After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Sister-in-law, take it easy." Gu Qingyin gently patted Rong Yingluo's back to help her catch her breath.

After coughing for a while, Rong Yingluo finally stopped and waved her hand, saying, "I'm fine. You all shouldn't eat yet; let me try some first."

"What's wrong?" Li Xuanye immediately became alert upon seeing Rong Yingluo's solemn expression.

Rong Yingluo didn't reply to him, but instead picked up her chopsticks and tasted each dish one by one.

She savored each dish carefully.

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this? Do you suspect that the food made by Mingyuelou is poisonous?" Gu Qingya couldn't hold back any longer.

On the surface, Mingyue Tower is run by a merchant, but in reality, it belongs to His Highness the Crown Prince, something she had heard from her mother.

This is the most popular restaurant in Beijing; there's no way there could be a problem.

The chef was an apprentice trained by an old imperial chef who had retired from the imperial kitchen.

"I just want to try the first bite, so what? Don't forget, I'm treating you today." Rong Yingluo glared at her irritably and continued eating the next dish until she had tasted every single one.

"Yinghong, go buy a soup bowl and take this soup home for the young master." Rong Yingluo moved the crucian carp and tofu soup aside. "Alright, everyone, eat up."

"Yes, Miss." Yinghong responded and left.

Li Xuanye narrowed her eyes slightly. She picked out a dish that she only ate one bite of and then spat out, intending to take it back for Gu Ce to eat.

He instantly guessed that the soup must have a deeper meaning.

Gu Qingya couldn't wait any longer and was the first to take a bite. She loved meat, and her first bite was aimed at the Golden Toad Jade Abalone.

This is the most prized dish at Mingyuelou.

There weren't many, only four, just enough for one person. When Rong Yingluo tried them before, she only dipped them in the sauce to taste.

Seeing Gu Qingya's expression of having never eaten before, Li Xuanye quickly picked up a piece, but instead of putting it in his own bowl, he put it in Rong Yingluo's bowl: "Young Madam Gu, you have to fight for food to eat it to enjoy it to the fullest."

His actions stunned both Gu Qingya and Gu Qingyin.

He, a man from out of town, was actually serving food to a married woman.

"Prince Li is right," Rong Yingluo agreed.

Knowing he had acted improperly, Li Xuanye tried to make amends by placing another piece on Gu Qingyin's plate, saying, "Miss Gu, you should eat too. This dish is slippery and hard to pick up." He even came up with a plausible excuse.

"Thank you, Prince Li," Gu Qingyin said shyly.

The awkward atmosphere then dissipated.

Gu Qingya, being a noblewoman, probably rarely had the opportunity to eat here, so she abandoned her noblewoman's reserve and ate with great relish.

On the contrary, Gu Qingyin ate very politely.

"Second sister, try this." Rong Yingluo picked up a piece of salt-fried pork for her.

She noticed that her second younger sister was too shy to pick up food, and always carefully picked up the food in front of her.

With outsiders present, Li Xuanye couldn't say much and could only take care of the three women's meals.

Later on, everyone ate until they couldn't eat anymore.

"Sister-in-law, can I come again in the future?" Gu Qingya's former arrogance was gone after this meal.

A meal here costs at least 100 taels of silver, and there's no guarantee of a seat.

Her mother wouldn't allow her to come, but now that her sister-in-law has a token for free food, she really wants to come every day.

"If you stop calling me a merchant's daughter, someone who can't be presented to the public, and stop opposing me at every turn, I can bring you along, but I can't give you the token," Rong Yingluo stated her conditions.

She hoped to use this to keep Gu Qingya in check and stop her from constantly picking on her.

"I..." Gu Qingya choked.

After dinner, Rong Yingluo went shopping. When she left Mingyue Tower, she deliberately lagged behind and walked alongside Li Xuanye.

"You must never dine at Mingyue Tower again," Rong Yingluo said in a very low voice.

Li Xuanye heard this, but his expression remained unchanged: "Why?"

"I'll tell you the reason later; it's not convenient to talk about it now."

The two exchanged a few words briefly before parting ways. Rong Yingluo walked ahead and walked alongside Gu Qingyin.

Rong Yingluo took her two younger sisters shopping for a while and bought a lot of things to take home.

At first, Gu Qingyin felt very embarrassed, how could she let her sister-in-law pay for it?

But Rong Yingluo kept saying it was okay, so she chose a few dishes for her aunt to take back.

Gu Qingya was quite unceremonious, spending over fifty taels of silver from Rong Yingluo until Rong Yingluo said, "If you continue to be so unrestrained, I will never take you shopping again." Only then did she stop.

"Stingy." Gu Qingya pouted, but didn't dare to say it loudly.

Her monthly allowance was only twenty taels of silver. Whenever she had a large expense, she had to ask her mother for more money, and she wasn't always able to get it.

Even though she was the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion, she rarely had the freedom to buy things without restraint.

At this moment, she truly envied Rong Yingluo for having endless money.

The three women spent the afternoon shopping, and Gu Qingya didn't say a single word that Rong Yingluo would dislike.

It seems that the Su family's housekeeper doesn't have much money for her to spend.

He had her under his thumb with food and money, Rong Yingluo thought to herself with a smirk.

Upon returning to the Gu residence, Gu Ce had already stepped down from his post and was giving a lesson to Zhou Haitao in the outer courtyard.

She had originally intended to take Gu Qingyin to see him, but then thought better of it, not wanting to cause trouble for people's hearts.

Scientific expeditions are no small matter.

Not long after returning to Silver Willow Courtyard, Gu Ce came back.

"Husband, I went to Mingyue Tower for dinner today and discovered a big secret." Rong Yingluo had kept this secret from the moment she spat out that piece of tofu until now, not daring to tell anyone. Now that Gu Ce has finally returned, she no longer has to keep it to herself.

"What big secret?" Gu Ce was taken aback.

"Yinghong, quickly bring the soup for the young master to try," Rong Yingluo instructed.

Yinghong had already warmed the soup on the small stove and ladled out a bowl to bring over.

Gu Ce took it, and a fresh aroma wafted to his nose. He couldn't resist scooping up a spoonful and putting it in his mouth.

I savored it for a moment, then swallowed it.

"It's delicious. Did you make it?" Gu Ce scooped up another spoonful.

"This was brought back from Mingyue Tower," Rong Yingluo said truthfully.

"No wonder Mingyue Tower is so popular. Even a simple tofu soup is so delicious. It's no wonder it was made by the imperial chef's apprentice." Gu Ce couldn't help but praise it.

He had eaten at Mingyuelou a few times, but he stopped going because the prices were too high.

After not going, he felt out of sorts for a long time and had a strong urge to go back to eat there. If he hadn't had strong self-control, he might have become a regular at Mingyuelou.

"Let me tell you, this soup contains something called poppy. It's a medicinal herb that can astringe the lungs and stop coughing, astringe the intestines and stop diarrhea, and relieve various kinds of pain."

However, many doctors are unaware that this substance can be addictive if used excessively, making it impossible to live without.

Once a person is deprived of this substance, they will go insane. If they cannot take it in time, they will eventually die a gruesome death, neither human nor ghost.

However, as a medicinal herb, it is generally taken for a maximum of seven days, and no one would take it for a long period of time.

Few people know about this effect.

Unfortunately, my master knew about it.

"I tasted it after just one bite of this tofu today. And there was quite a lot of it in this soup. I suspect the Crown Prince must have instructed me to deliberately add extra poppy seeds to this soup. He's trying to harm me," Rong Yingluo explained.

Gu Ce paused in his ladling of soup, then slammed the bowl down on the table: "Outrageous! What does the Crown Prince intend to do?"