Chapter Nineteenth: The Villain Arrives at the Door

  Seeing the Jin Yiwei standing up in the corner, several eunuchs were a bit tense, but their faces were still cold. Wang Tong first clasped his fists and bowed, smiling and saying:

  "This restaurant is run by my younger brother, and if you gentlemen enjoy your meal, it's an honor for me. How can I have the face to ask for money from you? Little Three, quickly return their money to these gentlemen."

  The shop assistant who received the money hastily handed over the copper coins, and the eunuch who invited the guest expressionlessly accepted the money. This small favor was really too insignificant to be polite, but rather wanted to see what this young brocade guard would say:

  "The small shop's business is not great, and I want to attract more customers. The small shop is close to the south gate of the Imperial City, so it's convenient for officials to come. Please ask a few officials to help spread the word when they go back, and let the officials in the palace come here to try... If someone comes, the officials who eat here don't need to spend money, and whoever brings one person will get one coin..."

  "Are we beggars?"

  The eunuch who received the money coldly replied with a sentence, put the money back in his pocket, and turned around to lead the crowd out of the door.

  Although one article is small, it can accumulate a lot, and the gentle stream flows far. Wang Tong doesn't care about listening to his own father or the surrounding gossip, but there are many evaluations of eunuchs, who like to take advantage of small benefits and love money, yet everyone says so.

  Just thinking about it, when he returned the copper coins just now, the eunuch carefully counted them and then carefully put them back into his pocket, Wang Tong was even more convinced in his heart.

  "Zhang, prepare twenty sets of materials for tomorrow, in case there aren't enough."

  He calmly instructed.

  Wang Tong still gets up early every day, and the old man who sweeps the door of Tian Bai's house has become his conversation partner. Although there is some reserve, having someone to talk to can alleviate boredom and improve one's mood.

  As for him, he had a small restaurant that was doing well, and Old Ding was also calm, except for expressing surprise at Wang Tong's strange methods, his attitude was the same as usual.

  But every day at dawn, the attitude of colleagues on other streets is different. Wang Tong can beat Zhao Guo-zheng violently, let General Flag Liu Xin-yong eat a loss, and even open such a prosperous restaurant by himself. It's indeed a role with connections and background. Such a capable person will inevitably have a future, and it won't hurt to get close to him.

  Moreover, Wang Tong, this half-grown child, seems to be not as violent as the rumors say. He treats people and things with a gentle attitude, smiling and facing each other, making people feel comfortable in their hearts.

  Every day before dawn, people who came would go and greet him, vaguely centered around Wang Tong's side.

  Wang Tong was greeting his colleagues while thinking about how many customers the six eunuchs from yesterday would bring to this restaurant.

  During the late Jiajing era, few eunuchs were selected to enter the palace, and during the short reign of Longqing, no eunuchs were selected to enter the palace. As a result, when Wanli ascended to the throne, most of the eunuchs in the palace were middle-aged men around 40 years old. In order to maintain the operation of the imperial city, large-scale recruitment of eunuchs began in the second year of Wanli's reign.

  In the Forbidden City, there were nearly six thousand newly arrived eunuchs. The high-ranking eunuchs naturally wore silk and ate fine food, while the rest had coarse and poor food. They had some scattered silver coins in their hands, but inside the palace, there was no place to cook for themselves. If they missed mealtime, they would either eat cold food or go hungry.

  If you go out to run errands, I don't know about other places, but in the area south of the Imperial City, there are indeed several wine houses. However, they either do not accept individual guests or their prices are too expensive.

  In short, the delicious and affordable restaurant just met their needs.

  He was pondering over there, when the discussions of his colleagues on the side suddenly reached his ears. Wang Tong only then noticed that all the small circles had gathered together again today, and he didn't know what they were discussing.

  It seems that he didn't avoid himself either, Wang Tong could hear intermittently "......Yesterday, Lord Tian scolded Liu Xinyong severely......"

  "I heard that the matter of embezzling silver was exposed......""...Serves him right, he embezzled from us and swallowed it himself......""...Last night Liu Xinyong took the embezzled silver to Tian's place again..."

  Wang Tong sneered in his heart. All officials are for personal gain, and Liu Xinyong's embezzlement of his superiors' shares was exposed, it would be strange if he got away with it.

  Before long, Liu Xinyong led Zhao Guozhen over, both of their faces didn't look too good, and the voices greeting them had also thinned out a lot.

  Wang Tong looked back, and Liu Xinyong happened to look over, able to see that the pointed mouth and cheeky face was full of resentment and hatred. Wang Tong lowered his head, secretly thinking: For such a greedy and ruthless character, who attaches great importance to money, having suffered such losses, it's unknown what kind of resentment is in their heart, so be careful.

  But he didn't expect things to come so quickly, at noon, Wang Tong was busy with all sorts of things in Mei Wei Guan.

  The male and female employees in the store were trained for too short a time before opening, they need to be watched all the time, lest they make mistakes. The new store has a good momentum, but after all, it's only been open for less than a month, if we don't hurry up, something will go wrong easily.

  However, just as the shop was filled with customers, seven Jin Yiwei officers arrived and started shouting loudly before even entering the store:

  "This is beneath the Son of Heaven and near the Imperial City. What are you people gathering here for? Are you planning to do something illicit? Disperse at once!!"

  These words were too severe, the customers who had just gathered scattered in a hurry, and those who had already sat down in the store also showed a look of horror. In this small restaurant in Beijing, it was often extorted by Jin Yiwei under false pretenses, everyone thought that Mei Wei Guan was also opened by Jin Yiwei, and eating here could not be peaceful.

  Who would have thought that someone would come to stir up trouble? Everyone knows what's going on, and when things get out of hand, customers will inevitably be affected.

  Now even eating is not dare to eat, put down the bowl and chopsticks hastily went out, Zhang Shiqiang quickened his pace and lifted the cotton curtain at the door, took a look and said to Wang Tong inside:

  "Wang brothers, looking unfamiliar, aren't you from our hundred households?"

  As they spoke, the seven men swaggered into the store. Seeing their fierce demeanor, none of the shop assistants dared to speak up to greet them. Wang Tong slowly stood up and asked in a deep voice:

  "What brings you brothers here?"

  The first man looked at the waist card and saw a small flag, which was sturdy and short. Hearing this sentence, he stared at Wang Tong for several eyes and said with a big smile:

  "What else can you do in a restaurant? Of course, it's eating. First, bring seven dishes, and serve your best."

  The remaining six Jin Yiwei guards were all wearing tattered and worn-out flying fish robes, looking rather disheveled, and had already sat down laughing and chatting.

  In this restaurant, it was the youngest Wang Tong who remained calm, while Zhang Shiqiang, in his thirties, looked flustered, not to mention the other waiters and waitresses.

  "Give each of these brothers thirty cents worth, and add more meat dishes."

  Wang Tong called out and the apprentices behind the screen nervously divided up the food and brought it over to them.

  Seven brocade-clad imperial guards sat at seven tables, and they happened to be blocking the entrance. However, Wang Tong couldn't find fault with this arrangement, as the other party were guests who had come to eat, and it wasn't proper to interfere with where they sat.