"This is where you want to treat me to dinner?"

Standing at the entrance of an alley, Zhao Surui stretched his neck and glanced into the alley, then looked to his left and right. This place was not far from Pomegranate Alley, and it only took a moment to ride a horse along the West River at Zhengyangmen.

There is really nothing special about it from the outside. It is said to be a place to eat. There is just a banner hanging under the old tree facing the alley with two words written on it: "hot pot".

The sun sets in the west, and its red rays shine on the wind-swept moat. A few crows crow in the distance, which makes people taste a bit of "flowers hidden behind the walls at dusk, and birds chirping in the roosting city" in the bustling city of Yanjing.

"passed" leisurely and leisurely.

The disgust on Zhao Surui's face faded a little: "It's hard for you to find such a place."

After saying that, he waved his hands to Peifeng and the others: "Pei Feng has some money, so he will take Tong Wu and the others to have a good meal. He will pick me up after an hour. I am all tired today, so I will stay in Yanjing City for one night.

Find a place for them to live, don't be afraid of spending money."

Peifeng was unwilling to do so. She looked defensively at the tall man standing next to her girl, but she saw him looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Miss Peifeng, your girl and I are also old acquaintances."

How could Peifeng be relieved?

The taciturn girl looked at her girl with no expression on her face, but it made people think that she had said everything.

Seeing Shen Shiqing being guarded by her own maid, Zhao Surui couldn't help but be happy. After laughing, he took the baggage with the ax from Peifeng's hand:

"I have this self-defense, you should rest assured, right?"

At this time, not only Peifeng was worried, but Si Shu, who had been following his prince, was also tensed up. He had never seen anyone so bold as to hold an ax and dine with their prince in his life.

Of.

"...Sir, it's better to let the little one wait on the side, otherwise the little one will have to be slapped on the head when he goes back."

The plain-looking eunuch with the four rats cannot pretend to be as cute and pitiful as the three cats, but it makes people feel miserable.

That’s all.

Shen Shiqing wanted to laugh in her heart, so she turned around and walked straight into the small courtyard: "Shopkeeper, I will reserve your shop today. There are more than thirty people in total, please help me make arrangements."

A middle-aged woman with an apron on her waist and a cloth on her head came out in a hurry with a basin: "Okay, okay, we can seat people everywhere, and it's empty before it's dinner time..."

Finally able to sit across from each other in the same room, Zhao Surui and Shen Shiqing sighed almost at the same time.

After sighing, they looked at each other. Shen Shiqing's expression showed no change, but Zhao Surui snorted again, glanced at the snacks placed on the table by the store, picked up a piece of pea cake, put it in his mouth, chewed it twice and said:

"This dessert is not as good as Tunan's craftsmanship."

He also saw a charcoal stove placed on the stone table. He touched it with his hand and felt that it was not as good as the one he was used to.

Shen Shiqing picked up the teapot and filled the cups in front of them:

"If Your Majesty doesn't like it, I'll send someone to Yongshanfang to buy some snacks. This meal is a thank you banquet, and I will naturally make His Majesty satisfied with everything."

Zhao Surui sneered:

"That's no need. You will never do the thing that satisfies me the most. Why bother pretending to be so attentive in front of me despite my skin?"

Shen Shiqing picked up the tea cup and took a sip with a smile on her face:

"His Majesty led a dozen people to break into the house today and show off his power. It was really uninhibited and hearty."

When he heard that Shen Shiqing started to be angry again, Zhao Surui's eyelids drooped:

"Nothing can compare to your Shen San waste, using someone else's body, using someone else's power, so majestic and powerful."

At this time, there was a knock on the door. The woman who just came in carrying a copper basin with burning charcoal in it, put the charcoal into the clay stove on the table, and placed a clay pot on the clay stove. , pouring hot water, the woman looked at Shen Shiqing with a smile:

"You two guests have never been to our shop before, right? Our Xia Gong is thinly sliced ​​rabbit meat..."

The woman was just talking about what was special about her food, but was interrupted by Shen Shiqing, who only listened to her ordering the dishes familiarly:

"I want two rabbits. In addition to the slices of meat for shabu-shabu, the rabbit hearts, livers and rabbit heads are stewed and put on a plate. I want a plate of open-backed prawns that can be eaten hot in the pot. I also want a plate of your store's signature chicken breast patties." Several plates of seasonal vegetables, and if there are new dried bamboo shoots, please cut them into thin slices and serve them. As for the dipping sauce, please add more dogwood oil and pepper sesame oil. If you don’t know how to order, the rest of the tables will also serve them in this way. Qi, warm up another pot of wine. I want a lighter rice wine instead of steamed wine."

The lady wearing a headscarf held up the hair scarf on her head in surprise and said quickly: "Oh, I thought such a handsome husband was a new guest, but unexpectedly he was an old acquaintance. I am too old to remember. Yes, hahahaha! Wait a moment, gentlemen, my family not only has the signature chicken breast patties, but also freshly ground tofu. If you like delicious food, sir, I also have delicious shrimp paste here to mix with the dipping sauce. The Ba Xia Gong is also a must-have here, so I will bring it to the two guests to try."

After she left, Shen Shiqing was about to drink tea when she saw Zhao Surui looking at her.

"I didn't expect you, Shen Sanbai, to be quite good at eating. You can find a lot of treasures in such an inconspicuous restaurant. You wouldn't sneak out of the palace every day to look for food at my expense, would you?"

Shen Shiqing played with the tea cup in her hand and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much, this is the shop that my father brought me to before. When I came here for the first time, the female boss was not married yet, and her parents She was worried about her marriage every day. Later, she hired a poor scholar. The scholar lived and ate in her house for several years. Suddenly, he was admitted as a scholar. He felt that he had an identity. He made friends in this shop every day. Eat and drink, and treat the female boss’s old parents as servants.”

Zhao Surui listened to Shen Shiqing's story with his eyes wide open, and unconsciously picked up another piece of pea cake that he didn't like.

"What kind of son-in-law can a man like this be? Get out of the way quickly!"

Shen Shiqing smiled: "Your Majesty, according to the "Dayong Law", a family cannot expel the son-in-law and marry his daughter to another person. What's more, that person has a great reputation, so even if he sues the official, it will inevitably be biased."

Zhao Surui frowned and said nothing.

Shen Shiqing spoke in a brisk tone and continued: "Knowing that this person is unreliable, the old parents of the female boss want to adopt a younger son from the clan so that they can be a support for the female boss in the future. That person knows this matter. They kept making trouble, saying everywhere that the store owner deceived him into marrying into his wife, and threatened to sue the government, forcing the female boss to change the son's surname to his. How easy is it for a man to divorce his wife, but how difficult is it for a woman to divorce her husband? Even if the husband is Others think that a married woman has betrayed her ancestors and is a disgrace to her family. She is no different than a married woman. After all, she is protected by the "Dayong Law". Unlike women, there are three obediences and four virtues, and seven rules of departure."

Zhao Surui didn't see it that way: "Even if such despicable and shameless people are women, they may not..."

Shen Shiqing looked at him: "If that person were a woman, she would not be able to pass the examination as a scholar. She disrespected her parents and committed crimes of adultery, jealousy, and theft. She would have been divorced countless times. Your Majesty, you don't think that a woman's All virtuous people are born, right? It’s just that if you’re not virtuous, you can’t live.”

These words were really harsh. Zhao Surui opened his mouth and wanted to refute Shen Shiqing, but he couldn't suppress the curiosity in his heart:

"So what's going on with that person now? I don't think the female boss can stand being angry."

"Shen Shiqing" dressed as a man was full of curiosity and looked like a young man who didn't know his emotions. Shen Shiqing looked in her eyes and didn't want to look anymore for some reason. She turned her eyes away and poured it for herself again. a cup of tea:

"Although this store is not big, many people who come and go to eat are officials from the North and the South and merchants from the north and the south. Someone intentionally or unintentionally gave the female boss an idea."

The door opened again, and the female boss and the waiter came in with several large trays. They saw thin slices of hot pink meat stuck on the white porcelain plate layer by layer, like a huge flower. There were also a few other items. The raw vegetables are not as eye-catching as the rabbit meat.

With the story still in his mind, Zhao Surui couldn't help but stare straight at the pink flesh.

The soup in the pot was already boiling. Seeing the female boss put down the rabbit meat and exited, Zhao Surui said: "There is also a windy sheep pot in the palace, but I have to have three cats waiting on it. Shen Sanfei, you have to wait on me to eat this." Rabbit pot?”

She picked up the dipping sauce in front of her and put another spoonful of dogwood oil and a spoonful of pepper and sesame oil in it. Shen Shiqing raised her eyes and said with a smile:

"It turns out that Your Majesty has never eaten hot pot by yourself, but I overestimated His Majesty's knowledge."

Do it yourself?

Zhao Surui picked up a piece of raw rabbit meat with chopsticks and put it in the pot. The boiling water was boiling, and soon the meat pieces floated up from the inside.

Shen Shiqing just watched from the side. Emperor Zhaode just didn't have much knowledge, but he was not stupid. He knew how to pick up the meat slices and dip them in the sauce.

Fresh! Tender! A bite of meat dipped in chive sauce went into his mouth, and Emperor Zhaode's eyes lit up.

He quickly picked up a few more pieces of meat and put them into the pot, and saw that Shen Sanfei was doing the same thing as him.

"Shen Sanfei, wouldn't you be able to eat the meat I put in the pot?"

Despite His Majesty the Emperor's protective gaze, Shen Shiqing did not respond: "The female boss said that the fried shrimp paste is also delicious in the dipping sauce. I prefer to add some dogwood oil and pepper sesame oil, Your Majesty." And you?"

After glaring at Shen Sanfai, Emperor Zhaode tentatively put some dogwood oil into his mixing bowl, and quickly went to scoop up the floating meat slices in the pot without even bothering to argue with Shen Sanfai. New

Shen Shiqing chuckled in her heart, knowing that she couldn't show it on her face, otherwise the overly temperamental emperor would definitely bar his teeth on the spot.

It wasn't until he finished half the plate of meat that Zhao Surui thought about the female owner of the store again.

"You haven't told me how the female boss dealt with that ridiculous son-in-law."

"I found a person to pretend to be a wealthy businessman, made friends with that person, and then said a few words, "If you weren't already married, I would definitely betroth my only daughter to you." Within half a month, that person was about to divorce the female boss. , the female boss stretched her arms at him, and agreed. The man was waiting for the wealthy businessman to come back from doing business in Jinmen, so that he could become his son-in-law, but he didn’t know that he had lost everything. The female boss’s family here also This shop has been closed and moved to another place. I accidentally discovered that the banner was hung up again that day. After having someone check it, I found out that the scholar fell into the river and died within two years, and the female boss and her family moved again. I came back and started my business again."

This story sounds a bit happy, but not so happy.

The female boss's family encountered a ruthless man and came up with various strategies. In the end, they had to stay away from each other before they could really escape.

"This method is too boring." Emperor Zhaode swallowed the rabbit meat in his mouth and shook his head, "If it were me..."

"If it had been His Majesty, I would have killed that man with an axe. It would be really satisfying."

Shen Shiqing's tone was the same as before, but Zhao Surui felt that she was being angry at him.

Looking up at the woman in his body, he sneered: "What? Isn't what I did today enjoyable?"

"It's fun, but the person who is happy is not Shen Shiqing after all." Shen Shiqing slowly picked up an open-backed shrimp with chopsticks and put it in the pot. The water vapor was thick. Zhao Surui saw her eyes lowered and a smile on her face. It’s not a smile, it’s even a bit sarcastic:

"Your Majesty, you are Shen Shiqing in the eyes of everyone. You and I both know that I am Shen Shiqing. But to drive Shen Xianru and Shen Xianru away today, I borrowed your power and influence. What about you? You also used a The identity of a man. He is a man after all. Shen Shiqing is obviously the real victim, but she was scolded as a madman along with her mother. You and I both know that if there were not murderers and powerful people present at the same time, Shen Shiqing, a woman, will be slandered as a madman by Shen Xianru, and some people will believe that she is already crazy. Just like the female boss who was abused by a man who got married, she had to ask another man to come forward and clean up the mess for her. Man, and she herself can only take her family and abandon the accumulation of two generations to hide out of Yanjing City, and she will not be able to come back until the man is dead."

Freshly cooked shrimps are crispy.

Zhao Surui ate the shrimp meat and left the heads, tails and shells of the shrimps in a mess on the plate. When he saw another shrimp dropped into the pot, he raised his chopsticks to fish it out again.

But he was one step slower than Shen Shiqing, and could only watch helplessly as the other party fished the shrimp away.

Is this a food grab?

Emperor Zhaode is baring his teeth!

"Your Majesty, remove the shrimp shells first before eating them."

I saw Shen Shiqing pinching the tail of the shrimp with her hands, and using several fingers at the same time, she took off the shrimp shell.

Seeing the shrimp meat being picked up in front of him by a pair of clean chopsticks, Zhao Surui let out a "hum":

"Shen Sanfei, you have gone so far as to ridicule me with your mouth, but you behave like this in your hands, a thief who steals the country..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Surui picked up the shrimp and ate it.

"Your Majesty, before going to my old house today, I asked the Four Rats to send someone to the Xicheng Army and Horse Department. The deputy commander of the Xicheng Army and Horse Department takes away several hundred taels of filial piety money from Shen Xianru every year. Otherwise, Your Majesty, how could Shen Xianru dare to be so bold and openly gamble? You brought a group of swordsmen and axemen to break into a house, and I'm afraid you will be in trouble if you are caught by the Army and Horses Division."
To be continued...