Zhao Litang and Wu Quan followed him upstairs.
The waiter brought a few people to a private room and sat down. Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu were already seated, while Yue Nu was standing obediently on the side.
Shen Shijiu pulled him over to sit down, but he refused. He was a servant, so how could he have the qualifications to sit with his masters
Seeing Zhao Litang also entered the room, Shen Shijiu glanced at Zhao Litang, and then at Yue Nu.
Zhao Litang followed his gaze and saw Yue Nu standing alone by the side, like a poor little thing that had been bullied.
And judging from what Shen Shijiu said, he was the one who bullied Yue Nu.
"Don't stand aside, come and sit together."
Shen Shijiu happily pulled Yue Nu and wanted him to sit next to him, but Yue Nu hesitated and seemed reluctant to sit down.
"Mr. Shen, Mr. Shen... I don't need to sit down, I can just stand aside..."
"sit down!"
Zhao Litang's voice became louder. He really didn't know what this child was afraid of. He refused to sit down and eat with them.
Yue Nu seemed to be frightened by Zhao Litang. She trembled and quickly sat down obediently beside Shen Shijiu.
Shen Shijiu whispered to him, "Ayue, don't be afraid. General Zhao is kind-hearted and just wants you to have dinner with us. But I don't know why he is still so fierce."
Yue Nu nodded to him, but he was still a little nervous. He had never eaten at the table before. When he was at his previous master's house, he could only stand aside and serve.
After a while, all the delicacies were served on the table one by one.
Shen Huan began to eat and drink without any hesitation, since she didn't have to spend any money anyway.
Shen Shijiu also stuffed his mouth with food, and did not forget to pick up some food for Yue Nu.
"Ah Yue, try this, it's delicious. And that one, that one is also delicious... Anyway, they are all delicious. You should eat more."
Yue Nu agreed while eating the full bowl of food that Shen Shijiu had picked for him. No one had ever been so nice to him, picking food for him and asking him to eat more. As he ate, his eyes became hot and big tears fell into the bowl.
Yue Nu quickly lowered her head and wiped her tears with her sleeves, not wanting others to see her crying.
The others did not notice his little action, but Zhao Litang, who had not moved his chopsticks, saw it.
When they were almost done eating, Zhao Litang raised his glass and said to Shen Huan, "Master Shen, I still have to thank you for your help, otherwise I would have died of the poison. This glass of wine is for you."
After saying that, Zhao Litang drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
Shen Huan also raised his glass to him, "General Zhao, you are too polite. It's just a small favor. No need to thank me."
Then Zhao Litang poured another glass of wine, this time for Shen Shijiu, "Mr. Shen, thank you very much."
After saying that, he drank the wine again.
Shen Shijiu also imitated Shen Huan, but just as he was about to drink the wine in the glass, Shen Huan snatched the glass away from him.
"Why should a child drink wine? You drink soup!"
As he said this, he brought a bowl of soup to Shen Shijiu.
Shen Shijiu obediently picked up the soup, but muttered softly, "I'm not a child anymore, I'm grown up."
"What did you say?" Shen Huan asked loudly.
Shen Shijiu blinked his innocent eyes and said, "I didn't say anything, Master."
Then he tilted his head back and drank the soup in the bowl as if it were wine. After finishing it, he turned the bowl over to indicate that he had finished it.
Shen Huan couldn't help but burst into laughter at his actions.
Yue Nu also lowered her head, her shoulders shaking, and she looked like she was crying.
Zhao Litang had been looking at Shen Shijiu, but his gaze shifted slightly and he saw the child with his head lowered beside him. Seeing his shaking shoulders, he frowned slightly.
Then Yue Nu, who had been lowering her head, suddenly raised her head, and there was clearly a smile between her eyebrows. It was the first time that such a happy smile appeared on her usually tense face. There was no timidity or caution, and even the crescent birthmark seemed to be shining.
Yue Nu had been looking at Shen Shijiu and smiling, but her eyes suddenly turned in the direction of Zhao Litang and she looked at him across the table. The smile immediately disappeared and she lowered her head in panic.
Zhao Litang then withdrew his gaze.
While the atmosphere in the room was so relaxed and cheerful, there was a noisy and chaotic noise coming from outside the door, and it lasted for a long time without stopping, which was really disturbing.
Zhao Litang ordered Wu Quan to go out and check, but Wu Quan had been gone for a long time and had not returned, so Zhao Litang went out to check himself.
A lot of people gathered in the lobby of the restaurant and were divided into two groups. Both sides were still arguing with each other. Wu Quan stood in the crowd to prevent the two groups from fighting directly.
One group was headed by the restaurant owner, and the other group, Zhao Litang recognized, were ministers of the court, and they were all close confidants of the Queen's family, and their power should not be underestimated.
"The adults are willing to eat at Yipinxiang because they are doing you a favor. Why don't you quickly clear out the private room upstairs for them to sit down!"
"Today's private rooms are no longer available. The only seats available are in the lobby. If you don't want to sit here, you can go somewhere else. Why do you have to condescend to sit in this small place like mine?"
The shopkeeper was neither humble nor arrogant, and was not intimidated by the power of the people opposite him.
"How dare you let the adults sit in the lobby? I think you, Yipinxiang, don't want to stay in this imperial capital anymore! You even dare to neglect Master Qian and Master Wei! You are so bold!"
"Master Qian, Master Wei, our restaurant has been open in the imperial capital for a long time. Other dignitaries in this city always send people to make reservations in advance when they come to dine here. It is not reasonable for us to drive other guests away just because we come."
Lord Qian pushed aside his attendants, walked to the front and smiled, "Okay, okay, you really make sense, it's worthy of being the largest and most prosperous restaurant in the imperial city, but..."
Master Qian's expression changed, revealing a contemptuous smile, "... The more this happens, the more I want to eat here."
He waved his hand, and some servants suddenly rushed in from outside the door. It seemed that they had made up their minds to cause trouble here today.
Zhao Litang was not familiar with these two adults, but he had heard their names a lot in recent days.
As Pei Zheng was retained in his post, undercurrents gradually emerged in the court.
The Queen's sphere of influence is growing rapidly, and is becoming more and more arrogant, especially the two people downstairs, who are becoming more and more reckless in the imperial capital.
And I don't know if the owner of this restaurant has any power behind him. If he goes head-on with those two adults, he will definitely suffer.
Zhao Litang glanced downstairs and saw that the servants were about to drive away the guests and smash the store, so he planned to go downstairs in person to plead for mercy.
Unexpectedly, before Zhao Litang could even go downstairs, the noise downstairs suddenly quieted down.
A man walked in from the door of the restaurant. It was Chengfeng in black clothes holding a cold sword. He walked directly in front of Lord Qian and placed the scabbard of his sword on Lord Qian's chest.
The restaurant owner was so excited when he saw Chengfeng that he almost cried. If the master didn't come, the place would really be smashed.
Sure enough, another person came in from outside the door. He was wearing a dark brocade robe, holding a folding fan in his hand casually, and walked to the center of the hall at a leisurely pace.
"Sir! They, they are bullying!"
The restaurant owner no longer had the momentum he had when confronting others just now. He had a sad face, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
Pei Zheng curled the corners of his lips and glanced at Lord Qian and Lord Wei who were standing opposite him.
These two people had argued with Pei Zheng in the court before, but unfortunately they were defeated miserably. After that, they never dared to have a head-on conflict with Pei Zheng again, and even took a detour when they saw Pei Zheng.
Although Pei Zheng is still on retainer, these two people are still somewhat wary of him.
"Who am I thinking is here? Isn't this Lord Pei?"
Lord Qian smiled and wanted to take a step forward, but unfortunately Chengfeng's scabbard was pressing against him and he couldn't move.
When Lord Qian's servant saw this, he angrily wanted to knock the sword away from Chengfeng's hand, but Lord Qian stopped him.
Chengfeng just glanced at the servants coldly and didn't take them seriously.
Lord Qian said, "Lord Pei, today's incident has nothing to do with you. If you come here to eat, I will kindly advise you that this restaurant is too arrogant and has no rules. I think they dare to do this because they have a backer. I will arrest the boss and interrogate him to find out who dares to bully others in the imperial capital!"
The restaurant owner was furious when he heard this. Everyone present with eyes could see who was bullying others today.
Pei Zheng's folding fan snapped shut, his smile disappeared, and he looked a little gloomy.
The purchase of Yapinxiang was not publicized, so outsiders did not know that the owner of the restaurant had changed a long time ago.
"Mr. Qian, you really have great authority." Pei Zheng said in a cold tone, "Are you going to arrest the owner of this restaurant?"
Lord Qian could tell something was wrong with Pei Zheng's tone and thought that he might have some friendship with the boss.
"Sir Pei, you haven't been to court for some time. You are not aware of some of the orders issued by the emperor recently, right? This imperial capital city needs to be properly rectified."
As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with his accomplice Lord Wei, who nodded in agreement, "That's right, Lord Pei's ignorance is understandable."
The restaurant owner was quicker to speak and shouted, "Sir! They actually want to arrest you! Does the law of our great Celestial Empire allow them to do this?" As soon as these words came out, people around began to whisper, and Sir Qian and Sir Wei's faces changed.
"What do you mean by that?"
The shopkeeper looked disgusted and said, "Two learned gentlemen, don't you even understand this? The boss of our Yipinxiang is Master Pei."
The discussions around became louder.
Zhao Litang, who had been watching the farce on the second floor, now understood why the people in the restaurant treated the Shen master and apprentice and the general's mansion differently.
"This... Master Pei, I'm really sorry. I think, I think all this is just a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."
"Yes, yes, it's all a misunderstanding. Since there are no private rooms here, let's just find another place to eat..."
Lord Qian and Lord Wei's faces turned colorful. They wanted to show off their official power, but they didn't expect that it would be shown to Pei Zheng.
A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if Pei Zheng is just an idle prime minister, they cannot provoke him casually. What's more, Pei Zheng's power in the court is still enough to compete with the Queen's family.
All the servants left immediately, and the crowded hall became much emptier.
The restaurant owner quickly greeted the guests in the lobby and went to apologize to them.
Lord Qian and Lord Wei smiled awkwardly at Pei Zheng for a long while, "Lord Pei, we won't bother you anymore. We'll leave first."
Having said that, the two of them wanted to go out directly.
As a result, Chengfeng was one step faster than them. He walked to the door, held the sword horizontally, and blocked the way of the two men.
"Don't you two want to go to the private room on the second floor?" Pei Zheng sneered, "Please go ahead."
After saying that, Pei Zheng walked up the stairs.
The two adults felt threatened silently by Chengfeng's eyes and did not dare to leave. They turned around and followed him up the stairs.
Zhao Litang was still standing at the door of the room. When he saw Pei Zheng walking towards him, his face darkened.
Unexpectedly, when Pei Zheng saw Zhao Litang, he didn't show any surprise, but greeted him with a smile.
"General Zhao, is the food ok?"
Zhao Litang snorted coldly without answering. He looked past him and looked at the two adults who followed behind.
"Lord Qian, Lord Wei." Zhao Litang greeted the two men.
"Why is General Zhao here too?"
Lord Qian was obviously shocked. "Could it be that he has an appointment with Lord Pei?"
But doesn’t everyone in the court know that Zhao Litang and Pei Zheng are not on good terms
Because of this, the Queen's family had tried to win over Zhao Litang, but Zhao Litang refused to budge and had not agreed to have any dealings with the Queen's family. Today was a good opportunity. Not only could he observe the relationship between Zhao Litang and Pei Zheng, but he might also be able to win over Zhao Litang.
"I didn't make an appointment. I just came here to have dinner with a few friends. It was just a coincidence today."
But Pei Zheng didn't do it by chance. He just knew that Zhao Litang brought Shen Shijiu to Yipinxiang, so he left the pile of books he hadn't finished reading.
Son, rushed over directly.
Regardless of the three people behind him who were still pretending to greet each other, Pei Zheng pushed the door and walked into the private room.
This private room was actually reserved by Pei Zheng specifically for the villain. Who would have known that today, by some strange coincidence, he would have to receive so many troublesome people.
However, Pei Zheng deliberately called up Lord Qian and Lord Wei to let them contact Zhao Litang.
Pei Zheng also wanted to take this opportunity to see what Zhao Litang's attitude was.
As soon as I walked in, I saw four people sitting inside.
Shen Shijiu was sitting by the door with his back to the door. When he heard someone coming in, he turned around to look. He thought it was Zhao Litang who came back.
"General... Sir!"
Shen Shijiu stood up from the stool and ran to Pei Zheng in two or three steps, his eyes sparkling, "Sir! Why are you here?"
Pei Zheng saw that there was some oil stain on his red lips, and he was standing beside him with his head tilted up. He looked so well-behaved.
When Wu Quan and Yue Nu saw Pei Zheng, they stood up from their seats, saluted, and then quietly stepped aside and stood there.
Only Shen Huan slowly finished his soup before standing up and performing a messy salute to Pei Zheng.
Pei Zheng didn't notice the actions of the other three people at all. He stretched out a hand towards the little man in front of him, put it to his lips, and gently rubbed it with his fingertips.
The originally pink and tender lips were rubbed even redder.
Pei Zheng looked away, and Chengfeng handed him a handkerchief to wipe the oil stains off his fingertips.
Shen Huan had seen how meticulously Pei Zheng took care of his little disciple, and he actually felt that this was nothing.
But Wu Quan and Yue Nu had never seen this before, and they both raised their sleeves to wipe their mouths.
“Are you full?”
"Yeah!" Shen Shijiu nodded.
"Then go out and play for a while and wait for me, okay?"
"Yeah!" Shen Shijiu nodded again.
Pei Zheng glanced at Shen Huan, and Shen Huan expressed his understanding.
Then Shen Huan took his little disciple out of the private room, and also took Yue Nu with him. He walked around the people outside the door, went downstairs, and planned to go for a walk on the street.
The waiter came in quickly with several helpers. They quickly cleared the leftovers from the table and replaced them with a table full of delicacies from land and sea.
Pei Zheng sat down at the table, and then Zhao Litang, Lord Qian and Lord Wei came in.
—The table was filled with ashes. The four people, with different thoughts in mind, did not move their chopsticks much, but they did drink a lot of wine.
Zhao Litang drank less because he was in good health.
Pei Zheng drank the most. Whenever the two gentlemen toasted him, he would raise his cup and drink it all, and the two gentlemen had no choice but to follow suit.
But Pei Zheng had a good alcohol tolerance and did not get drunk.
The two adults were drunk and staggering, and they probably didn't even remember what they said or did.
Pei Zheng sent someone to send the two back, and only Zhao Litang and Pei Zheng were left in the room.
"General Zhao has also heard that the two gentlemen invited us to go boating on the lake tomorrow." Pei Zheng shook the wine glass in his hand, "Will General Zhao go?"
"That's not really an invitation. You just forced them to agree."
Pei Zheng smiled, "So what? Several important officials of the court gathered in private. Who knows if they are secretly plotting something treasonous?"
"Treasonous and immoral things?" Zhao Litang looked at Pei Zheng, "Isn't this what you are best at?"
"Why do you say that, General Zhao?"
Pei Zheng was still smiling, tapping the table with the fan in his hand, looking very playful.
"Pei Zheng!"
Zhao Litang's long-suppressed emotions surged up, "You really have a short memory. I think you don't care about the past anymore! If I had known this, I should have killed you that night!"
Pei Zheng raised his eyes, "How do you know I forgot?"
"If you remember, you shouldn't look so nonchalant now!" Zhao Litang pointed outside the door, "Do you dare to tell me clearly who that little disciple who knows medical skills is?"
Pei Zheng suppressed his smile, looked at Zhao Litang with cold eyes without saying a word.
Zhao Litang became even more angry. "Okay, if you don't want to tell me, I'll tell you. Do you have any ulterior motives towards him? Or are you already in love with each other? I admit that they are somewhat similar... But, are you so easily tempted to fall in love with someone else? Are your feelings so cheap? Are your guilt and remorse so easily gone?"
The folding fan in Pei Zheng's hand broke with a "snap". His hand loosened and the broken fan fell to the ground.
Although Zhao Litang questioned Pei Zheng so sharply because he didn't know the truth of the matter, Pei Zheng still felt deeply hurt.
Those past events were what he was most reluctant to recall, but they reminded him all the time like needles:
You owe him too much, you can't forget it, you have to keep being nice to him to make up for it, but even if you spend your whole life doing it, you can't make up for it, so you have to live with the guilt and regret for the rest of your life...
Pei Zheng pinched his fingers and felt something warm and sticky on the palm of his hand. It turned out that he had broken the folding fan just now and his palm was scratched by the splinter, and it was bleeding a little.
But he didn't feel any pain at all because his heart was empty.
Zhao Litang had already left, and the door was slammed shut with a bang.
Chengfeng came over and said, "Master, your wound needs to be bandaged."
"No problem."
Pei Zheng stood up, feeling dizzy for a moment; the wine still had some aftereffect.
He steadied himself, walked out the door, slowly went downstairs, walked out of the restaurant, and stood on the street.
The cold wind made me more conscious.
The weather has been very cold these days, as if it was going to snow, but it hasn't snowed yet.
The blood from Pei Zheng's palm dripped down, a few drops fell onto the stone slab, forming blood flowers.
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"Why are you bleeding again? Does it hurt?"
—A voice came from behind.
Pei Zheng turned around and saw Shen Shijiu standing in front of him, looking down at his bleeding hand.
Shen Shijiu stretched out his hand, carefully held up Pei Zheng's hand, and asked him to open his palm so that he could see the wound.
Although the wound is not deep, it will definitely hurt if it bleeds.
As Shen Shijiu watched, his nose felt sore and he felt a little distressed.
"Brother Pei"
He called softly.
Shen Huan and Yue Nu had already returned to the general's mansion, leaving Shen Shijiu alone waiting outside Yipinxiang.
Pei Zheng did not answer and suddenly withdrew his hand.
Shen Shijiu looked up at him, pursed his lips, and was obviously trying to hold back tears.
Pei Zheng opened his arms, leaned slightly, took a half step forward, and hugged the little person in front of him tightly in his arms.
—One hand behind his head, one hand tightened on his waist, fitting perfectly into his chest, then he buried his head in the crook of his shoulder and didn't move.
The streets are bustling with people coming and going.
Pei Zheng's ears were filled with silence. He could hear nothing but the gentle and warm breathing of his beloved. Now he felt that the emptiness in his heart was finally filled up a little.
"Brother Pei, please let me go first... I need to stop the bleeding from your wound and bandage it for you..."
Pei Zheng turned a deaf ear.
Shen Shijiu patted him, a little anxious, "Brother Pei... Can you please let me go first..."
"No."
"But I can't treat your wounds in this state..."
“No.”
Shen Shijiu was suddenly speechless. Why did he feel that the adult was just like a child now, holding him tightly and acting like a spoiled child
But it also seemed like something sad was happening.
Shen Shijiu touched Pei Zheng's hair very gently and spoke in a low voice.
"Brother Pei, don't be sad. I'll hug you and you'll just listen to me, okay?"