Emperor Jing didn’t mind at all and laughed heartily.

“Good! Good child, go on.”

With that said, he put down the chubby child in his arms and strode towards the city. When the commoners at the city gate saw Fang Zheng gesticulating wildly behind Emperor Jing, they immediately knelt down en masse.

They shouted in unison, “Welcome Your Majesty into the city! Long live our Emperor, may he live ten thousand years!!”

“Rise!”

The commoners all stood up in a whoosh, standing guard on both sides, constantly greeting Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing entered the city feeling extremely gratified.

As soon as he passed, the commoners immediately stopped their cheers and stared at this group of unfamiliar outsiders like tigers eyeing their prey.

The hundred officials were sweating profusely. So in your eyes, Fang Zheng, aside from His Majesty, we don’t count as human, right?

Fang Zheng also had a helpless expression. This wasn’t something he had instructed. Taoyuan County had been isolated for too long and had developed a bit of a xenophobic attitude. It couldn’t be helped.

After everyone had entered the city, Fang Zheng walked to the front and loudly proclaimed, “My lords, you must all be tired and hungry from the journey.”

“The county has prepared a banquet for everyone. In a moment, you can drink to your heart’s content. After the meal, there will also be operatic performances from my Taoyuan County for everyone to enjoy! After resting for a night, I will take everyone to see the Prosperity Potato!”

“Zhang Laoliu! Zhang Laoliu! Quickly take the various lords to eat. Be attentive in serving them!”

The hundred officials couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least Fang Zheng had done something considerate…

With this relaxation, the crowd couldn’t help but observe their surroundings. Upon doing so, they were even more shocked.

The brand-new buildings, the clean and tidy stone-paved roads, and the orderly commoners deeply shook everyone present.

Although no one said anything, they had all begun to re-evaluate Fang Zheng in their hearts.

The group quickly arrived at Laoliu Restaurant. Seeing the familiar sign, Emperor Jing couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

Back then, this was where he had his first formal meeting with Fang Zheng. How thoughtful!

Of course, this was only one reason Fang Zheng chose Laoliu Restaurant. Another reason was that when he had invited Emperor Jing to eat here before, he seemed very satisfied.

Moreover, Zhang Laoliu had sent him a jar of wine that tasted quite good. So he arranged this opportunity to host the Emperor for Zhang Laoliu.

At this time, there were still quite a few diners eating on the first floor. Seeing Fang Zheng and then the person in yellow beside him, they instantly realized it was the Emperor and all knelt down to pay their respects.

Seeing this, Zhang Laoliu hurriedly went up to Emperor Jing, knelt down and said, “Your Majesty, forgive me! This commoner was negligent. I arranged for you to dine on the second floor but forgot to clear out the people on the first floor… I’ll drive them away right now!”

Emperor Jing waved his sleeve and said with a smile, “No matter! Don’t disturb others. We’ll just go to the second floor. Everyone, rise.”

With that said, he walked up the stairs on his own. The crowd hurriedly followed upon seeing this.

Seeing that everyone else had gone upstairs, Fang Zheng walked to Zhang Laoliu’s side and sighed, “Stupid! Can’t even handle such a small matter. Get up! His Majesty already said it’s fine. No need to be so apprehensive.”

Then he glanced at the surrounding diners. “What’s going on? Is eating rabbit popular in the city recently? Why do I see everyone eating roast rabbit?”

Zhang Laoliu stood up with a chuckle. “My lord, you’ve been away for a while and don’t know. The rabbits are all sold by the county research institute… they’re cheap!”

“Oh my… A while back, everyone was eating monkey brains. You came too late. The monkeys in the back mountains have all been caught. Now you can’t even get a taste!”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng broke out in a cold sweat.

The research institute selling monkey brains… rabbits? Aren’t those used for experiments? They weren’t injected with penicillin, right!?

In his agitation, he grabbed Zhang Laoliu’s collar and angrily said, “Were any of these things used in today’s dishes?”

Zhang Laoliu was clueless and instantly panicked, hurriedly waving his hands. “No! How dare I, my lord? For His Majesty’s meal, I definitely used the best, freshly slaughtered ingredients. I, Zhang Laoliu, don’t use cheap stuff!”

Fang Zheng immediately breathed a sigh of relief and patted his shoulder. “These rabbits, monkey brains and whatnot… no one died from eating them, right…”

Zhang Laoliu patted his chest with a thump. “No! The research institute first feeds them to pigs. Only if there’s no problem do they take them out to sell!”

That’s good… as long as no one died. Fang Zheng couldn’t help sighing in his heart.

Fuck, as soon as I leave, these guys start going down the wrong path. Just because pigs ate it and were fine, does that prove humans eating it will also be fine!?

He’d have to set more detailed rules when he went back.

“Alright, hurry and cook for His Majesty. Give the kitchen knives and cutting boards a good scrub with hot water, wash them a few more times. From now on, you’re forbidden from buying ingredients sold by the research institute. If any problems arise, you’ll be held responsible!”

Zhang Laoliu nodded in agreement.

…

Very quickly, dish after dish of exquisite, enticing cuisine was brought before the hundred officials.

By this time, the crowd was already famished. The bit they ate in the morning had mostly been vomited out.

Moreover, the culinary skill in Taoyuan County was extraordinarily superb. Seeing this tableful of food, they couldn’t help but salivate.

After Emperor Jing picked up his chopsticks, the ministers began chowing down.

During the meal, Fang Zheng sneakily sent an exquisite little dessert to the princess. Li Yuanzhao, whose eyes never left Fang Zheng, wanted to stop him but was successfully bribed with a hundred taels of silver.

After half an hour of toasting and drinking, everyone ate to their heart’s content and gave the highest praise to the food in Taoyuan County.

Seeing that everyone had mostly finished eating, Fang Zheng found Zhang Laoliu again.

He pulled him to a corner on the second floor and quietly said, “After we finish eating, go to An Inn tonight and ask that old man for the bill!”

With that said, he pointed at the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Shi. “He’s in charge of the money, understand?”

Zhang Shi had sharp eyes and immediately noticed Fang Zheng pointing at him. He glared fiercely at him.

“My lord, he glared at you!” Zhang Laoliu noticed.

“Hmm! Then give him a discount!”

Zhang Laoliu felt a bit apprehensive. “My lord, what if he doesn’t pay… and the county yamen already paid me in advance…”

“If he doesn’t pay, then make a big fuss! His Majesty is also staying at the inn!” Fang Zheng secretly glanced at Zhang Shi.

Damn dog, you want to impeach me? Glare at me?

“What should I do with the extra silver after the discount?”

“Keep half of the extra for yourself, donate the rest to the nursing home. Then return the silver the county yamen gave you.”

“Understood!”

After giving the instructions, Fang Zheng squeezed out Guo Tianyang and sidled up to Emperor Jing. “Your Majesty, how was it? Are you satisfied?”

Emperor Jing was naturally delighted. Although the journey had been uncomfortable, ever since arriving in Taoyuan County, the smile hadn’t left his face.

Oh my… life in Taoyuan County was really wonderful!

“Mm! Good! Minister Fang, you’ve done very well! I am very satisfied.”

Fang Zheng grinned from ear to ear. “Serving Your Majesty is only proper.”

A resentful gaze was cast towards Fang Zheng…

“Then I’ll leave the rest of the arrangements to this minister!”

Emperor Jing nodded in agreement. Fang Zheng immediately stood up and proclaimed loudly, “Everyone, were you all satisfied with this meal?”

“Satisfied…” Sporadic voices rang out.

“Good! Everyone rest for a bit. In a moment, I will take you all to my Taoyuan Grand Theater to enjoy some opera and relax!”

Fang Zheng was also very satisfied.

So far… everything was going smoothly.