble households several times when she was young, she had no desire to use her looks to climb the social ladder.

She had seen far too much of the darkness within these households and knew that few women who gained favor had good endings.

Especially for those maids who were promoted to be bedchamber companions—despite having children, they remained slaves, unable to raise their own offspring.

Believing she had once again escaped attention, Ah Jin left the main room with the tray, more convinced than ever that Xue Qi had forgotten her.

She planned to save up some personal funds and then ask the matron to transfer her to a more inconspicuous part of the household, preferably somewhere Xue Qi would never visit.

Close to midnight, Xue Qi, his mouth greasy from the feast, finally settled down after soiling the gauze garments of both concubines with oil stains.

Someone called for water, and as the maid on door duty that night, Ah Jin had no choice but to suppress her disgust and bring the water inside.

The room was lit by two lanterns, not overly bright but enough to see her footing.

She placed the water beside the footrest and stood silently, not daring to lift her head.

First, she saw a pair of bare feet appear on the footrest, followed by the giggles of women, then a large male hand—belonging to Xue Qi—suddenly grabbed her wrist!

The drunken heir, having been reminded by someone, finally remembered who Ah Jin was.

“My little beauty, tonight I’m in a good mood. You’ll serve me!”

Without another word, he wrapped his arms around her waist, attempting to drag her toward the bed.

Ah Jin let out a sharp scream, struggling and kicking with all her strength. In desperation, she sank her teeth into Xue Qi’s shoulder.

Shocked by the pain, Xue Qi angrily pushed her away, causing her to hit her forehead against the leg of a chair. She rolled over once and then lay motionless.

…

Marquis Changle felt that he had recently been plagued by bad luck.

First, his good-for-nothing son nearly killed a maid. The Marquis had originally planned to have her buried outside the city to keep things quiet, but fearing that the ever-watchful secret police might catch wind of it, he grudgingly called for a physician to keep the maid alive.

Although the maid’s life was saved, she became mentally impaired, now acting like a lunatic. She was sent to the back courtyard to keep company with the women who cleaned the chamber pots.

Just as this matter was finally settled, trouble arose with the business at Taiping Pavilion.

The issue stemmed from a recent batch of fruit wine brought in from Pingyuan Prefecture. After switching the labels, the wine was sold as their own exclusive brew. The original purchase price was only eight coins per jar, but they resold it at the exorbitant price of five taels per jar. Despite the markup, it was still in high demand.

However, a new restaurant in the city called Heguang Pavilion started selling the same fruit wine. The taste was identical to Taiping Pavilion’s “private brew,” yet they were only charging two taels per jar!

In reality, the kind of patrons who could afford to dine at Taiping Pavilion didn’t care about a difference of a few taels. What bothered them was that the so-called exclusive “private brew,” supposedly not available to just anyone, was now being sold openly at a newly opened restaurant like a common product.

For those who had bragged about their visits to Taiping Pavilion, it felt like a betrayal.

If not for the fact that Taiping Pavilion was backed by Marquis Changle’s estate, there would have already been public outrage.

While the business itself wasn’t heavily impacted, when this news reached Marquis Changle, it left him feeling like he’d swallowed a fly.

Everyone knew that Taiping Pavilion was the top restaurant in Shengjing, unrivaled by any other. So how could this upstart Heguang Pavilion, with no apparent powerful backer, dare to cross the Marquis’s path?

“Investigate who the owner of Heguang Pavilion is,” the Marquis ordered.

Ever since his military campaign had ended in failure, Marquis Changle had spent the past ten years transforming from a once-spirited young marquis into a pale, overweight man.

Nowadays, his greatest passions were three things: birds, koi fish, and silver.

He couldn’t lead an army, nor could he restore the reputation of the noble household. But so what? The taxes from Taiping Pavilion still filled the estate treasury every year.

After feeding a colorful parrot from Guangfu a sunflower seed and listening to it chirp, “Marquis, eternal joy!” in a bright voice, he clapped his hands and turned to instruct his servants further.

“Once you’ve found out who’s behind it, teach them a lesson. Make sure they understand that this is Shengjing, not a place where just any stray cat or dog can beg for a living.”

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Sandy: Dumbass, consider yourself never be able to sell this fruit wine.