The inn became quite lively with so many people staying, and everyone gathered in the main hall for dinner, filling up ten or so tables, and even then there wasn’t enough seating. So the inn set up a few more tables under the awning outside, not minding if they were outdoors.

The food at the inn was all pretty similar: lamb, beef, and various kinds of alcohol, although vegetables were quite rare.

The steward who went to place the order came back to a few young masters and said, "The vegetables here are said to be more expensive than beef."

Manbao asked, "Can cows here be slaughtered freely?"

"Yes, freely," replied the steward, "The cows here aren’t plowing cows; they just eat grass and gain meat. Oh, and they produce milk. Miss Man, would you like to try the milk tea here? I heard it’s made by boiling fresh milk with tea leaves and adding some scallions and ginger; it’s said to be quite nice and ward off cold."

Manbao became intrigued, "Sure, I’ll try it."

Bai Erlang and the others hadn’t tried such milk tea either, so they all wanted to try it.

So the steward went down to bring up a few bowls of milk tea, along with a dish of salt, and he said, "The shopkeeper mentioned that some people are not accustomed to it, and you can add some salt to adjust the taste as desired."

Manbao took a bowl and sniffed it, catching only the fragrance of milk and the scent of ginger. She took a sip, finding the taste... quite peculiar.

Manbao said, "It might taste better without the scallions."

Bai Shan agreed, "Just adding tea leaves and ginger would be enough; why add scallions?"

Though they said this, they still finished the milk tea and waited inside the room for the food to arrive.

The inn worked quickly; they started slaughtering sheep and cows for preparation as soon as they arrived, since there were only a few dishes to choose from and everyone would order almost the same things.

The dishes were soon served: stewed lamb, cold beef salad, a small plate of greens, and some biscuits and steamed buns.

Longshou also brought up the medicinal meal Manbao prepared for Yin Huo, which was actually a pot of porridge, made by simmering chicken with a few medicinal ingredients.

A whole chicken, of course. Yin Huo couldn’t finish it, so everyone got some.

Bai Shan didn’t eat it but served Manbao a bowl, then turned to Daji, "Send a bowl to Mr. Zhuang and the two travelers, and one to Assistant General Nie as well."

Manbao pointed to the somewhat intact chicken, "Assistant General Nie likes meat; send this chicken to him, and we’ll just eat the porridge."

The essence is in the porridge.

Longshou agreed happily, served a pot of porridge, and brought the entire chicken to send downstairs.

Manbao took a sip of the porridge; it had only a light medicinal flavor, not too strong, just a bit under-salted.

Yin Huo also found it good, so he didn’t touch the biscuits, only having the porridge with the table’s dishes.

His stomach was weak, while the others had good appetites; after eating a bowl of porridge, they still felt hungry, so they reached for the steamed buns. Manbao picked up a biscuit, took a bite, and nodded, "Not bad, crispy and crunchy, very tasty."

Bai Shan pointed to the plate of beef, "The beef is good too."

They ate with relish, neither fast nor slow, and after two quarters, they gradually stopped eating, while downstairs, things were just heating up.

Manbao heard a loud shout below and quickly dropped her chopsticks to run out, poking her head out to look downstairs. She saw people packed in at the entrance watching, paused, then turned back to run inside, saying to those who ran out with her, "It’s outside."

So she pushed open the window to look down and saw two people wrestling on the empty ground outside, locked in a stalemate, surrounded by people cheering them on.

Bai Shan nudged Bai Erlang aside to squeeze in and look down, seeing not only Assistant General Nie but also Mr. Zhuang watching, he said, "No problem, they’re just competing."

Manbao recognized one as their soldier, but didn’t know the other, likely from another group.

When someone below looked up, she pulled back her head, leaving space for Bai Shan and the others, asking, "Didn’t you say you had a conflict today and almost fought?"

Bai Shan met the gaze of someone below, flashed a smile at him, nodded slightly, but continued to answer Manbao’s question, "Isn’t it good we didn’t fight? Don’t worry, Assistant General Nie has experience with these things, they’ll make friends when they can avoid making enemies."

The person below, sweeping his eyes around, didn’t see who he was looking for, showed a smile to Bai Shan, and withdrew his gaze.

Bai Shan pulled away from the window, leaving space for Liu Huan and Zhou Liru.

Yin Huo, unable to squeeze in, only glanced over, then returned to his seat and picked up a chopstick of beef for Manbao. As Bai Shan walked over, he asked, "How’s it going?"

His gaze passed over their furrowed brows, asking, "Is there a problem?"

Bai Shan shook his head, and Manbao said, "Just a bit uneasy inside; don’t eat too much, just digest a bit then sleep. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning."

Yin Huo and Bai Shan exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

Bai Erlang and his friends were crowded at the window watching with great interest, Bai Erlang turned back, saying, "We won a match."

Bai Shan tore a piece of biscuit while asking, "Did you compete again?"

"Yes, it’s the second match; they even taunted Assistant General Nie to challenge him."

While it was lively outside, Manbao and the others stayed upstairs, resting in the room after eating, occasionally glancing outside. When the sky darkened, Manbao and Zhou Liru returned to their room to prepare to sleep.

Manbao lay on the bed, exhaled, and after closing her eyes, said to Keke: "I’ll pay points, help me monitor the situation inside and outside the inn. If anything unusual happens, alert me."

Keke agreed, deducted some points, silently extended itself outward, and being generous with the deduction, thoughtfully provided a recording.

Manbao’s mind was eased, she yawned and hugged the quilt to sleep.

Zhou Liru, lying inside, was also too sleepy to keep her eyes open.

The aunt and niece slowly fell asleep while people downstairs continued drinking and guessing punches. Mr. Zhuang checked the time, nodded to Assistant General Nie, and went upstairs to rest with the travelers.

Assistant General Nie, though not stopping his men from drinking, didn’t let them overdo it. Seeing it was enough, he urged them to sleep. Holding his knife, he also returned to his room, but someone blocked him with their cup of wine, "Brother, my few brothers were disrespectful at the bath today, I apologize on their behalf." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Assistant General Nie raised his eyebrows, glanced at the wine in the cup, then reached to take it, downing it in one gulp, laughing heartily, "No need, you’re straightforward, I won’t be coy. But keep an eye on your brothers; some people aren’t for us to ogle carelessly."

The other laughed, nodded, "You’re right, brother."