Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

By the end of the meal, Lu Yan was sweating profusely, and all the makeup on his face had smudged, completely ruining his image.

But his belly was round and full, and his eyes showed satisfaction and enjoyment.

"Burp~"

"Burp~ I'm so full~"

One hiccup after another rang out; the young men's mouths were still craving food, but their stomachs were already full.

A maidservant promptly presented handkerchiefs: "Gentlemen, if you have finished eating, we will remove these utensils and wash them clean for you later."

"No need, no need!" Song He shouted, "Mine doesn't need washing, I'll just take it with me!"

Lu Yan immediately understood and quickly added, "I don't need it either. We can still cook noodles when we get back!"

As he spoke, he wiped his face with a damp cloth.

My face felt sticky and sweaty, which was really uncomfortable.

After wiping his face and hands, he had just put down the handkerchief when he heard Song He next to him pointing at him and laughing out loud again.

"Lu Yan, you're so dark-skinned! It's hilarious!"

"It seems you really do take after your father; you're just like Duke Lu!"

"I've never seen you this color before, hahaha!"

Lu Yan: "..."

I had a strong urge to beat Song He to death; how could this guy have such a foul mouth?

I should have known better than to wear purple today; it makes me look even darker.

The other young masters wanted to laugh, but dared not laugh openly.

It is important for people to know their own limitations. They are not like Song He and would not dare to treat Lu Yan that way.

So I could only laugh secretly, mainly because I just couldn't help it.

Song He laughed so hard he was bent over, without any restraint whatsoever.

Helpless, Lu Yan raised his hand and flicked Song He on the forehead: "That's enough, if you laugh again you'd better pay me back the money you owe me."

Upon hearing this, Song He immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

When he went out to play, Lu Yan paid for most of the expenses. If you really think about it, he couldn't possibly pay it back.

Moreover, he was hoping that Lu Yan would bring him to eat hot pot again tomorrow.

Forget it, he decided not to stoop to Lu Yan's level.

"Gentlemen, the food boxes have been packed for you."

"Madam Shen said that once you've eaten hot pot, you're friends. Each young master will receive an invitation to invite their friends to tomorrow's hot pot feast."

"Of course, gentlemen, no invitation is needed to attend the hot pot banquet."

Everyone immediately understood that this was an opportunity for them to invite one more person.

Hot pot is so wonderfully delicious, it's practically giving them an opportunity to do favors for others!

Song He couldn't help but ask, "Could you give me two tickets? I want to bring two people with me!"

"Sorry, the number of invitations is limited, and each person can only receive one."

"There's only one..." Song He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Will we get another invitation after we finish eating tomorrow?" Lu Yan asked from the side.

"New guests each day will receive an invitation, but regular guests will not. We only have a limited number of hot pots, only a thousand in total. Every pot we eat is one less available, so please enjoy them while you can."

Lu Yan frowned; he couldn't quite understand it.

It's illogical that such a lucrative business would only produce 1,000 units.

Ordinary businessmen would be eager to have more and more customers.

Therefore, there is only one explanation: this Madam Shen never intended to make money; she was just selling herself for fun.

As for the high price of six hundred taels of silver, it is most likely due to the extremely high cost of the hot pot.

Thinking of this, Lu Yan felt a surge of admiration for Shen Qing.

This hot pot is too cheap! It should cost a thousand taels! Let Madam Shen make some money too.

Thinking of this, Lu Yan took out two thousand taels of silver notes and handed them to the maid next to him: "Keep the change for the hotpot money for me and Song He."

maid:"......"

She was a little stunned. No, it was only 1,200 taels for the two of them. This Young Master Lu was far too extravagant. She felt like she was burning her hands with those silver notes.

"Lu Yan, can't you just give me the extra eight hundred taels?" Song He was also stunned; he had no idea what Lu Yan was thinking.

Lu Yan calmly asked, "What? This hot pot feast isn't worth a thousand taels?"

"It's worth it, not just a thousand taels, it's worth ten thousand taels, but..."

Who would rush to give money to someone?

Song He looked pained; although Lu Yan had paid for it, he inexplicably felt he had been taken advantage of.

"Everyone, tell me, is this hot pot worth it?" Lu Yan raised his voice a little.

"It's absolutely worth it! It's such a wonderful opportunity to eat here once in a lifetime; it's a blessing beyond measure!"

"Yeah, after eating this hotpot, I wouldn't have any regrets even if I died right now."

"It smells so good! If my stomach weren't so full, I would definitely eat it all night!"

"..."

The other young men chimed in, all praising the hot pot.

But Lu Yan's cool voice rang out again: "Since everyone says so, why don't we each pay a thousand taels?"

???

The other young masters: "..."

Although it's great value for money, they're unwilling to spend more.

"Or is it that... none of you can afford a thousand taels of silver?"

Song He quickly chimed in, "How could that be? A thousand taels of silver is nothing to us; it's just a drop in the ocean. We can just wave our hands and it'll be gone, right?"

He and Lu Yan spent a thousand taels, so they couldn't let others spend six hundred taels; otherwise, they would be at a disadvantage.

Why don't we stir things up a bit and everyone spends a thousand taels? That's fair!

The other young masters: "..."

Speechless.

Since things have come to this point, you have no choice but to pay the thousand taels of silver, otherwise it would be admitting that you lack the ability.

In circles of power and privilege, one would rather die than admit to lacking ability.

"A thousand taels is fine, no big deal!"

"Yeah, this hot pot is so delicious, I'd pay a thousand taels, or even ten thousand... I'll take it!"

"It smells good, it's worth it, I'll pay for it!"

"..."

For no apparent reason, the hot pot suddenly became a thousand taels of silver per pot.

Yan Wenli and Xin Heng, who were behind them, were overjoyed to hear this.

Shen Qing sat down next to them, and asked with some doubt, "That Young Master Lu, is he really not a plant you two hired?"

No customer ever raises prices. Six hundred taels of silver for a hot pot is already an exorbitant price, and now it's gone up to a thousand taels.

"Yan Wenli, is this really not a plant you hired?" Xin Heng asked as well.

Yan Wenli: "I thought it was a shill you hired, Lord Xin."

Well, it seems Lu Yan really is a fool with too much money.

"This is a good thing. They've started with a thousand taels of silver, so other customers will probably have to pay a thousand taels as well," Yan Wenli concluded.

Those people are part of a circle; they compete to see who is richer and more extravagant.

If someone else pays a thousand taels and you pay six hundred taels, then you are considered inferior.

In order to fit into the circle, other powerful and wealthy businessmen would also willingly spend a thousand taels of silver to eat hot pot.

"Suddenly, I realized that raising the money to build the palace isn't so difficult after all. One thousand taels of silver for one hot pot, and one thousand hot pots would amount to one million taels of silver—more than enough to build the palace!"

Xin Heng was even more excited. If he had known it was this simple, he wouldn't have had to worry back then.

Luckily, I met Madam Shen!