Zhao Ai kept his word as he had declared—he did not frequently seek out Wu Zhenzhen thereafter. On the occasional one or two times he passed by, he brought subordinate officials to inspect the condition of ponds and fields. When he encountered Wu Zhenzhen, he did not speak privately with her, and Wu Zhenzhen also treated him with the respect any common citizen would show, observing proper etiquette.

Granny Song began teaching Wu Zhenzhen the culinary skills she had accumulated over many years, along with some business management principles. In front of her, Wu Zhenzhen was like a curious student, listening carefully, practicing, and even trying to innovate on her own. For example, when Granny Song taught her to make fish soup using bass, ham, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and chicken broth, Wu Zhenzhen would ask after learning: “Would it work to use mandarin fish instead? What about substituting Huai white fish? Or replacing the mushrooms with a different type of fungus—what would it taste like if we didn’t use chicken for the broth?” Granny Song would say helplessly, “Try it yourself and see.” And Wu Zhenzhen would indeed try again and again, seeking potentially better flavors through practice.

Granny Song sighed: “You’re really determined to surpass me!”

Wu Zhenzhen replied: “Granny, you’re teaching me your life’s learning—don’t you hope someone can carry on your culinary skills and make them flourish? Only by trying repeatedly, doing my best, and even surpassing my teacher, letting more people remember these dishes, can I best repay my teacher.”

Granny Song nodded: “Yes, I want to teach you everything I know because I’m afraid that after I die, these dishes will be buried with me and no one will know them anymore. I hope when you’re older, you’ll also take several disciples of good character who can carry on your culinary skills.”

Wu Zhenzhen thought for a moment and said: “Whether I encounter disciples of good character who suit my temperament depends on fate. But when I have leisure, I’ll write down the methods for all the dishes I know—this way more people can see them, making them easier to pass down to future generations.”

Zhanle Lou’s business was thriving with substantial income, but the various taxes levied were increasing. Wu Zhenzhen noticed that besides the taxes mandated by the court, there were many newly added by the prefecture, with increasingly creative names such as “material conservation money,” “geography money,” “vinegar interest money,” and “wine interest money.” Through repeated dealings with Zhou Yun, the tax official responsible for town taxes, Wu Zhenzhen often invited him to dine and have tea, developing a friendship with him. When Zhou Yun mentioned that the Chancellor wanted to add a new “river view tax” to riverside restaurants, Wu Zhenzhen said frankly: “This tax is unreasonable! This river was already here—it’s not something the prefecture assigned to us. Why should we pay a river view tax?”

Zhou Yun replied: “The river may not be assigned by the prefecture, but what if the Chancellor gets unhappy and orders a high wall built in front of your door to block the river view? Then you’ll see how many customers you lose.”

Wu Zhenzhen laughed: “If they collect river view tax this time, won’t they want to collect mountain view tax next time? The scenery in front of my door changes with the four seasons. If they really levy this tax, then later they could say we need to pay separate landscape taxes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter—wouldn’t I have to comply again?”

“Great idea!” Zhou Yun slapped the table in praise. “How hasn’t the Chancellor thought of this yet? Don’t remind him, or he might actually levy these four-season taxes.”

Wu Zhenzhen smiled helplessly in response.

Zhou Yun then said seriously: “I see you’re a law-abiding citizen, and we’ve become so familiar, so I’m not afraid to tell you: each year, besides the normal taxes prefectures remit, they also compete to present ‘surpluses’ to the court—that is, extra profits beyond the court-mandated taxes. Prefecture officials use this to show their effective governance and prosperous territories, hoping to receive imperial commendation and promotion. Where do these surpluses come from? They’re gathered from the new taxes imposed on the people! I also think it’s unreasonable, but I’m just following orders—whatever the superiors command, I have to make you do. I’m truly sorry.”

“Tax Official Zhou, you’re being too serious. I understand all this,” Wu Zhenzhen said. “I’ll pay taxes according to the Chancellor’s wishes, but my memory isn’t very good. When I pay too much in taxes, sometimes I can’t remember clearly which payments I’ve made and which I haven’t. Could Tax Official Zhou specify the name of each tax payment on the receipts you give me, rather than just writing generally that you’ve received such-and-such amount in taxes?”

“The receipts for newly added prefecture taxes generally aren’t written very specifically…” Zhou Yun pondered, but after Wu Zhenzhen’s repeated requests, he relented. “I’ll make separate notes for you, just for your accounting purposes. Don’t tell your fellow merchants about this.”

Wu Zhenzhen naturally agreed readily. From then on, she gradually accumulated a stack of tax receipts with various specific itemizations.

The following spring, Ningguo Prefecture announced it would sell two thousand mu of barren official land through “sealed bid submission,” allowing wealthy households interested in cultivation and management to compete for purchase. Sealed bid submission was similar to an auction system—the prefecture officials would have a wooden chest made and locked, leaving an opening for competitors to submit written bids stating their price and bid time. After the deadline, the chest containing everyone’s bids would be sent to the prefecture office hall to be opened publicly. The relevant officials would read the bids aloud and award the purchase to the highest bidder. If two or more people bid the same amount, it would go to whoever submitted first.

When Zhou Yun mentioned this matter during casual conversation with Wu Zhenzhen, she curiously asked how much money was needed to buy so much land. Zhou Yun said: “This land is very barren—each mu is only worth about two strings of cash, but the Chancellor wants to sell it at a high price, so he instructed people to overestimate its value, appraising it at fifteen strings per mu.”

“Fifteen strings!” Wu Zhenzhen said in surprise. “How many times higher is that than the actual value? Will anyone buy it?”

Zhou Yun replied: “That’s the appraisal price the Chancellor had people spread around. The reserve price set before bidding is ten strings per mu. As for the final price, it depends on how high the competitors bid… But speaking of it, this land isn’t without benefits. There’s a river running through the middle of the land, and many downstream farmers depend on this water source for irrigation. The Chancellor indicated that whoever buys this land can use the river as they wish—either charging downstream farmers for water or filling in the river to create more farmland. Everything can be decided independently, so he’s quite confident about this pricing.”

“If used that way, wouldn’t that be seizing the people’s water source?” Wu Zhenzhen frowned. “I heard His Majesty explicitly forbade seizing water sources. Would he allow prefecture officials to make such promises?”

“It’s just two thousand mu of land—would His Majesty personally inquire about it?” Zhou Yun laughed. “There have been many such cases before, all operated this way. Prefecture officials even write river usage rights into contracts—these contracts won’t be sent before His Majesty’s eyes anyway.”

Wu Zhenzhen considered for several days, then finally decided to go to the prefecture office to submit her own bid. The official who received her was quite surprised, saying: “I thought only Wei Qingxun from Luming Lou could afford such an expensive piece of land this large, but I never expected Lady Song to have such capability. It seems you’re truly skilled at management and have earned considerable money.”

Wu Zhenzhen smiled: “Not at all. I’m also bankrupting myself and borrowing from everywhere to barely scrape together this land purchase money.”

The official praised her: “Good judgment! Don’t mind that this land is rather barren now—if you buy it, just having the river there, you can slowly earn plenty just from selling water.”

Leaving the prefecture office, Wu Zhenzhen hired an ox cart to ride home. When the cart passed in front of Luming Lou, Wu Zhenzhen remembered the official’s words and had the driver stop temporarily, wanting to get a good look at the city’s largest restaurant. But the sudden stop caused a handcart loaded with grain and heading into the building to collide with her carriage. The carriage shook violently, and rice bags from the handcart fell to the ground, spilling many grains.

The man pushing the handcart was furious, cursing loudly, and said to Wu Zhenzhen as she emerged from the carriage: “This is premium Shiguqiu rice that my proprietor specially had people buy from Huzhou—it costs several times more than ordinary rice. Look how much you’ve spilled—every grain must be compensated!”

Wu Zhenzhen bent down to pick up some rice grains and examine them carefully, then calmly told him: “This is Shili Xiang rice, not Shiguqiu.”

The man angrily retorted: “My proprietor bought this—how could there be a mistake? Don’t try to shirk responsibility and think you can pay for Shiguqiu rice at the price of inferior rice!”

Wu Zhenzhen had spent so long in the Royal Kitchen and had charge of imperial meal tastings, so she was already familiar with rice varieties from throughout the realm. She now calmly said to the man: “Shiguqiu rice is plump and glutinous with good texture—naturally it’s premium rice. But these grains scattered on the ground are thinner and longer than Shiguqiu rice, and looking at the color, they should be Shili Xiang rice. Though Shili Xiang doesn’t cost as much as Shiguqiu, it has its own special fragrance. When cooking rice, if you use one dou of Shiguqiu mixed with one sheng of Shili Xiang, you can combine the advantages of both—the texture is good, and the cooked rice more easily releases a clear fragrance.”

The man was about to argue further when a naturally authoritative voice came from Luming Lou above: “Stop arguing. This young lady is correct—what spilled is Shili Xiang rice.”

Wu Zhenzhen looked up at the sound and saw a young person standing on the third-floor balcony, wearing a round-necked narrow-sleeved brocade robe and a soft-footed cap. About twenty-some years old, with a tall, slender figure, straight nose bridge, clear eyes and brows, and handsome features—clearly a refined gentleman like jade. However, the voice sounded female, and the thin lips curved in a pleased smile that revealed an unconscious hint of charm.

The man clasped his hands in salute to her, and Wu Zhenzhen realized this person was Wei Qingxun, the proprietor of Luming Lou.

Wei Qingxun ignored the man and bowed to Wu Zhenzhen with a smile: “I am Wei Qingxun. Today I was fortunate to hear your excellent discourse and gained considerable knowledge. If you have time, please come upstairs for a chat. I hope you’ll honor me by allowing me to invite you to dine at my humble establishment this evening—I also have some questions about ingredients I’d like to consult you about.”

Wu Zhenzhen returned the courtesy, saying: “Proprietor Wei’s generous invitation is appreciated by Song Taozheng. However, my grandmother is still waiting for me at home, and I promised her I’d return on time. I cannot stay here long. I hope Proprietor Wei will forgive me. If we’re fated to meet again in the future, Taozheng will ask Proprietor Wei for instruction.”

“So you are Song Taozheng,” Wei Qingxun smiled. “I’ve long admired your reputation.”

Wei Qingxun continued trying to persuade her to stay, but Wu Zhenzhen firmly declined. Wei Qingxun then stopped insisting and remained standing on the upper floor with hands behind her back, watching Wu Zhenzhen depart.

“The young lady was right not to go up to her building,” the carter couldn’t help telling Wu Zhenzhen on the road. “That Wei Qingxun is neither male nor female, wearing men’s clothing every day. She’s over twenty and still won’t marry, relying on her family’s wealth to spend her days consorting with beautiful servant girls. Her reputation in the city is extremely poor. Today she must have taken a fancy to you, young lady, which is why she was so eager to chat. If you had stayed, I’m afraid it would have been more dangerous than fortunate.”

Wu Zhenzhen said: “But I heard her business is extensive—besides the restaurant, she also runs silk shops and medicine stores, making her the wealthiest person in Ningguo Prefecture.”

“She is indeed capable at business,” the carter replied. “She’s from Lin’an, and her family probably had lots of money to begin with. The restaurant in Ningguo Prefecture was originally opened by her older brother, who returned to the capital a few years ago and left the restaurant to her. After she arrived, she hired many beautiful cooks, servant girls, and entertainers, and indeed managed the restaurant quite successfully. With constant revelry, singing, and dancing, she made lots of money and expanded into other businesses… But what’s the use? I think her parents will eventually drag her back to marry her off, and the businesses here will mostly return to her brother’s hands.”

When Zhao Ai learned that Wu Zhenzhen had submitted a bid to compete for the land, he quickly rode to find her, directly stating the land’s problems and urging her to abandon the competition, saying: “If you withdraw, I’ll have someone secretly open the chest and remove your bid.”

“Was having these official lands appraised also something Your Highness ordered?” Wu Zhenzhen asked.

“Of course not,” Zhao Ai immediately denied. “Ningguo Prefecture’s financial affairs are all controlled by Chancellor Li Tang. Using the excuse that imperial clan members only hold nominal titles, he has consistently prevented me from involvement, handling all matters large and small by reporting directly to the court, not even letting me know. I only learned about the official land sale appraisal by inquiring with his subordinate clerks.”

Wu Zhenzhen then asked him: “Is Your Highness willing to remain forever constrained by him, letting him overstep his authority and exploit the people?”

Zhao Ai shook his head: “I’m collecting evidence of his and the Administrator’s crimes, wanting to persuade His Majesty to delegate authority to me so I can do some real good for Ningguo Prefecture.”

Wu Zhenzhen went inside and brought out the tax receipts she had accumulated over the past months, giving them to Zhao Ai: “Li Tang uses various newly created tax categories to collect money, attempting to use tax revenue as surpluses to remit to the court for his own career advancement. These receipts are the evidence I’ve preserved. My participation in the land bidding is also to obtain evidence of his overpricing land, illegally selling water sources, and exploiting the people through the process. If the bid succeeds, I’ll obtain a detailed contract that will include not only the land price but also specific terms for river usage—all of which Your Highness can use as evidence for future impeachment.”

“But do you have that much money?” Zhao Ai was quite doubtful.

“No,” Wu Zhenzhen answered honestly, then explained: “The day after a successful bid, I only need to pay ten percent of the money, with the remainder to be paid within a month. So I temporarily only need to gather this ten percent… Though I don’t even have this ten percent, I’m sure Your Highness will lend it to me. And one month should be enough time for Your Highness to present the evidence to His Majesty. Thus, this transaction will certainly be canceled, and I won’t need to pay the remaining ninety percent. The money already paid will also be refunded.”

“Though this approach could work, but…” Zhao Ai hesitated. “Aren’t you afraid of being discovered by His Majesty?”

“I am Song Taozheng now, Second Brother,” Wu Zhenzhen smiled slightly. “Song Taozheng, who has existed in Ningguo Prefecture’s household registry for over twenty years—not Wu Zhenzhen.”