Chapter 174: Chapter 174

Seeing how generous Fu Zihan was, Yu Xiaolian gave her another box of white lip balm.

"Apply a thick layer of this white lip balm before going to bed, and in the morning, your lips will be rosy. With consistent use, it can lighten lip lines."

Fu Zihan smiled like a blooming flower, "You’ve got so many good things at Taotao Residence. Even the Capital’s Xiang Garden can’t match what your shop offers."

She remembered her mother bought a lip balm at Xiang Garden, which the shopkeeper claimed was made from lithospermum, roselle, golden-edge rose, angelica, and olive oil, costing a whole hundred taels of silver.

She bought three boxes for ninety taels, and they looked even better than the one her mother bought. It was a steal.

What could Yu Xiaolian say? She had never been to Xiang Garden, so she could only ask Fu Zihan to bring in more customers.

With a look of assurance, Fu Zihan signaled that she would introduce customers to her even without asking, pointing to the academy across the street, "See that? That’s Jianyin Academy, and next to it is the Women’s Virtue Academy. I’ll be going to the Women’s Virtue Academy tomorrow to teach tea ceremony and incense blending to the female students, and I’ll promote your little shop while I’m at it."

Yu Xiaolian feigned ignorance of Fu Zihan’s identity, "Oh, so you’re a female instructor at the Women’s Virtue Academy!"

Fu Zihan gave a wry smile; what female instructor? Her visit to Luocheng was ostensibly to visit her grandaunt, but in truth, her grandfather wanted to showcase her to Prince Jin.

Her grandfather was clearly on the Crown Prince’s side, yet secretly established a connection with Prince Jin.

Prince Jin was happy to cooperate with her grandfather. As soon as she arrived in Luocheng, he sent people to praise her for her beauty and intelligence, calling her unparalleled both in heaven and on earth.

He even said that someone as outstanding as her shouldn’t be wasted.

She was invited by Prince Jin to temporarily teach at the Women’s Virtue Academy, acting as a role model for those female students.

Fu Zihan found it quite baffling; she didn’t even know what was so exceptional about her, so how did Prince Jin know?

Her grandfather and Prince Jin were well-known to be at odds, frequently clashing in court.

Yet her grandfather privately sent her to Prince Jin’s territory. She really didn’t understand.

If she weren’t her grandfather’s most cherished granddaughter, she’d suspect he sent her here on purpose to face disaster.

She had some guesses about what Prince Jin and her grandfather were plotting, but every time she asked them, both her grandfather and her father remained cryptic and refused to give her a straight answer.

What could she do? She could only pray in her heart that it wasn’t what she thought.

That all the bad things wouldn’t happen.

It seemed as if the heavens heard her prayers—she had only been in Luocheng for two days when Prince Jin was dispatched to the Northern Land to provide disaster relief by an imperial decree from the Emperor.

Her grandaunt said the Northern Land suffered from drought and locust infestation, with people having no water to drink, forcing them to flee to places with water.

It’s likely that after some time, a large number of refugees would flood into Luocheng as well.

"I’m not a female instructor, just invited to teach them a lesson."

However, whenever she attended formal occasions, what she wore, what she used, would soon be imitated by those girls.

They took pride in wearing the same styles of clothing and hairstyles as her.

So, as long as she recommended the great products from Taotao Residence, those girls might just stampede the place down.

Thinking of last night’s chaos, Fu Zihan hurriedly asked Yu Xiaolian, "I heard a fugitive escaped to the east side of the city yesterday. Are you all okay?"

Yu Xiaolian pulled a smile, "We’re fine."

They were just searched twice.

Fu Zihan murmured, "I wonder who that fellow Jun Mobai is catching all over the place."

Because before Yu Wanying died, she told her personal maid that it was Yu Yanran who sent people to poison her.

Thus, the coarse General Yu didn’t stop to think before berating Yu Yanran, saying things like ruthless and harming siblings.

Yu Yanran was aggrieved and to prove her innocence, dragged her frail body to the North to investigate Yu Wanying’s cause of death himself.

Logically, when Jun Mobai returned from Linzhou, he should have brought Yu Yanran back, so why was there another woman instead of Yu Yanran?

Could Jun Mobai not withstand his mother’s objections and finally want to annul the engagement with Yu Yanran?

Cancelling the engagement seemed unlikely. After all, Yu Zhenwu’s face was more important than that of Princess Consort Huainan.

Fu Zihan said, "After I blend the incense tomorrow, I’ll give you some. What scent do you like? I’ll prepare it for you."

Yu Xiaolian didn’t know much about incense, but she understood Fu Zihan’s intention to befriend her.

So when Fu Zihan left in the afternoon, Yu Xiaolian gave her a jar of honey.

Indeed, Fu Zihan spent the whole afternoon selecting items at her shop, only leaving after spending all five hundred taels in silver notes and the twenty-tael deposit.

After spending most of the day with Fu Zihan, Yu Xiaolian also learned that Fu Zihan’s grandaunt was Zhao Xudong’s grandmother.

No wonder that old lady had such an extraordinary aura; she was Fu Yi’s sister.

Luocheng was indeed a place full of hidden talents.

Yu Xiaolian let Zhao Erya watch the store and went to the back of the braised meat shop to tell her grandmother not to cook dinner, as she’d be making it.

Yu Xiaolian took sixteen crabs she had acquired in Bohai City, planning for everyone to have two each.

She got the cold noodles from the supermarket and soaked them in water, then started cutting cucumber strips, minced garlic, and cilantro segments.

It was too hot, and she wanted to eat something cool—a sweet and sour cold noodle.

It was her first time making cold noodles, so she didn’t know if it would turn out well.

After steaming the crabs in a large pot, Yu Xiaolian began preparing the cold noodle soup.

Yu Xiaolian found a bottle labeled cold noodle essence in the supermarket’s seasoning section; she remembered her mom using it to make cold noodles.

She poured the cold noodle essence into a large bowl, added iced mineral water from the fridge, and tasted it with a small spoon.

Sour and sweet, not bad.

Indeed, as long as one has the heart of a foodie, there’s no dish one can’t make.

She boiled the soaked cold noodles until soft, then rinsed them in cold water, placed them in the prepared cold noodle soup, and topped them with cucumber strips, minced garlic, and cilantro, finally drizzling some chili oil.

When Yu Xiaolian eagerly called everyone to eat, Mrs. Sun tasted a bit of the cold noodles and hesitated, "Lian’er, there’s no salt in these noodles, right?"

Yu Xiaolian: "... Seems like there isn’t."

Sour and sweet cold noodles, do they need salt?

She thought just sugar and vinegar would suffice.

Yu Xiaolian tried a bite of her carefully made cold noodles and found it wasn’t what she expected.

The noodle soup tasted good—sour and sweet—but after adding the noodles, the flavor became bland.

Alas, she’s clearly not cut out for cooking.