After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Shen Yi sighed sadly, but didn't hide it from Lu Tong. "It was Doctor Li. I have a very good relationship with him. Doctor Zhou from the county town once studied medicine under Doctor Li. After Doctor Li fell ill, Doctor Zhou went to visit him and mentioned Cen Mingzhu's condition."

I suspect that Dr. Zhou brought this up because he was still worried about Cen Mingzhu's condition. After all, treating someone of importance can easily lead to disaster if one is not careful. He was seeking comfort from his master out of unease, unaware that we were keeping an eye on the Zhu family. It was all a lucky accident.

Lu Tong was convinced. "It has to be you! Even I'm scared by your luck!"

Shen Yi shook his head and smiled wryly, "Lord Lu, please don't make fun of me."

The two tacitly agreed not to mention the Zhu family again.

In high spirits, Lu Tong talked about the county government's year-end arrangements.

The imperial court had clear regulations on the time for sealing and opening the seals, but smaller places could adjust them according to local conditions and did not have to follow the imperial court's schedule.

Shen Yi negotiated with him until evening before returning home.

Seeing that Shen Yuezhang and Su Tai were busy counting the New Year's gifts to be sent to various families, he just smiled and didn't ask any more questions.

The next few days were busy for everyone. Until the day before New Year's Eve, Shen Yi asked Lu Tong for leave in advance and took his wife and daughter out of the city to go home.

In the evening, Murong Jue came to Qingfengzhai again, only to find Alan and Chuncao about to close the shop, with a sign in their hands that read "Closed for the New Year" ready to be hung by the door.

"The shop is closed?"

Murong Jue's calm voice startled the two of them, who quickly turned around and bowed respectfully.

"Reporting to Young Master, my master has already gone home for the New Year. We two servants are staying here to clean up and will be leaving early tomorrow morning. Before leaving, my master left a New Year's gift for the young master and instructed us two to deliver it."

I don't know why, but I was always very afraid when I faced Murong Jue and Alan. I spoke very carefully, afraid of saying the wrong word.

"She even left me a New Year's gift? What was it?"

Alan sensed Murong Jue's pleasure and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly inviting them into the shop.

She and Chuncao ran to the backyard.

A short while later, the two of them stumbled and struggled to carry the box from the backyard.

Xue Mao and Xue Xiang immediately stepped forward to lend a hand.

"Hey! Young master, this thing is quite heavy!" Xue Xiang exclaimed curiously.

Alan said weakly, "There are several more boxes behind."

Xue Xiang could no longer laugh.

Murong Jue's smile vanished, his brows furrowed slightly, and his voice was devoid of any emotion as he spoke, "Go and carry it out."

Xue Mao and Xue Xiang immediately followed.

The two of them carried a total of eight boxes.

Murong Jue was extremely disappointed. He thought Shen Yuezhang was different from others, but he didn't expect her to be so opportunistic. She fawned over him just because she knew he was someone special!

Xue Mao asked timidly, "What kinds of things are in here?"

Alan quickly replied, "It's seafood."

Seeing that Murong Jue remained silent, she became even more uneasy. She swallowed hard and continued tremblingly, "It's a return gift from the shop to its customers. As long as you spend more than one hundred taels in the shop this year, Qingfengzhai will give you two yellow croakers, two pomfrets, and two servings of sashimi. If you spend more than five hundred taels, in addition to the above items, you will receive two servings of sashimi, two ribbonfish, two boxes of large prawns, and some squid."

"If the amount exceeds one thousand taels, the gift doubles; there are differences between one thousand, two thousand, and three thousand taels. Young Master's spending at Qingfengzhai is far too much, exceeding the standard for ordinary guests. My master has therefore made these arrangements. If Young Master is not satisfied, I will return tomorrow to inform my master." "No need! This is fine!"

As soon as Murong Jue spoke, everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the alarm was lifted!

Chuncao quickly brought over the sauces for cooking seafood, saying, "These are for cooking seafood. Young Master, you can have the chef arrange them when you get back."

Murong Jue waved his hand, and the guards outside came in one after another to carry the seafood away.

After boarding the carriage, Murong Jue glanced at the storefront of Qingfengzhai and lowered the curtain.

Xue Mao muttered to himself, "Master, I don't know how this young boss is so smart. He's so thoughtful at such a young age, even giving New Year's gifts to his customers! No wonder his business is so booming."

"Hmm." Murong Jue responded cheerfully, a slight smile playing on her lips. "I originally thought Shen Yuezhang had guessed my special status and wanted to curry favor with me, but I didn't expect it to be seafood!"

Xue Mao grinned, "I heard that the Shen family is in the seafood business, and even their servants are bought from Qiongzi. Seafood is valuable to outsiders, but it's probably nothing to the Shen family. It's understandable that the young master would give back to his guests with his own products."

Murong Jue thought so too, but he was a little unhappy. He was, after all, her most honored guest, and she should treat him differently!
The group returned to the military compound in the old city.

Murong Jue eagerly instructed Xue Mao to open the boxes.

The eight boxes contained eight kinds of seafood: sashimi, yellow croaker, turbot, ribbonfish, prawns, pomfret, red snapper, and squid.

Each box has a sheet of parchment paper on it, which introduces the types of seafood and how to clean and cook them.

Xue Mao immediately chuckled, "Master, as expected of the young master, you are so thoughtful in your work. Should I send it to the kitchen now and prepare a seafood feast for you right away!"

Murong Jue readily agreed.

A faint sense of anticipation.

When the food was served, I don't know if the chef didn't know how to cook seafood, but the food looked good, but it tasted very fishy. Only the sashimi with the sauce was edible.

Unfortunately, the sauce was prepared in advance by Shen Yuezhang.

In other words, the cook did absolutely nothing!
"What a waste of good stuff!" Murong Jue was furious.

Xue Xiang quickly reassured him, "Master, it's not the cook's fault. He's just a cook from the military camp. You can't expect him to be as good as the head chefs in those big restaurants. Besides, there aren't many cooks in our Langya Kingdom who can cook seafood. I doubt you can find more than two in the entire Zhaohua County."

That makes sense, but we already have all the stuff, and we can't just let it go to waste.

Murong Jue was very depressed.

Xue Mao, being a foodie, didn't want to waste such good food, so he immediately suggested, "Master, how about we go to Magistrate Shen's house for the New Year?"

Murong Jue suddenly looked up at Xue Mao.

Xue Xiang was stunned. "Xue Mao! You're shameless! Is it worth it for a bite to eat? Aren't you afraid of being kicked out by Magistrate Shen during the New Year?"

"What's there to be afraid of! I'm the garrison commander! If I go to the Shen family for the New Year, Shen Yi will have to treat us with utmost respect! Besides, it's not like I'm the only one who wants to!" Xue Mao was shameless and self-righteous.

Xue Xiang subconsciously looked at Murong Jue.

Murong Jue said expressionlessly, "Xue Mao is right, we can't waste such good things. Let's leave it at that! Take the seafood and go find Lord Shen!"

Xue Xiang: "."

"No! No! Do you even know where Lord Shen lives?" Xue Xiang was at his wits' end, wishing he could beat up Xue Mao, the one who came up with the terrible idea. (End of Chapter)