The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

The council hall of the Murong family was bustling with activity.

The business of making ice from saltpeter was becoming increasingly profitable, and the family head, Murong Fu, announced: "Making ice from saltpeter has already earned our Murong family over two hundred thousand taels of silver."

The clansmen in the council hall applauded and cheered.

Murong Yan received praise from the clan head, Murong Fu, once again for leading her clan to make a fortune and gaining their support.

Murong Changyu was criticized by the family head, Murong Fu, for opposing the investment of a large sum of money in ice making.

Murong Fu announced to his people, "From now on, the matter of making ice from saltpeter will be entirely entrusted to Murong Yan."

Upon hearing the patriarch's words, the clansmen all surrounded Murong Yan, showering her with compliments.

"The Sixth Miss is a prodigy!"

"Sixth Miss is a lucky star for our Murong family."

"The Sixth Miss is the future hope of the Murong family."

Murong Yan listened to her clansmen's praises with a smug look on her face, feeling that she had a good chance of defeating Murong Changyu and becoming the next head of the Murong family.

She is much more confident than that Miss Su.

Unfortunately, these words of praise were quickly interrupted.

The scout returned and reported: "Master Murong, Miss Su has opened a new restaurant called Gu's Restaurant, and business is booming, even better than the best restaurant in the capital, Zhaixinglou."

The Star-Picking Tower was owned by the Murong family, so the members of the Murong family focused all their attention on Su Qianqian and had no mood to praise Murong Yan anymore.

Murong Yan was furious; her greatest wish was to defeat Su Qianqian.

Now, by making ice from saltpeter, we earn a lot of money every day. Is that still not as good as that girl Su Qianqian?

Murong Yan asked in confusion, "In such sweltering weather, rich people shouldn't like to go out, so why is Gu's Restaurant so popular?"

The scout replied, "The ice in their restaurant is like it's free; it fills the entire lobby. Many wealthy people go there and sit there all day just to escape the heat."

Murong Fu smiled.

"In that case, Gu's must consume a lot of ice every day. Ice is not cheap these days. I want to see how long that girl's money can last."

Murong Fu also arranged for ten cartloads of ice to be transported to the Star-Picking Tower.

Isn't it just a contest of who has more ice? The Murong family has a large stockpile of saltpeter, so ice is the last thing they need.

This battle must be fought to the end, until that little girl loses.

Zhaixinglou has branches in the capitals of Western Xia and Southern Yue, and it has been the Murong family's brand and foundation for hundreds of years. It must not fall.

Murong Yan was also very confident and decided to fight Su to the death.

"Father, Su Qianqian is just a peasant girl who grew up in a poor rural area. She is definitely no match for our Murong family."

Murong Yan felt that she was the real female protagonist who had transmigrated.

Confident that with the support of the family head and the backing of the Seventh Prince of Nan Yue, she was certain she could defeat Su Qianqian, who came from a peasant background.

Murong Fu didn't take Su Qianqian seriously either. He was a man in his fifties, how could he be defeated by a teenage girl!

As long as the Star-Picking Tower is also filled with ice, business will definitely recover to normal.

Zhaixinglou is, after all, a centuries-old brand, and it won't fall so easily.

"The Star-Picking Tower must be saved. Pass on my order: from now on, send ten cartloads of ice to the Star-Picking Tower every day."

\

This summer has been unusually hot, and the price of ice has been soaring.

Gu Ji Restaurant's Beijing branch opened under such extreme circumstances, on the same street as Gu Ji Teahouse.

It has to be said that Xu Ruofeng had good foresight, buying a large number of shops on this street in advance, and now the prices of shops on this street have skyrocketed.

Gu's Restaurant has only been open for two days, but business is already booming.

A long line of people waited outside the gate for their meals.

Su Qianqian had a huge oil-paper umbrella erected outside the gate. This umbrella was specially made by a craftsman, and under each umbrella was a wooden basin filled with ice water.

Guests lined up under the umbrellas, where they could wash their hands in the ice water or wet their handkerchiefs with ice water to cool down.

Gu's Restaurant also started selling mung bean milk ice cream outside its main entrance.

Previously, Gong Yu had helped Su Qianqian buy many milk-producing sheep and cows, which were raised on a farm in the suburbs.

Therefore, Su Qianqian had no shortage of milk.

Making mung bean milk ice cream requires very little skill; the only requirement is a cellar filled with ice.

Mix cooked mung beans with milk and sugar, put the mixture into a wooden mold, and then put it in the ice cellar in the backyard of the restaurant to freeze for two hours. That's how it's made.

On a hot summer day, nothing beats a slice of mung bean and milk ice cream.

The Third Prince of Nan Yue, Huangfu Hong, knew that the Seventh Prince was going to deal with Su Qianqian. He felt that he needed to know himself and his enemy to have a better chance of winning, so he changed into plain clothes and went to Gu's Restaurant.

Huangfu Hong entered the restaurant lobby and found many ice basins displayed there.

So many wooden basins filled with ice were placed in the lobby, making the whole lobby feel as cool as if air conditioning was on.

The food was delicious, and Huangfu Hong had a great appetite, ordering all the signature dishes until he was stuffed.

He finally understood why there were so many people queuing outside; eating at Gu Ji's restaurant meant enjoying both coolness and exquisite taste.

No wonder the business is so booming.

Although the Sifangguan, which entertained foreign envoys, also had ice, it was nowhere near as cool as Gu Ji Restaurant.

So Huangfu Hong didn't go back after lunch, and after dinner he didn't want to go back to the steamy Sifang Restaurant either, until Gu's Restaurant closed, at which point he had no choice but to go back.

But he spent money to buy 100 mung bean milk ice creams and brought them back to Sifangguan, because Gu Ji Restaurant had a rule that if you bought 100 ice creams, you would get two brick-sized ice cubes for free.

After the restaurant closed, Su Qianqian carried a lantern to the cellar in the backyard of the restaurant.

She noticed that only half of the ice remained in the cellar, so she took some out from her spatial storage and refilled the cellar.

Murong Fu assumed that the ice at Gu's Restaurant was bought at a high price, but little did he know that Su Qianqian hadn't spent a single penny.

It's all ice blocks taken from various rivers and lakes last winter and hidden in the space.

The main hall of the Murong family's Zhaixing Tower was also filled with ice, but business remained sluggish for the next few days.

Murong Fu was very troubled by this.

As the dignified head of the Murong family, he had traversed four kingdoms and crossed more bridges than others had walked roads; there was no way he could lose to an unknown little girl.

Ice is very expensive now. Zhaixinglou consumes ten truckloads of ice every day, which is very costly and a huge expense, but business is still not improving.

What went wrong?

Murong Fu lay in bed all night, unable to sleep.

The once arrogant Murong family has encountered a formidable opponent for the first time.

The Star-Picking Tower is the foundation of the Murong family's centuries-old business; it must not be destroyed in his hands.

He wanted to see what was so special about the dishes at Gu's Restaurant.