Chapter Ninety-Four: The Rumors Fell Apart on Their Own

Perhaps he really did possess such a talent after all.

That would pave him a fine road indeed.

Yet just as this matter had been settled, Young Master Zhu invited several close friends he knew to join them, introducing each of them in turn.

“This is the third young master of the Zhou family, and this one is from the Wang family...”

These three guests were indeed scions of distinguished households, though no one had ever heard any great literary brilliance attributed to them.

“You must be Young Master Han? I have heard that you have considerable attainments in literature. We have specially come to seek your guidance.”

“Not really. It is only a personal interest of mine,” Han Qing said, shaking his head.

“You are too modest. Examiner Ouyang was once my tutor, and he praised the articles you wrote without reserve.”

“That’s right. We all know of your talent already, and it is because we admire you that we came here.”

How had this suddenly turned into some grand gathering for exchanging poems and essays?

He was a little taken aback.

Still, he exchanged a few polite words with them.

They were, after all, hardly familiar to him.

If he said too much, it would only arouse suspicion.

After about half an hour of conversation, the others likely found it somewhat dull as well and took their leave in haste.

“The friends you know, I suspect, do not share much common ground with me,” Han Qing said sincerely.

It was the truth.

They were simply people who did not fit together; why force the issue and pretend otherwise?

“No, that third young master of the Zhou family—his household also runs a gauze business, and they have long been rivals of the Du family.”

So that was the true intent.

“What they said earlier was probably only a probe,” Young Master Zhu said slowly.

They had simply wanted to see whether there was any opportunity to make use of him; the so-called heart-to-heart exchange was secondary.

“You think this man can be used?”

“If we use him to investigate the Du family, it would be effortless. But that would only uncover what they do openly. What they are doing in secret, we still have no way of knowing.”

That was indeed troublesome.

Up to now, aside from the Du family’s true businesses in spinning and their restaurants, they knew very little about the rest of their holdings.

“No,” Han Qing said.

What had seemed at first like a somewhat difficult matter had, after a bit of inquiry, opened up a new path.

“Among the people you know, are there also any who run restaurants?”

“Yes. It seems they are also planning to send their own men to take part in the Chef King Tournament.”

That was it.

The aim was to make this matter grow larger and larger.

But who would ultimately emerge victorious?

That remained unknown.

“Then who do you plan to send?”

“The man we brought back a few days ago. He happens to have nothing to do.”

Young Master Zhu was instantly dumbfounded.

He had already found it astonishing enough that this man was made the manager of the hotpot restaurant.

And now he was to represent their establishment in such a major contest?

Wouldn’t that be a guaranteed defeat?

“The other restaurants will all be sending top-tier experts. Aren’t we being far too casual about this?”

“No. Never underestimate anyone,” Han Qing said with a shake of his head.

He truly did not think there was anything wrong with it.

Their original purpose had simply been to use such a contest to promote their own hotpot restaurant.

If they happened to place well, the restaurant’s profits would naturally rise in tandem.

It was a plan that benefited them in every way; they ought to understand that.

“Spread the word these next few days. When the time comes, the competition will be held directly inside the hotpot restaurant, and we will provide all the dishes and cookware.”

Even the spectators on-site would need proper seating arranged for those who wished to watch.

“It’s really going to be held in our shop?”

“Yes. The approval has already been granted.”

He nodded.

Several other restaurants had also wanted to compete for the right to host it.

But once they were told they would need to suspend business for two weeks in order to prepare, none of them wanted the burden.

The costs were not only high, but the benefits to their restaurants were also limited.

After all, all the judges were court officials.

And there were also others coming from elsewhere.

Few of them knew one another.

Under such circumstances, the only truly suitable venue was this hotpot restaurant.

These two weeks had already been bleak, with hardly any customers.

Yet they had to purchase a great many ingredients, and the layout of the shop itself was well suited to being rearranged.

That thunderous campaign of promotion truly drew a large crowd.

Even many young scions of noble families came to watch.

They all wanted to see what this so-called Chef King Tournament was really like.

This was the first contest opened to the common people, public and transparent for all to see.

Anyone who came to watch would also have the right to vote.

It truly gave them a sense of participation.

“Old Master, should our restaurants take part in this Chef King Tournament?”

Second Young Master Du was rather reluctant.

He was not especially concerned with such things; earning more money in the shop seemed far more important to him.

“What do you know? If we win a place and build ties with those above us, won’t we become men above other men in the future?” the old master said slowly.

“But don’t we already have the Prince of Yan’s support? Why should we fear anyone else?”

As expected, he was a fool.

One was a connection made in the open, the other in the shadows.

Those in the shadows would not dare move lightly, while only those in the open could secure the greatest advantage.

“Enough. There is no point telling you so much. Choose a few suitable people and send them to compete.”

The old master waved a hand.

It was not that he did not take it seriously; rather, he believed their family’s restaurants were already the finest in all of Blue City, and that first place in the Chef King Tournament would surely also belong to the Du family.

As for the others, he had never even seen what they were like.

There was little reason to think much of them.

Three days later, the Chef King Tournament officially began.

The citizens who came to watch had heard that they themselves would have the right to decide which dish was the best, and at once their enthusiasm was stirred.

They eagerly rushed to sign up.

In the end, only three hundred were selected, representing nearly every trade and calling.

Official Chen also invited several friends from the capital.

The whole city buzzed with the news.

It left the people of Blue City in a high state of excitement.

There had once been rumors that there was something wrong with this restaurant, but now some people began to doubt the truth of those claims.

“If their dishes were really unsafe, why would the court specifically require the competition to be held here?”

“And I heard several officials have come all the way from the capital for this.”

“You have all been misled by those rumors. The person who was poisoned is my neighbor; he only turned out that way because he ate poisonous mushrooms himself...”

The common folk argued endlessly, and those rumors were quietly shattered on their own.