Yuxi did not send out any invitations when the restaurant opened. If the restaurant had good food and wine, there was no need to worry about the business going bad. Once the excellent reputation of the place spread out, even the official family ladies would seek the site out. Thus, there was no need to sell their face for now.
So on the restaurant's opening day, none of the people from official families attended. However, this did not mean that business was not good. All the officers under Yun Qing, as long as they were on leave, all went over to show their support. After the wine was served, everyone said that the wine was strong enough and tasty. After taking a sip, one of the captains even exclaimed, "This is the real wine. What we used to drink was water. That can't be called wine." On this day, for those who went to the restaurant, not many returned home sober.
Xu Wu also went there to eat. Once he was done eating and went back to the residence, he shared his views with the other guards. "Did you know that red braised pork belly was made from meat that was not too fat and not too lean, smelled so fragrant and sweet and was so tender that it just melted in the mouth? The taste was really great. Furthermore, that sweet and sour fish. This Old Xu did not like to eat sour food, but that dish was deliciously sweet despite the sourness. The outside was crispy, but the inside was tender. Its tastiness was beyond compare......" He spoke about all the six dishes in one breath, where everything tasted delicious.
A depressed guard beside him asked, "In the end, which dish is the most delicious?" If he couldn't miss eating any of the dishes, did this mean he had to order all of them when it was his turn to go there next time?
A staggering Xu Daniu said, "They are all delicious. I can guarantee that you won't regret eating any of them." Today he was on leave, so he could go to bed early.
This restaurant was mainly dependent on word of mouth. If only a person said the dish's taste was good, it could be said that it was the person's personal preference. But if ten to twenty people said the same thing, the next person who heard it would certainly go there to taste one or two dishes.
Yuxi opened this restaurant to collect information. Therefore, apart from the rare material dishes, the price was in the medium range, which even an average person could afford. Plus, the restaurant wine tasted mellow, and the business gradually prospered.
Yun Qing only had a drink when socialising. He rarely did it on weekdays. However, he kept on hearing Guo Xun, Yu Cong and the others praising the goodness of their restaurant wine for tasting very mellow. After returning home, he smiled and told Yuxi, "When I am free one day, I'll have a taste of our home-brewed wine."
Yuxi laughed and said, "It's not home-brewed. It was just done with an extra process." This process was very simple.
Yun Qing was curious and asked, "Yuxi, where did you get this recipe? You didn't figure it out by yourself, did you?" Although the process was simple, no one had come up with it yet. Please read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com.
Yuxi smiled as she responded, "I don't drink, so what's the point of thinking about this stuff? This was something that Momo Quan discovered unintentionally. Oh, Momo Quan was my nurturing momo, and she was the one who taught me pharmacology."
Yun Qing sighed a little. "She even gave you such a recipe too?" This momo had been really good to Yuxi.
Yuxi nodded her head and said, "It's just a pity that I didn't inherit Momo's mantle. Her medicinal food was not only nutritious, but it was also delicious."
Remembering when he almost ate that medicinal food, his stomach immediately became upset just by thinking about it. In response, Yun Qing immediately changed the subject and stated. "Since the restaurant's affairs have been handed over to the Steward and Hao Dazhuang to manage, you should not worry much about it."
Yuxi touched her belly, already showing a little bulge, and promised, "Don't worry. I won't make light of myself and my child."
The two of them were about to take their rest when Guo Xun called out from outside. "General, the enemy troops have conducted a night attack."
Yun Qing immediately got up, and when he saw that Yuxi was about to do the same, he stopped her. "Don't get up. I'll be leaving right away." After saying that, he got dressed and walked out. In the blink of an eye, his whole person disappeared from her sight.
Yuxi sighed. This was probably just the beginning, and such things would happen more often in the future. She also had to get used to it as soon as possible. After rubbing her stomach, Yuxi went back to bed.
Zijin came in and saw that everything was normal for Yuxi, but she still complained, "These people, really! Madam, they know you're pregnant and still don't know how to be tactful. What if you get scared?" These people were too inconsiderate. She couldn't let this happen again next time.
Yuxi chuckled. "I'm not made from paper. There's no way I will get scared that easily. All right, let's just go back to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow!"
Zijin was still worried about Yuxi when she said, "Madam, I will be on night duty tonight!"
Yuxi shook her head. "Just let Mama Qu do it." Mama Qu was more experienced and could handle it well if anything was wrong. As for Zijin, forget it!
Zijin nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll go out and talk to Mama Qu."
When Mama Qu entered the room, Yuxi was already closing her eyes. Looking at Yuxi, who seemed very calm, Mama Qu gently walked to the table and blew out the lamp.
By noon the next day, Yuxi learned that General Sukhbaru, the western barbarians, had led 50,000 troops to attack Yu City. Last night's attack was just the beginning. Even without thinking about it, she knew it had been a vicious battle.
Yuxi called Xu Wu and asked, "How many men and horses are there in Yu City?" These days, although she heard a lot of things, she knew nothing about the manpower and military reserves of Yu City. However, this was confidential, and since Yun Qing didn't want to tell her, she didn't ask.
Xu Wu was a little surprised. He didn't expect Yuxi would ask him this question. However, he did not answer but said, "Madam, don't worry. Yu City is easy to defend and hard for others to attack. Everything will be fine."
Yuxi frowned and hit back at him. "Don't be too rigid. Even then, Tong City's city gate towers were considered solid and well protected. However, the Donghu barbarians still managed to destroy the city."
Xu Wu's whole body flinched at these words and vowed, "Madam, don't worry. This subordinate vows to protect Madam's safety."
Yuxi was speechless. That wasn't the main issue she wanted to point out. "I mean, it is easy to dodge the spear in the open, but hard to avoid a stab in the dark. Shouldn't we send someone to pay attention to the movement inside the city? Tong City was broken because of collusion between the people from inside and outside."
Xu Wu glanced at Yuxi in surprise and wondered in his heart, wasn't it said that well-bred girl never stepped out of the second gate? So how did Madam know about Tong City? But this was not something he should delve into, as he hurriedly said, "I will talk to my Yifu about this." His duty was to protect Yuxi's safety. Other than that was not his business.
Yun Qing did not return home for two days. When Yuxi asked Xu Wu, he only answered, "Madam, the enemy army has not retreated. They have camped 30 li away. Hence, the General has no way to return."
Yuxi knew nothing about going to war. Although she had read the art of war books, they were mere military tactics on paper. After hearing Xu Wu's explanation, she had no choice but to hold back.
However, when Xu Wu gave her the same excuse another day, Yuxi knew something was wrong. "Tell me honestly, is the General wounded?" The enemy attacked them with 50,000 troops, and with how astonishing the consumption of army rations these days, how could they still wait on guard 30 li away outside the city?
Xu Wu shook his head and comforted, "Madam, the General is fine. Madam doesn't have to indulge in flights of fancy."
Yuxi snorted coldly and countered, "Do you think I am a three-year-old child? Hurry up and send someone to tell him that if he doesn't come back tonight, I'll find him myself."
Xu Wu was in a cold sweat. He just couldn't understand how Madam could conclude that the General was injured. He had cut off all the news and properly pacified Yu Zhi.
A shichen later, Yun Qing arrived home.
Yuxi looked at Yun Qing, wearing full armour and asked, "Have you hurt your hand?"
Yun Qing laughed bitterly. He originally wanted to hide it from Yuxi, but he didn't expect to be exposed as soon as he entered the door. But before he could say anything, Xu Wu first asked, "How did Madam know about this?" He had cut off all the news from outside; hence there was no way for Madam to find out about it.
Yuxi would have rolled her eyes if she didn't care about her image. Not to mention Yun Qing didn't sway his left hand when he came in. Once she pointed it out, she couldn't help noticing the problem immediately after he obviously pulled the injured hand a bit higher than usual. The good thing was that the injury was on his left hand, and the situation did not look too serious. Otherwise, she certainly would not be as calm as she was now. However, since Xu Wu helped Yun Qing conceal his injury, Yuxi didn't like to see Xu Wu anymore. She didn't even spare a glance at Xu Wu. She just said to Yun Qing, "Go inside!" She turned around and asked Zijin to bring in medicine for his injuries.
Yun Qing hastily said, "I've already applied medicine to it."
Yuxi glanced disdainfully at Yun Qing and asked, "Are you going in or not?" The fact that he was injured and even dared to hide it from her made Yuxi very angry.
It was the first time Yun Qing saw Yuxi so angry, but thinking that she must have been worried and frightened in the past few days, he felt a little guilty and honestly entered the room.
When Xu Wu looked at Yun Qing's behaviour, he was somewhat flabbergasted. Could it be that his General was really afraid of his wife? No, it must be because Madam was pregnant. [+]
After Yun Qing took off his armour, Yuxi stared at the white cloth on his hand that had been soaked with blood. Her tears immediately fell. While feeling heartbroken and angry, she scolded him. "Why are you still wearing your armour when you are already bleeding? Do you think you are an ironman? Huh?"
Yun Qing originally planned to return to show his face, say a few words to Yuxi, and then circle back to the barracks after reassuring her. He didn't know that Yuxi was so sharp-eyed and could see his left hand being injured at a glance. Seeing that Yuxi was dropping tears while walking forward to untie the white cloth, he said, "Don't touch it. Just let others do it."
Instead of listening to Yun Qing's words, Yuxi quickly instructed Mama Qu, "Go get a pot of hot water."
After giving out the instruction, Yuxi wiped her tears and pried open the blood-soaked white cloth by herself, revealing the hideous and horrible wound. She was not frightened by the injury and the blood that oozed out. She unscrewed the medicine bottle brought by Zijin and carefully sprinkled the powder on the wound.
Yun Qing's ability to endure pain is not ordinary. Only when the powder fell on the wound did his face distort a little, and his expression returned to normal not long after.
This medicine was very effective. After the powder was sprinkled on it, the blood instantly stopped oozing out. By this time, Mama Qu had just brought in a basin of hot water with a white towel soaked inside. Yuxi took the towel out and wiped her arm clean, then instructed Zijin, "Go get the white gauze from the other room."
However, Yun Qing's attention was on the small green bottle in Yuxi's hand and asked, "Yuxi, what kind of medicine is this?" How could people who were often injured not know that this was a good medicine of the highest quality? If there was more of this medicine, he didn't know how many soldiers' casualties could be lessened by using it in the future.
Yuxi shook her head as she answered, "This medicine is prepared by Master Yang, and it has a miraculous effect on stopping bleeding." The stuff was good, but Master Yang was also too stingy. He only gave her three bottles of it in exchange for a piece of musk from her, plus three months of free food and drink in the restaurant. Since it was indeed good medicine, she had to cut off a piece of her flesh to purchase them from him.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi