"This…" Chu Rensheng looked at the flaming drinks she was holding in shock. He's never seen anything like this in his life!
Just as the three of them were distracted, Zhu Yunyun took this opportunity to place the Crown Prince's drink down first, allowing her to hide the note she gave him, and then proceeded to hand the two other drinks out.
"This is called the flaming peacock, and it can only be found here, at Moonlit bar!" Zhu Yunyun said, raising her neck.
She then took out a piece of paper and put it down on the table.
"Here are other drinks currently being served. I make Snowball which is a cold drink with little alcohol; there is the flaming peacock which you currently have, and it has a decent amount of alcohol, the three others are called: Commandaria, Ice Wine, and Blue Wine."
The three nodded and Chu Rensheng's eyes narrowed, but it didn't catch the attention of Dong and Wang.
Zhu Yunyun did however, and new notes appeared in her eyes.
[The prince is skeptical about the information you gave, but seeing the wine presented in front of him, he decided to look into it. If the information was false, he will kill the note giver, if it was right, he will reward them.]
Zhu Yunyun's throat rolled, but she still bowed slightly and said, "I hope you enjoy your excellency."
She then walked away and returned to the front bar.
As she left, the three of them shifted their eyes onto the drinks, completely forgetting about Xu Yan.
"How did the master even set this on fire?" Dong said with his mouth wide open. He blew on the fire, setting it out, only to see a bunch of small little squared ice cubes.
"There's ice!" He shouted, making Chu Rensheng and Wang to look in his cup.
"There really is ice!" Chu Rensheng said in surprise. He didn't dare to use ice to cool his drinks. Not even the emperor would be so wasteful!
Wang blew on his drink and also saw the ice at the bottom.
"No wonder the master only serves drinks here, they probably have other stuff to maintain in order to get the ice, so they probably don't have much time to cook and prepare food." Wang said, trying to analyze why Zhu Yunyun would only serve drinks here.
"What if they really like drinks?" Chu Rensheng said, taking a glance at Wang.
He has already read the note given to him by Zhu Yunyun and set the note on fire with his drink when no one was noticing. To be honest, he quite admired Zhu Yunyun, as he believed the reason why she gave them the flaming peacock was for him to be able to burn the note. Such means to gather and distribute information was quite scary. If she wasn't lying to him, he would definitely try to establish a good relationship with her.
"Your Highness, why don't we make this place our default drinking place?" Dong said as he savoured the wine in his mouth.
"This has to be the best wine I've ever had." Dong said, leaning his back into the seat. He has gotten to taste many delicacies in his life by following the Crown Prince, but he hasn't had something so enjoyable in a while.
"Hmm, I'll make that decision later." He waved his hand, and took a sniff of his drink. The drink had a strong fruity scent to it and was to his liking.
"I wonder how she made this." Chu Rensheng said, finally taking a sip of the wine.
"Your Highness, shouldn't we be focusing on Xu Yan?" Wang said, shifting his attention to the people sitting at the back right of the bar.
"No need. Although he may be slacking off, I don't think he's purposefully making things difficult for me. After all, he comes from the same family as my mother, the queen." Chu Renshang said.
His attention has been shifted from the drink, and began to think about why he's been investigating Xu Yan. Thinking this, he took a quick glance at Wang, and some moments in memories are coming to his mind.
'The note might not be a lie.' Chu Rensheng thought to himself.
As the three were busy chatting, Zhu Yunyun had already returned to the front of the bar and sat down to wait for another customer.
Currently there were eight people in her bar, and the bar could hold up to sixty people as there were 20 tables that could hold up to four people each. The tables were spread across the walls, and in the middle was a place to stand up art and perhaps a fish tank, but with the technology she has, she couldn't even make decent glass let alone a fish tank.
She sat at the front, a little bored, but it didn't take long before she saw Xu Yan and Xu Jing get up from their seats.
"Master, your drinks are great! We'll come back another day." He said, laughing as he left.
Xu Jing made a slight bow to express his appreciation and followed after his son.
"Your Excellency's are joking. How could it compare to the drinks you have at home?" She said, giving a one arm bow as they left.
"Your Highness, should we take this opportunity and sit at the front?" Dong whispered as he watched Xu Yan and Xu Jing leave.
Chu Rensheng nodded and turned his eyes over to Wang.
"Wang, since you like investigating them so much, why don't you take this opportunity to follow them and gather intel?"
Wang's face froze, and resentment appeared in his eyes. He wanted to refuse as the drinks here are really good, but he couldn't refuse the prince even if he was giving an option to not do it.
"I obey Your Highness' command." Wang said, and got up and left.
Dong looked at Chu Rensheng with some confusion.
"Why did you get rid of Wang?" Dong asked, as he knew that there was no reason to follow after the Xu family as he already believed that they weren't betraying him.
Chu rensheng didn't respond to his question and got up and walked to the front.
"Master, can I have what the other gentlemen had before they left?" Chu Rensheng asked as he sat down.
Zhu Yunyun looked at the Crown Prince and nodded her head.
"Of course, your excellency. They had a shot called snowball." She said, as she stopped cleaning the drinks she grabbed from Xu Yan's table.
"Would you like one as well?" She asked, shifting her attention to Dong.
Dong didn't respond immediately and turned his head to the prince. Chu Rensheng nodded his head, and Dong replied, "Master, please."
Zhu Yunyun nodded and glanced at Chu Rensheng, making a new note window appear in her eyes.
[Chu Rensheng has gotten a little suspicious of Wang, but hasn't lost all hope. Currently is interested in your work and thinks that your flaming peacock is a way to give and hide information because of the fire.]
Looking at the last bit of the note made Zhu Yunyun's right eye twitch. She really had no intention to use the flaming peacock in that way. She didn't even know you could burn the paper used here with the tiny heat it gives off.
But she didn't dwell on it long and finished up Chu Rensheng and Dong's drinks, and the only thing left was the ice. Placing the drinks to the side, Chu Rensheng and Dong watched as she took out a brick of ice from underneath the counter as well as a knife and began cutting the ice into cubes.
"This… It's so wasteful." Dong choked as he watched Zhu Yunyun carve away the ice.
"She's quite skillful. It's almost like watching woodwork, but more expensive and useless." Chu Rensheng said, and enjoyed his time as he watched her carve.
Zhu Yunyun pursed her lips as she listened in on their conversation.
"Is it so obvious that I'm a girl?" She asked, finishing up one ice circle.
"Very. Although you have masculine traits, it's not too hard to tell that you're a woman." Dong replied, looking at her curiously.
"Why do you even dress up as a woman?" He asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" She asked back, "Women are seen as objects. We have no power over anything, and I mean anything. If it wasn't for the fact I dressed up as a boy, I wouldn't even be able to run this bar."
Dong was stunned for a moment, and Chu Rensheng's voice brought him back.
"Master, why did you cut your hair?"
"My hair?" Zhu Yunyun touched her head, "It makes me more boyish, right?"
"Hmm, but isn't unfilial to your parents? You'd only cut your hair due to punishment." Dong asked.
"My parents are dead, and I don't think my parents would mind."
Well, her past life parents wouldn't. This life's parents would definitely mind, as they're just merchants, and marrying a noble would help increase their status. She found her current biological mother a bit stupid. Her father didn't have any concubines due to his lowly status, and if she married a noble…
Zhu Yunyun shook her head and finished up the last ice circle.
She then placed the ice into the cups and poured in the drink.
"Two snowballs for you gentlemen." She said, sliding the drinks over.
"Thanks." Chu Rensheng said, throwing down ten taels of silver.
"The drinks only cost one tael." Zhu Yunyun said, sliding eight taels back.
"Take it as a tip. It's the first time that I've ever had ice in a drink." Chu rensheng said, pushing make the taels of silver.
"Haha, master, you don't have to feel bad taking his money. He rarely spends his silver on expensive goods like this, and always tries to get the cheapest price for everything." Dong said, and chugged down his drink.
Chu Rensheng smiled and shook his head.
"Master, you should know my identity. I have so much wealth that I don't even know how much it is. Even if I do run out, I could just ask my mother."
Dong back straightened when he heard the prince say that Zhu Yunyun should know his identity and looked her up and down.
Chu Rensheng and Zhu Yunyun gave him a glance, but Zhu Yunyun mouth twitched and was speechless.
[Dong currently thinks that you two might have an underground relationship despite him knowing that the prince hasn't been to this place.]
"Your Highness, although I know your identity, I'd rather not take advantage of you." Zhu Yunyun said, bowing slightly with one arm.
Chu Rensheng waved his hand, and Zhu Yunyun stopped bowing.
"Hey, bowing with one hand is charming." Dong muttered.
Chu Rensheng rolled his eyes at him.
"Master doesn't have to worry. I'm not a stingy prince when it comes to the people of the empire."
"But you're stingy with your money." Dong whispers, making him catch a deep glare from the prince.