Mo Zi ate her noodles very quickly, which naturally had to do with her once being a soldier. Before the little Geqiu on stage had even lowered their water sleeves, she had already finished eating. And after finishing, she smiled broadly.

A bowl of plain noodles, made with pure chicken broth base, topped with a layer of fresh and tender vegetable tips, plus a ring of quail eggs. Where could this be bought for five copper coins? If this were truly made into a signature dish, Wangqiu Tower would definitely operate at a loss and have to close before long.

But Mo Zi didn’t intend to waste Chief Steward Cen’s goodwill. She couldn’t very well go tell Qiu Sanniang that she had clearly ordered a bowl of noodles for five copper coins, yet ate noodles worth five taels of silver.

About two quarters of an hour passed. The dancers had left the stage, and the singers were preparing. Lying against the windowsill, the afternoon sun was very warm, causing her to half-close her eyes drowsily. Suddenly, she heard someone at her ear call out “Second Young Master.” She said to come in. Looking behind her, the door didn’t move a bit, yet several human shadows were moving about outside.

Thinking she had spoken too softly, she faced the door, cleared her throat and raised her voice, “Second Young Master, come in. I’m waiting for you.”

With this shout, her drowsy eyelids also jumped back to normal. She turned around, leaned back against the wall, one hand resting on the windowsill, the other turning the white porcelain cup.

“Second Young Master, since you had an appointment with someone, why didn’t you say so earlier and make us wait downstairs for so long.” A man laughed cheerfully.

“No…” Heavy and slow, only one word was spoken.

“Had we known this earlier, why bother arguing with those foolish waiters? I clearly heard a young lady’s voice from inside. Could it be you’ve already arranged for a Geqiu? Second Young Master, we’re delighted, but we’re afraid Sister will get angry and leave.” Another man spoke in a slick, oily tone.

“Why would I leave?” A pampered yet willful female voice said, “I’ve long heard of Wangqiu Tower’s three beauties. Having finally come out with my brothers with great difficulty, I absolutely must see for myself. To see whether the Geqiu are more talented, or Fifth Sister is superior.”

“Who’s talking about you?” The oily tone now carried obvious mockery. “You’re just a wet-behind-the-ears girl. I’m afraid even the little Geqiu on stage have higher musical accomplishments than you.”

“Seventh Brother, Fifteenth Sister, speak carefully. We are guests. How can we be lumped together with singing and dancing girls?” This was also a female voice, but this one was cool and lofty, utterly unapproachable.

Hearing this, Mo Zi realized something was wrong—she had made a mistake.

But she had no time for regret. The door opened again, with two waiters respectfully leading the way. In a rush, more than ten people entered the private room one after another. Five men in fine clothes, and two young ladies with jingling jewelry and wearing exquisite hundred-flower skirts, while the others were attendant maids and servants, also dressed unusually well.

Mo Zi refused to give up and examined them one by one carefully, but never found Cen Erlang’s thin, long face, so she sighed. Spacing out was nearly becoming her chronic problem. Spacing out, she’d nearly discovered Qiu Wu’s affair with someone. Spacing out, she was sent before Qiu Si to perform her talents. This time was interesting—spacing out, a whole crowd of completely unknown people had appeared, and she didn’t know what to do.

Those leading people looked at her, each equally stunned.

“She’s not a Geqiu.” The oily-toned voice matched its owner’s face—sunken cheeks, eyes shifting unsteadily.

“Second Young Master, could she be your servant?” The first cheerful-laughing voice—its owner looked passable, though compared to the man beside him with hair bound and wearing a tall cap, he was slightly inferior.

The Second Young Master whom the cheerful one addressed had extremely handsome features. Qiu Si and Qiu Wu could be considered moderately handsome men, but this person could be ranked among the superior. He wore a white silk qilin robe, his waist bound with a purple-gold coral belt, from which hung a small bronze knife ornament carved with ancient characters, with golden and silver bead tassels hanging from the knife handle. His features seemed carefully carved by the finest craftsman—sword-sharp eyebrows, obsidian eyes, a nose bridge like mountain rock. His forehead was wide and high, his face neither large nor thin, his cheekbones and jaw measured as if with steel wire to achieve perfect proportions—truly a pleasure to behold.

The two beside him were slightly older, their fine clothes and beautiful caps similarly noble in style. All three had naturally proud bearing between their brows, possessing a soul-capturing presence that men from Luo Zhou did not have.

Not locals from Luo Zhou.

But whose family’s second son was this exactly?

Mo Zi secretly puzzled over this, involuntarily raising her hand to her forehead, thinking this was terrible.

Hearing the mention of “servant,” that Second Young Master’s beautiful eyes swept over lightly, and he answered just as lightly, “Not someone I brought.”

Anyone could hear the slight disdain in his tone, as if Mo Zi in her faded clothing being his servant would truly be an extremely embarrassing matter.

He was indifferent, Mo Zi even more so. Dressed in men’s clothing and with altered skin tone, her posture was rather casual and relaxed, with less of that self-protective “hunching and hiding.” Her lips pressed into a slight curve, she still had the mood to drink tea. Having invited the wrong person, getting them to leave again seemed difficult.

“One person occupying such a large room, yet making us wait downstairs for half an hour.” The Fifteenth Young Lady who wanted to see the Geqiu pouted.

Hearing this, Mo Zi found it amusing—as if her eating noodles was the direct cause of them waiting for seats downstairs. She thought the Fifteenth Young Lady was young and didn’t understand things, but who knew the oily-toned and cheerful-laughing brothers also thought their sister was right, and came to drive her out like this.

The oily-toned one said to the two waiters before him, “Look, there’s only one soup bowl on the table, yet you gave this kind of customer a large private room while leaving us aside neglected. Could it be Wangqiu Tower doesn’t want to earn silver?”

The two waiters looked at each other but said nothing.

“You, hurry up and leave after eating.” The cheerful-faced one, but his words were unpleasant to hear. “Don’t obstruct this establishment’s boss from making money.”

“Whether eating one bowl or one table, all are people who pay silver to eat. What does it have to do with earning more or less? If the boss can’t do business with you, as long as he does more business with individual customers like me, won’t he still earn buckets of gold daily? One soup bowl—you must see what’s in the soup bowl.” Mo Zi had just forgotten to alter her voice, but now lowered it.

However, it seemed no one cared, as each was left dumbfounded by what Mo Zi said.

“Besides, if I cannot enter such a private room, can my master not enter? After the guest banquet dispersed, allowing me to eat, settle the bill, and wait for someone—my being here alone naturally has its reasons.” Mo Zi had only lived in Luo Zhou for half a year and had no idea which family these imperious people came from. “However, if you’re willing to settle the bill for my family’s two tables, I’ll leave without another word. Altogether fifty-seven taels of silver.”

“You! You’re trying to extort us!” The Eleventh Young Lady pointed directly at Mo Zi. “What could you eat that costs fifty-seven taels of silver?”

“If the young lady doesn’t believe me, you can have the waiters bring the menu and add up the twenty most expensive dishes from before—fifty-seven taels still wouldn’t be enough.” When it came to mathematics and calculations, Mo Zi considered herself capable of reaching this dynasty’s highest scholarly level.

“…” At only about ten years old, a little girl who couldn’t even read many characters was left bewildered.

“What an impudent, smooth-talking slave!” The oily-toned one lost his temper. “Who is your master? Tell this young master, and let us meet them.”

Mo Zi acted as if she hadn’t heard, about to turn her gaze back to the flower terrace outside.

“You—” Seeing Mo Zi’s attitude, the oily-toned one grew angrier.

“I’m not your household servant, and my master is not someone you can meet just because you say so. The bill hasn’t been paid yet, so this private room should still belong to our use. I believe I’ve said nothing wrong. I don’t know why this young master is interrogating someone so severely?” First come, first served—wasn’t this principle very simple?

The oily-toned one was silenced.

Another one resolved.

“This young fellow, might you hear me out?” A man behind that Second Young Master stepped forward half a step.

Would this never end? Though Mo Zi thought this, she still nodded.