Leng Zhan and Leng Wu brought the owner and the head chef of the restaurant back from town. On the way, Leng Zhan warned the chef that this meal was for some very important guests and that they must not be negligent in the slightest. The restaurant owner thought to himself that these "important guests" couldn't possibly be more powerful than the county magistrate; at most, they were just some wealthy nouveau riche. Otherwise, the young man wouldn't have offered double the price to have them come all the way to Hehua Village to cater the banquet. They were surely nothing more than local landlords.
"We’ve arrived. Get out of the carriage. Don’t say anything you shouldn't, and follow my cues," Leng Zhan instructed the owner and the chef.
"We guarantee your satisfaction," the owner replied. He and the chef stepped out of the carriage, only to be struck dumb by the sight of hundreds of imperial guards stationed outside Gu Zhentang’s courtyard. These men were nothing like the petty officials they saw in town; each one stood with an air of imposing authority, clearly far more formidable than any of the magistrate’s men.
Chapter 262