Chapter 84: Gambling (3) (1/2)

The crowd sucked in their breaths. If the Third Young Madam from House Jing’an really went to the banquet hall and asked for forgiveness from Old Marquis Dingyuan in front of all the distinguished male guests, House Jing’an would never be able to hold their heads high in the capital again.

Without waiting for the crowd to pity her, Chu Lian said with a clear voice, “However, I’m willing to compensate Madam Huang with more longevity peach buns.”

Chu Lian’s sparkling eyes, straight back, and complete lack of any cowardice drew everyone’s gazes.

“Oh? How are you going to make up for them? These longevity peach buns were made by De’an Restaurant’s Mr Wang. Can you make the exact same ones?” The one speaking was Feudal Princess Anmin. She raised her chin slightly, showing off her clear disdain for a lowly person like Chu Lian.

Chu Lian smiled; coming from someone already pretty and innocent — and on her way to becoming a great beauty — her smile was like a refreshing spring breeze.

“I don’t dare to claim that I can make the exact same ones, but I can definitely make something even better.”

“Nonsense! De’an Restaurant’s Mr Wang makes the best longevity peach buns in the entire capital. How could you possibly make something better?!” Zou Yuanqin hadn’t expected Chu Lian to say something like that. She refuted her on the spot.

“Fifth Miss Zou, how could you know that without seeing it for yourself? I’m in the wrong for knocking over Madam Huang’s longevity peach buns today, but since Madam Huang is a magnanimous person, please grant me a chance to make up for it.” Chu Lian’s first sentence was meant for Zou Yuanqin, but her next sentence was aimed towards Madam Huang.

Chu Lian had already gotten some goodwill from the crowd thanks to her performance. Now that she was making such a sincere request to Madam Huang, it showed that she knew when to push and when to retreat. This action earned even more positive assessments from the crowd. Anyway, everything had happened so quickly; who knew if it was even Chu Lian who bumped into that maidservant just now?

At this point, many of the madams were leaning towards Chu Lian’s side.

Zou Yuanqin’s neck was starting to turn red from all her anger. She refused to let Chu Lian off and said, “So what if you can make longevity peach buns? Don’t tell me that they’ll be able to match up to Mr Wang’s? Mr Wang only makes one order of longevity peach buns per person!”

Chu Lian’s expression turned solemn. “Fifth Miss Zou. If we’re talking about food, we should judge by sincerity and taste. As long as the longevity peach buns I make are more delicious than Mr Wang’s, don’t you think that’s better than any of those false tricks?”

That’s right, that was just a silly trick!

Suddenly, the crowd was awakened by Chu Lian’s words.

No matter how expensive they were, it was just a plate of longevity peach buns and De’an Restaurant was out to make money. If the Emperor wanted to eat two plates of longevity peach buns, that Mr Wang couldn’t possibly defy an imperial edict for the sake of this principle.

Furthermore, how could a noble young madam from House Jing’an be compared to a lowly cook from De’an Restaurant?

Chu Lian’s words were like a slap to the face.