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"That's for you to figure out."

Zhao Pan'er frowned slightly. Zhou Chen meant that he knew the reason, but he just didn't tell her because he wanted her to figure it out herself.

Not only her, but also Sun Sanniang, Song Yinzhang, and Yinping, all started to think seriously about it.

But they racked their brains but couldn't figure out the reason. Finally, Zhao Pan'er thought of something.

"Business was pretty good in the first two days after we opened, but it plummeted a few days later, and we haven't seen many customers in the past two days."

"My Lord, was there any important festival a few days ago?"

Zhou Chen did not speak, but looked at Zhou Huai. Zhou Huai said, "Madam Zhao, there is a Guanyin Temple nearby. When your teahouse opened a few days ago, it happened to be Buddha's birthday, so there were many pilgrims."

"I see."

Only then did Zhao Pan'er understand why business was so good in the first two days after opening. It turned out that it was not because of her unique vision and ability to identify business opportunities, but because of the dividends from Buddha's birthday.

"Then why do the few customers who have come these days all order loose tea and are in such a hurry?"

Zhou Huai continued to explain: "That's because this is Ma Xing Street. Although Ma Xing Street is also a street where many people gather in the city, it is called Ma Xing Street for a reason, because horse dealers and horse markets gather here. Tokyo people have known since childhood that they can buy herbal medicine in Yaoxiangju, buy clothes at the east end of Panlou, and if they want to drink tea, they have to go to Chatang Lane."

"Most of the people who come and go on Horse Market Street are merchants. They don't have as much time as scholars and literati. They just want to finish their tea as soon as possible and go to do business. So, Madam Zhao, it's really hard to attract customers for your teahouse here."

Zhao Pan'er's expression kept changing. After all the fuss, she knew nothing and just opened the teahouse enthusiastically.

"I see. Tokyo people actually have this habit. This is my fault. I haven't investigated it thoroughly."

Zhou Chen suddenly said, "But this is not your biggest problem. In fact, with your intelligence, you can find these problems as long as you are given a little time. But your biggest problem is impatience. You are too anxious, and when you are anxious, you will ignore many problems. So, in the final analysis, it is not that you are incapable, but that you are too eager to prove yourself."

Zhao Pan'er remained silent. Zhou Chen was right. She was indeed too impatient. She was eager to prove that she could survive in Tokyo with Song Yinzhang and the others. At the same time, she also wanted to open a teahouse to keep herself busy and quickly forget the sad things.

Seeing that Zhao Pan'er looked unhappy, Zhou Chen said, "Now that you know the reason, you should think carefully about how to change. Should you continue to work here or go to Chatang Lane, rent a new shop, and start over."

Zhao Pan'er thought about it and said through gritted teeth, "I just don't believe that a teahouse can't be opened successfully on Ma Xing Street."

She is confident in herself, but more importantly, she doesn't have much money left.

It goes without saying that the rent for a shop in Chatang Lane is definitely not cheap, and her current money is not enough for her to start over.

"It's a good thing to be confident. I'll just wait for you to reopen the teahouse."

…………

Xijing of the Great Song Dynasty!

Ouyang Xu set out from the capital, traveled hundreds of kilometers in a horse-drawn carriage, stopping and starting many times, and it took him nearly ten days to reach Xijing.

When he was in Tokyo, he only wanted to escape from Tokyo and Zhao Pan'er as soon as possible, so he had to accept the position of palace official.

Although others looked down on him, he felt that this was the right path. At least he would no longer be threatened by Zhao Pan'er, and he could escape from that place.

But after he arrived in Xijing, he found that he was too naive. This palace official was said to be an eighth-rank official, but in fact, he was not even as good as a yamen runner.

In Xijing, the government did not recognize him as a palace official at all. Not only did he not enjoy any treatment, but he even had to pay for his own accommodation.

What made him even more desperate was that the government asked him to invite Master Baoyi back to the capital, and if he failed to do so, he would not be able to return to the capital.

So after arriving in Xijing, he thought of countless ways to invite Master Baoyi to come out of seclusion. Unfortunately, more than half a month had passed and he couldn't even see Master Baoyi, let alone invite him to go to Tokyo.

He asked people for help everywhere and tried to find connections everywhere, but no one took him, an eighth-rank official, seriously. He was ridiculed and despised, and his dignity was almost gone.

Now, he rents a small house in Xijing. Fortunately, he brought some money when he came to Xijing, otherwise he would not even have a place to live here.

Ouyang Xu dragged his tired body back to his residence. He went out early in the morning and came back in the evening, but still got nothing and was looked down upon.

At this moment, he was becoming more and more confused about the future, but the resentment and anger in his heart were also growing stronger.

The more this happened, the more he swore in his heart that he must return to Tokyo alive, return to Tokyo in glory, and make all those who looked down on him and bullied him ten or a hundred times more miserable than he was now.

He must not give up without doing this.

Just when Ouyang Xu was returning home, several people gathered in a small courtyard not far from his residence.

"Brother Jiu, we have been following this kid for a month. When are we going to take action?"

There were five people in the yard. The one who spoke was a man in his twenties with a scar on his face. He was playing with a dagger in his hand and asked in a depressed tone.

The man called Brother Nine was the man in black who had appeared in Zhou Chen’s study before. He was also the leader of a secret guard under Zhou Chen. Two of the other four were members of his team, and the remaining two were members of the secret guard near Xijing.

Although there are less than two hundred secret guards under Zhou Chen, they are scattered by area. After the dispersion, the number of members in each area is smaller, and the secret guards in each area rarely contact each other. Unless there is Zhou Chen's order, there will be no intersection.

Ninth Brother is thin and looks like an ordinary farmer, but everyone who knows him understands that he is a truly ruthless person and one of the master's most trusted secret guards.

Ninth Brother glared at Scarface and scolded, "Why are you so anxious? The master said that he should die naturally. Do you think it's as simple as killing him? If it was that simple, would we have to follow him all the way from Tokyo to Xijing?"

Scarface said, "It's easy to kill him. We actually had many opportunities to do it along the way. For example, we could have pretended to be bandits and intercepted him, or sank his boat when he was on it. Isn't that natural?"

"Natural ass."

Brother Nine cursed: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Just do what I tell you to do. I don't need you to express your opinion."

Obviously, Scarface looked much stronger than Ninth Brother, but facing Ninth Brother's scolding, he didn't dare to say a word back.

"Okay, I won't say anything more. I'll listen to you, Brother Jiu. I just can't figure it out..."

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you up."

"Well, I won't say anything."

Scarface walked to the corner with a wronged look on his face and started digging a hole with his dagger.

Brother Nine was still discussing the mission with the others. With Scarface taking the lead, the others naturally wouldn't raise any objections.

The reason why Brother Nine was so cautious was because of Zhou Chen’s order, asking them to wait until they arrived in Xijing before taking action.

Scarface was right, he had many ways to kill Ouyang Xu, but after careful calculations, he found that all of them had some problems, which was why he had not taken action yet.

He was not afraid of anything happening to himself, but he was afraid of implicating his master, so he would rather spend more time following to ensure that nothing went wrong.

He thought he would have to wait a little longer, but soon after, he finally found an opportunity.

During this rainy day, Ouyang Xu learned that Master Baoyi was at the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain. In order to see Master Baoyi, he went up the mountain despite the danger and wind and rain.

Brother Nine was also very excited when he heard the report from his subordinates who were following him.

"The opportunity has come. Let's go. Today is the day he dies."

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so all four of Brother Nine went out. There was a lot of wind and rain, but for these ruthless men who had just come down from the battlefield, what did this little bit of wind and rain matter in order to complete the mission?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 981 Ouyang Xu's Death

Ever since Zhao's Teahouse had no business, Zhao Pan'er made up her mind to close it down and renovate it.

Of course, Sun Sanniang and Song Yinzhang had no objection to Zhao Pan'er's decision and they strongly supported it.

In this way, Zhao’s Teahouse was closed for half a month.

Zhao Pan'er, Sun Sanniang and the others did not just wait during this time, but went to Chatang Lane in batches to inspect it, learned about the prices of various teas and fruits in Chatang Lane, and made detailed records.

They used this time to reorganize the teas and fruit desserts they knew, and decided to select some representative tea drinks and fruit desserts. In addition, they also wanted to distinguish them from the local teas in Tokyo and only make Jiangnan tea drinks and fruit desserts.

Moreover, Zhao Pan'er also learned her lesson and prepared to earn money from those literati and elegant guests, because these people have requirements and ideas about tea tasting. It is difficult to earn money from them, but as long as she can make money, it will be much better than those loose tea customers.

In a word, it is a sentence, focusing on middle and high-end customers, and improving the style of the tea house.

After half a month of busy work, the new teahouse is about to open with great fanfare. This time, they have already started promoting it before the opening, letting the entire Ma Xing Street know that a new teahouse will be opening on Ma Xing Street.

In particular, the gate of the tea house has changed from a luxurious one to a dilapidated gate, which has attracted the attention of common people and passers-by, especially those literati and scholars, who are even more enthusiastic.

Therefore, the new teahouse caused quite a stir and attracted a lot of attention before it even opened.

"My Lord, this is what happened. Madam Zhao and her friends are really amazing. They haven't even opened yet, but they have caused such a stir. Maybe the teahouse can really be revived."

Zhou Huai told Zhou Chen everything he had seen and heard.

Zhou Chen smiled as expected. Zhao Pan'er was indeed quite capable. If the previous teahouse was just an ordinary place to drink tea, then the new teahouse was like a high-end club, and its level was instantly raised.

This move certainly doesn't make any sense to ordinary people, but to those educated people, it is a novelty.

Different from the teahouse in Chatang Lane, if it really has style, it will definitely attract many customers. If the tea drinks and fruits are also good, it will naturally retain customers.

"Just keep watching. As long as nothing happens, you don't have to worry about it."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Zhou Huai suddenly asked cautiously, "My Lord, your mourning period will be over soon. What official position will the government give you then?"

Although Zhou Chen is the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, and the title is hereditary, there is a difference between holding an official position and not holding an official position.

A marquis is a marquis, but without an official position, he does not have much real power, so everyone in the marquisate naturally hopes that their master can be valued by the government.

Zhou Chen glanced at Zhou Huai lightly, and said, "I'm not in a hurry, are you more anxious than me?"

"No, sir, I'm just a little curious. Your Majesty is so capable, the government must have noticed it."

Zhou Huai looked at Zhou Chen's expression and spoke more carefully, fearing that he would anger Zhou Chen.

"Okay, you go down."

Zhou Chen waved at him.

He was not worried about his career after the mourning period, because the emperor had already made his attitude clear when he entered the palace to meet the emperor last time.

Rather than being an official in Tokyo, he actually wanted to be in power on the border, especially the northern border.

One of his side quests is about the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which is one of the shames of the Central Plains court. If he has the ability, he really wants to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

But now he still has to stay in Tokyo City. Compared with the side quests, the main quest has a higher priority.

I came to the study and looked at the framed poem "Ode to Lime".

"According to the timetable, it won't be long before Xiao Qinyan goes to Beijing to serve as prime minister. This also means that Prime Minister Ke will soon be transferred out of Tokyo, and these gifts should be delivered to him."

Zhou Chen admired Mr. Ke very much. He was a truly clean person, completely different from Qi Mu who was obsessed with money and profit.

It’s a pity that being an official in the court does not only depend on being honest and incorruptible. Judging the situation is the most important way to be an official.

Mr. Ke is dissatisfied with the actions of the current emperor and wants to support the crown prince to ascend the throne, eliminate the chronic illness, and bring peace to the people of the world.

Unfortunately, in this game of power, he became a loser, lost everything, and finally had to leave Tokyo in despair.

Throughout history, many famous officials did not have a good ending in the end, and this was particularly true during the Song Dynasty.

In the official history, there are Mr. Kou, Wang Anshi, Fan Zhongyan, and so on.

There is absolutely no problem with the abilities of these people. I can only say that time is running out for me and there is nothing I can do...

Zhou Chen didn't want himself to be a tragedy, that's why he didn't like to be an official in the past. Flattery was really not his strong point, and he didn't want to do it either.

Xiao Qin said that this person was an authentic queen, and was deliberately promoted by Zhao Heng in order to gain momentum for the queen, because Zhao Heng felt that his health was getting worse and worse, and he might not be alive for long.

But the prince was young, and he was worried that the prince would be marginalized by the court officials, so he supported the empress dowager's party. Although he knew that doing so would have bad consequences, he still trusted his wife more than the court officials. It was better for the empress dowager to rule the country from behind the curtain than for the emperor to be manipulated and marginalized by the court officials.

Therefore, no one who can become an emperor is a fool, and everyone has his own plans.

Zhou Chen is an outsider and a time traveler, so he sees things more clearly than many people. He also knows what Zhao Heng’s idea is, which is to pave the way for the prince.

"The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun..."

There was a gleam in Zhou Chen's eyes, and he made a secret decision in his heart.

…………

Xijing!

Ouyang Xu climbed the mountain in the wind and rain, but when he and his servants reached halfway up the mountain, the wind and rain suddenly became stronger, forcing them to take shelter everywhere, looking extremely miserable.

Compared with Ouyang Xu and his servant, Ninth Brother and his group of five were much better off. Such bad weather also had an impact on them, but they all crawled out of a pile of dead bodies and had very strong vitality. They had experienced worse environments than this.

"Ninth brother."

Ninth Brother asked the other four to come over and said in a deep voice: "There is no one around here, and it is raining hard, so we can start now."

Upon hearing this, Scarface was the most excited. He wiped the rain off his face.

"Really, Brother Nine, can we finally take action? Damn it, I've been through a lot today, finally I don't have to waste any more time."

The Ninth Brother ignored him and instructed the other three: "Erniu, Linzi, you two will come with me to restrain them later. Wufeng, you will stay behind with Scar. If anything unexpected happens, you two will take action. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Brother Nine."

"Do it."

At the command, despite the wind and rain, the Ninth Brother and his four companions sped up and rushed to the place where Ouyang Xu and his servants were resting.