Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 135 'Exorbitant Price' Noodles

“The ones we bought before weren’t much better than this one, we’ve almost gotten used to it.”

This is strange. Why is the salt from Qianzhou so good? It's one thing for ordinary people, since the salt they eat probably isn't much better, but the salt from the mines is inevitably purchased by Liang Heng. Both are gifts for the Prince of Binyang, so why is the salt Liang Heng buys of better quality?
Could there be some connection between the two?
Jiu Que found it increasingly strange. They had already arrived at the street the man surnamed Zhao had mentioned, and sure enough, the street was full of food stalls. Bai Yi Chun had originally wanted to find a decent-looking one, but Jiu Que chose a roadside stall instead, so Bai Yi Chun had no choice but to follow.

This is a small stall selling noodles with meat sauce. The stall owner is a woman in her forties. At this moment, she is kneading a lump of dough on the cutting board. The soft dough seems to have a magical power under her hands, stretching back and forth until it finally forms a thin, loose noodle.

You can smell the delicious aroma emanating from this little stall from a great distance.

Jiu Que and his group filled the stall to capacity. The stall owner was initially a little scared, but Jiu Que, being naturally warm-hearted, took the initiative to walk up to the stall and greet the owner with a smile.

"Excuse me, what kind of meat sauces do you have here? There are a lot of us, could you recommend something good?"

The stall owner was initially a little scared, but couldn't help but smile when she heard Jiu Que call her "sister." This child was young, but her words were sweet.

Forget about being afraid for a moment, and with a big order coming in, it would be cowardly not to do it, so he immediately put on a warm smile.

"Miss, we're a small business, and we only have two kinds of toppings, one meat-based and one vegetarian. Which would you like?"

"Hmm... then put in both meat and vegetable sauces. We still have a long way to go, so we need some strong flavors to keep us going. Don't worry, boss, we'll pay the price. You just need to cook."

"Okay, sure!"

The boss immediately beamed and beckoned his twelve or thirteen-year-old daughter to help. The girl seemed rather quiet and reserved, quite different from her cheerful and talkative mother. She deftly helped them clean the table. Although the table had already been wiped, Chunyu Shuang, Wei Yuan, and Xie Mingchen, having grown up in luxury and lacking the resources they had at the mine, couldn't help but be picky about cleanliness.

Jiu Que saw all of this and couldn't help but congratulate the boss.

"Boss, you have a sensible and good daughter. She's not very old, but she's very quick and efficient. She'll definitely be a good businesswoman in the future."

The slightly plump owner beamed with delight. With a flick of her wrist, the dough on the cutting board seemed to come alive in her hands, dancing and stretching until it formed loose clumps of noodles, which she then tossed into the boiling water. The slightly yellowish noodles floated up and down in the pot, and after a few rolls, the owner deftly scooped them out with a strainer. By this time, the girl had already lined up several rows of clean, empty bowls, and the owner skillfully tossed a clump of noodles into each one.

Then, the two bowls containing meat sauce, which were covered with lids, were opened. Jiu Que watched as both sauces were a deep reddish-brown color, except that one of the bowls contained a few small pieces of meat. She could smell the strong aroma of the sauce even standing next to her, which made her mouth water.

The owner deftly poured two kinds of sauce into each bowl, but hesitated for a moment before serving it. He took out a small jar about the size of a palm from under the counter, which contained some grayish-brown powder. He carefully scooped out a few spoonfuls and sprinkled some into each bowl.

Seeing this from the side, Jiu Que's eyes flickered, and he spoke with feigned surprise.

"Sister, what did you sprinkle for us? Why does it look like this color? It's not very nice." Upon hearing this, the guards who appeared to be sitting casually at the table but were actually on high alert immediately stood up. The invisible pressure made the boss a little uneasy, but he quickly explained to himself.

"Miss, please don't misunderstand, I was sprinkling salt."

"Salt? But the salt I've ever seen isn't this color. Isn't it a grayish-white fine powder? Why is yours clumped together?"

The boss nervously twisted his hands and looked around, but didn't see anyone special. He then explained to Jiu Que in a low voice.

“Miss, please lower your voice. This is how we use salt here. It must have been a long time since you last visited Yancheng, right? I would never dare to deceive you. This kind of salt is considered top-quality here. I only used a little salt in the sauce I made, but I heard that you all have a long journey ahead, so I thought I would add more salt so that you would have the strength to travel. I had absolutely no intention of harming you.”

Oh dear, she had heard that people from wealthy families were afraid of being harmed, especially when it came to food. It was also her fault; she should have explained things to everyone before sprinkling the salt. If they were mistaken for assassins now, wouldn't she and her little girl be in danger? Young men and women from prominent families like this, with a girl dressed as a general beside them, might come from an official family in some prefecture or county. If they really attacked, they would only have themselves to suffer.

Seeing that the aunt was so frightened that she was incoherent, Jiu Que quickly comforted her.

“Sister, don’t be afraid. I’m just curious. I’ve never seen salt like this before. But speaking of which, isn’t this Yancheng? I’ve heard that only Yancheng produces the best quality and the largest quantity of salt in the whole world. Why are you eating this kind of salt? The quality of this salt… I’m not saying this, but it’s not very good. There are too many impurities in it. I’m afraid it’ll be bad for your health.”

The boss finally relaxed a bit, but upon hearing Jiu Que's words, he quickly tugged at her sleeve, telling her not to say anything more.

However, because they were crowded and busy during lunchtime, the surrounding vendors didn't pay much attention to them. Seeing this, the owner breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Miss, so just because we're from Yancheng doesn't mean we can all afford the best salt. Don't underestimate this small jar of salt; it costs a tael of silver!"

"What?! How can it be so expensive? It's more expensive than meat!"

If Jiu Que hadn't been prepared, she would have screamed by now. At that moment, she also remembered the question she had forgotten to ask.

"Sister, how much will these fifteen bowls of noodles cost?"

The shop owner smiled somewhat awkwardly, seemingly worried that Jiu Que and his group would run away without paying. It was her fault; she assumed Jiu Que knew the situation here and hadn't mentioned the price beforehand. She spoke somewhat sheepishly.

"These fifteen bowls of noodles, plus meat and vegetarian toppings, will cost one tael of silver. But I absolutely do not overcharge; you can ask around, this is the price here!"

(End of this chapter)