"Miss He, are you checking out?" The innkeeper was surprised, his abacus beads slipping. But he didn't have time to count now, glancing outside with caution.
The innkeeper deliberately lowered his voice, "Miss He, if I may speak frankly, Liuxian is not far from the prefectural city. It only takes half a day by carriage. However, the roads are flanked by mountains, and this journey will not be peaceful."
"Thank you for the reminder, Innkeeper," He Nuan said with a gentle smile. She understood the innkeeper's meaning. The matter in Liuxian was not resolved, and if she left like this, the innkeeper feared she might encounter trouble on the way.
"Young Master He is skilled in martial arts, but as the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake." If the innkeeper weren't distantly related to Master Zhao, he wouldn't have said this to He Nuan. To say it meant offending County Lieutenant Cheng.
Especially since Constable Wang and his men were recuperating at home with broken legs. If he found out, it would be difficult for the innkeeper to run this inn peacefully.
"I will inform my young lady," He Nuan said again, thanking him. However, she still checked out of the three rooms. She had stayed for only ten days, but it cost thirty taels of silver. No wonder the people of Liuxian said that those who stayed here were either rich or noble. An ordinary family's savings for a year was only ten taels of silver, and three years' savings were gone in ten days.
In the room on the second floor, Zhan Feiyu had just finished revising yesterday's policy question. Hearing the door open, she asked without looking up, "Is everything ready?"
"My brother is checking the carriage. Does the young lady have any instructions?" He Nuan checked the room, packing the luggage into the boxes. There was still half an hour before departure, so He Nuan planned to go out first to buy some ingredients to put in the carriage.
Liuxian was close to the prefectural city, and they would arrive before dark. Therefore, He Nuan only planned to buy a little, and lunch would likely be eaten in the carriage.
The weather was hot, so fresh vegetables and fruits could be kept for two days. As for meat, Liuxian was surrounded by mountains, so they could hunt a rabbit or a pheasant in the woods wherever they camped.
"Let's go out together," Zhan Feiyu stood up and stretched her stiff shoulders from leaning over her desk. "These past two days have been quite peaceful. It's a good opportunity to go for a walk."
Zhan Feiyu had originally expected Magistrate Zhu or Master Zhao to make a move, but these two days had been very peaceful, as if nothing had happened before. Zhan Feiyu did not intend to stay in Liuxian any longer. As for whether they would be intercepted on the way, that would depend on who was more capable.
Two quarters of an hour later.
In the bustling street, He Nuan pointed to a shop diagonally opposite, "Young lady, that is Zhao's Pastry Shop. Shall we buy some to eat on the road?"
Zhan Feiyu continued to walk forward with the crowd, "The people of Liuxian are indeed richer than those in other places. It's not even the hour of Si, and the shop is already crowded."
In other places, at this time of day, it would be the morning market with the most people buying vegetables, followed by breakfast shops selling buns and steamed bread.
But Liuxian was different. Looking around, shops on both sides of the street had customers coming and going, selling all sorts of things, which indicated that the people were not short of money.
"Please come in, two esteemed guests. We have freshly made cold cakes today, which are refreshing and relieve heat." The shop assistant greeted them enthusiastically. On the counter, there were cold cakes for customers to sample. "Can the young lady try some?"
"No need," He Nuan replied, signaling the assistant to stop bothering them. Then she said, "Young lady, the cold cakes are made with lotus leaves and lotus seeds. They are not too sweet and have a fresh, sweet taste. Here are mung bean cakes, and next to them are water chestnut cakes..."
The inn's kitchen was simple, so even though He Nuan had the skill to make pastries, she couldn't. Moreover, as the weather grew hotter day by day, pastries made after several hours of busy work would spoil in less than two days, so it was more convenient to buy them from the shops.
Just as Zhan Feiyu was about to buy a few pieces of each pastry, curses and wails suddenly came from outside the shop.
"You black-hearted shop, you almost killed my old mother. Is there no law in Liuxian? The pastries in this shop are not edible..."
The sudden howling startled Zhan Feiyu, and several women who were about to buy pastries also took two steps back. Hearing that the pastries had almost killed someone, who would dare to buy them?
The assistant who was serving customers was stunned for a moment, then roared angrily, "What nonsense are you spouting here? Our Zhao's Pastry Shop has ancestral skills and has been open in Liuxian for decades. Not a single pastry has ever made anyone sick!"
It was no wonder the assistant was angry. Shops that sell food feared this the most. If this spread from one to ten, and then to a hundred, who would dare to buy pastries from the shop in the future?
A round-faced woman on the left also chimed in, "Brother, are you mistaken? I live in this alley. My mother's family and my mother-in-law have been buying pastries from this shop since they were young. Every festival, we would buy a few pounds for the New Year. In all these years, we have never eaten a spoiled pastry."
"Thank you, Sister Liu, for your righteous words." Hearing the argument, Zhao Ling, who hurried over from the back, bowed gratefully to Sister Liu and then strode to the shop entrance and spoke loudly.
"My Zhao family's pastry shop has been open in Liuxian for three generations. Not only in Liuxian, but also in neighboring counties and the prefectural city, there are Zhao family pastry shops. Zhao family uses the best ingredients to make pastries. If anyone doesn't believe me, you can go to Huang's Rice Shop in front and ask Boss Huang. All the rice, beans, and sugar used in the pastries are bought from Boss Huang's shop."
An old woman standing at the shop entrance with a basket of groceries nodded in agreement. "I'll speak a fair word. The Zhao family would never do black-hearted business. Every month, around the middle and end of the month, Shopkeeper Zhao would sell pastries that were about to spoil at a low price. My family is poor, and my grandchildren rely on the pastries sold by the Zhao family to satisfy their cravings."
The summer weather was hot, but in autumn and winter, ordinary pastries would not spoil even if kept for a month, at most the taste would be much worse.
However, Zhao's Pastry Shop had this rule since their ancestors. Once the taste of the pastries deteriorated, they would be sold at cost.
This way, many poor people could afford to buy a few pastries, as the price was much lower, and only the taste was slightly worse.
If they made some pastries themselves, they would also eat them slowly after a month or more. Poor families were not as particular as the rich and noble. Having something to eat was already a blessing.
The onlookers outside the shop also started talking. The pastries sold by the Zhao family were indeed of good quality and low price. They would even give a little extra when buying more during festivals. They had eaten so many pastries from the Zhao family's shops and had never heard of anyone getting sick from them.
The middle-aged man standing at the entrance was furious. He suddenly stepped onto the steps, grabbed Zhao Ling's collar, and asked with eyes splitting, "My old mother is still lying in the clinic. The doctor said it's fortunate I sent her in time, otherwise my old mother would have lost her life. This morning she ate your pastries, and then she started vomiting and having diarrhea. Aren't your shop's pastries spoiled?"
His voice grew louder and louder. The man, thinking of his old mother who was on her last breath in the clinic, suddenly had red eyes. He swung his fist towards Zhao Ling's face and roared hoarsely, "If my old mother has any mishap, I'll burn this shop down!"
"Why are you hitting people? Let go of my shopkeeper!" The young assistant rushed over, but the man's strength was too great. He pushed the assistant away with a wave of his hand.
Zhao Ling, who had been hit, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He couldn't feel the pain now. Regardless of whether the person was telling the truth or not, he had to control the situation first.
In the shop, Zhan Feiyu walked out from behind He Nuan and looked at the two people confronting each other at the entrance. After observing for a while, she asked, "A Nuan, is that a martial artist?"
"His breath is heavy, his punches are unskillful, and his stance is unstable. He probably does heavy labor often, so he has great strength," He Nuan shook her head. This man looked like an ordinary person.
Zhan Feiyu said nothing more.
Zhao Ling finally broke free from the man's grasp. His swollen face showed no anger. Instead, he said sincerely, "Brother, I can guarantee that the pastries in Zhao's shop are fresh. However, since the old lady fell ill after eating pastries, let's not talk about other things first. I'll accompany you to Yiguan. No matter what, treating the old lady is the most important thing. We can discuss other matters later."