Liang Meng Yao had been busy implementing his plan over the past month. He had purchased a few acres of land which was quickly prepared for planting and fenced in by workers he had hired. Then Meng Yao and the Wen brothers planted potatoes, corn, and various other things. The Wen brothers were now doing better than before thanks to Meng Yao. Not only did they have a steady source of income working for Meng Yao, but Meng Yao was generous with unexpected windfalls - like the time they ventured more deeply into the forest and succeeded in killing a bear that they had come across. Meng Yao had blinded it with his crossbow, being an expert shot, and the Wen brothers were able to finish the bear off without being harmed by it. Meng Yao split the money from that kill evenly between them all.

It was now time, Meng Yao decided after pocketing his share of the money for the bear, to make the move to the Capital. He had no worries that the Wen brothers would let his investments here in the village be wasted. They were perfectly happy with the quality of their lives now and would keep his little farm in good shape. The despicable village elder and his scummy son had been flogged and stripped of their authority in the village. Meng Yao didn’t care who the next village elder would be because no one could be as bad as the last one. Now that he had finally saved enough gold, it was time to make the move. He and Jia Yi packed up and set off for the Capital with nothing but anticipation on their minds while the Wen brothers and their families settled down to guard Meng Yao's interests.

After a three-day journey, which was fortunately free of any disasters or bandits, the two men reached the capital. It was many times larger than Han town but still nothing like the metropolises that Meng Yao remembered from his former world. Jia Yi was slightly intimidated by the bustle, noise, and strong odors but Meng Yao felt right at home.

"Jiajia, we're in the capital; we made it!" he said happily.

Jia Yi nodded, intertwining his hand with Meng Yao's. He wouldn't let his nervousness interfere with Meng Yao's joy. They were here now and there was no going back. As long as he was with his handsome and clever husband, Jia Yi was sure that he could adapt to anything.

They explored the capital a little before meeting up with one of Mr. Ye's friends. The man knew of a restaurant that they could purchase. It was relatively cheap and in far better shape than Meng Yao had dared hoped it would be. It wasn't large but it wasn't small either - it was a comfortable, medium-sized space that was ideal for a beginning business. The best part was that he only had to pay four hundred silvers for it. Meng Yao bought the place immediately.

The two slept in the living quarters at the back of the restuarant and when they woke up the next morning, Meng Yao was eager to get started. He hired some workers to clean and purchase supplies - from cookware to dishes. Meng Yao had made the workers all sign a contract of strict secrecy before they started working. He knew his recipes would be popular and he wasn't willing to let anyone else take them. Jia Yi began prepping the ingredients as soon as they arrived.

When everything was almost ready, Meng Yao sent out some men to pass out flyers. He had built up businesses in his old world and he knew how to advertise. All the fresh recipes in the world wouldn't be helpful if people weren't anticipating them.

"Do you get it? Pass out all these flyers and tell people about our wonderful new dishes and I'll give you four silvers and a free lunch from our menu," Meng Yao promised the men. They were young, energetic, and eager to try the food that made the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Each one dashed off in a different direction with a handful of flyers.

After giving them an hour to pass out flyers, Meng Yao decided the time was right. He walked in front of the restauraunt, banging a brass gong a few times, and called out to the people in the streets that the Meng Yi restauraunt was now opening for business! Jia Yi lit the two strings of firecrackers hanging by the door and the Meng Yi was officially open!

He had originally wanted to name the restauraunt the Liang Hong but Mr. Ye told him that was a bad idea. It seemed that the emperor was touchy about the name "Liang" and might be offended. Meng Yao wondered why since the royal family only consisted of two people, Zhong Weizhe and Zhong XiaoSi. Weizhe was the emperor, of course, and his son Xiao Si was married to the general Feng Chong Lin. Meng Yao had learned that they had a son named Feng Huan.

Obviously the taboo was connected to the mysterious Minister Liang but Mr. Ye Meng Yao said no one knew anything about the man's background. All he knew was that Minister Liang was well known for his intelligence, he had been a trusted minister of finance, and he had aided the emperor greatly when the emperor first took the throne. The emperor had favored him, supposedly even seeing him as his own flesh and blood. Some rumors also said that Zheng Xiao Si, the crown prince, had also favored Minister Liang. There were rumors that said the two were lovers. However it was said that Minister Liang had died and Xiao Si had then married General Fang. No one would look more deeply into those matters because they didn't want to be arrested and charged with spreading false rumors.

Meng Yao was very curious about the man who shared his family name but right now curiousity had to wait. He had business to do. He noticed that one of the men who he had sent to hand out flyers was just returning with several of his friends.

"Welcome to Meng Yi restaurant! Please take a seat," he greeted them professionally. He led them to a table and handed them a menu to inspect but they quickly looked confused. The dishes offered were completely unfamiliar! Meng Yao flashed his charming smile and asked if they had any questions.

"Hmm, what is this chicken and chips?" one of the men asked doubtfully.

"It's difficult to describe but I can give out a sample dish if you would you like to try it, good sir," Meng Yao promptly offered. He had already anticipated the need to give out samples since his dishes had never been seen before.

The young man nodded agreeably and the others placed their orders. Meng Yao brought the paper with the orders to Jia Yi and quickly returned to the table with the sample dish of chicken and chips. The man looked at it for a while then hesitantly took one of the chips and dipped it into the ketchup as Meng Yao had suggested. As soon as it touched his taste buds a delighted expression grew on the man's face.

"This - this is delicious!" he exclaimed, immediately dipping another slice of fried potato into the ketchup.

His friends were now interested and they each took a chip and tasted it. Every one of them loved the taste and amended their orders to add chips to it. Meng Yao smiled contentedly while thinking his days will be very busy but his wallet will certainly get fatter.

Elsewhere in the city, Fa Enlai was just finished taking a bath with Ming Xiaobo, the noble's child that had latched on to him the day they met. He continued to call Fa Enlai "Daddy" and even when his father tried to drag him away from Enlai to return home, Xiaobo refused to release his grip. His father had been left with no choice but to bring Enlai back to their home.

(Note: In America "chips" are called "fries" or "french fries".)