Chapter 20

Chrisley hadn't replied, so Rao Ke tidied up her things and decided to go for a stroll.

As soon as she stepped out the door, she found the steward, Kuch, waiting at the entrance with a smile.

"My lady, are you planning to go for a walk?" Kuch asked politely, still smiling.

Rao Ke gave a slight nod. "Yes."

Kuch inclined his head. "Would you like me to accompany you, or should I arrange a guide?"

Rao Ke thought for a moment. "Please arrange a guide for me. Thank you."

"My pleasure." Kuch pulled out his Astrolabe and murmured a few words into it. Before long, a young rabbit-eared girl in a black-and-white long dress hurried over.

"I'll take my leave then. Enjoy yourself, my lady." Kuch gave a slight bow and turned to walk away.

Ligel looked at Rao Ke. "May I ask where you'd like to go first, my lady?"

"Hmm, take me to the largest shop in the royal capital," Rao Ke said after a moment's thought. She planned to get a sense of the stores in the capital first.

After all, aside from having fun, she had a very important mission: to promote Keke Shop. Naturally, she wanted to see what the other merchants were like first.

"Very well." Ligel nodded slightly and began leading Rao Ke toward the carriage at the entrance.

It was Rao Ke's first time riding in a horse-drawn carriage, and she didn't refuse. She wanted to experience this quaint mode of transportation herself.

"..." Rao Ke's face paled, her backside aching from the jolting, and the whole carriage swayed back and forth.

She felt nauseous. Rao Ke struggled to steady her breathing.

Seeing her expression, Ligel hastily said, "My lady, shall I have them slow down?"

Rao Ke paused for a moment, then asked, "How much farther to the shop?"

"About five more minutes."

"Never mind, keep going." Short pain is better than long suffering—Rao Ke chose to tough it out all at once.

Five minutes later, the carriage came to a stop in front of the largest shopping center in the royal capital—the Qebie Store.

"My lady, we've arrived," Ligel said respectfully.

"Alright, thank you."

Rao Ke quickly got off the carriage and stood still for a while, trying to calm her churning stomach.

Once she felt better, she accepted the warm water Ligel offered and took a sip, which immediately helped.

"How do you feel, my lady?" Ligel asked, a bit nervous.

"I'm fine now."

After recovering enough, Rao Ke stood up and walked into the store.

The Qebie Store had five floors, filled with all kinds of magical pets, potions, artifacts, and materials.

Rao Ke browsed with great interest. The goods of this other world had their own unique charm.

She even bought a flying broomstick and several popular Astrolabe game cartridges.

For the first time, Rao Ke learned that this other world also had games.

The Qebie Store was backed by the Third Prince, so the goods there were basically the newest and most fashionable.

But after walking through the entire place, Rao Ke noticed there was barely any food—just berries, some bread, seasoning bottles, and fresh magical beast meat.

After a full circuit, the game cartridges turned out to be her biggest haul.

After finishing at the Qebie Store, Ligel took Rao Ke to browse a few other nearby shops.

Once she returned to her room, Rao Ke began planning her promotion.

She decided to focus her publicity on alcoholic beverages and food, while artifacts took a backseat.

Artifacts were nice, but the royal capital was clearly not lacking in them. Moreover, Keke Shop wasn't well-known yet, so its artifact business couldn't compete with the big stores.

The most important thing was that Keke Shop's core business wasn't artifacts in the first place.

Just as Rao Ke was wondering how to start promoting, Ke Enli brought the opportunity right to her doorstep.

Ke Enli had only intended to have a simple dinner with his mother, but somehow he ended up with a task out of nowhere.

"Since you're free now that you're back, the banquet three days from now will be yours to arrange." The Beast Emperor dropped that bombshell with a smile, then sauntered off.

Leaving behind a thoroughly confused Ke Enli.

"How about this: I'll design the banquet and provide the food, and you help me promote Keke Shop in return," Rao Ke said with a smile, looking at Ke Enli.

Ke Enli was taken aback for a moment, then said with deep gratitude, "That's no problem at all. I'll put up 200,000 gold coins as funding."

Rao Ke nodded.

That same night, Rao Ke introduced the buffet concept to Ke Enli. As soon as he heard it, he thought it sounded great.

Rao Ke said she'd list everything out that evening and hand it to him the next morning.

Ke Enli nodded, telling her not to rush and to rest well.

With that, he stepped out of the room.

Rao Ke took out her tablet and started planning, spending the entire night listing out all the required dishes and ingredients.

Early the next morning, when Ke Enli saw the long menu of delicacies Rao Ke had listed, his eyes lit up.

Besides some instant products, there were also many formal dishes Ke Enli had never heard of, but he had full confidence in Keke Shop's cuisine.

"I'm really looking forward to the banquet day now."

The night before the banquet, the noble families of the royal capital were all preparing meticulously, hoping to shine at the event the next day.

Early the next morning, Rao Ke watched as Ligel led a group of maids pushing in racks of gorgeous gowns and precious jewelry.

Among the dazzling array of glamorous dresses, Rao Ke chose a more understated black velvet gown.

As for jewelry, she didn't pick anything—the Ring of Space that Chrisley had given her matched perfectly on its own.

Seeing that Rao Ke didn't want an elaborate hairstyle, Ligel simply swept her hair up into a neat bun and added a few tasteful hair ornaments.

Rao Ke, in her black velvet gown with its simple and elegant chignon, her face fair as jade, looked radiant and graceful.

"Would you like me to apply your makeup?" Ligel brought over a large bag of cosmetics.

Rao Ke picked up a few items to inspect, then declined with a smile.

Instead, she quickly added a few essentials from the shop and did a light, natural makeup look.

Rao Ke pinched her skirt, spun around, and admired herself in the full-length mirror, utterly satisfied.

"Knock, knock."

A soft knock came at the door.

"Come in." The moment Rao Ke spoke, Ke Enli walked in, dressed in a gray suit.

Ke Enli smiled at Rao Ke and complimented her. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." Rao Ke inclined her head slightly.

Truth be told, Rao Ke hadn't originally planned to attend the banquet, but Chrisley had said she'd be there too, and once it ended, she'd take Rao Ke straight away to meet her old friend.

"Let's go, the banquet should be starting soon." Ke Enli glanced at the time.

"Alright."

Just before the banquet began, Ke Enli's carriage finally pulled up to the palace gates.

As they stepped into the banquet hall, they found that even though the event hadn't officially started, the socializing was already in full swing—laughter and pleasantries filled the air.

The hall glittered with lights, glasses clinked, and toasts rang out without end.

Ke Enli led Rao Ke to a quieter corner to stay.

"If you don't want to chat with anyone, you can just refuse outright," Ke Enli instructed Rao Ke.

"Got it."

The banquet soon began. Maids and butlers filed in carrying white porcelain plates piled high with fragrant dishes, starting to set them out on the tables.

The beastman nobles, who had been socializing, all paused for a moment, drawn by the array of enticing aromas in the air.

"Hehe, the dishes at this banquet seem a little different today," one noble lady with tiger ears said, hiding a smile behind her hand, then offered an easy way out. "Let's go take a look."

The other noble ladies readily took the cue and nodded with smiles.

Then a large group of them crowded around the red silk-draped buffet table and began to taste the offerings.

One taste, and the beastman nobles were stunned by the amazing textures and wonderful flavors melting in their mouths.

Then they couldn't stop—eating one bite after another, one dish at a time.

Midway through, the tiger-eared noble lady guiltily looked up and realized everyone around her was already lost in the world of delicious food.

"This is incredible! I absolutely have to work with this chef!" The Third Prince, Qebie, his eyes lighting up, declared. "If I could partner with this chef, my store would definitely become even more popular!"

Beside him, his twin brother, Qieqi, shook his head helplessly. Ever since he'd become a merchant, his older brother had fallen deeply in love with the feeling of making money and running a business.

"This banquet was arranged by the Fifth Brother, so the chef is probably someone he brought along."

"Come on, let's go find Little Five!" Qebie was a man of action, immediately dragging Qieqi along to search for him.

After searching for quite a while, they finally spotted Ke Enli tucked away in a very secluded little corner. Qebie hurried over.

As he reached Ke Enli, Qebie noticed there was also a black-haired, green-eyed female companion beside him.

Black hair, green eyes?!

Qebie's eyes widened. He hadn't expected to see a witch other than the Grand Sorceress.

Qieqi was the first to greet Ke Enli and Rao Ke.

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, is something the matter?" Ke Enli looked up at his two brothers.

Qebie steadied his nerves. "Little Five, we wanted to ask you—is the chef who cooked today's dishes someone you brought?"

Ke Enli knew perfectly well what his two brothers were after. "No, it's just the palace chef."

"Impossible!" Qebie couldn't believe it.

Ke Enli smiled before saying unhurriedly, "It's just that all the ingredients, seasonings, and recipes come from this young lady beside me, Miss Rao Ke."

Rao Ke knew the two men before her were also big clients—especially the Third Prince, Qebie, since the largest store in the capital was his. Naturally, she had to seize the opportunity.

And since Ke Enli was willing to let her talk with them, it meant he thought these two were worth dealing with.

"I'm Rao Ke, the owner of Keke Shop. A pleasure to meet you." Rao Ke extended her hand.

Qebie, enthusiastic yet polite, shook her outstretched hand.

"A pleasure to meet you too."

Qebie and Rao Ke chatted off to the side, mainly about business dealings.

Qebie wanted to purchase goods from Rao Ke, and Rao Ke figured having an extra long-term business partner wouldn't hurt, so the conversation flowed especially pleasantly.

Meanwhile, Ke Enli and Qieqi sat side by side nearby, but since they weren't familiar with each other, they had nothing to say and simply sat there in awkward silence.