Chapter 155: The Sheep Pen in Highness Cheng's Manor

Chen Xiao Mi and the group had finally arrived at the capital city after a long and arduous journey.

Chen Xiao Mi and the group tried their best to make the journey comfortable, so they didn't overtax themselves too much, while Highness Cheng had long been awaiting their arrival with impatient expectancy.

As soon as they arrived at the capital city, they were led to the sheep pen.

Chen Xiao Mi looked at the flock of sheep frisking in the sheep pen, he said with admiration, "Highness Cheng, it looks like you've put great time and efforts here."

Highness Cheng smiled and said, "Indeed, I bought the best breed available and now it's time for Mai to distinguish himself, come on now, pick a lamb and roast it."

Laughter bubbled up inside Chen Xiao Mi, 'I've never met anyone who is this obsessed with good food.'

"I asked my butler to build the best sheep pen and selected the best grass for them since I heard about the Roast Whole Lamb," said Highness Cheng with a smug smile.

Chen Xiao Mi had long expected this situation and had mentioned it to Chen Xiao Mai. Therefore, Chen Xiao Mai was not surprised when Highness Cheng asked him to roast a lamb first thing he arrived at the capital city.

The ideal lamb for Roast Whole Lamb should be neither too fat nor too thin, the lambs in the sheep hen were all of fine breed, but they were all a bit fat.

Highness Cheng's wife and concubine were both curious about the Roast Whole Lamb, so they shadowed Chen Xiao Mai when he roasted the lamb.

Chen Xiao Mai was a little dull. He didn't have much of an idea about the status of the prince and the princess standing in front of him. He went directly to business after he gave them a head nod and brief greeting.

After two long hours, the Roasted Whole Lamb was finally served to the dining table in the manor.

The two ladies were infected by Highness Cheng, they were also on the tiptoe of expectation, they paid attention to their table manners in the beginning, but soon they started to gorge themselves just like Highness Cheng.

The general lamb meat had a strong gamy taste to it and some people didn't appreciate it, but Chen Xiao Mai had brought out the right flavors with a lot of spice and seasoning.

Highness Cheng and the two ladies had all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

......

Chen Xiao Mai stayed in the guest room and looked at Chen Xiao Mi with a depressed expression, "Big Brother, Highness Cheng didn't even invite us to join him when we served him the lamb, they just finished the whole lamb by themselves!"

Chen Xiao Mi smiled, "It's fine, Mai. To start with, I heard that people in the capital city all pay great attention to status, we are not supposed to sit at the same table with His Highness. Secondly, we can always roast a lamb whenever we want to, take that as a compliment, they just love it too much."

Hearing that, Chen Xiao Mai had cooled down.

"Come on, Mai, haven't you been talking about the street food of the capital city? I'll take you out and explore," Chen Xiao Mi said.

Chen Xiao Mai's eyes lightened up and he exclaimed, "Really?" a

"Of course," Chen Xiao Mi thought to himself, 'I brought a thousand taels of silver, it should be enough.'

With that the two Chens went out in high spirits.

......

As soon as Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Mai came back, they received a money reward from Highness Cheng. It was 200 taels of silver, Chen Xiao Mai who was originally angry at Highness Cheng now beamed with smiles again.

......

In the tea house.

Wei Qiyu sat opposite Ji Yun An and said tentatively, "I heard Highness Cheng had picked Mai and Big Brother up already, right?"

Ji Yun An nodded, feeling a little strange.

Ji Yun An had already heard that first thing Highness Cheng asked Chen Xiao Mai to do was to make Roast Whole Lamb, to be honest, Ji Yun An found that a bit improper, but the good thing was he knew Highness Cheng didn't harbor any malicious intentions, he wasn't trying to belittle or offend Chen Xiao Mai.

Highness Cheng asked Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Mai to stay in the mansion for a few days, the Chens dared not to disobey.

Chen Xiao Mi shared the recipe of Roast Whole Lamb with Highness Cheng, Highness Cheng saw that as the ultimate symbol of trust, so he prepared a lot of dowry for Mai, the two ladies also added a lot of curios and jewelries to Mai's trousseau.

Even the little things prepared by Highness Cheng were quite exquisite, Chen Xiao Mi did a quick math, he found that the dowry prepared by Highness Cheng alone was worth more than 800 tales of silver.

Chen Xiao Mai stopped complaining when Highness Cheng asked him to make Roast Whole Lamb again. He had even invited the chefs in the manor to watch him when he seasoned the lamb.

Highness Cheng started a new round of inviting high officials and noble lords for dinner like when he first got the recipes of hotpot.

Chen Xiao Mi now started to understand why Highness Cheng had raised so many sheep and lamb in the pen. The butler had already bought a new batch considering how often Highness Cheng invited friends over.

None of the guests would show up emptyhanded, they all considered this as an honor, so they would present Highness Cheng with lavish gifts.

The guests all saw the invitation as great validation of their social status, therefore, Whole Roast Lamb had become an important sign of whether you were eminent enough.

Highness Cheng took great pleasure in entertaining guests, it looked like he had forgotten about Mai's wedding. Chen Xiao Mi was torn with anxiety.

It was Highness Cheng who had rushed Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Mai back to the capital city for their wedding, but now it looked like Highness Cheng was carried away with all the banquets he was throwing. Even the two ladies paid more attention to Mai's upcoming wedding than Highness Cheng.

......

Zhao Heng stayed at home and his mood was somewhat complicated.

After Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Mai arrived, they had been living in Highness Cheng's manor. Zhao Heng had never seen his son-in-law yet. Zhao Heng felt that Chen Xiao Mai should know better and visit him the first thing he arrived, but he dared not complain Highness Cheng for keeping Chen Xiao Mai.

To make it worse, Zhao Heng's status was relatively low, and it didn't even occur to Highness Cheng that he should invite Zhao Heng over for Roast Whole Lamb.

Some of Zhao Heng's friends and colleagues had heard about Chen Xiao Mai and also knew that Chen Xiao Mai was the one who had been making Roast Whole Lamb in the manor.

More and more people asked Zhao Heng whether he was invited to Highness Cheng's manor.

Zhao Heng would flush with shame whenever people asked him that question, the truth was Chen Xiao Mai had never visited him and he wasn't invited to Highness Cheng's manor.

Liu Qingmei complained to Zhao Heng, "How uncouth! That Bio boy has been in the capital city for days now, but he hasn't visited us even once!"

Zhao Heng didn't have any rich pickings at work, he had been living on Ji Yun An's dead mother's dowry for years, but recently he found it harder and harder to keep the glamour.

Liu Qingmei and Zhao Heng son, Zhao Qinghe, was a big spender as well. Liu Qingmei had charmed Zhao Heng and lured him to give her and her son a lot of money, however, even Zhao Heng himself was struggling in recent years, so he couldn't afford to satisfy Liu Qingmei and Zhao Qinghe's greediness.

Liu Qingmei heard that Chen Xiao Mai was favored not only by Highness Cheng, but also the two ladies, they had added a lot of things to his dowry. She couldn't help but feel jealous, how she wished it was her son who was getting all the favors.

Liu Qingmei initially thought that Ji Yun An made a wrong decision by betrothing Chen Xiao Mai, but now she started to feel Ji Yun An was actually benefiting a lot from this marriage.

Zhao Heng's face darkened and said, "That Chen Xiao Mai is busy currying favors with His Highness, of course he doesn't care about us."

......

Chen Xiao Mi took Chen Xiao Mai to a clothes store this day.

"Big Brother, the clothes here are very nice!"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah, very shiny!"

Chen Xiao Mi stared at the clothes in the store and couldn't move his gaze away. He had never seen such cut and styles in Sha County. He touched the fabric, they were all very soft and comfortable, he fell in love with the store immediately.

Xiao Cai had bought a batch of clothes for Xiao Mi and Lu Lin when he visited the capital city last time. Lu Lin loved those clothes, but now they were all worn out.

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Chen Xiao Mai and said, "Mai, just pick whatever you like. You are going to be a bride soon, it's my job to make sure you look great all the time."

Chen Xiao Mi was loaded with money at the moment, so he felt he could afford a shopping spree.

Chen Xiao Mi selected a few garments for Lu Lin who enjoyed nice stuff with great quality. Sometimes Chen Xiao Mi would just spoil Lu Lin because deep down he was always worried Lu Lin would run away and go back to his hometown, that 'modern socirty'.

Chen Xiao Mi selected quite a few garments and accessories for the kids as well, he spent 200 taels of silver in total, but he genuinely loved all the items and he had a hard time discarding anything.

After putting everything into the carriage, Chen Xiao Mi suddenly recalled a word he learned from Lu Lin, 'shopaholic'. Chen Xiao Mi rubbed his face and blushed.

"Qingmei! Look over there! That is the Chen Xiao Mai and his Big Brother Chen Xiao Mi!"

Liu Qingmei and a friend called Zeng were shopping next door, and her friend suddenly rushed out of the store and exclaimed on seeing Chen Xiao Mai.

Liu Qingmei looked at the pages in the cloth store who were moving shopping bags to a carriage and frowned.

"They seem to have bought a lot!" Zeng said.

Liu Qingmei thought to herself, 'That store is famous for being expensive, it's been so long since I shopped there, but they have bought so much! I've long heard the Chens are successful merchants, now it looks like it's true.'

Zeng glanced at Liu Qingmei and said, "Qingmei, shall we introduce ourselves?"

Liu Qingmei shook her head and said, "No need."

Chen Xiao Mi had no idea his shopping spree had caused someone's attention.