After that, Zhao Ai began visiting Zhanle Lou more frequently. He usually didn't come as a customer, but rather like an old acquaintance, asking after the well-being of those he met, happy to listen to their stories and help them with their troubles. To avoid suspicion, Zhenzhen mostly ignored him, so he often chatted with Grandma Song instead. When he learned that Grandma Song used to sell fish soup in Lin'an, he immediately expressed his long-held admiration, saying her fame was deafening. "I still remember how the late Emperor would send someone to buy your fish soup every two or three days. He always doted on us three brothers, showering us with all sorts of rare treasures and exotic delicacies, but he could never bear to share the fish soup he bought. One time, the eunuch brought it back while the late Emperor was still discussing matters with his ministers. The eunuch left the soup in the Hall of Blessing and Tranquility, and my third brother and I secretly ate it. When the late Emperor returned, he gave us a good scolding and nearly picked up a deer-tail whisk to whip our calves."
Grandma Song covered her mouth, laughing. "Although the late Emperor did indeed send for my fish soup several times, your description is far too generous, Your Highness... When I left Lin'an, you and your brothers probably hadn't even been born yet!"
Zhao Ai's goodwill toward Grandma Song was not limited to verbal compliments. Whenever he saw her working, he would offer to help, personally assisting with everything from curing fish and shrimp to drying vegetables. One time, Zhenzhen returned to find Zhao Ai with his sleeves rolled up, helping Grandma Song move a heavy bluestone slab to press on salted meat and drain the moisture. She hurried to stop him. "Your Highness is of noble birth. How can you do such coarse work?"
"Go on, don't get in my way." Zhao Ai waved a hand, wiped the sweat from his brow, and continued moving the slab. "I am immersing myself in the lives of the common folk to understand their circumstances."
Grandma Song could also see Zhao Ai's affection for Zhenzhen. She privately asked Zhenzhen if she had feelings for him and if the night she didn't return was spent with him. Zhenzhen firmly denied it, saying she had simply been delayed by some business and had stayed the night at an inn in the city. She claimed she had only run into him by chance the next morning, and that he, ever loving his people as his own children, couldn't bear to see her walk alone and had thus escorted her home.
Grandma Song knew there was more to it than that, but she didn't press further, only sighing, "I can see that the Prince of Wei is different from those libertines. He is truly devoted to you and would be a good man to entrust your life to, but... his status is just too high. If you marry him, you can only be a concubine."
Besides Zhao Ai, Wei Qingxun was also a frequent visitor to Zhanle Lou. She brought several groups of friends, having Zhenzhen treat them to fine wine and food while she secretly observed the ingredients and dishes Zhenzhen prepared. Even as she chatted and laughed with the other guests, she never forgot to taste carefully, silently discerning the flavors.
After several such visits, she came to see Zhenzhen alone and asked her, "I've noticed that you don't always make the same dish in the exact same way. For example, the fish soup is sometimes very sour, and other times has no vinegar at all; sometimes the broth is yellowish-brown, and other times it's milky white; sometimes the fish is in shreds or slices, and other times it's finely minced into a paste... Are you still experimenting, unable to settle on a recipe?"
Zhenzhen replied, "It's not that I can't settle on a recipe, but that I tailor it to the person. The first guests you brought were all businessmen, all men in their thirties and forties. They prefer rich, savory flavors, so I used a meat and poultry stock to cook perch slices, added shredded bamboo shoots, ham, and shiitake mushrooms, thickened it, and seasoned it with vinegar to make it fragrant and use the sourness to cut the richness. The second time, you brought a couple who runs a spice shop in Guangzhou, along with their seven- or eight-year-old daughter. People from Guangzhou don't like their soups overly seasoned; they prefer the original flavor of the ingredients. Since they're in the spice business, they avoid pungent foods to maintain their keen sense of smell. Plus, the little girl was losing her baby teeth and shouldn't eat sour things. So, I made a rich white broth from several seasonal fresh fish, with no vinegar or thickener at all. I cooked more tender Mandarin Fish shreds and, instead of coarse bamboo shoots, used julienned lettuce stems and carrots, cut as fine as a dragon's beard, for a smoother texture and a more beautiful color with the green and orange threads... Another time, the guests were the retired Hanlin academician Wang and his mother, who is nearly eighty. Old Madam Wang has lost many of her teeth, so I improved upon the fish soup for the Guangzhou guests, mincing the fish into a paste and dicing the other ingredients before simmering and thickening it into a potage for her to eat."
"Grandma Song's fish soup became famous throughout the land many years ago, and now with your thoughtfulness in tailoring it to each person, it's only a matter of time before you surpass her," Wei Qingxun praised. Then, lightly fanning herself with a folding fan, she said with a smile, "I want to buy this restaurant from you and then hire you to be the head chef at Luming Lou. Name your price. I certainly won't treat you unfairly."
Zhenzhen shook her head. "I don't want to sell Zhanle Lou. The restaurant may be small, but I built it with my own hands. It's like my own child; I won't just sell it to someone else."
Wei Qingxun said, "Zhanle Lou won't cease to exist just because you sell it to me. Perhaps we can cooperate. I'll give you a sum of money, and you transfer the operating rights of Zhanle Lou to me. But from now on, you will be fully in charge of creating and managing the menus for both Luming Lou and Zhanle Lou, as well as supervising the chefs and kitchen staff. I will regularly give you a share of the profits from both restaurants. As for how much, you can negotiate with me. This way, you won't lose your child; you'll just gain a bigger one. Why not?"
Zhenzhen still politely refused. "Thank you, Proprietor Wei, for this opportunity, but I feel my abilities are limited. It's already not easy to run my own small restaurant well; I wouldn't dare to rashly interfere in the affairs of Luming Lou."
Wei Qingxun did not press her. "If you think it's not right, I won't force you," she said with a faint smile. "But I still hope you'll consider it. If you change your mind in the future, you can come and discuss it with me at any time."
After Zhao Ai's memorial was submitted to the Emperor, the Emperor immediately ordered the Censorate to investigate Li Tang and Ding Xiyao. The Censorate swiftly dispatched officials to Ningguo Prefecture to conduct a detailed inquiry. Zhao Ai had already prepared ample witnesses and evidence. The crimes of Li and Ding—padding surplus funds through exorbitant taxes, selling government land at sky-high prices, and privately selling water sources—were substantiated. They were stripped of their posts and brought to justice. The Emperor also finally decided to grant Zhao Ai's request, ordering the newly appointed Chief Administrator and Adjutant to report to him, with all their managed affairs requiring Zhao Ai's approval and decision-making. Thus, Zhao Ai got his wish, obtaining the real power over the prefecture that he desired.
It was already late in the evening when the Emperor's edict reached Ningguo Prefecture. After receiving the decree, Zhao Ai couldn't contain his joy. Eager to share the good news with Zhenzhen, he spurred his horse and galloped toward Zhanle Lou under the moonlight.
When he arrived at the gate of Zhanle Lou's courtyard, Xiao Ou heard the horse's neigh, came out to look, and asked Zhao Ai in surprise, "It's so late, Your Highness is still coming over?"
Zhao Ai tied up his horse and said to her, "I have something urgent to tell Lady Song... Is she here?"
"She is," Xiao Ou said. "The mistress has a habit of drinking a cup of plum wine with every meal. After the green plums ripened this year, she asked Grandma Song to teach her how to brew wine with the fruit. The wine she brewed herself was ready to drink today, so she and Grandma Song drank together for quite a while at dinner. Later, Grandma Song couldn't take it anymore and went back to her room first, but the mistress kept drinking..." She gestured toward the second floor with her chin. "See, she's still up there drinking alone right now."
Drinking with every meal? Zhao Ai strode upstairs, thinking as he walked, When did she pick up this habit? She never used to.
Upon reaching the second floor, Zhao Ai saw Zhenzhen dozing with her head down at the round table in the hall. In front of her was a set of white glass wine vessels; the ewer and cup were like carved ice, almost transparent. The ewer still held about half a pot of pale yellow liquid. Zhao Ai poured a cup and drank it in one gulp, finding it as sweet as honey and refreshingly fragrant.
Next to the wine set stood a larger Yue ware celadon plum vase with an intertwined lotus pattern, used for storing wine and also known as a "wine classic." Zhao Ai lifted it and shook it, sensing it was only half full. He couldn't help but smile and sigh at Zhenzhen's fondness for drink. Looking at her cheeks, flushed red as a sunset cloud, and her expression of deep, drunken slumber, he felt a surge of pity. After letting his soft gaze rest on her for a moment, he bent down, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to the inner bedroom, wanting her to rest properly.
As he placed her on the bed, she suddenly startled awake. Her starry eyes half-opened, and in the darkness, she gripped his arms, asking in disbelief, "You... you're here?"
"Yes," he responded softly, unable to resist reaching out to stroke her warm face. "Is this wine so good that it made you drink so much?"
"This wine isn't good at all. It's bad, just like you." Zhenzhen's voice was slightly slurred from the wine, sounding to him now full of a charming languor. "It's so sweet, tricking people into thinking it's sugar water. You drink it cup after cup, and before you know it, you're drunk on it."
Is she describing me? After his initial surprise, Zhao Ai felt a wave of ecstasy wash over him. Does she mean that she was moved by me without realizing it, and by the time she noticed, her feelings were already uncontrollable?
Zhenzhen, her eyes hazy with drink, raised a fist and thumped his chest. "You led me step by step into this trap, making me so sad. You're so bad..."
He smiled and held her hand. "Not at all, not at all... I'm not a strong liquor that will go to your head and harm you."
"It doesn't go to your head, but it's addictive." She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled against his chest. "Once I realized how good you are, I wanted to see you every day. I don't want to leave you for a single moment."
Her sudden intimacy left him at a loss. The scene felt like a dream. He hugged her tightly, his heart filled with joy, thinking how well she usually hid her feelings. If not for this drunken confession tonight, he would have had no idea she had fallen so deeply for him.
"Sigh, is this another dream? It's fine if it's a dream. As long as you stay in my dream a little longer, I'll be very happy..." She closed her eyes, buried her head in his chest, and murmured as if in a dream, "Your Highness..."
That name struck him like a bolt of lightning. The joy from moments ago shattered, and a wave of despair, anger, shame, and a helpless sense of grievance and sorrow surged into his heart. These intertwined emotions made him begin to tremble uncontrollably. A tear escaped his eye and fell onto her forehead.
She felt his teardrop and looked up in confusion, her hand reaching for his cheek. "Why are you crying, Your Highness?"
He didn't answer, nor did he have the courage to push her away. He just remained silent, trying to breathe deeply to suppress the turmoil that threatened to erupt from his chest.
"Are you sad for me?" she sighed softly. "I'm fine now... I've gotten used to the days without you. I work from sunrise to sunset, eat as usual, and I can talk and laugh... Other than drinking an extra cup of plum wine with every meal, everything is the same as when I was a girl..."
The pain in his heart intensified, and more tears fell. She propped herself up to sit facing him, reached for his face, and cupped his cheeks to kiss his tear-streaked eyes. She kissed the left, then the right, lapping away the tear tracks before her lips moved down to press against his.
Sensing his momentary stiffness, she released him and paused slightly, then continued to kiss his lips, again and again.
Her initiating such secret intimacy was a scene he had fantasized about countless times on lonely nights, but he had never imagined it would happen under these circumstances. The deep love hidden in his heart made him unable to stop himself from responding to her kisses, yet he couldn't force himself to ignore the truth of the situation—every one of her kisses right now was an expression of her love for his elder brother. It was in her unusual passion that he deeply realized how ardently she and his brother had once loved each other.
He continued the painful kiss, weeping, as if sipping sweet poison drop by drop. It was only when he felt his desire, like his pain, beginning to spiral out of control, the rising flames about to consume him, that he pressed her against his chest, restraining her so she could move no more.
She was silent for a while, then gradually fell asleep in his embrace.
He let her sleep peacefully on the bed, tucked the brocade quilt around her, and then slowly backed out.
"Don't tell the mistress I was here tonight." Before leaving, he gave Xiao Ou, who was waiting in the courtyard, a good deal of money and instructed her thus.
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