Chapter 160: Opening for Business

His guess was not wrong—Chi Nan Yi had indeed taken a fancy to him, just not in the way he thought.

To escape from the imperial palace overnight and evade so many imperial bodyguards and the Emperor's Dark Guards showed that his skills were extraordinary.

She now had only Ji Bai as a single guard, which was hardly enough. Most importantly, she was nearly certain that this person had some connection to Mo Junyan. In fact, on the second day after Qing Shan left, she had received a letter sent by her maternal grandfather.

The letter stated clearly that the descendant of the Bai family—the grandson of General Bai—should still be alive. Before the Bai family had their estate confiscated, the young master of the Bai family had divorced his newlywed wife.

Everyone assumed the young master of the Bai family did not wish to implicate his wife's family, but in truth, that woman was already with child.

What the young master of the Bai family did was more to preserve the Bai family's sole bloodline.

Received along with the letter were two portraits, painted by her maternal grandfather himself. The two people in the portraits were General Bai and the young master of the Bai family.

Looking at the portrait of the young master of the Bai family, Chi Nan Yi suddenly noticed that his features bore a striking resemblance to Qing Shan's. Therefore, she concluded that Qing Shan was a descendant of the Bai family, and Mo Junyan's two appearances also lined up with this matter.

Before Chi Nan Yi could speak, she saw Qing Shan clutch his body and shake his head like a rattle drum: "No! Absolutely not! Don't even think about making me repay you with my body."

Hearing this, Chi Nan Yi's fingers tightened around the dagger. She grabbed a pillow and slammed it hard against Qing Shan's head: "Clear the garbage from your brain and stop putting gold on your own face. Do you really think you're as handsome as Pan An? I want you to be my guard for one year. When the year is up, I'll cure your poison, and the silver you owe me can be offset as well. How about it?"

Be a guard?

Qing Shan blinked. It didn't seem entirely out of the question.

But if he stayed by her side, how would he exact his revenge?

"Just one year?"

"Mm." Chi Nan Yi nodded. "Don't worry, this young lady is currently short of a laborer to do the heavy lifting. If you could actually produce the silver, do you think I'd keep you around? Pork isn't expensive lately—even if I sold you, you wouldn't fetch one thousand five hundred taels of silver."

Qing Shan: "…"

This young lady was quite good-looking, so how could her mouth be so venomous?

"Alright," Qing Shan said softly. "I have yet to ask for the young lady's name."

"Nan Yi. Remember to call me Southern First Young Master in front of others from now on."

"Yes."

"Are the wounds on your body any better?"

At the mention of this, a look of astonishment flashed across Qing Shan's face.

He never expected that after applying medicine to his wounds, the pain would fade so quickly. In the past, whenever he had been injured—whether internal or external wounds—it had always taken a long time to fully recover.

Though not fully healed this time, he was already six or seven tenths better.

"Many thanks, young lady. It's mostly healed."

"Since you've become my guard, you must follow my rules." Chi Nan Yi casually tossed him a sheet of paper. Looking at the large characters on it, Qing Shan exclaimed, "Three Obediences and Four Virtues?"

"Obey the master's orders, follow the master when he goes out, blindly comply with the master's wishes. Guard virtue, loyalty virtue, protective virtue, propriety virtue."

Looking at the contents of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, Qing Shan finally felt reassured. He wiped the beads of sweat that had broken out on his forehead and said with a smile, "This subordinate understands."

Meanwhile, Yun Shan hurried into the study and said in a low voice, "Prince, this subordinate was unable to find Young Master Yunfan."

Mo Junyan's brow furrowed tightly as he said in a deep voice, "That fool has a poor head on his shoulders, but he certainly knows how to hide."

Just then, Yun Tian stepped forward holding a letter: "Prince, it was sent by Miss Chi."

Mo Junyan looked at the contents of the letter, his tightly furrowed brow slowly relaxing, a trace of an unmelting smile in his eyes.

"The person the Prince wishes to find is in my hands."

"No need to keep looking," Mo Junyan said flatly. "That fool is at Number One Estate Under Heaven."

"At Miss Chi's place?" Yun Shan's heart sank. "Prince, Young Master Yunfan has many misunderstandings about you. At Miss Chi's place, would he…"

"No. She's no fool."

"This subordinate knows Young Master Yunfan is no fool, but…"

"This Prince is saying that Chi Nan Yi is no fool and won't be led astray by him."

Yun Shui silently retracted his words.

Right. In the Prince's eyes, Young Master Yunfan was always a fool.

"He must know that This Prince has some connection to Chi Nan Yi, so he approached her deliberately. Find an opportunity to tell him: if he dares to harbor any ill intentions, This Prince will not care whether he is his uncle's bloodline or not. Also, tell him to rein himself in. Whether it's the Palace or an official's residence, if he dares to break in recklessly and implicate others again, before anyone else lays a hand on him, This Prince will slit his throat first."

"Yes." This "others"—needless to think—was Miss Chi.

Sure enough, in the Prince's heart, Miss Chi mattered most.

After half a month of renovations, Chi Nan Yi's Number One Estate Under Heaven finally opened for business.

On the first day of opening, the shop was surrounded so tightly that not a drop of water could slip through. Before the doors even opened, a long queue had already formed.

Everyone wanted to taste what kind of flavor could make even the Emperor unable to stop himself.

"Today I'll see for myself what's so extraordinary about this Number One Estate Under Heaven."

"I've come to look every day, and it's finally open."

"Do you all think the food at Number One Estate Under Heaven is better, or is the one across the street at Weimeizhai tastier?"

Many people cast their gazes toward the deserted entrance of Weimeizhai and couldn't help but scoff: "Weimeizhai? Does anyone still go to Weimeizhai nowadays?"

"Only a fool would go."

Several servants stood at the entrance of Weimeizhai. Hearing everyone's words, they felt furious but dared not make a sound.

In truth, ever since that incident, their business at Weimeizhai had been far worse than before. Even with old patrons coming to show support, business had dropped by seven or eight tenths. Now it was even somewhat difficult to keep going.

At this moment, with Number One Estate Under Heaven opening across the street, their shop didn't have a single customer.

No, to be precise, none of the other shops in Jingcheng had any customers either—everyone was now lined up in a long queue in front of Number One Estate Under Heaven.

When the auspicious hour arrived, the doors of Number One Estate Under Heaven opened, and a rich aroma drifted out from the shop. Smelling the fragrance, everyone's eyes lit up.

Shopkeeper Hao stepped forward and said with a smile, "Thank you all for gracing us with your presence. Our proprietor has said that on this first day of opening, anyone who dines at our Number One Estate Under Heaven will receive a free cup of plum wine. Though it is wine, it has the effect of strengthening the body and promoting health."

"Strengthen the body and promote health?"

"Indeed."

"Shopkeeper Hao, that's a bit of a stretch. As the old saying goes, a little drinking pleases the spirit, but heavy drinking harms the body. As long as it's wine, it will damage the body more or less."

Shopkeeper Hao, upon hearing this, smiled and said, "Guest, if you can strengthen your body and health, just have a drink once—won't you know then? Everyone, please come in."

The crowd, hearing this, swarmed in; the three‑story tavern instantly filled to capacity, while the line outside the door remained long.

In the elegant room of the opposite Wei Mei Zhai, Meng Qinghe watched the line on the street, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"The world's number one manor? Miss, I'd like to see how long you can last, Cai Pin—does the Crown Prince have a reply?"