Transmigrated as the Villain: Punching the Protagonist Group and Stepping on the Domestic Abuser - Chapter 11

The little-known restaurant enjoyed soaring business, and the main hall on the first floor was packed to the brim. Those who came here naturally did so for those novel signature dishes.

Ji Miaotong considered himself someone who had tasted all the delicacies under heaven, yet the dishes prepared by this cook named Fusheng were truly unlike anything he had ever seen. Some were sweet and sour, some were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and others were savory, fragrant, spicy, and numbing. In short, they offered a hundred different flavors, every single one of them bright in color, exquisite, and delicious.

Having tasted them one by one, Ji Miaotong’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands to summon his servant and instructed in a low voice, “Prepare a gift. Once the crowd disperses, send it to the proprietor of this restaurant, state our background, and tell them I want to meet this extraordinary person!”

The servant repeatedly agreed.

Not just him, but gasps of admiration rose and fell throughout the hall.

After the dishes were served, the fragrance drifted outward. Not only the guests inside the shop but even those peering from outside involuntarily swallowed their saliva. When they wanted to enter, they were informed that no more guests would be received today, prompting them to sigh in regret.

Among the crowd, an inconspicuous man tightly furrowed his brows, his gaze fixed on Fusheng Pavilion filled with deep resentment and jealousy. He stared for a long while before retreating along with the crowd.

While busy, the waiter glanced outside and caught sight of a familiar figure. He paused, but when he looked again, the person was gone.

The shopkeeper, Xu Xing, urged, “What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and serve the dishes! The guests are waiting!”

The waiter came back to his senses and said, “No, it seemed to me just now that Song He was outside.”

Xu Xing glanced outside and didn’t pay it much mind. “Never mind him.”

The atmosphere in the main hall was blazing. In the back kitchen, Rong Se was also busy working up a storm. With a black mask covering his face, he solely focused on stir-frying, deep-frying, and pan-searing. Two kitchen assistants hurried to prep ingredients and tend the fire, keeping the serving speed quite fast.

Blue Oriole hurriedly lifted her skirt and stepped inside, pulling close to Rong Se to whisper, “According to Your Highness’s instructions, there are only fifteen tables of guests today. Also, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Ji Miaotong, is outside.”

Rong Se lowered his voice and asked, “He doesn’t recognize you, does he?”

Blue Oriole nodded. “This subordinate is seldom seen in the open, so he has never laid eyes on me. Still, Your Highness must be careful.”

Rong Se replied, “Alright.”

In a world where people cross paths constantly, even with this mask hiding his face, there was no guarantee that Ji Miaotong wouldn’t recognize him.

After bustling about for a while, Xu Xing and the waiter ran back and forth until the guests in the hall finally dispersed. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Xu Xing clicked an abacus behind the counter, smiling from ear to ear.

The servant beside Ji Miaotong stepped forward, respectfully presenting a money pouch with both hands, and smiled. “Shopkeeper, my master, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Lord Ji, wishes to see the proprietor of Fusheng Pavilion. May I ask you to announce his request?”

Seeing that this person’s attitude was amiable, polite, and that he announced his position as a high-ranking official, Xu Xing hesitated inwardly.

A merchant does not contend with officials, let alone in Jinjing where one could not afford to disrespect such a powerful and influential official like Lord Ji. However, the proprietor’s temperament was unique.

Before words of refusal could leave his mouth, Blue Oriole stepped forward and pushed the money pouch back, smiling as she said, “Our proprietor does not receive guests. Little Sir, if you have anything to say, you can just speak to me.”

The servant was stunned for a moment, and his expression sank. “Is this young lady refusing to give face to our lord?”

Blue Oriole thought to herself that she was merely saving their lord from being frightened. On the surface, she maintained a slick, all-sides-pleasing smile and said, “Why is the Little Sir getting upset? Since my master refuses to see guests, he naturally has his reasons. If you are a wise man, you should go back and report to your master right now, instead of pestering us here and risking trouble knocking on your door!”

This speech was quite sharp. Remembering his master’s instructions, the servant didn’t dare to press further for the moment and returned with the money pouch.

When Ji Miaotong learned of this, his expression darkened slightly. He lowered his voice and said, “Then so be it.”

Jinjing was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons resided, with extremely complex entanglements. If there truly were some major figures standing behind Fusheng Pavilion, it was better to avoid stirring up unnecessary trouble.

After pondering back and forth, Ji Miaotong clapped his hand down. “Forget it! For today’s offense, I shall go take a trip there myself! At least let us avoid creating any rift!”

When Rong Se learned that Ji Miaotong had come personally to offer an apology, he was slightly startled. He picked up the money pouch, tossed it gently in his hand, and smiled. “He certainly knows how to play the game of human relations.”

As expected, supporting characters who managed to survive until the finale all had their wits about them.

Within three days of this incident, the reputation of Fusheng Pavilion completely resonated throughout Jinjing. Discussions buzzed in every street and alley, shifting from initial skepticism to one-sided praise.

With Fusheng Pavilion flourishing, Rong Se naturally could not sustain the entire restaurant by himself, especially since he still had the original owner’s mountain-like pile of official documents to read. He therefore gave orders to recruit two new head chefs, while he himself went by the moniker Fusheng to spend two hours at Fusheng Pavilion after finishing the morning court session.

Only during these two hours could one eat dishes personally prepared by the proprietor of Fusheng Pavilion. For a time, countless dignitaries and nobles vied with one another to make reservations, all just to taste the specialty dishes of Fusheng Pavilion, which had been hailed as the premier restaurant in Jinjing.

On this day, just as Rong Se returned from the court session and changed into Fusheng’s signature black attire, pinning up his hair and donning his mask, Blue Oriole came to report. “Your Highness, the Prince of Huanyang entered the capital last night and wants to host a banquet at Fusheng Pavilion, explicitly requesting dishes personally prepared by Fusheng.”

“The Prince of Huanyang?” Rong Se didn’t recall immediately. “Who?”

“The Prince of Huanyang from Xiangzhou!” Blue Oriole gathered intelligence all day long and wasn’t like Yun Chu, who only understood business. She explained, “That is the maternal family of the Marquis of Dingbei, Liang Shenyu. The Marquis of Dingbei’s biological mother, Yan Qingru, was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Huan’s estate. This Yan Wanze is a concubine-born son, but the old Duke had only this one son. After the old Duke passed away, he inherited the peerage and title of Prince. Whatever family fortune the old Duke had left was long gone. His entry into the capital this time is undoubtedly targeted at the Marquis of Dingbei.”

Rong Se began to recall.

With that explanation, he remembered as well. This Yan Wanze was a parasite who survived by bleeding his father and his own older sister. Back then, the disastrous defeat at Guzhu Ridge led to the Marquis of Dingbei’s heir, Liang Wenyu, and the second son, Liang Qingyu, dying successively on the mountain. The heir’s wife, consumed by grief, suffered a miscarriage and died of massive hemorrhaging, while the old Marquis was also shot to death by random arrows on the battlefield. For a time, the Marquis of Dingbei’s estate fell into desolate decline, and describing it as a towering mansion collapsing would not be an exaggeration.

Yan Wanze not only severed all ties with the Marquis of Dingbei’s estate but even seized the opportunity to kick them while they were down, plotting and plundering a significant amount of the Marquis estate’s wealth. This episode also existed in the original book. Yan Wanze loved gambling and was deeply in debt; coming to the capital, he wanted to beg Liang Shenyu for support. Rong Jing devised a scheme, having Yan Wanze cross paths with Rong Se so as to use Rong Se’s hands to eliminate this relative for Liang Shenyu.

What was strange, however, was that in the original book, this person didn’t arrive in Jinjing until two months after Rong Jing’s ascension. Counting it carefully, he hadn’t even transmigrated for twenty days yet, so why had the man already arrived?

Blue Oriole added, “This time Yan Wanze is hosting a banquet, and the person he invited is none other than the Marquis of Dingbei. He really has some nerve. Given how shameless their behavior was back then, considering they aren’t hiding out of fear of the Marquis of Dingbei’s revenge, they actually have the gall to present themselves right in front of him.”

“Gamblers, after all,” Rong Se remarked, “are completely shameless.”

A flash of disgust crossed Blue Oriole’s eyes as she nodded and asked, “Then, Your Highness, are you still going?”

“Of course, I’m going, why wouldn’t I?” Rong Se smoothed his cuffs as he walked outward. “One must appreciate rare spectacles together, right? This Prince has never seen anyone so shameless; I must go witness it.”

He had intended to alter his destined path of certain death, yet the twists of fate were capricious; the Prince of Huanyang’s estate had somehow been delivered right under his nose, as if the trajectory of fate, amidst its deviations, was stubbornly attempting to return to the proper track of the original book.

That being the case, he would just have to measure swords and trade blows with destiny itself!