After my father and brothers were killed at the hands of pirates, our family members robbed us of all the property and drove us, mother and daughter, to the ruined courtyard.
On the day when I pawned the gold lock, I put on the stove ashes and pretended to be a young man. Two years later, in the newly opened restaurant on East Street, everyone called me Xiao Wulang.
When the sixth prince Li Qian was served the wrong spicy chicken, he was so spicy that the ends of his eyes turned red: "Little shopkeeper, I don't have to pay for this dish."
The night he recovered from his injury, he put a gold ingot in my palm: "Xiao Wulang, wait until I come back."
Four years later, he traveled a bloody road to become the regent, and my restaurant was the best in the capital.
At the palace banquet, he lifted the jade crown that tied my hair in front of everyone and said, "Shopkeeper Xiao, it's time to pay back the spicy chicken I owe you."
