Chapter 161 Where Scholars Gather
In order to win people's hearts and make them willing to work for him, Ye Mingsheng not only treated these seven subordinates with courtesy, but also invited them to his home for dinner to promote the relationship between superiors and subordinates.

During the banquet, he even promised promotions to all of them. When they were leaving, he paid an extra 20 taels of silver from his own pocket to each captain as a settlement allowance, and 50 taels of silver to the two captains, Zhao Han and Li Dingbang...

Everyone was willing to follow Ye Mingsheng to Liaoyang, a cold and bitter place, to do something because they saw that he treated his subordinates well and was trustworthy. Now, before they even set off, Ye Mingsheng gave them such a large sum of money. Naturally, everyone was deeply grateful and thanked him profusely, expressing their loyalty to Ye Mingsheng.

After seeing off these subordinates, Ye Mingsheng was not idle either. With the help of Pei Zhixiu, he changed into a new robe and prepared to leave.

"You've already drunk a lot of wine at noon, don't drink again tonight!" Seeing that the weather was not good, Pei Zhixiu handed Ye Mingsheng an umbrella and said with concern:

"Don't worry, this Mingyanlou is a vegetarian restaurant and we don't sell alcohol!"

Having drunk a lot of wine at noon, Ye Mingsheng, who was still blushing, explained with a smile;
When she heard that it was vegetarian food, Pei Zhixiu nodded slightly in doubt. Perhaps due to her professional habit, she was most worried about Ye Mingsheng's health on weekdays.

After speaking a few more private words to Pei Zhixiu, which made Pei Zhixiu blush, Ye Mingsheng walked towards Dongcheng District with Ye Dong and Ye Kui, feeling satisfied.

His target tonight was Mingyanlou located in Huiqingfang, Dongcheng District. Time passed quickly, and it seemed as if in the blink of an eye it was the day for him to meet his partner Shen Jianzhong, whose name he did not yet know but who gave him a gift of one thousand taels right away.

As a restaurant in Luoan, Mingyanlou is very famous. Its grade is at least one level higher than Zuixiangju where Ye Mingsheng had eaten. However, compared with other big restaurants in Luoan, such as Chunshanguan and Wanzhenju, Mingyanlou is not famous for its exquisite and delicious food, nor for its luxurious decoration...

As a restaurant that only serves vegetarian food, Mingyanlou focuses on tranquility and elegance, and prides itself on being very high-class. However, officials in the court who are well-read in the books of sages, and the children of noble families who love to show off their elegance, really like this kind of thing. They often hold literary gatherings here and spend a lot of money to turn a restaurant that only serves vegetarian food into one of the top restaurants in Luoan!

Although Ye Mingsheng didn't know who the person was who had asked him to meet, since the dinner was scheduled at Mingyan Tower, he guessed that this person was most likely a self-righteous person!
Huiqingfang, where Mingyan Tower is located, is not a luxurious area in the East City District of Luoan, but the environment is really good. It is surrounded by a quiet grove of flowers and plants in various shapes and sizes, which is very pleasing to the eye.

Mingyan Tower, located in the center of the woods, is quite large, but compared to its equally famous Chunshan Pavilion and Wanzhenju, it is much smaller, consisting of only three two-story wooden buildings connected to each other.

Because its main attraction is its quiet and elegant signboard, it attracts these so-called "elegant guests" who are fond of art. The decoration style of Mingyanlou is naturally simple and exquisite. Among the most luxurious and magnificent restaurants in Luoan, it can be regarded as a rare and unique one.

In addition to the excellent environment, there are also frequent sounds of piano coming from Mingyan Tower. The sounds are gentle and continuous, like a mountain spring flowing slowly from a valley, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Before entering Mingyan Tower, Ye Mingsheng was still a little worried about how to contact the other party. After all, Liu Chunfu only said that his master had asked him to meet in Mingyan Tower, but he did not say which private room it would be. And it seemed that Mingyan Tower had nearly twenty private rooms...
However, Ye Mingsheng soon found that his worries were unnecessary. As soon as he entered Mingyan Tower and was thinking about how to find Liu Chunfu, a maid in green, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, tall, sweet and youthful, and wearing the standard clothes of Mingyan Tower, came to Ye Mingsheng.

Under Ye Mingsheng's puzzled gaze, the maid in green first bowed to Ye Mingsheng, then said softly:

"Excuse me, are you Lord Ye Mingsheng?" "Yes, I am!"

Seeing that this maid actually knew him, although Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised, he did not hesitate and nodded and admitted:

"Lord Ye, please come with me!" the maid in green continued to speak softly, her voice sweet and gentle, making people feel very comfortable listening to it.

"Wait a mininute!"

Ye Mingsheng did not immediately follow the maid in blue to the private room area on the second floor. Instead, he looked around the hall and then arranged for Ye Dong and Ye Kui to sit in a corner of the Mingyan Building hall.

Now that I have brought these two people out, I naturally cannot just go in to the banquet by myself and leave them waiting here hungry.

Ye Mingsheng was quite surprised when he looked at the menu of Mingyanlou. Although Mingyanlou is a vegetarian restaurant and all the food is vegetarian without any meat, the consumption level of Mingyanlou is not low at all. The cheapest vegetarian dish costs two taels of silver, which is almost as expensive as a signature dish of Zuixiangju.

Although it hurt a bit, now that he was out, Ye Mingsheng was not so stingy. He ordered some vegetarian dishes for Ye Dong and Ye Kui, the two personal soldiers he had trained with great care. He wanted to let the two brothers see the world and pretend to be cultured, and taste the high-end vegetarian food from Luoan's top restaurant...

"Master, this is too expensive!"

"Let's go back and eat..."

Seeing that a meal would cost nearly ten taels of silver, the two brothers Ye Dong and Ye Kui immediately felt sorry for Ye Mingsheng and advised him:

Ignoring the brothers' dissuasion, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:

"Eat slowly, don't be anxious, just wait for me here!"

After giving instructions, Ye Mingsheng followed the sweet-looking maid upstairs to the private room on the second floor. Seeing Ye Mingsheng leave, Ye Dong and Ye Kui, who had never been to such a high-end and elegant place to eat, looked at each other in confusion at first, not knowing what to do.

But soon the two brothers adapted to the situation. They looked at each other and could see the anticipation and excitement in each other's eyes.

(End of this chapter)