Chapter 89: Hot Pot

"Your Highness, what is hot pot?"

Beside the lotus pond in the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu sat on a marble slab, flipping through documents sent by Liu Fu.

After the Prince of Chun left, Yan Commandery returned to tranquility.

At this moment, Luan'er was beside Zhao Xu, holding an umbrella to shade him from the sun.

Seeing Zhao Xu close the documents and stretch, she recalled something she had heard from a maidservant that morning.

"Hot pot? How do you know about this?" Zhao Xu looked at Luan'er in confusion.

This girl was not like Feng'er, who was always restless as if her feet were winged, nor did she like gossip.

When she was alone, she was always quiet, doing needlework by herself.

"This servant heard about it, and just thought it sounded novel," Luan'er said softly.

Zhao Xu nodded, "This hot pot is a novel type of food; would you like to go try it?"

"Your Highness, this servant would like to go."

Before Luan'er could speak, Feng'er swayed over, her face full of coquettish pouting.

Seeing Feng'er approach, Luan'er's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

Zhao Xu handed the documents to Feng'er, "Send these to the study, change into casual clothes, and we shall go out incognito together."

Hearing Zhao Xu say this, Feng'er was so happy she nearly jumped up.

They were not like Zhao Xu, who could frequently show his face in public.

Usually, they stayed in the Prince's Mansion.

Having been in Yan Commandery for so many days, they had not seen what Yan Commandery was actually like at all.

"Yes, Your Highness." Feng'er giggled and headed toward the study.

Zhao Xu returned to the bedchamber with Luan'er, and both changed into ordinary attire before heading to the front courtyard.

Upon learning the destination of this trip, Xu Lie's eyes immediately filled with anticipation, "Your Highness, this hot pot is said to be very unique; this subordinate was just planning to go."

"That works out well. This time, I am treating; let you all eat your fill," Zhao Xu said, while inwardly chuckling.

They all knew this hot pot shop was interesting and delicious, but no one knew that this shop was actually his property.

However, he did not intend to let them know.

When Xu Ke and the others were at the Prince's Mansion, everyone's face was painted with ink, making them all dark and difficult to distinguish.

The purpose of doing so at the time was to conceal their identities.

Including the rescue of the Prince of Chun this time, Xu Ke had also gone through a disguise.

If Xu Ke were to appear before Lv Chang now, Lv Chang might not necessarily recognize him.

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, this hot pot shop was merely a merchant's novel idea and had nothing to do with the Prince's Mansion.

Only Zhao Xu knew that this was actually the location of his intelligence agency.

He was not going this time to eat hot pot, but to see how Xu Yuan and the others had set up the shop.

After waiting a while, Feng'er arrived in casual clothes.

Zhao Xu took a folding fan, fanned himself, and left the Prince's Mansion.

Once on the main street, they blended perfectly into the flow of people.

If someone did not know him, they would think he was just a wealthy young master.

Compared to Zhao Xu's leisure, Feng'er and Luan'er were as excited as birds released from a cage.

They were either looking here or looking there.

Or the two were chattering away, pointing at something and laughing.

However, even without heavy makeup and only wearing their natural faces, the two still attracted many gazes.

After all, women as delicate and pretty as them were not common in Yan Commandery.

"This is Golden Scale Pond."

Turning a corner, Golden Scale Pond appeared before Zhao Xu.

At this time, a gentle breeze blew, refreshing and pleasant.

The intense sunlight made the lake surface shimmer.

"It's so beautiful." Feng'er and Luan'er walked to the riverbank, stood under a tree, and pointed at the painted pleasure boat in the lake with looks of wonder.

Then, as if they had suddenly discovered something, they pointed to the opposite bank and said, "Your Highness, the hot pot shop is right ahead."

Zhao Xu looked over and smiled.

He knew Xu Yuan's hot pot shop had opened,

but he actually did not know the specific location of the shop.

Now, seeing that the hot pot shop was less than fifty meters from Tianxiang Lou, he was momentarily dumbfounded and then laughed.

The group crossed the Shiqiao over the river and turned north to reach the hot pot shop, while Tianxiang Lou was not far south of the Shiqiao.

Just as they arrived in front of the shop, an alluring fragrance drifted out from inside.

Everyone swallowed their saliva.

"This fragrance is so unique; it must be delicious." Feng'er stretched her head to look into the shop.

Although the weather was still very hot, the shop was packed with customers.

The shop assistants were busy, with almost no time to rest.

At the entrance, two assistants responsible for soliciting customers saw Zhao Xu's group stop at the door and immediately walked up.

"Guests, please come in. This is a delicacy created by our manager, unprecedented and unmatched. I guarantee that once you eat it the first time, you will want to eat it a second time, and after the second time, you will want to keep eating..." The assistant spoke eloquently and boastfully.

"Are there any seats left?" Zhao Xu winked.

These two were members of the Flame Guard.

"Yes, it is on the third floor. Please follow me, sir." The waiter led Zhao Xu inside.

Upon entering the shop, Zhao Xu began to look around.

Just like a contemporary hot pot restaurant, there were many rectangular tables in the shop.

In the middle of these tables, there were either two stoves or four stoves.

The stoves at unoccupied tables did not have coal briquettes in them.

But when someone ordered a meal, the shop's waiter would take a coal briquette from the back and place it into the stove.

Then, they would bring over a pot with soup, while others brought over various vegetables and meat products.

The rest was just to start boiling.

Basically speaking, apart from the heating method being different.

The things in this hot pot shop were all designed according to modern standards.

At this moment, although the customers in the shop were eating until they were covered in sweat, the satisfied expressions on their faces could not be concealed.

Zhao Xu glanced at these things and then moved on.

However, Feng'er and the others felt it was very novel, much like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

"Look, the clothes of these waiters are all the same." Feng'er pulled Luan'er's hand.

The waiters coming and going were all wearing short-sleeved tunics, but there was a large "Fire" character on the chest area.

"And that charcoal, how is it that there isn't any smoke at all? It's truly peculiar." Luan'er laughed.

"Cooking while eating, it really is the first time I've seen this."

"..."

While the two were talking, Zhao Xu passed by the counter.

At this time, Xu Yuan was dressed in the attire of a shopkeeper, looking every bit like a merchant.

Seeing Zhao Xu, he only slightly raised his head.

After Zhao Xu went upstairs, he instructed a clerk to watch the accounts, and then he went upstairs.

Unlike the four floors of Tianxiang Lou, the hot pot shop only had three floors.

Arriving at the third floor, the waiter led Zhao Xu to a private room facing the lake.

Zhao Xu caught a glimpse of Xu Yuan coming up, told Feng'er and the others to wait, and went out of the private room alone.

Xu Lie wanted to follow, but was stopped by Zhao Xu.

"Your Highness, is this shop acceptable?" Entering an empty private room, Xu Yuan was all smiles.

"Not bad, it looks quite proper. How has the revenue been these past few days?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is packed every day. Making a net profit of three hundred taels of Silver is no problem at all." Xu Yuan laughed.

Zhao Xu nodded; this hot pot shop certainly could not compare to his other businesses.

But being able to earn two hundred taels a day was indeed quite good.

However, if this shop could blossom all over Great Song, the income would still be quite substantial.

"Your Highness, the place where the Flame Guard discusses matters is here." Xu Yuan walked to the east wall at this moment and turned an iron ring on the wall.

With a "Crack!", a gap suddenly appeared on the wall.

Xu Yuan pushed hard, and inside was actually a secret chamber.

At this time, Xu Ke and the others were discussing something inside, and there were quite a few unfamiliar faces within.