In the capital city of the Chu Empire, a girl with short red hair who wore a suit and tie was completely out of place. Compared to everyone else, they wore Hanfu clothes and looked more ancient than modern.
The girl's name is Zhu Yunyun, and was the owner of the bar she's currently in and serving.
"Your excellency's, here's the snowballs you ordered." Zhu Yunyun said with a smile while holding a tray of two drinks. The drinks had two circular ice cubes in them which made the two men's eyes lit up.
"Master, your technique of carving ice is unmatched!" One said while the other one laughed.
"It is such a pity that this ice is wasted on a drink. I don't think the princes and princesses get to enjoy such luxury."
"Your excellency is joking." Zhu Yunyun said politely and walked away.
"Sigh, that girl is a beauty. Shame that she dresses like a man and cuts her hair which makes her unfilial to her parents and ancestors. If not, I'd try to hook her up with my son." Saying that, he shook his head.
"I wouldn't say she's a beauty, but differentially has some unique charm to her." The other said and laughed and took a sip out of the cup.
"Hmm, this has to be the best wine I've ever had. It's completely different compared to the others."
The person across from him nodded his head in response.
While the two of them were conversing, Zhu Yunyun had already made her way back to the front and had a blue transparent screen in front of her that was currently displaying the information of the two men that she just served.
[Name: Xu Yan]
[Occupation: Minister of justice]
[Age: 23]
[Notes: Currently dealing with a case against the third prince that involved killing an official of the court. Progress has been slow and there have been no clues. The emperor has been demanding results as well as the queen. He has also thought of marrying his oldest son who is nine to you.]
[Name: Xu Jing]
[Occupation: Head of the Xu duke family]
[Age: 37]
[Notes: The father of Xu Yan and the brother of the queen. He has been going out and staying at brothels, leaving his concubines to fend for themselves.]
Looking at the information of the two, she was speechless. One was currently trying to solve a murder case, but decided to come for a drink, and even had the idea of marrying his nine year old son to her.
To be fair, Zhu Yunyun is at the age of marriage in the Chu Empire, but she isn't used to it. Despite her looking fifteen, she was actually 22 but was reborn! Yes, reborn!
She came from a family who made wine and had many bars around china, but she sadly ended up dying due to drinking too much, causing her body to fail on her. Luckily she had the chance to live again in the body of Zhu Yunyun, an orphan girl who lost her parents due to illness.
She even inherited the memories of Zhu Yunyun, giving her skills such as tailoring and proper etiquette for this time. But that wasn't the only thing she gained from rebirth, she also gained a system! The system could see all information of objects and living beings. Some information might be huge such as the Xu Yan, or might be small like Xu Jing.
You might even find something that the person didn't even know! For example, she once met a man who came in during her first opening a month ago, and saw that his concubine was cheating on him with his father. When she learnt this, a whole new world opened to Zhu Yunyun, and wanted to establish relationships based on the information she knew.
Of course she had to be smart about this. If she told the third princes about Xu Yan, he might not believe her and might even kill her. After all, he dared to kill a court official. But she has gradually extended her claws to those with weak positions and gained some loyal customers from her intelligence.
Just as she was finishing up with the system information, a new person came into her bar and walked up to the front counter.
"Master, I heard you served great alcohol here?"
Zhu Yunyun looked up and a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes.
The man was wearing red robes with golden outlines. He had a sharp face and a strong build to him. If a person wanted to wear red and gold in public like this either means he or she was getting married or…
"Your excellency, I serve the best that I can."
[Name: Chu Rensheng]
[Occupation: Crown Prince]
[Age: 18]
[Notes: Secretly followed Xu Yan to here and had one of his servants gather information about this place. He believes that Xu Yan hasn't been doing his job properly, letting the third prince get away with killing an official that was his man. Seeing a woman running this place, many of his worries were gone.]
"Hmm, I wonder if the master can recommend a drink to me? I've only heard a word from a friend."
Zhu Yunyun nodded and glanced at the two others who sat down next to the Crown Prince.
[Name: Dong]
[Occupation: Crown Prince's bodyguard]
[Age: 22]
[Notes: Serves the Crown Prince with his life, but uses his name to get along with the ladies. One of the best bodyguards in the Chu Empire and was tasked to serve the Crown Prince ever since he came back from the front lines.]
[Name: Wang]
[Occupation: Servant]
[Age: 16]
[Notes: A servant under the Crown Prince, but actually serves the Third Prince. Every full moon he'd go deliver messages to the Third Prince.]
"I wonder how strong your excellency's alcohol tolerance is?" Zhu Yunyun asked, digesting the information given to her.
"Anything is fine, but a lighter taste would do." Chu Rensheng said, and placed three taels of silver.
Zhu Yunyun took it with a smile and nodded her head.
"Your excellency's can find an open place to sit or you can sit down here and watch me make the drink. It won't take long for your drinks to come."
Chu Rensheng nodded, and raised his hand and signaled to the two people to follow him as they sat at a table.
As they got seated, they couldn't help but admire the place.
"It's really warm here. Even though it's winter this place feels cozy and warm. It's even luxurious, with fur seating and carpet." Dong said, eyeing the place up.
Chu Rensheng agreed, "Indeed, no wonder Xu Yan came here. The master here pretends to be a boy, but yet is a cute girl."
"Hmm?" Dong looked at Chu Rensheng suspiciously, but didn't ask what was on his mind.
"Your Highness, shouldn't we watch her make the drinks? Just in case she poisons them?"
Wang asked in a low voice.
Chu Rensheng glanced at him with a light gaze, which made Wang's hair stand.
"If you want Xu Yan to know we're here, by all means, we can sit at the front counter." He sneered, "According to you, there isn't a private room and this place only sells alcohol. So It's better to just sit here."
Wang nodded, no longer speaking.
While the three were talking about Xu Yan, Zhu Yunyun was currently making their drinks. She made a flaming peacock, which was just alcohol that had a grape flavour but was served with blue and orange fire on top. It was a specialty she made back at home.
It didn't take long for her to make their drinks, but she didn't send them out when she finished, but was thinking about something.
'Should I write a note to the Crown Prince about his servant Wang? Would he even believe it and cause trouble for me? Although he is a fat sheep, it might not be worth it.' She thought in her head, and bobbed her head back and forth.
'Screw it. Take the risk. If it pays off, I get a big guest and if someone wants to harm me for giving out information in the future, they'd have to think twice.'
With her thoughts clear, she grabbed a ripped piece of paper and a feather with ink and started writing.
'Your servant Wang is actually the Third Princes. You can verify this every full moon as this is when your servant Wang sends off information to the Third Prince. The next full moon is in three days. By then, I hope the Crown Prince doesn't trouble me for this information and makes friends. I have lots of skills when it comes down to intelligence. Enjoy your flaming peacock :)'
After she finished writing it, she put a little bit of ink on the side of the cup so the paper could stick on without falling. With all of it down, she picked up the drinks and set them on fire and walked to the three of them.
As the three of them were chatting, the sounds of footsteps made them quiet and turned their heads to Zhu Yunyun who held three flaming cups.