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

Although the two had only met twice, they had once shared an oxcart back to the city, spending a considerable amount of time together, which left a deep impression on them.

"Thank you for your generosity that day, Miss Gu. I am now working as an accountant at Mrs. Gu's restaurant, and I can repay you. Please accept this." Zhou Haitao said, taking out a small piece of silver from his purse, which was less than an ounce.

"Pfft!" Rong Yingluo laughed when she saw the small silver coin.

This week, the scholar was really something else. He clearly saw that his second sister's clothes were all made of silk, so she wouldn't be short of money, but he still foolishly insisted on paying back the money.

"Young Master Zhou, the Miss Gu you see is the second young lady of my Gu family. She doesn't need your money. You should keep it. On your way home, buy your mother a box of pastries and show her your respect," Rong Yingluo said with a smile.

He's such an honest person.

"What? You're the Gu family's young lady?" Zhou Haitao had never imagined that Gu Qingyin was his teacher's sister.

When he first saw her, she was crying by the roadside with her maid. Her clothes were not fancy, so he never imagined that she was of such noble status.

"Young Master Zhou, I am merely a concubine's daughter in my family. It is only through my sister-in-law's pity that I have the honor of dining here with her." Gu Qingyin still felt somewhat inferior.

Now that Young Master Zhou is my elder brother's student, he's sure to pass the imperial examination next spring, and his ranking might even be high. At that time, countless young ladies in the capital will want to marry him.

By then, she, as a concubine's daughter, would no longer be worthy of him.

"Second sister, there's no need to feel inferior. No matter what, you are still a young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the Duke of Zhenguo's own daughter."

"If you want to have the status of a legitimate child, I'll talk to the old lady and have you adopted under the name of the late madam. That way, you and your eldest brother will be siblings from the same mother." Rong Yingluo suddenly had a brilliant idea.

This will definitely infuriate that self-important young lady, Gu Qingya, to the point of being furious.

However, we still need to discuss this with Gu Ce.

"Sister-in-law!" Gu Qingyin was touched. "There's no need for that. Auntie will be sad."

She had a very good relationship with her aunt and didn't want to leave her. For so many years, the mother and daughter had depended on each other, and she couldn't bear to make her aunt sad.

"Even if she's adopted, she'll still be your aunt. It's just for the sake of status. I don't think my mother-in-law will have any objections." The more Rong Yingluo talked, the more she felt that this was feasible.

Aunt Miao was originally a maidservant of the late Madam.

Zhou Haitao felt a little awkward listening to his sister-in-law discussing their social status in front of him, and interrupted them, "Where are you going?"

"We're going to see the excitement at Mingyue Tower. Do you want to come along? It'll be good to add some political material for your policy essays."

Although Rong Yingluo did not understand the imperial examination, she knew that when scholars wrote policy essays, they needed to cite classical texts and combine them with real-world events, which is why there was the saying of studying abroad.

"Thank you for the invitation, Madam Gu. I will accompany you." Zhou Haitao naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity, as it would be beneficial for writing policy essays.

Mingyue Tower is not far away; it is located on the same bustling street as Honghao Tower.

Along the way, Yinghong told Zhou Haitao about Mingyue Tower again, including the dangers of poppies, which Zhou Haitao found unbelievable.

When the group arrived near Mingyue Tower, they saw the officials arresting the manager, accountant, and all the waiters, binding them tightly, and escorting them out of the tower.

Two more officers carried a box out of the back storeroom and slammed it to the ground. It contained poppies, and a few poppies fell out of the box and onto the ground.

Li Xuanye was loudly proclaiming outside the gate, "Fellow villagers, do you think that the dishes at Mingyuelou are no different from those at other restaurants? Why do you only want to come to Mingyuelou after eating there, and not want to go to other restaurants?"

If I hadn't been feeling unwell today, I wouldn't have known how heartless the manager of Mingyue Tower was.

To make everyone think only of Mingyuelou's dishes, he added a broth made from a herb called poppy seeds to all the dishes.

This medicine is a good medicine, but it cannot be taken in large quantities. Once a certain amount is taken, it will become addictive, making people unable to stop.

If I don't eat, I feel uneasy all over and can't muster the energy to do anything. But after eating, I quickly become full of energy.

Over time, they became inseparable from Mingyuelou, but the dishes there were more expensive than elsewhere. If they continued eating like this, their savings would be depleted.

These are all minor issues; if they keep eating like this, people will die.

Li Xuanye exaggerated.

Many diners, who had just been driven out by the officials, were still there, crowding outside the gate.

"My God, how can Mingyue Tower be so heartless? They're utterly devoid of conscience just to make money!" someone started cursing.

"My money! The money I saved up for half my life! I ate it all at Mingyue Tower in just six months! I even spent all the money I had saved for my son's wedding!"

"I also spent all my savings. At first, I wanted to control my gluttony and not come to Mingyue Tower, but after only three days, I couldn't control myself. It turns out that it wasn't that I was really gluttonous, but that Mingyue Tower had drugged us."

"No, we can't let Mingyue Tower ruin us like this. Let's go to the Jingzhao Prefecture and ask the Prefect to stand up for us. They must compensate us and refund all the money we spent on the meal."

"But I heard that the real owner behind Mingyue Tower is His Highness the Crown Prince. Will he refund our money?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince? Impossible! He's the heir apparent of our Southern Xia Kingdom, the future emperor. How could he possibly harm his own people?"

"That's not necessarily true. The Crown Prince also needs money. I've also heard that he keeps many beauties for his pleasure, but I don't know if it's true or not."

......

Various voices rose and fell.

Rong Yingluo could tell at a glance that some of them were deliberately causing trouble; it was probably arranged by Li Xuanye and Gu Ce to create momentum.

She almost laughed when she heard that.

When did Li Xuanye and Gu Ce become so close, and how did they cooperate so perfectly?

Officials led a group of people ahead, followed by many diners and onlookers.

Once everyone had left, Mingyue Tower was sealed off.

Gu Ce and Li Xuanye both saw Rong Yingluo standing on the other side of the road.

The two crossed the road together.

"Your Highnesses, you're quite something. You managed to shut down Mingyue Tower with just a simple commotion. The token the Crown Prince gave me is useless now, even after just one meal. I was hoping to eat him out of house and home." Rong Yingluo pulled out the token she had risked her life to obtain from her bosom.

"Confiscated." Gu Ce reached out and grabbed it, which was also one of the pieces of evidence.

"You two probably didn't actually dine at Mingyue Tower, did you? Come on, let's go to my Honghao Tower, it's my treat today." Rong Yingluo still wanted to know how the two of them got together.

The group returned to Honghaolou Restaurant. There weren't many customers there, and the dishes were served quickly after they ordered.

Zhou Haitao wanted to take his leave, but Gu Ce stopped him, saying, "Come with me. Now that you're my student, you should know some things that will help you improve your political analysis skills."

Zhou Haitao was deeply moved. Since meeting the eldest son of the Rong family, he had encountered a benefactor in his life.

"Husband, why didn't the Crown Prince show up today?" Rong Yingluo was very curious. Mingyue Tower should be one of the Crown Prince's most profitable businesses in the capital. It was shut down just like that. Doesn't he feel bad?