“The previous General was really something!”

“What happened?”

“Look at what’s written on this notice! He allowed his young son to forcefully abduct innocent women and force them into prostitution! Thankfully, the newly appointed General is observant and has identified those unfortunate women’s identities. He has already written a petition to the capital, requesting the Emperor’s mercy to send those poor women back home!”

The notice posted at the city gate drew a crowd of onlookers, and their discussions reached Jiang Yanyi’s ears.

She almost instantly turned her head to look at the notice, her heart filled with ecstatic joy.

At that moment, the curtain of a carriage was fully lifted.

The person inside had a heroic appearance; even seated, he resembled an iron tower.

With a short beard and a commanding gaze, it was Chu Changping, preparing to leave the city with a coffin.

The once arrogant guards were intimidated by his imposing presence, lowering their voices. “What business do you have?”

Chu Changping presented a bulging purse. “I’m in the spice trade; it’s a small business.”

The guards felt that this man had an extraordinary demeanor and was generous with his money, so they no longer troubled him and signaled to let them pass through the city gate.

Chu Changping nodded in thanks, his gaze sweeping over the notice at the city gate.

Pain filled his eyes as he lowered the curtain of the carriage and was about to withdraw his gaze when he noticed a short, dark-faced man pushing his way into the crowd gathered around the notice.

He tilted his head, struggling to squeeze in.

Chu Changping caught a glimpse and was shocked, feeling that this man bore a resemblance to his niece.

As the carriage was exiting the city gate, Chu Changping had no choice but to lift the curtain and lean out to see more clearly.

“What are you doing!”

Seeing him about to turn back into the city, the guard shouted, and several long spears were aimed at Chu Changping.

His trusted men, disguised as bodyguards, immediately placed their hands on the handles of their blades.

Chu Changping did not see the dark-faced man among the crowd; instead, several men wearing the same clothes as the dark-faced man were crowded there looking at the notice.

He recognized that those were the uniforms of the miscellaneous troops specially doing kitchen works and cleaning from the Xizhou Camp.

If his niece were still alive, how could a sheltered young lady join the army?

Chu Changping thought it was merely his excessive worry causing him to see things wrong.

The priority now was to quickly transport the coffin back to the capital; if there was a conflict with the officials, and they discovered the coffin, it would lead to considerable trouble.

He subtly gestured for his trusted men not to act rashly.

He then clasped his hands toward the head guard, saying, “Please don’t be angry, sir. I just saw someone who resembles an old acquaintance; I will leave the city now.”

The head guard, still holding the bulging purse, was impatient, “Hurry up; there are still so many people waiting behind!”

Chu Changping sat back in the carriage, and as the horses’ hooves clattered, the carriage and several carts gradually left Xizhou City.

At the end of the winding official road were towering mountains.

Today, the weather was clear; the carriage, under the bright sunlight, grew smaller and smaller until it finally vanished from sight.

Jiang Yanyi squeezed her way to the front of the notice, staring at the black characters on white paper and the bright red seal of the Xizhou government.

It felt like a dream.

If her household registration were approved, she would finally be a citizen of the Daxuan Dynasty!

With her credentials, opening a shop and doing business would be feasible.

A few firehead camp soldiers followed her in, squeezing through.

People around them complained, “What are you pushing for?”

“My shoe fell off! Ouch… who stepped on my foot?”

The fire camp soldiers repeatedly apologized, “Sorry, sorry…”

Seeing they were soldiers, the onlookers, still somewhat wary, grumbled a few words and let it go.

The fire camp soldiers couldn’t read and didn’t understand what was written on the notice, but some literate people nearby read it aloud.

They understood the general idea and turned to Jiang Yanti, their faces filled with joy, saying, “Master Jiang, you can leave the camp now!”

Jiang Yanyi had been abducted, and during the registration of camp prostitutes, other women had heard her words.

The fire camp soldiers had inquired about Jiang Yanyi in private; they knew she had not been sent here for committing any crimes.

A fire camp soldier about thirteen or fourteen years old, upon hearing the big man say this, remarked, “Master Jiang is now a chef, just like in the Xizhou Camp!”

He licked his lips; Jiang Yanyi’s braised pork buns were delicious, and he hoped to eat them every meal in the future.

A bearded fire camp soldier slapped him on the head. “What do you know? It’s not the same!”

In the camp, they were all men.

Moreover, the Xizhou Camp previously had camp prostitutes, and even working in the fire camp, people would always gossip.

Unless Jiang Yanyi stayed in the fire camp for life and didn’t marry, how could that be possible?

The younger fire soldier didn’t understand this, touched his head where he was slapped, and defiantly retorted to the bearded soldier, “I’m fourteen, I’m not small!”

The bearded soldier laughed, “If you’re still a virgin, you’re still small!”

Someone nearby elbowed him hard. “What are you saying in front of Master Jiang!”

Only then did the bearded soldier realize his words were inappropriate and quickly apologized to Jiang Yanyi, “Master Jiang, I’m just a rough man, I don’t know how to speak, please don’t take offense!”

“It’s fine, let’s go find Head Zhao,” Jiang Yanyi said, having read the notice several times from top to bottom.

Confirming that the Xizhou Camp intended to send respectable women back home, her joy was overwhelming, and her mind was filled with thoughts of opening a hot pot restaurant.

She completely missed what the fire soldiers were saying.

It was difficult to squeeze in, and it was equally difficult to squeeze out.

By the time they passed through the human wall, Head Zhao and a few uninterested soldiers had already finished half a bowl of tea in the tea house.

Before Jiang Yanyi could say anything, several soldiers eagerly began to share the contents of the notice with Head Zhao.

Anyone who didn’t know would think they had relatives trapped in the Xizhou military camp and were finally able to return home.

After listening, Head Zhao sincerely praised, “This new general is a good one. Not only has he improved the soldiers’ food rations, but he’s also raised their pay. Now, those good women who were captured can finally escape their suffering.”

He turned to Jiang Yanyi, “Girl, what are your plans?”

Jiang Yanyi could tell that Head Zhao was asking on behalf of Chef Li.

This morning, while Chef Li was teaching her how to cook, she felt he was treating her as his apprentice.

If she wanted to stay in the firehead camp, with Chef Li’s decades of connections, he could surely find a way to keep her there.

But she didn’t want to spend her whole life in the army.

It wasn’t just tiring; she also craved freedom.

Moreover, the incident with the pockmarked-faced man still haunted her.

Last time, she was fortunate to be saved. What if she wasn’t next time?

Cooking for generals was also a matter of life and death, fearing that a small mistake would lead to punishment.

If she opened her own shop, she could decide when to open for business.

If she felt like it, she could run it all day; if she didn’t, or had urgent matters, she could open for half a day or even not at all.

Everything would be up to her, and she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else’s face or the risk of being executed for bad cooking.

If she worked a bit harder, all the money she earned would go into her own pocket.

This was probably the difference between being a worker and being one’s own boss.

She also wanted to save some money and, after a few years, buy a small courtyard in the Jiangnan area, keep a cat for companionship, plant some flowers when she had nothing to do, and cook.

It would be like living a leisurely retirement life ahead of time.

Jiang Yanyi said, “Head Zhao, I’ve been taken care of quite a bit by you and Master Li during my time in the firehead camp, and I’ve always been grateful to both of you. But my father taught me this culinary skill, and I still want to open a small shop to pass on his legacy.”

Head Zhao nodded, “You’re a filial child. Since you want to open a shop, have you thought about how to go about it?”

Jiang Yanyi shook her head.

Since she had arrived, she had been in the Xizhou military camp, and this was her first time out.

The original owner had never come to Xizhou either.

When it came to running a restaurant, the busier the place, the better.

The most prosperous area in the entire Daxuan Dynasty was undoubtedly the capital city, but Jiang Yanyi didn’t have the courage to go there.

Who knows, she might run into someone she knew. If recognized, the male lead would probably send someone to kill her again.

Historically, border areas were hard and arduous, yet Jiang Yanyi was somewhat surprised to see that Xizhou City was quite lively.

In the short time she sat in the tea house, she had seen several peddlers walking past on the main street, carrying their goods.

In front of a tavern across the street, a Hu woman was holding a pipa and singing softly, attracting many men to stop and listen.

A few firehead soldiers, who rarely got out, couldn’t resist and ran over to the tavern to listen.

Head Zhao said, “If you leave the army and don’t have a place to stay for now, I have a relative in Xizhou City who has a shop with an attached courtyard. The location is quite good, right next to the Protectorate. He runs a perfume business, but how many families out here can afford cosmetics?”

“He lost quite a bit of money, and his wife got angry, taking their son back to her family in Jiangnan. He plans to sell the shop and settle down in Jiangnan.”

At first, Jiang Yanyi was somewhat tempted, but when she heard that he was selling the shop with the courtyard, she immediately hesitated.

She waved her hand, saying, “Head Zhao, I don’t have that much money…”

Her only considerable fortune was a one-hundred-tael silver note, along with two taels of silver from last night’s “military advisor” reward and a few coins earned from selling tofu pudding, totaling only one hundred and three taels.

After subtracting those, she only had a little over a hundred copper coins left from her private kitchen earnings.

The shop that Head Zhao mentioned, with its good location and courtyard, would probably cost at least three hundred taels to buy.

Head Zhao interrupted her, “What’s the hurry? I haven’t finished speaking. This shop isn’t going to sell anytime soon. For now, he plans to rent it out, and you can just pay eight hundred coins a month. If you’re interested in renting the shop, I can take you over to have a look and negotiate with him. It wouldn’t be difficult to lower the price by a hundred coins.”

After hearing this, Jiang Yanyi was thoroughly tempted.

While she earned thirty to forty coins at the private kitchen in the firehead camp in the evenings, opening her own shop outside would surely earn even more.

Moreover, she had sufficient capital and didn’t have to worry about losses.

She could sell at a loss in the first month to build up her reputation and think about making money later.

If Xizhou turned out to be too poor and the restaurant business didn’t thrive, she wouldn’t have to renew the lease on the shop and could just move to a more prosperous city to start over.

Jiang Yanyi immediately said, “Then I’ll trouble you, Head Zhao, to take me to have a look.”

Head Zhao had been in charge of procuring supplies for decades, and he knew what vegetables to buy in what season.

He just needed to make a call and leave a few trusted soldiers to keep an eye on things.

After finishing his tasks, he could return to check that everything was in order before bringing it back to the military camp.

A group of them arrived at the market in the east of the city.

After Head Zhao negotiated with a few vegetable farmers and gave instructions to several soldiers, he took Jiang Yanyi to see the shop.

It was quite a distance from the east of the city to the Protectorate Street, so Head Zhao hailed a mule cart to take them both there.

On the way, Jiang Yanyi noticed that there were quite a few restaurants, which was good news for her.

With so many people opening eateries, it indicated a market.

If no one dined out, naturally, no one would open a restaurant.

However, the prosperity of Xizhou City exceeded Jiang Yanyi’s expectations. She asked, “Head Zhao, Xizhou doesn’t seem wealthy; how come there are so many restaurants?”