In the afternoon, Gu Mubai came in a hurry.
"I heard that Qiao'er wanted to turn the gambling house into a restaurant. I went to take a look at the place and it was quite nice. However, the place is too big and there is too much space. If I want to renovate it well, I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money."
Liu Qiaoer shook her head, took out a scroll and unfolded it. A three-dimensional restaurant decoration picture appeared in front of Gu Mubai.
"No, no, no, no need for major changes, just add a stage."
Then, based on the drawings, Liu Qiaoer explained in detail the general purpose of the restaurant.
The first floor is for individual guests, and the space in the middle is made into a stage, where opera troupes, storytellers, and musicians are invited to perform for the guests.
The second floor is the private room. The gambling house was originally soundproofed, so they didn't need to do any renovations. They just cleaned it and it was fine as long as it could be used.
There are two courtyards behind the gambling house. Liu Qiaoer plans to turn them into VIP courtyards, where one can not only drink, recite poems, and call friends, which is very artistic.
It’s just that the price is a bit higher.
In this way, they only need to make some minor adjustments and then ask the chef or waiter to serve them.
It's really not troublesome, and the idea is wonderful.
There is no such thing as singing and storytelling in the restaurant, not only in Fengxin County, but also in the capital.
Liu Qiaoer didn't expect that this was just the simplest type of modern restaurant, and it was not available here.
Besides drinking and eating in a restaurant, don't you listen to music
A small change is enough to make the restaurant a hit.
On this day, Liu Qiaoer received two letters at the same time.
One letter was sent from Pei Yuanshan in the capital, and the other was sent from Wang Boyan in the Yuzhou prefectural government office.
Wang Boyan said he found some clues and is continuing his investigation.
The two of them said the same thing at the same time, that the new county magistrate of Fengxin County has been decided and he will take office in Fengxin County soon.
Concerning the new county magistrate's life, the two men said similar things.
Liu Qiaoer took a closer look and found that it was still a member of the Lu family. It seemed that the court was still good to the Lu family. With this County Magistrate Lu, Lu Yunzheng's parents and others would have a good chance of being released from prison.
Lu Chengzhi, the legitimate son of Prime Minister Lu, is 32 years old, about the same age as County Magistrate Lu and Lu Xiuzhi. He is the second son of Prime Minister Lu and won the third place in the imperial examination. He had been working as an editor in the palace before and had no real power. He is said to have a gentle temperament.
It was reasonable that he was transferred to be the county magistrate when something happened to County Magistrate Lu.
Ministers in the capital speculated that the emperor agreed to the transfer order because he was actually on the side of Prime Minister Lu.
But Liu Qiaoer could see something wrong at a glance.
"The master has worked hard in Fengxin County for more than ten years, and he gave it to the Lu family for nothing, saying that he came to help the master, but he did not investigate the case of the master's corruption and clear his name. Instead, he took the master's place."
Lu Yunzheng didn't say anything, but just reminded Qi Ze to be careful in the future and not to reveal the news that he was still alive.
The day when Fuyun Restaurant opened was also the day when Lu Cheng took office. Officials from the county government all ran out of Shili Pavilion to welcome the new county magistrate.
There was no impact on Liu Qiaoer's side.
Firecrackers blasted, gongs and drums roared, and Fuyun Restaurant held a grand opening promotion with a 50% discount on purchases.
Liu Qiaoer also found a troupe of actors to perform for the guests on the center stage of the restaurant.
The restaurant's menu was different from the modern ones. All of them were nailed to the wall with signs, and included both meat and vegetarian dishes. The opera repertoire in the center of the stage was placed directly to the side of the stage by Liu Qiaoer.
It states the name of the song, free items and paid songs, time period, etc.
Drinking, eating meat and listening to music for free has given ordinary people a new enjoyment.
In the past, only rich people could go to music halls to listen to music. Even performances by opera troupes required a fee, and the price was not low.
Ordinary people could not enter music halls, and listening to opera was a luxury.
However, today, even if you stand at the door of the restaurant, you can hear the troupe singing.
After asking around, I found out that the prices in such a big restaurant were not too expensive and it was fine to just have a bowl of noodles.
Although some people are still unwilling to spend money, it is also good to listen to songs for free.
Opposite the restaurant there are wonton stalls, bun shops and so on, which have become places for the lowest class of people to consume and listen to music.
Even so, there are still people who don't spend any money and just get it for free.
Those are the beggars in Fengxin County.
As soon as Fuyun Restaurant opened and a song started, it became a lively place in Fengxin County in a few days.
What followed was the business around the restaurant, which gradually became popular.
The sales of rouge shops, cloth shops, pastry shops, and even the less-traveled powder shop doubled.
This is exactly the effect Liu Qiaoer wanted, because her newly purchased shop is also around the restaurant, but there is currently only a grain store.
It’s not that she didn’t think about buying more shops, but she… had no money.
Upgrading the space requires money, and the money obtained from the Su family warehouse cannot be spent casually.
She bought a yard, a shop, and redeemed some of the Lu family's servants. She used all the money earned from Zui Le Fang. Even if Zui Le Fang made more money, it couldn't withstand her abuse.
So, Liu Qiaoer was out of money.
Fortunately, Zui Le Fang, Fu Yun Restaurant, and the grain shop still have a steady flow of income every day.
Regardless of whether the new official has become excited or not, there is movement in the Lu family.
Lu Chengzhi brought the emperor's decree and had Magistrate Lu sent to the capital to continue investigating his embezzlement of disaster relief grain funds.
As for the other members of the Lu family, the emperor issued an order to release them, probably meaning that the emperor's grace was too great and the disaster would not extend to their families.
On this day, Meihao, Liu Qiaoer, Xia Ying, and Mrs. Lu's maids Chunxiang, Qiuyu, and Dongling all came to the gate of the county jail.
After Mrs. Lu came out of the dark prison with the help of Aunt Sun, she still felt a little uncomfortable and shielded her eyes from the sunlight with her hands. Her maid Chunxiang was tactful and helped her put a scarf on her.
It was Aunt Sun who helped Mrs. Lu into the carriage.
Aunt Sun also got on the carriage with the help of her maid Qiuyu.
On the other hand, the second young master Lu Yunqing only took a moment to adjust himself before sitting down on the shaft of the carriage in a cool and relaxed manner.
"Let's go back to this damn place. I won't come back again."
Dong Ling went forward to support him, but in vain, she stood there awkwardly. Liu Qiaoer was with her.
At this time, Liu Qiao'er was also standing there awkwardly. From the moment she came out, Madam Lu had never looked at her straight in the eye.
Liu Qiaoer looked at Aunt Sun again, only to see that her eyes were still evasive.
Liu Qiaoer seemed to understand something.
Lu Yunzheng's death was only known to outsiders. Although the maids and servants did not know that Lu Yunzheng was still alive, Madam Lu, Aunt Sun, and Lu Yunqing knew about it.
The family was sent to the new yard.
After washing and dressing herself up, Mrs. Lu regained her former dignified and superior self.
Glancing at the people in the room, she saw that Lu Yunzheng was not there, so she cleverly sent all the servants away.
"You all go down, Qiao'er stays."
Chunxiang looked at Liu Qiaoer deeply, and left quickly and politely with the other maids.
As soon as they left Mrs. Lu's yard, Qiuyu pulled Dong Ling aside.
"Dong Ling, have you heard? Madam is planning to marry Qiao'er to the second young master as his principal wife."