CHAPTER 246: CHAPTER 248: PLUCKING THE CROWN PRINCESS CONSORT’S WOOL

That day at noon, Nalan Yan’er arrived at Chuyue Tower as usual. The place was packed, with guests occupying every seat both upstairs and downstairs.

Nalan Yan’er was very satisfied and was about to leave.

At that moment, a customer sitting by the street suddenly raised his voice.

"Manager, there’s something off about this dish."

Nalan Yan’er’s steps involuntarily paused.

Her expression turned unpleasant—was someone here to cause trouble?

The manager hurried over.

"Esteemed customer, this dish is a specialty of Chuyue Tower, and customers have always been very satisfied with it. Could you tell us what seems wrong with its taste?"

"Why don’t you try it yourself? They say the cuisine at Chuyue Tower is exceptionally unique, but I think it’s nothing special."

The customer pushed the dish towards the manager.

The manager was about to get angry, but a gentle voice came from behind.

"Esteemed customer, please calm your anger..."

Moments later, in the dining room of Chuyue Tower, Nalan Yan’er’s face was ashen.

"What’s the deal with this dish?"

The problematic dish lay right there.

The manager initially thought the other party was just causing trouble, but after tasting the dish themselves, they realized that something was indeed off with the flavor.

"Reporting to Crown Princess Consort, the ingredients were all fresh and prepared by our head chef."

In the dining room, the group of head chefs and kitchen helpers exchanged puzzled looks.

"How dare you lie? If both the ingredients and the chef aren’t the issue, could it be that my taste buds are at fault?"

Nalan Yan’er’s face turned unsightly.

During the conversation, the manager hurried back in.

"Reporting to Crown Princess Consort, it’s not good. Several tables of dishes are problematic, and now people are causing a commotion outside."

Nalan Yan’er’s face turned even more unpleasant.

Just like the earlier customer, the taste of the food was all wrong.

In no time, the previously fully-seated Chuyue Tower was deserted, and to quell the anger of guests, Nalan Yan’er had no choice but to comp their meals.

When Hua Wushang arrived, Nalan Yan’er was still fuming, having scolded everyone from Chuyue Tower.

"Who upset the Crown Princess Consort?"

Hua Wushang walked in with a smile.

"Wushang, you’ve come at the perfect time. These dog slaves hid the truth from me and used inferior ingredients. They’re about to ruin Chuyue Tower’s reputation."

Nalan Yan’er spoke angrily.

After Hua Wushang examined the ingredients, he gently shook his head.

"There’s nothing wrong with the ingredients. Bring me the oyster sauce."

When Hua Wushang examined the oyster sauce, his expression changed.

"The oyster sauce has spoiled."

Spoiled?

Upon hearing this, Nalan Yan’er’s face suddenly turned pale.

Nalan Yan’er ordered the rest of the oyster sauce to be brought over.

But upon inspecting them, without exception, they had all spoiled.

Nalan Yan’er’s face turned terrible, and Hua Wushang’s brows also furrowed.

Without this batch of properly prepared oyster sauce, and the fishermen having harvested all the oysters from the seashore, Chuyue Tower faced a big problem—they had no oyster sauce available.

Customers accustomed to oyster sauce were naturally dissatisfied, and Chuyue Tower’s business declined day by day.

It was then that Chef Liu secretly brought some good news.

"Manager Zhang from Zuixian Inn is willing to take the risk to sell us some oyster sauce?"

Nalan Yan’er was very pleased upon hearing this news.

"But the price is steep, five hundred taels for one jar."

Chef Liu said cautiously.

Looking across the street corner at Zuixian Inn, which was still doing good business even at night, Nalan Yan’er clenched her teeth.

"Buy it."

Hua Wushang, sitting opposite her, remained silent, merely playing with the cup in his hand.

In Zuixian Inn, when Manager Zhang handed over the silver notes to Feng Bailing and Ouyang Chenchen, Ouyang Chenchen could hardly believe their eyes.

"She really bought it?"

Ouyang Chenchen, hearing that Nalan Yan’er had actually paid a high price for the oyster sauce, laughed so hard he couldn’t stand straight.

"Yes, she bought it. And since this stuff doesn’t keep for long, she’ll have to keep buying it every now and then. This is quite a substantial income."

Feng Bailing calculated that they could earn at least several thousand taels every month.

"Actually, oyster sauce is really very handy, only it’s difficult to preserve. If there was a way to keep it fresh for a longer time, I believe it would be very valuable, even if sold to Daye or other countries."

Ouyang Chenchen expressed with some regret.

"To have a longer shelf life... If only we could seal the oyster sauce with wax."

Feng Bailing pondered thoughtfully.

However, with their recent venture into selling oyster sauce, Feng Bailing thought of a quick path to riches:

That was to resell supplies to Nalan Yan’er. With the Crown Princess Consort needing oyster sauce as well as beer, milk tea, and other goods, Feng Bailing, using Manager Zhang as a mediator, would sell some every so often.

Beer and milk tea were consumables and sold quickly. Plus, Chuyue Tower had a customer base that Zuixian Inn could not compare with. In just half a month, Feng Bailing made a profit of more than fifty thousand taels.

What Feng Bailing didn’t expect was that this flipping of goods almost caused a huge disaster without careful attention.