Chapter 138: The Noodle Shop Grand Opening

One week later.

The Zhu Family Noodle House officially opened for business.

The prices were exceptionally high, costing no less than two taels of silver for a single bowl of noodles.

With the addition of side dishes or marinated meats, the price could easily reach three taels of silver per bowl.

Due to these exorbitant prices, the number of customers visiting the shop was sparse.

Hardly anyone was willing to come.

Most people only came out of curiosity after hearing rumors.

However, how could Master Zhu allow such a situation to persist?

He immediately invited several court officials.

Treating them to a complimentary first taste.

This move thoroughly awakened their palates and quickly prompted some patrons to return time and time again.

It rapidly became the novel delicacy that the scions of noble families in Luojing vied to taste.

"What is the fun in going to the upscale restaurants every single day? I heard that a new noodle house has opened over there, and the noodle dishes served inside are unlike anything ever seen before."

"It is merely a bowl of boiled noodles. How delicious could it possibly be?"

"Hah, you must be truly lacking in worldly experience. Not only can you dine in their establishment, but you can also purchase their products to take back to your own manor."

Oh?

This remark immediately drew the attention of many.

It quickly transformed into an establishment envied by numerous merchants throughout Luojing.

People of all ranks, far and near, wanted to come and give it a try.

It was called instant noodles.

"Brother Han, your recipe is truly peerless. In this manner, a steady stream of silver flows into our hands."

Master Zhu was particularly ecstatic.

Though he wandered about all day and seemed to pay no mind to serious matters,

he secretly harbored the ambition of becoming a supremely wealthy merchant.

Moreover, the elderly Marquis at home kept a very strict household, having essentially decided that Master Zhu would inherit the marquisate in the future.

Yet, while he was still in his youth, he naturally wished to pursue matters of his own free will.

He had no interest in anything else.

Word even reached the Emperor, who had the imperial kitchen purchase a quantity.

The monarch showered the dish with praise.

The elderly Marquis thought to himself that since this thriving establishment belonged to his own wayward younger son,

he immediately began to look upon him with newfound respect.

He even harbored the intention of easing the tense relationship between father and son.

However, Master Zhu was exceedingly busy and paid little heed to these developments.

Instead, he had long since cast such concerns to the wind.

Following Han Qing through these past few days had helped him realize certain truths.

One should act according to one's own heart, without fussing over personal gains and losses.

Yet who could have anticipated

that after merely a week,

His Third Highness would pay yet another visit, this time wearing an expression of unmistakable urgency.

For a dignified imperial prince to make repeated personal visits

certainly suggested a serious problem.

"Your Highness, if there is anything you require, you need only send a command. Why trouble yourself with a personal visit?"

Han Qing remarked bluntly.

If certain court officials were to learn of this behavior, they would undoubtedly censure him severely.

Even without a formal, substantive official post yet, he was already overly entangled with an imperial prince.

Should the Emperor ever discover this, it would inevitably breed suspicion.

In a worst-case scenario, it could cost him his head.

"Young Master Han, I heard that you instantly saw through the truth behind that Chu person's death. Can you now assist in handling the matter of the posthouse master?"

The prince spoke with a hint of solemnity.

"Oh? Is this not a case for the Ministry of Punishments? Why is Your Highness in such haste?"

"That posthouse falls under my jurisdiction. If the killer is never found, His Majesty will hold me to blame."

Was it merely because of this?

Han Qing did not respond with similar haste.

However, the visitor grew panicked.

"There is another reason. His Majesty blaming me is a minor matter. But should it create a rift between us, leading him to deem me incompetent and unfit for important responsibilities, would all my efforts over these past years not be in vain?"

It seemed the prince possessed some measure of intellect.

Yet, if it were simply a matter of tracking down a murderer, the task would be straightforward.

However, what His Third Highness sought was far more than that single favor.

Consequently, Han Qing withheld his agreement.

And turned him away all the same.

Both imperial princes had previously visited this manor, but Han Qing had politely refused them both.

He had no wish to waste his time on such entanglements.

"Brother Han, logically speaking, you may well enter official service in the future. By offending two imperial princes in one stroke like this, won't your days ahead prove difficult?"

"While those two have gathered a considerable following among court officials, who could have foreseen such a vicious incident occurring? Moreover, once I intervene, the waters will only grow muddier in the future."

He shook his head.

Factional strife was something he would never blindly plunge into from the very beginning.

Not to mention that he now enjoyed a degree of renown within Luojing.

Caution was paramount in all things.

The slightest misstep would give others a pretext

to deliberately make things difficult for them.

"By the way, has the murderer in the posthouse master's homicide case still not been found?"

"Indeed. Rumor has it that it was merely a street hoodlum who held a grudge after being scolded a few times by the posthouse master, and thus strangled him with a rope before staging the scene to look like suicide."

These were merely hearsay accounts.

Yet this particular version was currently the most widely accepted.

"How has the Ministry of Punishments handled the matter?"

"They are still searching for clues."

Han Qing nodded.

Killed by a street hoodlum? Could anything be more absurd?

Yet Lord Gao had been running about in a frantic sweat over the past few days,

utterly at a loss for his next move.

Every single suspicious individual in that area had already been investigated.

Yet it had yielded no results.

With His Third Highness pressing down with repeated threats through his subordinates, Lord Gao was growing desperate.

"Brother Han, you must truly save me. If you do not save me, in the years to come you will only be able to visit me at my earthen grave."

Lord Gao was truly pulling out all the stops.

Tears were nearly spilling from his eyes.

"Tell me first what you have discovered."

"Within that chamber, there were no traces of anyone entering or leaving through the windows; the only possibility is that they entered through the main door. Furthermore, there were no signs of a struggle whatsoever, making it highly likely that the crime was committed by an acquaintance."

These were the concrete clues Lord Gao had gathered thus far.

"What about the other occupants of the posthouse?"

"Aside from a few menial servants, the other two deputy envoys had already accompanied the Crown Prince of Chu to the borderlands, and will not return for another dozen days or so."

In other words, no one possessed an obvious motive.

"Since no traces of a forced entry or struggle can be found, why not simply classify the case as a suicide? What is so difficult about that?"

"That will not do. His Third Highness firmly believes someone is plotting against him, deliberately using this case to intimidate him. I tried to persuade him otherwise, but to no avail."

This left them utterly deadlocked.

"Then we must wait a little longer and observe the return of the deputy envoys. Typically, the posthouse accommodates four or five deputy envoys, but the remaining three have been away on various duties for half a month."