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

After queuing for a while, Ms. Ruyan finally got her bowl of snail rice noodles.

Red oil floats on top, the dark red pig's trotters tremble precariously, and snow-white rice noodles are faintly visible in the soup.

"Try it, try it!" a girl urged from the side.

The unique aroma still lingered in my nostrils, but my curiosity only grew stronger.

Ru Yan gritted her teeth, picked up a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of soup, and tentatively sipped it.

The next moment, she raised her hand and covered her mouth, her eyebrows curving upwards, looking utterly astonished.

That's amazing! Absolutely amazing!

The broth is rich, spicy, and flavorful; even the unique aroma in the nose has transformed into a sour and tangy fragrance.

The freshness of the snails, the richness of the bone broth, the aroma of the seasonings, and the sourness of the pickled bamboo shoots blend together, instantly whetting one's appetite.

"How is it? Does it smell bad?"

"What does it taste like?"

A group of girls gathered around, chattering and asking questions.

Ruyan didn't have time to answer; she set her sights on the most tempting thing in the bowl—pig's trotters.

I couldn't wait to put it in my mouth.

Good heavens, it's so soft and chewy, it melts in your mouth without needing to chew at all, and it's packed with collagen.

The meat had absorbed the spiciness of the snail soup and the aroma of the braising sauce, and the rich, oily flavor made her squint her eyes.

My God! How can there be something so delicious in the world!

"Let me try it, let me have a taste!"

"I'll try it first!"

"Me first!"

"..."

Seeing Ruyan's expression, the other girls could tell that this snail rice noodle soup was exceptionally delicious, so they all started scrambling to get some.

Singing, dancing, and attracting customers were all forgotten; all they wanted was to quickly taste the snail rice noodles.

Upon seeing this, Ru Yan immediately put down her chopsticks and ran to Shen Qing's stall to join the queue.

She was ready to eat a whole bowl to her heart's content!

Immediately afterwards, all the girls who had tried the snail rice noodles followed, their eyes filled with surprise and anticipation.

Instantly, the line in front of Shen Qing's stall grew even longer.

By this time, Wu Zhuang had finished his second bowl, leaving not a single drop of noodles and soup, and his stomach was bulging.

When he saw that all the girls at Shuiyue Tower had run to line up, he instantly regretted it.

"Really, I should have bought a few more bowls earlier..." he muttered to himself.

He was full, but if he bought a few more bowls, Miss Ruyan and Miss Mudan wouldn't have to wait in line.

This was a perfect opportunity to curry favor, what a pity.

After thinking it over, Wu Zhuang still didn't want to miss this opportunity to show off.

He pulled out five taels of silver from his pocket, walked over, and threw it onto Shen Qing's stall: "Since I'm here, how can I just watch the ladies spend money? Today, the ladies' snail rice noodles are on me!"

He looked smug, and after speaking, he specifically looked at Ruyan in the group.

"Miss Ruyan, I'm so grateful to you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy such delicious snail rice noodles today. How about we eat snail rice noodles together tomorrow?"

"Of course, but Lord Wu must bring his poems and writings to Shuiyue Tower tomorrow, otherwise we may not be able to meet."

Ru Yan wore a formulaic smile.

Wu Zhuang frowned: "Aren't you going out to help attract customers tomorrow?"

"With such delicious snail rice noodles, we don't need to come out and attract customers. I'm afraid we'll have to queue up early tomorrow if we want to eat them," Ruyan said with a smile.

She didn't want to stay with Wuzhuang. When Madam Shen came tomorrow, she would just have the maids in the building come out to buy some, and then she would eat snail rice noodles at Shuiyue Tower!

Wu Zhuang: "Okay..."

The joy in his expression faded, replaced by some irritation, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Poetry and prose again, I really don't understand. You can't eat poetry and prose.

He wasn't wealthy enough. If he were rolling in money, he could have bought the Water Moon Pavilion and made Ruyan do whatever he wanted. He wouldn't be in such a passive position now.

I really don't understand. He was a top scholar in the imperial examination, yet he only held a sinecure in the Hanlin Academy, without any real benefits.

If only he could get a more lucrative and powerful official position...

The unique aroma of snail rice noodles lingered in Wu Zhuang's nostrils. Now, he didn't find it smelly at all; instead, he found it incredibly sour and fragrant, and extremely addictive.

"That's right!" he exclaimed, as if suddenly realizing something.

The Grand Secretary has a poor appetite, and this snail rice noodle soup is a unique and exquisite delicacy. If he were to present this snail rice noodle soup to the Grand Secretary, perhaps...

However, he can't do this himself; it's risky.

Wu Zhuang suddenly felt energized and hurried away without stopping.

......

The little beggar ran non-stop all the way to Prince Chun's mansion.

He easily crawled through the dog hole.

This dog hole leads to the courtyard of the young prince, Nangong Yao.

Upon entering the yard, he didn't run around aimlessly, but instead imitated a dog's bark a few times next to the dog hole.

"Woof woof woof—"

"Woof woof—"

This was the secret code that Nangong Yao and the others had agreed upon.

By barking near the dog hole, they can either attack or defend; if there are other people around, the little beggars can simply crawl out again.

They weren't worried at all about being discovered or caught.

Upon hearing this from inside the house, Nangong Yao knew that his men had arrived and hurriedly ran towards the dog hole.

"Young Master, Young Master—" The little beggar called out softly when he saw Nangong Yao, his eyes filled with excitement and surprise.

"Where's your boss? Why were you sent here?"

Nangong Yao didn't quite remember the little beggar.

He gathered a group of young beggars, and to make management easier, he specifically appointed a slightly older one as their leader.

Usually, it's the leader who comes to find him.

"Young Master, it's too late. I saw Madam Shen. She's selling a new kind of food. I was afraid of delaying your meal, so I didn't go to report to the boss and came straight here." The little beggar was very clever.

She clearly wanted to get noticed by Nangong Yao, but she insisted on saying it was for Nangong Yao's sake.

A group of beggars, though all beggars, were divided into different classes.

For example, the eldest son eats the best and receives the most silver. Every time the young prince rewards him, the eldest son gets more than half of it.

Those who had a good relationship with the boss received more food and silver.

This little beggar could only eat scraps, so he didn't care at all about the smell of the snail rice noodles.

When he learned that the snail rice noodles were made by Madam Shen, he got the idea to make them.

After all, nobody wants to stay at the bottom forever; everyone wants to climb up.

Nangong Yao's eyes lit up instantly: "You mean Sister Shen? Selling new food? What kind of food?"

"It's snail rice noodles, it smells amazing! Eating it is absolutely heavenly, it's incredible!"

"Where?"

"At the entrance of Shuiyue Tower!"