Abandoning Wife and Selling Daughter? Turning Around to Marry a Powerful Minister and Wiping Out Your Entire Clan! - Chapter 22

“How was it?” Steward Zhang hurriedly walked up to the waiter, eager to know the attitude of the Prince of Qin’s residence.

The people in the kitchen were also very curious.

The waiter grinned, “I delivered the pastries, but the maid seemed a bit disdainful. However, before I even walked two hundred steps away, the young servant beside the Prince of Qin chased after me, handed me a reward, and said that these pastries were much lighter and more refreshing compared to the overly sweet ones before. Not long after, both the princess and the heir also sent people to give rewards.”

As he spoke, he took out a food box from behind him. Upon opening it, it was filled with gold and silver rewards.

“Good, good, good.” Steward Zhang was overjoyed, repeating the word three times.

He took some of the reward and gave it to the waiter, who cheerfully ran off to the front hall.

The remaining gold and silver were divided into three portions—one large and two smaller ones.

One of the smaller portions was given to the kitchen staff, and the other to Master Zhao and his two apprentices.

The largest portion was handed directly to Zhang Xiaolan. “This time, it’s all thanks to you that we earned this reward.”

Zhang Xiaolan was short on money at the moment, so how could she refuse?

However, inequality, not scarcity, breeds resentment—why invite jealousy?

She split the reward into two halves, keeping one for herself and handing the other back to Steward Zhang.

“I only borrowed the reputation of the restaurant. If I had personally made the pastries and sent them to the Prince of Qin’s residence as an ordinary woman, not to mention a reward, I would have been thrown out before even stepping inside.”

The kitchen staff, excited from receiving the reward, burst into laughter upon hearing Zhang Xiaolan’s words.

Steward Zhang wasn’t particularly interested in this small amount of money, so he redistributed Zhang Xiaolan’s portion among the kitchen staff.

No one would be unhappy about receiving silver, and each person expressed their gratitude to Zhang Xiaolan.

Madam Lin also received her share, but hearing the constant praise for Zhang Xiaolan made her feel uneasy. Her hands, reflecting her mood, became clumsy.

Clang, clang—though not loud, the noise was irritating. The older woman working beside her frowned. “What are you doing? You’re raising so much dust—how will the vegetables remain clean?” The newly washed produce beside her was now covered in dirt.

“Hmph! Can’t you just wash them again?” Madam Lin, in a foul mood, snapped back.

“You… You crazy woman! Jealous of someone else and taking it out on me? Do you think I’m easy to bully?”

Saying this, she was about to raise her hands, and Madam Lin wasn’t one to back down either.

But before Madam Lin could even touch her, someone interrupted, “Madam Lin, Aunt Zhu, if you have something to say, talk it out—don’t start fighting.”

The voice was familiar. Madam Lin turned to look and found it was Zhang Xiaolan. She was momentarily distracted and was immediately shoved to the ground by Aunt Zhu.

Her head hit the ground, and for a moment, Madam Lin was completely dazed.

She lay there for a while before coming back to her senses. Just as she opened her mouth to cry, Zhang Xiaolan and Steward Zhang shot her a cold glance, and she immediately shut up.

She scrambled to her feet, didn’t bother dusting off her clothes, and quickly ran off to continue working.

After Steward Zhang explained the situation, Zhang Xiaolan agreed to temporarily take over making the crystal dragon and phoenix pastries and decided on the flavors and a new style.

After dealing with Madam Lin, Zhang Xiaolan found her position in the restaurant much smoother. She no longer had to do odd jobs every day—she only stepped in when someone ordered pastries.

Meanwhile, Zhou Quan and his mistress came again, naturally spending half a day in the elegant private rooms upstairs.

Zhang Xiaolan originally thought about notifying Shen Ting to catch them in the act, which would certainly be a great scene.

But then she considered that if they caused a huge commotion in the restaurant, its reputation would suffer, and business might decline.

So, she disguised herself, took some free time, and eavesdropped on Zhou Quan from the neighboring room. That was how she learned that he would soon stop coming to Fenghua Restaurant and instead spend time at his mistress’s house.

Of course—meeting outside ran the risk of bumping into Shen Ting, which would be awkward.

Taking advantage of a break, Zhang Xiaolan altered her appearance and went to the area near the mistress’s house. She loitered around the marketplace, listening for gossip.

“Hey, have you seen the house on Xinghua Street?”

Finally, someone brought up the mistress’s residence. Zhang Xiaolan quietly moved closer to the two people discussing it.

“Of course, I have! Isn’t that the residence of a senior official from the Ministry of Rites?” The person speaking didn’t seem to find it unusual.

“Nonsense! My uncle told me yesterday that the house was actually bought by a high-ranking official from the Censorate.” The idle man looked around cautiously. Zhang Xiaolan pretended to pick vegetables. “That official keeps a woman there.”

“Probably trying to curry favor with his superiors by keeping a mistress,” the other man sneered, seemingly accustomed to such things. “Corrupt officials everywhere!”

“You’ve got it wrong.” The idle man grinned. “Apparently, this official has a fierce wife and had no choice but to keep his mistress there. He even bought the house under a friend’s name.”

“He says it’s under a friend’s name, but who knows if his friend is also sharing his mistress?” The two men exchanged knowing glances and burst into laughter.

The surrounding people, unaware of the context, looked at them with disgust, wishing they could stay far away.

But the road was only so wide—they could only quicken their pace to move away.

The two men didn’t care. As long-time loafers, they were thick-skinned and never minded being watched. If anything, they enjoyed having people keep their distance.

Zhang Xiaolan glanced at one of them and found him familiar. It didn’t take long for her to remember.

He was the thug who had staged an accident to extort money from her!

And the one beside him was even more familiar—the man who had tried to take advantage of her after she gave him money but was ultimately scared off by her dagger.

What a small world, Zhang Xiaolan thought to herself.

She didn’t have anyone she could use at the moment—why not start with these two?

These two ruffians wandered around all day, cracking jokes and poking their noses into all sorts of affairs.

Having them gather and spread information would be natural.

But she wouldn’t keep someone with a bad character by her side—she needed to investigate first.

Hiding herself, she trailed the two from a distance. After a long walk, they finally arrived at a rundown courtyard.

The two of them carefully stepped over chicken droppings as they entered. When they came out, they had changed into coarse cloth clothing and were holding brooms and dustpans. Before long, the yard was spotless.

“Big Brother, Second Brother, you’re back?” A little girl outside the fence lit up at the sight of them.

The two men took the baskets from the girl’s back and entered the house, chatting and laughing.

At noon, everyone in the house came out to eat. Zhang Xiaolan realized that this place housed quite a number of people—mostly the elderly, women, and children.

Besides the two ruffians and the little girl, there was an old grandmother, seven or eight children ranging from toddlers to teenagers, and even an infant in swaddling clothes.

It was a lively household.

After lunch, everyone went about their business. The two men headed toward the city, the children presumably went to rest, and only the old grandmother remained in the courtyard.

Zhang Xiaolan thought for a moment and, posing as a farmer’s wife, called out from the gate, asking for a drink of water.