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

"Hey kid, it's just a pot of noodles, why can't I eat it?"

Duke Lu, puffing out his beard and glaring, shook off Lu Yan's hand and grabbed a mouthful of noodles.

The noodles were so long that he had to lift them high with his chopsticks, and the hot pot broth dripped slowly down the noodles and onto the ground.

Almost impatiently, Duke Lu put the noodles in his mouth and then slurped them down.

The next moment, he jumped for joy, his eyes shining with an unusually bright light.

"My God, it's so delicious! No wonder this hot pot became famous throughout the capital overnight, it smells amazing!"

"This is such delicious food, and you're stopping me from eating it? What's the meaning of that?"

Lu Yan's lips curled into a smile, his voice tinged with schadenfreude: "I only have one invitation. Only one person can be invited to tonight's hot pot dinner. Father, you can't possibly compete with Mother for it, can you?"

Mrs. Lu rolled her eyes as she ate: "He wouldn't dare?"

"I also thought that my father shouldn't compete with my mother for food, which is why I didn't recommend that he eat it now. After all, if he eats it now, he'll crave it, and a proper hot pot feast is a thousand times, ten thousand times more delicious than this pot!"

"My father must be very upset that he can't eat what he wants."

Lu Yan's expression became even more irritating, but he pretended to be thinking of Duke Lu's best interests, as if he were a good son.

Duke Lu: "..."

He wanted to snatch it, but he didn't dare.

This head of the family is simply a figurehead.

"Um... that young man from the Song family went with you last night, right?" Duke Lu's mind raced. "Did he also have an invitation? Why don't you ask him if he's selling it?"

This pot of noodles is delicious enough for him now; he can't even imagine how delicious a proper hot pot feast would be.

To be honest, he's craving it now, he's really craving it.

The thought of the mother and daughter going out for a hot pot dinner that evening, leaving him, an old man, alone in the house, made him feel utterly dejected.

"He won't sell." Lu Yan refused decisively.

The voice was like a chilling icicle, instantly freezing the expectant and passionate heart of Duke Lu.

"You two are good friends... let's discuss this..." Duke Lu made a last-ditch effort.

"There's no room for negotiation."

Okay, now it's completely dead.

Mrs. Lu comforted her, "Looking at you like this, if it's really not okay, you can eat it tomorrow. I've heard that every new customer gets an invitation, so it's the same if you eat hot pot tomorrow."

"...How come they're the same..." Duke Lu muttered under his breath.

Today's hot pot will definitely be different from tomorrow's hot pot.

The key point is that he felt abandoned.

Yes, he was abandoned. He felt like a helpless and lonely old man.

I feel bad that he's not included when we eat delicious food!

......

The young prince, Nangong Yao, was sitting on the steps, looking worried.

His beggar squad had already found out that Shen Qing had switched to selling hot pot.

"Young Master, what should we do? I heard that a hot pot meal costs a thousand taels of silver, and you need an invitation, which we don't have..." The servant said with a distressed expression.

Why is it so hard to get a bite of spicy strips?

No wonder Madam Shen stopped selling spicy strips; she's found a more profitable business.

A serving of spicy strips costs thirty coins, while a hot pot meal costs a thousand taels of silver—it's a world of difference!

Nangong Yao's face was all wrinkled with worry. He rested his chin on his hands, looking bitter: "Sister Shen must be short of money, that's why she's not selling spicy strips anymore."

"Ugh."

"Spicy strips are such a delicious thing, I don't know how Sister Shen could bear to do that."

"At this point, there's only one path left to take..."

"Are you... looking for the Prince?" the servant asked, blinking.

Nangong Yao glared at the servant boy, got up, dusted himself off, and resignedly went to find his father.

He is indeed the heir of a prince's mansion, but he can't handle both a thousand taels of silver and an invitation.

It all comes down to who your father is.

He ran straight to Prince Chun's study.

"Father~"

Prince Chun put down his calligraphy brush, his face full of affection: "You've been quite well-behaved today, not running outside to play. What's up? Do you need something from your father?"

"Father, I want to eat hot pot."

Nangong Yao didn't waste any words and went straight to making his demands.

"hot pot?"

Prince Chun was stunned.

He had heard about this thing; it had been all over the capital this morning, with people saying it was incredibly miraculous and something that even immortals ate.

He completely disregarded this.

No matter how delicious the food is in the common people, can it be as delicious as the food in the palace?

This kid has been eating too much good food; he's even starting to get interested in junk food.

"They're just rumors. What's so delicious about it? Your father will take you to Grandmother's to eat the royal chef's cooking later."

"I'm not going, I want to eat hot pot." Nangong Yao tugged at Prince Chun's sleeve, his eyes filled with anticipation.

He didn't want to eat at the palace; aside from the strict rules, he felt the food there was nowhere near as good as spicy strips.

Spicy strips are the best!

If he can successfully eat hot pot, he will be able to see Sister Shen, and then he can persuade her to continue making spicy strips.

Ask your father to give Sister Shen more money and buy her a house, so that she can sell spicy strips without any restraint.

"Hot pot...I wonder if it's even clean..."

"Oh dear!" Nangong Yao grabbed Prince Chun's leg and begged, "Father, I beg you, I beg you, I really want to eat it, I really want to eat it."

"If you don't give me food, I won't eat today."

"No, that's not right, I'm not eating tomorrow either!"

Prince Chun looked helpless: "..."

Having a child late in life, and then having the son act all cute and affectionate towards him—who could resist that?

So, on a whim, he readily agreed: "Okay, Father will take you to eat."

"That's wonderful, Father! You are the best father in the whole world!!!"

Nangong Yao jumped three feet high.

He had his own agenda. He didn't want to tell his father about the spicy strips right now. He planned to see Sister Shen first and persuade her to make spicy strips.

He then used spicy strips to win over his father, so that he could legitimately ask his father for help in obtaining money and a house for Sister Shen.

"Father, we need invitations to eat hot pot, but we don't have any, what should we do?" Nangong Yao was very worried.

Prince Chun waved his hand: "Just relax and wait until tonight to have dinner."

"Go and find out who had hot pot last night, and get two invitations." He then turned to the servant beside him and said.

Servant: "Yes."

Now Nangong Yao was completely relieved.

As expected, Father is amazing; with just a word, anything can be accomplished!