Who Asked Him to Be the Emperor?

The Emperor's hint was quite clear: he wanted Zhou Wanwan to simply offer him these storytellers for free.

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

"Thank you for the praise, Your Majesty. They are indeed quite excellent, and they are paid one tael of silver per hour."

It's not expensive at all. Surely His Majesty isn't unwilling to spend even a single tael of silver?

The Emperor coughed and said, "That's not what I meant. I just think it's too much trouble to invite them every time."

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said:

"Is it not appropriate for my people to enter the palace? What if you're unhappy and cut off their heads?"

"If Noble Consort Ning is unhappy and cuts off their heads again, I won't even be able to cry."

They may enter the palace, but their safety must be guaranteed.

The Emperor coughed and said:

"Alright, I understand. Issue them a get-out-of-jail-free card!"

Oh, and those snacks look good too. I'd like some.

And those fruits... I think your fruit tastes especially good. How do you do it?

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched repeatedly. How could this emperor be just like Eunuch Hai?

Who told him to be the emperor?

Zhou Wanwan arranged for two storytellers, who bowed respectfully.

The emperor granted them pardons, and the two quickly kowtowed in gratitude.

The two talked for an entire afternoon, their voices hoarse, but the Emperor listened with great interest. "Reward me, reward me handsomely, I am very satisfied."

Zhou Wanwan rolled her eyes. "Then shall I go back to the Cold Palace now?"

The Emperor looked at her and said, "The Cold Palace? No, no, no, have a meal with me! I've ordered takeout."

Zhou Wanwan coughed and said, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate? Don't you have imperial chefs in your palace? Why are you ordering takeout?"

The Emperor chuckled and said:

"The takeout is delicious! I especially love their crayfish, it's absolutely amazing."

This Xie Cheng'en is actually quite capable these days."

Not bad, Zhou Wanwan also thought Xie Cheng'en did a pretty good job.

The Xie Family is indeed a prominent and influential family; their foundation is simply different, and the Xie Family cannot compare to them.

To put it bluntly, Zhou Wanwan targets scattered clients in the market, while the Xie Family targets large clients.

Zhou Wanwan followed the Emperor to the main hall, where a table Manman dishes. Xie Cheng'en looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "It's just takeout, isn't it? You're making it sound like nobody can't do it. Look, even without your help, I did a great job!"

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched. She turned around and looked at the people behind Xie Cheng'en; they were all her people.

Those people were trained to be even better than the palace maids.

Zhou Wanwan was too lazy to pay attention to him, mainly because Xie Cheng'en was very good at making money and very good at helping her make money.

The wedding banquets these past few days have been fully booked, and all of them are expensive—they're all luxury banquets.

A tree hopped over and reported, "Wanwan... Wanwan, do you know how many banquets we have tomorrow?"

Zhou Wanwan looked up at it and asked, "How much?"

"Ten games..."

Zhou Wanwan laughed heartily, and the Old Scholar Tree beside her cackled, "This Xie Cheng'en is really something; we should take good care of him."

Lingbao popped out of the bag and said, "Hmph! He got off too easily living for so long, but at least he's of some use now."

The tree next to it smiled and said:

"Oh dear! Ever since his treasure vault was raided last time, he's been behaving himself, thinking about how to make money every day."

The key point is that we did the math for him. They have ten banquets tomorrow, and after deducting labor costs and all sorts of other expenses.

They only earn 100 taels a day, I don't know what they're after.

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "As long as he's happy."

Xie Cheng'en Chengen has absolutely no business sense; how could he possibly understand these intricacies?

But Zhou Wanwan's subordinates know a lot!

Unexpectedly, Zhou Wanwan also received an invitation. Looking at it, she said, "A flower-adorned banquet? These little girls just like these things. What's the point?"

Zheng Xing'an, who was standing next to her, looked at her and asked, "So, are you planning to go or not?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Of course I'm going! How could I not watch such a lively event?"

The key point is that Lu Lan invited them, and she wanted to see what Lu Lan was up to.

The most crucial thing is that Zhou Wanwan has to promote her own products.

She owns too many shops now and needs a lot of customers.

However, the last time the snacks sold extremely well, they were a complete hit.

When Zhou Wanwan arrived at Lu Lan's flower-adorning banquet, the servants of the Lu Family pretended not to see Zhou Wanwan.

The ladies from prominent families around her kept their distance.

"So this is the one in the Cold Palace? I never expected her to be residing there at such a young age."

"That girl is really unlucky. She's only six years old and spends every day in the cold palace. She must be very pitiful."

"How did she get out? People in the Cold Palace aren't supposed to be allowed to leave."

"Who knows? Maybe they snuck out!"

Lu Lan looked at Zhou Wanwan and smiled faintly, "Wanwan! How's it like in the Cold Palace? To be honest, I have no idea what it's like!"

Zhou Wanwan smiled slightly and said, "Lu Lan, you can come to the Cold Palace to keep me company, or you can come back with me tonight!"

Lu Lan chuckled and said:

"You seem to be able to stay anywhere, but I don't have your good attitude."

I heard there are ghosts in the Cold Palace? Aren't you scared there at night?

"I've heard that many concubines were murdered in the Cold Palace and became ghosts. That Cold Palace is so eerie; most people couldn't bear it."

"Really? Thank goodness we weren't sent to the cold palace."

Zhou Wanwan looked at them speechlessly and said, "You act like you can just come in whenever you want. The Cold Palace doesn't welcome you, okay?"

"Stubborn to the end." Lu Lan snorted coldly and left.

Shangguan Wan'er also walked over, looking at her coldly and saying, "A good dog doesn't block the way, but you're blocking my way."

Zhou Wanwan turned around and said, "I don't know which dog is barking like that in broad daylight, it's so noisy."

Shangguan Wan'er angrily retorted, "Say that again!"

Zhou Wanwan scoffed and said, "Did I say something wrong? Aren't you just barking here?"

After saying that, she went straight into the house, Shangguan Wan'er stomped her feet in anger.

"You'll pay soon enough."

At this flower-adorned banquet, everyone's hair was covered in flowers, and the young and beautiful girls looked especially lovely with flowers in their hair.

Zhou Wanwan wore a Taohua in her hair, which looked quite beautiful.

Quite a few people came this time; Xie Cheng'en, Cheng Chao, Shen Wanjun, Zhou Mei, Zhou Lan, and Zhou Zhu all showed up.

Zhou Mei looked at Zhou Wanwan calmly and said, "Little sister, how have you been?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at Zhou Mei and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Zhou Mei chuckled and said, "If you can be here, why can't I? Grandma received an invitation today! So naturally we came along too."

Old Madam Zhou actually received an invitation from the Lu family? What on earth is going on?