Su Yu unconsciously lowered his head to look at what he was wearing. He was wearing a royal blue wide-sleeved robe without any exaggerated ornaments. Other than the outer layer of mermaid silk, it was somewhat luxurious … Wait, leaving the palace? Su Yu suddenly reacted. The Emperor wanted to take him out of the palace! The corners of his mouth gradually widened, "Your Majesty …"
"Don't think too highly of yourself," An Hong-chul glanced at Su Yu who was smiling foolishly, "Zhen has important matters to attend to outside the palace, not to accompany you to see that nuisance of a restaurant."
East Main Street was still bustling as before.
Mermaid silk was too precious. Ordinary people couldn't buy it even if they had the money, so he couldn't wear it out of the palace. Su Yu simply took off the outer layer of mermaid silk. The result was that the Emperor was very dissatisfied and said that he was wearing too little, so he had Wang Gonggong find another outer layer for him. Although this one couldn't compare to mermaid silk, it was still very expensive. The royal blue wide-sleeved robe and white jade glass crown set off Su Yu's gentle and handsome face, causing many girls to turn their heads to look.
On the other hand, the incomparably handsome Emperor didn't attract many angry and silly smiles. Some people were born with a body of light that attracted everyone's gaze. But when it was so dazzling that it could compete with the sun and the moon, people didn't dare to look directly at it.
An Hong-chul didn't have the accent of a young master when he walked. His steps were confident and firm, and his body was suffused with an aura that said, "no one is allowed to come within three feet of him." It was so strange that he was distinguished from the noisy crowd. He wasn't angry, but he was powerful and domineering.
Su Yu followed behind the Emperor and silently looked at the person's back. No matter how irritable and awkward this person was in private, in front of others, he was definitely a qualified monarch.
They stopped in front of a small jewelry stall. The Emperor's expression was serious as he picked up a string of silver bells. He slowly reached out his finger and gently fiddled with it, then fiddled with it again and again.
"Young master, these bells are so beautiful. Buy one for your sweetheart." The auntie selling jewelry smiled sincerely.
An Hong-chul raised his head and looked at the auntie. He then looked at the bell in his hand and threw it to the person behind him. "For you."
The auntie looked over with a smile. "Miss, you're so lucky …" Her words were stuck in her mouth as the bell fell into another person's hand. That person was dressed in a royal blue robe. His eyes were gentle, and he was handsome and charming. However, he was truly a man!
Su Yu's mouth twitched. "Master, this is a woman's accessory."
"I'll buy it," His Majesty said stiffly and left without looking back.
"Aiya, this is a token of goodwill. Young Master, please don't let me down." The auntie came back to her senses and realized that the white-clothed man might have bought it because of the word "sweetheart". She hurriedly persuaded Su Yu to accept it.
Because the imperial family could take male concubines, although the commoners could not take male wives, they were very tolerant of men falling in love.
Let her down … Su Yu's entire face twitched. That guy must have bought it because he thought it was fun. He didn't want to give it to him at all. Besides, even if he wanted to give it to him, how could he let the recipient pay for it?
He silently took out the money to buy the gaudy silver bells and threw them into the basket he was holding. Su Yu thought of Wang Gonggong's sympathetic gaze when he gave him the money bag when he left the palace. He wanted to cry but had no tears. He had only left the palace for a short while, but His Majesty the Emperor had already bought two embroidered balls, three tassel pendants, a set of copper rings, a string of silver bells, and a bag of dried fish … No matter how he looked at it, he was buying them for the sauce!
Moreover, because he felt it was embarrassing to hold onto them, he threw them all to him!
Who just said that he was naturally domineering? Who said that he was a qualified emperor? Who said that!
Su Yu stared at His Majesty's handsome back and took a deep breath. He raised his head to look at the sky. It was almost noon, but His Majesty the Emperor was still strolling around. The so-called "important matter" couldn't be buying cat toys, right?
Xian Mantang was not far away. Su Yu was thinking about how to kidnap His Majesty there so that he could take care of the matter on the way. "My lord, it's almost noon. Where are we going to eat?"
An Hong-chul looked at Su Yu who had a "follow me, follow me" expression on his face. "Let's go to that restaurant of yours."
"Okay, my lord … my lord, please come with me." Su Yu was delighted. He reached out to pull on His Majesty the Emperor's sleeve. As soon as he pulled, he realized that something was wrong. His Majesty was wearing narrow sleeves. If he pulled on the sleeve, he would be touching His Majesty's hand. He quickly let go.
"Humph." His Majesty the Emperor coldly snorted. He secretly thought that this stupid slave was becoming more and more arrogant. He clearly wanted to go, but he insisted that he, His Majesty, say it. He held the hand that was holding onto His Majesty's sleeve in his palm. Really, he actually pulled on His Majesty's sleeve and acted coquettishly. If he wanted him to hold his hand, he should have just said so … Oh, as a tolerant master, he would still satisfy this small request.
The palm that wrapped around his four fingers was warm and dry. Su Yu's fingertips couldn't help but tremble. He was dazed as His Majesty pulled him a few steps. There were passersby on the side of the road who saw them whispering timidly. Only then did he react. He quickly pulled his hand back, but this caused His Majesty the Emperor to glare at him with dissatisfaction.
"… It's time to go upstairs." Su Yu realized that his action of pulling his hand back was a bit abrupt. He awkwardly pointed at the wooden spiral staircase, meaning that it was inconvenient to hold hands upstairs.
"It's fine." His Majesty the Emperor raised his hand and motioned for Su Yu to reach out his hand. The sudden pull made him a bit reluctant. He wanted to hold his hand for a while longer.
Su Yu looked at that pair of stubborn, beautiful eyes. He had no choice but to reach out his hand again. He pulled His Majesty and quickly walked upstairs.
Business in Xian Mantang was still booming. The main hall was packed with people. After standing for a while, His Majesty the Emperor began to get impatient. Su Yu quickly pulled him to the small kitchen courtyard.
A bucket of fresh swimming crabs had just been bought in the kitchen. The basket of chili that he had obtained last time, other than the ones he had taken out from the farmstead, the other half had been stored in the kitchen and hadn't been touched. Su Yu remembered what he had promised His Majesty last night. He picked out a few crabs and chili. He personally made a portion of spicy crab for His Majesty.
Stir-fried sweet potatoes and peanuts served as a background. The bright red crab was paired with the fragrant chili. The fragrant spicy crab broth was paired with the seasonal fresh vegetables. The taste was indescribable.
His Majesty the Emperor used his chopsticks to poke at the crab on the plate. He curled his lips in disdain. Swimming crabs were low-level crabs. They had a lot of shells but little meat. It was difficult to eat them. This kind of crab was basically not seen in the palace. Moreover, crabs were usually eaten whole. Su Yu chopped them into pieces. It was extremely ugly.
"Although it's not a good ingredient, it's definitely delicious." Su Yu smiled and picked up a crab leg for His Majesty.
An Hong-chul pursed his thin lips and slowly put the crab leg into his mouth. He had an expression that said, "Since you're so pitiful, I'll force myself to eat it."
In his previous life, Su Yu was the first to learn how to make spicy crab. His control of the ingredients and the heat was already at the point of perfection. Even if it was an ordinary swimming crab, he could still make it extremely delicious.
After His Majesty ate a crab leg, he didn't say anything else. He began to eat one chopstick after another.
After settling His Majesty the Emperor, Su Yu seized the time to look at his two apprentices' recent cooking skills. He also checked the accounts with Mr. Yuan.
Because Su Yu wasn't in the shop this month, his two apprentices could only cook a limited variety of dishes. Although business wasn't bad, there weren't any surprises. After calculating, he could give Su Yu 180 taels of silver. He took out a portion of it and had someone send it to the Su family to give to Di Mother. He packed up the rest and prepared to bring it back to the palace.
"These are a few farmsteads outside the city. I've seen them all. More or less, they're not satisfactory. I can't make up my mind right now." Mr. Yuan took out a book that recorded the general situation of a few farmsteads. It was very detailed. The number of farmsteads, the terrain, and the asking price were all very detailed.
He asked Mr. Yuan to buy farmsteads for two reasons. First, he wanted to make a living for Di Mother and his concubine sister. Second, he wanted to try growing chili peppers. Su Yu didn't know much about farming, so he didn't know how to choose the farmsteads. "Sir, just do as you see fit. You just have to buy them before the end of this month so that you can plant the chili peppers."
The weather was hot now, so it was easy to grow chili peppers. It would be difficult to grow them later when the weather turned cold.
Mr. Yuan nodded. "You need someone to take care of the farmsteads after buying them. Do you have a reliable servant at home, Your Majesty?"
"Sir, please don't call me Your Majesty." Su Yu said with a bitter face. These days in the palace, he was called "Your Majesty" every day. It wasn't easy for him to leave the palace for a day. He wanted to be a proper man for a day!
Mr. Yuan stole a glance at the man in white who was sitting not far away and eating crabs. He immediately understood. "I misspoke." He knew Su Yu's identity very well. When he saw the two of them walking upstairs, the identity of that person was self-evident. Mr. Yuan was, after all, a guest of Prince Zhao's manor. He had seen the world and naturally knew that the Emperor couldn't be seen leaving the palace incognito. He pretended that the Emperor was just following his master to freeload and didn't even greet him.
Although Mr. Yuan's idea was very different from Su Yu's original intention, as long as he didn't call her "Your Majesty," Su Yu would be satisfied. "There are still a few things I need to entrust to you, Sir …" Su Yu was a bit embarrassed when he said this. He didn't have anyone he could use right now, so he had to trouble Mr. Yuan with everything. However, the time he could leave the palace was limited, and there were too many things he needed to do. Even now, there were still a lot of things he couldn't do.
"Are you done or not?" As he spoke, His Majesty finally couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, lifted Su Yu up, and threw him to the stone table. "Eat!" At an angle Su Yu couldn't see, he coldly glared at Mr. Yuan.
Su Yu was in a hurry to finish arranging things, so he wasn't in the mood to eat. When he turned to look at Mr. Yuan, he found that he had already disappeared.
"You left the palace just to get this?" An Hong-chul pointed at the small pile of silver on the table.
"Yes." Mr. Yuan ran away, so Su Yu could only obediently pick up his bowl of rice. The spicy food whetted his appetite, and he immediately felt hungry after eating two mouthfuls.
"Is it worth a trip for such a small amount of money?" An Hong-chul frowned.
"For this official, this small amount of money is of great use." Su Yu couldn't help but glance at His Majesty. The money he worked so hard to earn had been eaten by this guy, and he was still making sarcastic remarks.
His Majesty was silent for a moment. He looked at Su Yu, and then looked at the scattered silver. His pale thin lips gradually became a straight line. "If you were short of money, why didn't you tell me?"
"This official is a man. Naturally, I should rely on myself to support my family." Su Yu bit open a crab pincer and sucked out the crab meat. In fact, if the seafood in the palace wasn't too expensive, he would be very happy to buy food for the emperor. This way, he could secretly think that he was supporting the emperor.
His Majesty was immediately unhappy. "You are mine. It is natural for me to support you!"
"Cough, cough, cough …" The crab pincers were a little mushy when they were stir-frying, so when the spicy oil was poured in, the meat and juice came out in a mouthful. Su Yu immediately choked.
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