Ch 55: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

When Master Tian returned to his own restaurant, Xiang Man Lou, the manager noticed his grim expression. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed him inside.

That morning, when Jiang Ji Dining Hall had opened, the manager had gone to take a look. He’d even managed to grab a bite in the crowd—and the moment he tasted it, he knew something was wrong. Xiang Man Lou had met a real rival.

Later, he’d gone again to observe from outside. The place was packed. He didn’t even need to ask how the food was—he could tell from the satisfied smiles of the customers leaving, all praising the flavor and saying they would return.

The only complaint anyone had was that the prices were a little high.

But for something unique, high prices were to be expected.

The manager poured a cup of tea for Master Tian and said worriedly, “Sir, this Jiang Ji place won’t be easy to deal with. Our lunchtime business dropped by half today.”

“You went to look?” Master Tian asked.

“I did,” the manager nodded. “And I managed to taste one of their dishes—it’s better than ours.”

Master Tian took a sip of tea. “Have you thought of any countermeasures?”

The manager had been thinking about that ever since he returned. “Their restaurant’s advantage lies in novelty. First, the chili peppers—no one here grows them yet, and they really stimulate the appetite. Second, their dishes are ones we’ve never seen before. But from what I observed, if we can get chilies, our chefs could probably recreate them. So, we need to get our hands on chilies—and we should find out who their head chef is.”

“Not bad,” Master Tian said with a nod. “Do you know whether that building was bought or rented?”

“I heard it was purchased,” replied the manager.

“Look into it.”

“Yes.” The manager glanced at him, then asked cautiously, “Sir, should I send someone to locate their head chef?”

Master Tian thought for a moment and shook his head. “No, I’ll handle that myself. For now, find a few unfamiliar faces—don’t use anyone from our restaurant—and have them line up over there separately. Order every dish on the menu, pack everything to go, and bring it all back for our master chef to taste.”

“Yes, sir,” said the manager, bowing. “I’ll arrange it right away.”

Meanwhile, over at Jiang Ji Dining Hall, business hadn’t slowed down since midday. The lunchtime crowd lasted all the way until the middle of the afternoon, and some guests who got tired of waiting simply made reservations for dinner.

Jiang Yan had taken Zhao Ru and the others home, but Jiang Ji stayed behind. He planned to help out during the first three busy days after opening.

After a short half-hour break, the kitchen crew was busy again.

Because the city curfew started at eight in the evening, dinner service began early—often as early as four or five o’clock.

Han Qingshan checked the supplies for the evening and reported, “Young master, we may not have enough ingredients for dinner. I’ll take some people to buy more.”

“Hold on, let me see.”

Jiang Ji went to the storeroom, took a look, and said, “We close by seven because of curfew. Once it’s past that, we won’t take new customers. What we have should be enough. The pork and lamb from the afternoon won’t be fresh anymore, so don’t buy more. Just get live chickens, ducks, fish, and some vegetables. Everything else we can finish with what’s left.”

“Got it,” Han Qingshan said, sending two men to the market for poultry and fish.

When dinner time came, they noticed something new—many more people were ordering takeout.

Manager Lü quietly told Jiang Ji, “Sir, I think people from other restaurants are coming to order food.”

He pointed toward a young man in gray clothes. “That one’s from Ju Fu Lou on East Street, and the one behind him’s from Fu Ji Tavern.”

Jiang Ji immediately understood. Competitors were too embarrassed to dine in openly, so they sent people to order takeout—trying to study the flavor and the chef’s techniques.

“I know. Don’t worry about them,” Jiang Ji said calmly. “They’re just helping us increase sales. But make sure our staff stays alert—don’t let anyone cause trouble.”

“Understood, sir. I’ll keep watch,” Manager Lü replied.

In a private room on the second floor of Xiang Man Lou, Master Tian sat with the manager, the head chef, and two other cooks.

Since the chefs had been busy working all day, they hadn’t seen Jiang Ji’s restaurant for themselves. Now, looking at the large table covered with dishes, they were all stunned.

“Sir, are these really all from Jiang Ji Dining Hall?” one of the chefs asked in disbelief.

Master Tian nodded. “Yes. These were all brought back just now. The roast duck was sold out, so we’ll have to get more tomorrow. There are a few I can’t even name—try them yourselves.”

He pointed at several dishes. “These are the ones made with chili peppers. The red ones are chili, and the green ones too.”

The three chefs exchanged glances, then each picked up chopsticks to taste.

There were twenty-five dishes from Jiang Ji Dining Hall here—everything except the roast duck. Some used chili, some didn’t, and there were also three soups and three vegetable dishes.

The three chefs sampled every single one. The more they ate, the more surprised they became; their faces grew increasingly serious.

When they had finished, Master Tian looked at them and said, “Well? What do you think?”

One chef gritted his teeth. “Sir, if we had those chilies, I’m certain we could make these dishes too.”

Master Tian pointed to a plate of sticky rice ribs. “This one doesn’t have chili. Could you have come up with it yourself?”

The chef fell silent.

Another said quickly, “Sir, we’ll start thinking up some new dishes.”

“You should come up with new dishes.” Master Tian glanced at him. “Every dish at Jiang Ji, except the greens, is completely new. Even their vegetable stir-fry is made differently from ours.”

He turned to the head chef, who had been silent all this time. “Chef Luo, what do you think?”

Chef Luo, the most skilled among them, was a man of about forty whom Master Tian had personally hired from the provincial capital. Studying the spread of unfamiliar dishes before him, he said slowly, “Their chef’s skill truly surpasses mine. I must admit, I’m not his equal.”

Master Tian paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “No need to be too humble, Chef Luo. You have your own specialties and strengths. But right now, our main task is to study their dishes thoroughly.”

A cook beside him asked cautiously, “Sir, are we going to copy their menu? But we don’t have chili peppers.”

Master Tian shook his head. “Only Jiang Ji has chilies, and their supply isn’t steady—it won’t last forever. If we want to keep our customers, we need to create dishes that can attract them without chili and still outshine theirs.”

He tapped the table lightly but firmly. “Everyone, our restaurant is facing its greatest crisis yet. I need all of you to use your heads—study their cooking, develop new dishes. If we don’t, Xiang Man Lou will close down sooner or later.”

The manager and the three chefs all straightened with tense faces.

Chef Luo took a deep breath and stood up. “Understood, sir. I’ll study their dishes carefully and come up with new recipes.”

The other two hurriedly echoed him. “Us too.”

By six in the evening, Jiang Ji’s pork and lamb were completely sold out. Jiang Ji had the manager remove those items from the menu, and the waiters stopped recommending them.

In the main dining hall, a customer asked, “No more twice-cooked pork or roast duck?”

“That’s right, sir. We’ve had a lot of customers today—our pork, lamb, and roast duck are all sold out. But may I recommend the grilled fish? The flavor’s incredible. And the diced chili chicken—once you try it, you’ll definitely want more.”

“Alright, give us those two, plus a platter of marinated duck feet and tongues, and a plate of greens.”

“Very good, sir. Please have a seat—your meal will be out shortly.”

Jiang Ji watched as the staff handled things smoothly, feeling satisfied.

“Uncle Lü,” he said, “once it’s the ninth hour, stop taking new customers. Ask if anyone wants to reserve for tomorrow instead—they can book ahead.”

“Understood, sir,” Manager Lü replied.

By the ninth hour, a few customers still came hoping for takeout, but the greeter explained the situation and helped them reserve tables for the next day’s lunch.

After preparing the last table’s dishes, the kitchen began cleaning up, and the servers tidied the front hall.

Manager Lü handled the accounts while Jiang Ji checked the day’s earnings.

Once the final guests had left and everything was cleaned, curfew time was almost upon them.

Jiang Ji told everyone to head home. Han Qingshan and Xiao An stayed behind to wait for him.

When the manager finished calculating, their numbers matched.

That day’s total revenue came to just over 198 taels—even after the 20% discount. Jiang Ji estimated that business would taper off a bit after the first three days, but it would still be very profitable.

Two trusted men, Yu Yang and Ding Xiaojun—personally assigned by Han Qingshan—were to stay at the shop overnight. Jiang Ji agreed with the arrangement.

There were a lot of copper coins, so they packed them in a chest and stored it in the room where Yu Yang and Ding slept. Han Qingshan reminded them, “Stay alert tonight. Take turns bathing. If anything happens, come find us right away.”

Yu Yang nodded seriously. “Got it, Master. Don’t worry.”

When they returned to the townhouse, Guihua and the others had already heated water and were taking turns bathing.

Seeing Jiang Ji return, one of them who was about to carry water said, “Young master, you’re back. I’ll bring the water over so you can wash first.”

“You go ahead. I’ll wait,” Jiang Ji said, glancing toward those sitting by the kitchen. “How many bath tubs do we have?”

“Just one for men and one for women,” Han Qingshan replied. “Same for the main house.”

Jiang Ji frowned. “Buy a few more tomorrow. As many as can fit in the bathhouse. After working all day, everyone should wash and rest early. Bring the two tubs from the main house over here for tonight—everyone bathe and get to sleep soon. The next few days will still be tiring. After that, things should ease up.”

The workers’ hearts warmed at his thoughtfulness.

They brought over the two tubs, and the bathing went much faster.

…

The next morning, just as the sky was starting to lighten, Han Qingshan went out to the market for supplies and ran into Jiang Ji in the courtyard.

“Going to the market?” Jiang Ji said. “If you find a reliable supplier, have them deliver instead—no need to make the trip every day.”

“Mm, there are a few sellers,” Han Qingshan nodded, “but I feel more at ease picking things myself.” He looked at him and asked, “Young master, you’re up this early?”

“I’m used to getting up early at home. Come on, I’ll go with you and take a look.”

The two pulled a handcart to the market. Yu Yang was already there at the gate, sitting on the cart handle yawning. When he saw them, he straightened up immediately. “Young master, Master.”

The three began shopping together. Over the past two months, Han Qingshan and Yu Yang had often come to buy ingredients, so many of the vendors already recognized them. Han moved skillfully from stall to stall, selecting produce and haggling over prices. Chickens, ducks, and fish were picked out, marked for delivery to the restaurant for weighing and payment.

When they got to the butcher’s stall, Yu Yang suddenly whispered to them, “Young master, Master—someone’s been following us. That man in the gray clothes by Aunt Wu’s stall over there. I’ve seen him since we were picking ducks—he’s been trailing us at a steady distance, not too close, not too far, and he hasn’t bought anything.”

Both Jiang Ji and Han Qingshan glanced back—and sure enough, there was a man in gray.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Ji said calmly. “To the mutton stall up ahead.”

They moved along. Jiang Ji glanced back discreetly and saw that the man had followed again, maintaining the same careful distance, occasionally glancing their way.

Jiang Ji sighed quietly.

Han whispered, “From Xiang Man Lou?”

“Not sure,” Jiang Ji replied. “Looks like you’ll have to keep doing the buying yourselves for now—just to be safe.”

Han nodded. “Alright.”

“Buy from different stalls each day. Don’t let anyone catch onto a pattern.”

“I understand, young master. Don’t worry.”

Having deliveries made was convenient but risky—too easy for someone to tamper with things. Choosing everything personally was safer.

Jiang Ji thought for a moment. “I’ll go to the labor agency today and hire a few more workers. From now on, we’ll buy live ducks for roasting and process them ourselves.”

“Got it.”

Once they finished shopping and returned to the restaurant, the man in gray disappeared after seeing them go inside.

Later that morning, Jiang Ji did indeed go to the labor agency, found Wang Song, and selected four young servants. After completing the paperwork, he brought them straight to the restaurant and handed them over to Han Qingshan to assign duties.

In the south of the city, at the Tian estate, Master Tian met with the man he had sent out.

The servant in gray reported, “Sir, it looks like their cooks all live together in a house in the east part of the city. I followed them home last night—Jiang Ji stays there too. This morning, Jiang Ji went to the market with a man around forty, and another young man was waiting for them there. Since Jiang Ji was with them, I didn’t approach.”

“Jiang Ji went to the market himself?” Master Tian looked surprised.

“Yes. But he didn’t really do the picking—he just watched while the other two handled the shopping.”

“Alright. Keep following and wait for an opportunity. Find out who their head chef is, and be careful—don’t get spotted.”

“Yes, sir.”

After the gray-clad man left, Master Tian summoned his steward. “Go investigate the house he mentioned.”

The steward bowed and left.

For the next three days after opening, Jiang Ji and his team stayed alert, but nothing happened.

Jiang Ji Dining Hall’s reputation spread throughout the entire city, and for three days straight, they were completely full.

On the fourth day, prices returned to normal. Jiang Ji figured most of the curious customers had already tried their food; people wouldn’t dine out every day, so business would probably drop by half.

Yet, by lunchtime, the restaurant was still full—only with fewer people waiting outside.

To their pleasant surprise, quite a few traveling merchants passing through were introduced to the place.

“I used to eat at Xiang Man Lou whenever I passed through,” one trader said with a laugh, “but your food’s way better! From now on, whenever we stop here, we’re eating at your place!”

Many merchants shared that sentiment.

Jiang Ji smiled at Manager Lü. “Looks like our reputation’s really spreading. We’ve even got ‘self-flowing water’ now.”

Manager Lü blinked. “Sir, what kind of water?”

“Hm?” Jiang Ji paused, then caught himself and chuckled. “Ah, nothing—I meant people are recommending us on their own now.”

Manager Lü laughed. “Our dishes are good and our cooking excellent—it’s only natural people would recommend us.”

That afternoon, Jiang Ji finally went home, satisfied.

But as soon as he arrived, Jiang Yan told him, “These past few days, a few people have been coming to the village, asking about the new crops we’ve been growing—chili, lettuce, bitter melon—wanting to know whose fields they’re in and if they can buy from us.”

Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow. “Oh? They asked about us?”

“They did—and about others too.”

“Did anyone sell?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “Only Uncle Tu Gen’s and the village chief’s tomatoes and peppers are growing well enough to mention, and a few others with peppers, but none are ready to harvest yet. We already told them before—if they’re not saving seeds, they’re to sell all their chilies to us. They agreed. Those buyers offered high prices, but they refused.”

Jiang Ji grinned. “Good.”

Jiang Yan asked how things were at the restaurant, and Jiang Ji told him about being followed at the market.

Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “You’ll have to be careful.”

“I know. I’ve told them to keep buying ingredients themselves and to switch vendors daily. So far, the supplies have been fine.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “It’s not just the ingredients. Remember last time, another restaurant’s chef got poached by competitors for a high price. Be wary of that too.”

“Even if they poach them, it doesn’t matter,” Jiang Ji said with a faint smirk. “At worst, we’d shut down for a month or two and train new chefs.”

He lifted his head, eyes bright with confidence. “If they’ve got the skill—let them try to poach me.”

The orange-red sunset cast a golden glow over his face, his confident smile shining brilliantly. The light caught in Jiang Yan’s dark eyes like scattered stars—suddenly vivid, alive, and breathtaking.

For a moment, Jiang Yan felt his heartbeat falter. He looked at him deeply, then pressed his lips together and turned his gaze away.

…

The next day, Han Qingshan went to the market with three of his men.

As they arrived, a man in gray clothing stopped him.

“Brother, may I have a word with you?”

Han immediately recognized him as the man who had been following them these past few days. He exchanged a glance with Yu Yang and said, “You all go on ahead and start buying the groceries. I’ll catch up in a bit.”

Yu Yang nodded and led the others away.

The gray-clad man took Han aside to a quiet corner. Over the past few days, he had already figured out that Han Qingshan was the head cook and also in charge of operations.

He asked, “Brother, you’re one of the chefs at Jiang Ji Dining Hall, aren’t you?”

Han didn’t answer directly but countered, “And who are you? I don’t think I know you.”

The man smiled. “I’m just a messenger. My name doesn’t matter. Here’s the thing—my master has tasted your cooking and thinks very highly of you. He sincerely invites you to come work for him. You can name your own price.”

Han’s face didn’t change. He had already heard from Manager Lü that a previous restaurant had gone under after Xiang Man Lou poached their chefs.

“May I ask who your master is?”

The man replied with a grin, “The Tian household. If you’re from Changping County, you must have heard of them. The Tian family’s business is large—we’d certainly treat you well.”

Han understood immediately. So it was Xiang Man Lou—they were trying to use the same old trick against Jiang Ji Dining Hall.

But this time, they’d found the wrong target.

“I’m honored that your master thinks so highly of me,” Han said politely. “Please thank him for me. But I have no intention of changing employers.”

The smile on the man’s face froze. “Whatever salary you get at Jiang Ji, the Tian family will double it—triple it if needed. You can set the price.”

“This isn’t about money,” Han said evenly. “Please tell your master that I will never leave the Jiang household—and I will never betray my young master.”

The man looked startled. “You’re from the Jiang household? A servant of his?”

Han nodded. “That’s right.”

“We can buy your freedom,” the man offered.

Han shook his head. “No need. I’m not interested.”

“You wouldn’t even take your freedom?” the man said, astonished.

“I don’t need it.”

Han’s tone was firm, leaving the gray-clad man dumbfounded.

He had never met a servant who refused to be bought free.

“If you’ve got nothing else, I’ll be going,” Han said, taking a few steps away—then stopped and turned back.

The man’s eyes lit up. “Changed your mind?”

“No,” Han said. “I just wanted you to pass along a message to your master.”

“What message?”