Chapter 156: Money Reward from His Majesty

After Ji Yun An returned to the capital city, he printed hundreds copies of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The main characters of this book were ghosts, foxes, immortals and demons, but it focused on the everyday life of commoners and criticized the corruption and injustice in society and sympathized with the poor. And of course they were all stories he had heard from Lu Lin.

The theme of this book was a clear admiration of pure, faithful love between poor scholars and powerless women, and it became a hit.

Ji Yun An went to Auspicious Cloud Tea House to talk to the manager Zhao He this day, and Zhao He welcomed Ji Yun An very warmly.

"Young Master Ji! I heard that you're getting married. Congratulations."

Ji Yun An smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Manager Zhao."

The cost of getting married in the capital city was very high. Ji Yun An had some savings, but he still felt that it was not enough. Ji Yun An wanted to buy a house in the capital city as their matrimonial home. The house prices in the capital city were not something that a young man could afford.

His grandmother seemed to be worried about him and wanted to give him a large sum of money, but his uncles and aunts were unhappy about that, they want to split that amount of money among themselves.

Ji Yun An wasn't upset by that, he was used to being independent anyways.

"This is my new book, Manager Zhao, please promote it for me," said Ji Yun An with a humble smile.

Zhao He smiled and said, "It's such an honor, thank you for trusting us."

Zhao He's tea house now was one of the high-end tea houses in the capital city thanks to Journey to the West, so he had great expectations for Ji Yun An's new book. Back then, Journey to the West had really saved this struggling tea house, so Zhao He still felt very grateful to Ji Yun An.

"Young master Yun An, I heard your fiancée is amazing, he is the one who has invented Roast Whole Lamb in Highness Cheng's manor, isn't he?"

Ji Yun An just showed a polite smile.

"I've even heard that His Majesty has attended Highness Cheng's banquet in a late night, and he was full of praise about the Roast Whole Lamb."

"I don't know whether it's true or not, Manager Zhao, but Mai is indeed very talented, I won't be surprised if His Majesty appreciates his cooking."

Zhao He smiled, he felt so happy for the young couple, Ji Yun An was radiant with joy when he mentioned Chen Xiao Mai.

"Highness Cheng adores Mai a lot, it's no secret anymore, Young Master Ji, I'm so happy for you." Said Zhao He.

"Thank you so much, Manager Zhao!"

Ji Yun An thought to himself, 'I hope this book will become a hit as well, so I can afford a grand wedding for Mai!'

Zhao He thought to himself, 'Ji Yun An's father seems to be very dissatisfied with Chen Xiao Mai. But the young couple doesn't need to worry about that anymore, no one can create difficulties for them now that Mai has Highness Cheng's support.'

Ji Yun An was very confident about the new book, he learned several new promotion methods from Lu Lin and he planned to use them all.

Zhao He flipped through the first three chapters of the book and said, "Great! I'm sure it will attract a lot of readers and audience!"

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "To be honest, Manager Zhao, I don't think this book is as great as Journey to the West, and I do think it will attract more audience than readers, because the stories are more enchanting but less meaningful."

Zhao He read a few more chapters and nodded in agreement, "But that's all right, Young Master Ji, the story-teller in my tea house is the best in the game. Don't worry, he will do the story justice!"

With that Manager Zhao called the storyteller and they had a lovely talk about the new book, the storyteller was very excited, it had been so long since he had such great materials to work with.

......

In the Wei Family.

"Yu, what have you learned from your trip to Sha County?" Wei Qiyu's father drew a long face and asked him.

Wei Qiyu thought to himself, 'Yep yep, I learned how to eat hotpot, how to eat Roast Whole Lamb, how to social with friends in a Hot Springs Resort......'

Wei father snorted and said unhappily, "Answer my question."

Wei Qiyu said awkwardly, "Not really, but it was a really good trip."

"I knew it, you must have run wild in Sha County, idling away in seeking pleasure! But look at your friend Ji Yun An, he is such a role model for you, he is supporting himself financially already!"

Wei Qiyu nodded and said, "Yeah! But father, I don't have to do that, I have you and you have so many businesses! Unlike Ji Yun An, his father, uncles and aunts are all very stingy towards him."

"I wish I hadn't spoiled you like this!" sighed Wei Qiyu's father.

Wei Qiyu held his chin and said, "I'm happy for Ji Yun An, his new book is selling fast."

Wei Fu nodded and said, "He has sold at least a thousand copies now, what a capable young man! I heard that he has been house hunting recently, I think he is looking for matrimonial home."

Wei Qiyu was a little surprised, "Wow!"

After Wei Qiyu returned to the capital city, he had been busy catching up with his friends who hadn't been to Sha County, he didn't talk to Ji Yun An much.

Wei Qiyu thought to himself, 'I understand why Yun An wants to live separately from his family, I've met Chen Xiao Mai, he is too straightforward, maybe he can't handle living with a big family.'

Father Wei looked at Wei Qiyu and said, "And look at you, you haven't even brought home a girlfriend when you friend is about to buy a matrimonial home."

Wei Qiyu put on a cheeky smile and said, "Father, are you sure you want me to live separately? I, on the other hand, want to keep you company forever!"

Father Wei was amused by his son, "How glib! I heard that Roast Whole Lamb originates from Sha County is good. Have you tried it? Can you coo it?"

"Yes and no."

"Useless."

"Father, I'm not a cook, isn't it normal that I can't make such a fancy dish? But I can ask Mai and his Big Brother for help."

Wei Qiyu was confident that Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Mai were willing to help him out.

......

A few days later, Highness Cheng called Chen Xiao Mi over and gave him a thousand taels of silver.

Chen Xiao Mi said excitedly, "Your Highness, Mai and I already feel unworthy of the precious gift you have bestowed on us, no way will we receive this money."

Chen Xiao Mi didn't have any proper education, but he knew 'Sow nothing, reap nothing.'

Highness Cheng appreciated his integrity, then he said, "I'm not the one who is giving you this money, it's from His Majesty."

Chen Xiao Mi was a little surprised, "His Majesty?"

Chen Xiao Mi's heart started pounding as he heard 'His Majesty'.

Highness Cheng nodded and said, "A few days ago, His Majesty came to my humble adobe and tried the Roast Whole Lamb, and His Majesty appreciates the originality Mai has put in the dish, hence the money reward."

Chen Xiao Mi was surprised, "His... His Majesty has tried the lamb?"

Highness Cheng nodded, "Yeah! His Majesty was unstinting in his praise."

Chen Xiao Mi thought to himself, back then, Lu Lin got 2000 taels of silver for inventing the Curved Iron Plough, but that invention has benefited well-being of the people, and now Mai gets 1000 taels for some dish?'

In Chen Xiao Mi's opinion, these two inventions couldn't be mentioned in the same breath, the plough had was beneficial to national welfare and the people's livelihood yet the dish only satisfied people's desire for food.

Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, "But the Roast Whole Lamb is just a dish, it's nothing."

Highness Cheng shook his head and explained, "His Majesty means to serve Roast Whole Lamb at state banquets in the future to treat the foreign diplomats."

Chen Xiao Mi nodded his head with disbelief.

"You are obliged to take the money, otherwise it will be seen as disrespect for His Majesty."

Chen Xiao Mi took the money with a thousand thanks.

"Has the young couple picked a date for their wedding ceremony yet?"

Chen Xiao Mi was genuinely surprised when he heard that question, he thought Highness Cheng had forgotten Mai and Ji Yun An were back in the capital city to get married.

Chen Xiao Mi shook his head, "Not yet."

Big families had tedious process in picking an auspicious date for the wedding ceremony, they needed to consult a few fortune tellers before they finally picked a date. The Jis had picked three dates for the young couple to choose, but the earliest one was in two months.

Chen Xiao Mi had no idea that he had to stay in the capital city for such a long time when he left Sha County, and now he was worried about Lu Lin and the kids back home.

Highness Cheng nodded and said, "You cannot be more cautious in this matter."

......

Ji Yun An's new book had caused a sensation. Ji Yun An was surprised that the readers loved this collection so much.

In modern society, the collection was criticized due to the way it approached female characters, they were all weak and needed to be rescued. But the readers in this time and space appreciated that theme, the mainstream culture was still men were women's saviors.

There were many stories featuring fox fairies in the collection, many young masters started to raise foxes, especially snow-white foxes.

A thousand copies were sold in the tea house not long after Ji Yun An launched it, the net profit for that was about a thousand taels.

Zhao He looked at Ji Yun An with admiration and said, "Young Master Ji, congratulations! This is yet another huge success for you!"

Ji Yun An smiled, "Thank you for your support, Manager Zhao."

Zhao He then added, "Young Master Ji, maybe I'm in no position to give you any suggestions, but I still want to say don't get carried away by this temporary success, you are destined for greater things! Don't waste your talent on writing this kind of stories."

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "Manager Zhao, thank you so much for your sincere words! I know what you mean, I won't neglect my studies."

......

Zhao Heng turned green with envy again. The imperial consorts in the imperial palace were obsessed with the stories, even the emperor had made some very complimentary remarks about Ji Yun An in the imperial court.

What was more, Ji Yun An had made a large amount of money again.

Zhao Heng has seen people lining up to buy the book in the tea house.

"Yun An seems to have earned a lot from selling books recently!" Liu Qingmei said.

Zhao Heng said sullenly, "I heard that he is raising money to throw a big wedding for that Chen Xiao Mai, why does he even bother, Chen Xiao Mai is just a retarded Bio boy."

Liu Qingmei frowned and chimed in, "I heard that Bio boy has got 1000 taels of money reward from His Majesty!"

Zhao Heng nodded. "It is said that His Majesty is going to add that dish in the menu of state banquet, the imperial chefs have already got the recipe from Chen Xiao Mai and they are working on the final touch to make it even better. Qingmei, I just don't get it, it's fine that Highness Cheng shows favors to that Bio boy, now even His Majesty seems to like him!"

Liu Qingmei lowered her head and let out a sigh in silence.