Chapter 104: Still Water Runs Deep

　　It was truly surprising to him that Shen Lian had this attitude.

　　Zhao Xiang was still spending his effort in coming up with an explanation to get ready to convince Shen Lian again.

　　But, Shen Lian said, “His Majesty has five sons, three of them had been the Crown Prince. The previous Crown Prince was the most virtuous and able but he died a strange death. Your uncle was once the Crown Prince but now he is dethroned and confined for life. However, only your father had never been in his Majesty’s favor before, but in his new reign, he was designated as the Crown Prince. Furthermore, who would not know that the position of the Crown Prince is a fiery pit now? Your father should have declined but he still gladly accepted it. Words on the streets are that your father is cowardly and slow-witted. Could it be that you, being his son, think so too?”

　　Zhao Xiang held his breath when he heard this. Since young, he had been valiant and decisive, even his heartless grandmother showed her appreciation towards him. Compared to the cold treatment of his grandmother towards his father, it could be said that that was an obvious comparison.

　　People had said that his father had been designated as the Crown Prince because of his grandmother’s love towards him. However, he had studied history as a child and understood the complexity of the situation, he should not simply jump into the imperial power struggle that was going on. But his father did not decline, he gladly accepted after hearing the decree.

　　That month while he was in the imperial city, it was like he was on thin ice. His father, on the other hand, came down with this strange illness, which caused the group of doctors to be at a brink of helplessness.

　　Of course, what really disheartened him was the fact that his grandmother did not even bother to question this matter.

　　Even if he had the makings of an Emperor, he was still young so he was confused and troubled, or else he would not have sought out for Shen Lian.

　　There was a profound theory to Shen Lian’s statement. As a son, naturally he was the one who really understood his father. Therefore, he would feel that his father was not the brightest since he did not know how to get his own mother to like him and he too, did not know how to purposely keep his distance between the group of subjects and keep a low profile. All along, he had been conforming and did not have his own opinions.

　　But now that he really thought about it, their family had been peaceful up until now for so many years.

　　Zhao Xiang was an intelligent person and thoroughly understood Shen Lian after getting the hint. At that moment, he felt that Shen Lian was scary and could not help but be suspicious of a figure like Shen Lian. His approaches were formidable and he possessed such knowledge, what was he conspiring about?

　　He did not ask and buried this uncertainty inside him, his face did not show anything.

　　They chatted idly for a while and Zhao Xiang left.

　　Shen Lian watched as Zhao Xiang left and then averted his gaze to the Imperial City, the prestige of it was getting heavier by the moment.

　　“Big brother, I’m hungry.” From behind, Ruoxi’s young voice rang.

　　Shen Lian picked her up and chuckled lightly, “You’re not going to go out and scrounge for free meals today?”

　　“I want to eat something delicious.” Ruoxi held onto Shen Lian’s chin. “Big brother’s face is really smooth, there is not a fine hair on it.”

　　Shen Lian replied, “Then we’ll go to ‘Fu Man Lou’ today and have the roast duck. Do you want to drink alcohol?”

　　“Xi Er is still young, I cannot drink, big brother should not drink also.” Ruoxi tugged on a strand of Shen Lian’s hair.

　　******

　　There were no storeys in Fu Man Lou. It was situated on the neighboring street. There was a river to the side of the street, called Anping Canal. This man-made river was Shendu’s widest flowing river, which spans over two hundred feet.

　　This was dug after the Empress had personally given her orders, which benefited the large crop fields outside of the city. Before that, the rice in the imperial city was expensive and life in the city was hard. Ever since having Anping Canal, the Empress then ordered people to research and develop finer breeds of rice. The price of rice in Shendu decreased over the years.

　　Policies such as this by the Empress were many. Even though they had to change the designation of an imperial reign for the Empress, it was not a bad thing for the common folks.

　　Fu Man Lou was not a restaurant but a tavern near the Anping Canal.

　　The owner of the tavern was a beautiful married woman. Many came to eat and drink just to catch a glimpse of her.

　　It was said that she was a widow and she wanted a happy household. It was also said that she wanted to transform the tavern into a restaurant, therefore, she gave this small shop the name ‘Fu Man Lou’.

　　Fu Man Lou was not packed to the brim with customers every day. After all, the customers that come with the intention to take advantage of the woman would not come after not being able to get their hands on her.

　　But the lady owner did not only have looked but she also had good cooking. Initially, this made a lot of customers stay but she also had a shortcoming. The food she made was sometimes good and sometimes bad.

　　When it was good, not even the imperial cooks could compare to it. When it was bad, it was worse than pig food.

　　It was indistinguishable based on appearance, it could only be felt when it was being eaten.

　　Shen Lian only came to eat once and that was almost two months ago. He had better luck then, the roast duck he had still made him think about how good it was.

　　But Shen Lian was still shocked when he came here because there was not a customer during this hour, and that was pitiful.

　　The lady owner was in her thirties and she still had a graceful bearing. When she saw Shen Lian, she welcomed him with mirth. Her small waist unintentionally swayed like the willow branch in the wind, her slender figure was graceful.

　　“What would you like to eat, mister?” She asked.

　　Ruoxi already answered first, “Two roast ducks, no alcohol.”

　　The owner chuckled, as though she was amused by little Ruoxi and then looked at Shen Lian. Shen Lian nodded, showing that he agreed.

　　Then the owner shouted, “Xiao Bai, quickly wipe this customer’s table. I am going to cook.”

　　Once that was said, she went straight to the back kitchen.

　　The worker known as Xiao Bai, who was originally laid down at a corner got up when he heard the owner’s voice.

　　Xiao Bai was still a juvenile. His face was cold, as though people had owed him a lot of money. When he saw Shen Lian, he was a little hesitant, but Shen Lian was unresponsive.

　　Xiao Bai was that person who Shen Lian had saved along the way while the person was being chased down by his rivals.

　　His real name was Bai Shaoliu. That night, he had lost too much blood and later collapsed at the entrance of this tavern. He was saved by the lady owner.

　　Bai Shaoliu felt some familiarity when he met Shen Lian but he could not remember the time they had met. Everything happened that night in a blur so he was not able to click Shen Lian together.

　　After a while, a pan of roast duck was served. The slices were very even. The ordinary person could only see the surface but to Shen Lian’s eyes, it was the perfect performance of knife skills.

　　That pan of roast duck was very skillfully prepared, with the thin knife cutting into the crevices, it caused the meat and bone to be separated.

　　Actually, not many noticed that the best feature of the owner was not her waist but her hands. It was fair exquisite and not even coarse.

　　Of course, even though the lady owner was out of the ordinary, Shen Lian only came here for the food and nothing else.

　　Even though he had stopped eating the five grains and cooked food, he still has the desire to eat.

　　The seasonings were good, it was even better than the first time he had it. The lady owner naturally did not accompany Shen Lian while he ate while Bai Shaoliu was leaning on the door and basked after the sun once he’s wiped the table clean. He did not greet the customers and the lady owner did not let him hook in business.

　　It was near the waters which made it pretty cooling even if it was during noon time.

　　Shen Lian even thought about moving the clinic to this street, it could be better than the present location.

　　Ruoxi was serious as she ate. Slice by slice, she devoured the roast duck in the pain and she had actually eaten more than Shen Lian.

　　All of a sudden, Bao Shaoliu flew inside from the door. Coincidentally, he was heading towards Shen Lian and their table.

　　Luckily, Bao Shaoliu tried his best to flip his body half way and he knocked into the table next to them.

　　Ruoxi was a little unhappy because some of the dust had entered into the pan.