Chapter 303: A Complete Defeat

Looking at Jiang Youcai walking quickly over, Ling Zhengyang’s chaotic mind struggled to process the situation. From his expression, it was clear there was important news. Weren’t the conditions for obtaining the Spirit Stone Fan supposed to be announced tomorrow at Lin’s Inn? How could they already have news today?
Ling Zhengyang smiled bitterly. Whether he had obtained the conditions in advance or not, he believed they must be related to attracting customers. Given the conditions for the Spirit Stone Fan, he was sure that wealthy families would pay a hundred or eighty taels of silver for it. If sold in Lingnan City for two or three hundred taels each, it would surely draw countless wealthy people there. In the capital, a price of a thousand taels per unit would undoubtedly prompt many wealthy families to spend heavily. In short, the Spirit Stone Fan could definitely be turned into a separate business. If Lin’s Inn could ensure that it couldn’t be replicated like the VIP cards, focusing solely on it could generate profits a hundred thousand or even a million times higher than what Lin’s Inn currently earned.
Yet Ling Zhengyang had a strong premonition that Lin Dong would give up the greatest benefits of the Spirit Stone Fan and use it as one of the means to attract customers at Lin’s Inn. This premonition stemmed from his understanding of Lin Dong and the tactics used in Lin’s Inn’s current promotion. Though no one would believe it if he voiced it, Ling Zhengyang was utterly convinced.
If this premonition was true, the conditions for obtaining the Spirit Stone Fan were undoubtedly tied to the VIP cards. He didn’t even want to know the details. All he knew was that as long as the conditions weren’t too harsh, even if Maple Forest Restaurant offered it for free, it would still be unable to compete with Lin’s Inn. The thought of not being able to compete even for free made Ling Zhengyang feel suffocated. He had never failed in his life, let alone suffered such a complete defeat.
If Maple Forest Restaurant couldn’t even compete for free, what other ways could there be to turn things around? Perhaps there were, but Ling Zhengyang knew he wouldn’t be able to think of them. There were many people in the Great Han Nation who could turn the situation around in such a desperate situation, but only one in the restaurant industry—and that person was Lin Dong, the owner of Lin’s Inn.
Should he grit his teeth and hold on, hoping for a miracle? Use his second brother Ling Weifeng’s methods to destroy Lin’s Inn by any means necessary? Close down and put an end to this nightmare of traveling to Autumn Wind City?
These choices were causing Ling Zhengyang severe headaches.
“Third young master, there’s a letter from the headquarters,” Jiang Youcai said as he handed the messenger pigeon to Ling Zhengyang.

Ling Zhengyang was stunned for a moment before gradually regaining his clarity. It was then that he realized the homing pigeon in Jiang Youcai’s hands was used to send messages between cities, while messages within a city were delivered by horses and messengers.

Taking the homing pigeon, Ling Zhengyang pulled out the note from its pouch and tossed it aside.

Coo… coo…

The homing pigeon flew away from Ling Zhengyang’s hands, cooing loudly, clearly reminding him that it had been flying nonstop for most of the day and was hungry. But Ling Zhengyang ignored it, slowly unfolding the note and scanning its contents. His expression instantly changed drastically as he stood up in shock.

“How is this possible? How could this happen?”

This reaction startled Jiang Youcai, who didn’t dare to ask anything and could only wait anxiously for Ling Zhengyang’s response.

“It’s impossible. How could Lin Dong guess about matters in the imperial court?” Ling Zhengyang repeated, examining the note over and over again, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Guess about matters in the imperial court?” Jiang Youcai was confused.

With veins bulging on his forehead, Ling Zhengyang said slowly, word by word, “Fu Tongshan suddenly appeared in court, strongly advocating for the abolition of the Supervisory Council and the previously established merchant guild regulations. The scholars’ faction among the court officials all rallied behind him. If nothing unexpected happens, all the officials in the scholars’ faction will likely follow suit within a day or two.”

Jiang Youcai was stunned, unable to understand the meaning of these words for a long time.

Fu Tongshan? Weren’t he the prefect of Qiufeng City? Hadn’t he been recovering at home due to illness all this time? How could he suddenly head to the capital?

“Truly worthy of Emperor Qianwei. This move will likely turn the situation completely around.”

Ling Zhengyang gritted his teeth in anger. Though he paid little attention to court intrigues, he wasn’t completely indifferent. Fu Tongshan’s sudden intervention was clearly at Emperor Qianwei’s behest.

This meant that Emperor Qianwei had no intention of compromising with the civil and military officials and had already prepared for a major conflict. One side was full of confidence, thinking they had a sure victory, while the other side pretended to compromise but secretly gathered strength to deliver a devastating strike. The outcome was likely to be straightforward with little suspense.

The civil and military officials were uniting only for profit. The one who truly held power in the Great Han Kingdom was still Emperor Qianwei. With his decades of experience and sharp judgment—so long as he wasn’t mentally confused—having the scholars’ faction as a weapon, along with various promises of profit, was enough to shatter even this alliance.

By making a surprise move and bringing back the once-suppressed but still razor-sharp scholars’ faction, Emperor Qianwei was clearly not old enough to be confused.

“Third Young Master, what does this have to do with us?” Seeing Ling Zhengyang grinding his teeth in anger, Jiang Youcai was puzzled. With the news from the merchant guild, things should have been coming to an end without Fu Tongshan. With Fu Tongshan’s appearance, it should only delay the end even further. In that case, it would actually benefit Maple Forest Restaurant’s grand plan.

Ling Zhengyang slowly shook his head. He understood Jiang Youcai’s confusion but simply didn’t have the energy to explain. Various forces were joining forces to force Emperor Qianwei to compromise, which was an utter humiliation for him. If successful, it would be manageable, as it would mean completely suppressing the emperor. But if it failed, the consequences would be unimaginable, especially for those princes who dared challenge the emperor’s authority. Even if they changed course to support abolishing the Supervisory Council and rewriting the merchant guild regulations, they would likely still face repression from the emperor. In the worst case, they might even be secretly stripped of their eligibility to compete for the throne. If that happened, the damage inflicted on Maple Forest Restaurant would be immeasurable.

A place like Maple Forest Restaurant had long been seen as a thorn in the eyes of those in power and a piece of fat in the eyes of civil and military officials. To ensure its survival and even further growth, the most crucial factor was having a backer who could inherit the throne. Only if such a backer ascended to the throne, thanks to their role in supporting him, coupled with Maple Forest Restaurant continuing to provide most of its income as his personal funds year after year, could the restaurant avoid destruction.

“By the way, if the Supervisory Council is really abolished and the merchant guild regulations are changed,” Jiang Youcai suddenly said, “doesn’t that match Lin Ji Inn’s speculation? The only difference is in the details. In that case, as long as Lin Ji Inn has some backing, we can cover up the crime of fabricating court information and misleading the public?”

Ling Zhengyang nodded slowly.

“Sigh, Lin Dong is just too lucky! He can even guess such things.” Jiang Youcai slammed his fist into his palm, looking frustrated.

“Luck?” Ling Zhengyang smiled bitterly. “If it really depended on luck, would Lin Dong have dared to take such a big risk? If I’m not mistaken, he must not only be close to Li Jiancheng but also have an astonishingly close relationship with Fu Tongshan. Otherwise, Fu Tongshan wouldn’t have revealed such confidential information to him. Fu Tongshan is now the sharpest sword in Emperor Qianwei’s hand and will likely reap the most benefits from this. By then, it won’t be us thinking about how to use fabricated court news to attack Lin’s Inn—it will be Lin’s Inn trying to use fabricated court news to attack our Fenglin Restaurant. With Fu Tongshan’s future status, we won’t be able to suppress them. Fortunately, only Qiufeng City fabricates such news, so it’s not yet beyond solution.”
“Lin’s Inn using fabricated court news to attack us?” Jiang Youcai was stunned. After a long while, he suddenly shuddered violently, filled with fear.
With a thud, Jiang Youcai knelt on the ground, trembling as he said, “Third young master, please save me. I’ve worked at Fenglin Restaurant for over twenty years—maybe I haven’t made any achievements, but I’ve put in hard work. Third young master, you must save me.”
“Get up! I doubt they’d use you as a scapegoat.” Ling Zhengyang waved his hand. “All the Fenglin Restaurants normally provide accurate court news. Only Qiufeng City’s Fenglin Restaurant spreads false information. There’s no flaw in the excuse that its owner spreads false news to suppress competitors. As long as no one proves I’m in Qiufeng City, it’s hard for this matter to undermine the entire Fenglin Restaurant industry.”
“But… but…” Jiang Youcai tried to stand up but, upon hearing this, trembled and knelt down again. Just because it couldn’t harm the entire Fenglin Restaurant industry didn’t mean it couldn’t harm Qiufeng City’s Fenglin Restaurant. If Lin’s Inn really reported him through Fu Tongshan, as the owner, he would surely face punishment.
“Get up if I say so.” Ling Zhengyang rubbed his painfully aching head. He didn’t really care about fabricating court news; what worried him was the impact of Fu Tongshan’s appearance on Fenglin Restaurant’s hidden backers.
Jiang Youcai carefully got up, staring at Ling Zhengyang, hesitant to speak.

“Don’t worry!” Ling Zhengyang was somewhat annoyed but had to explain, “In front of our Fenglin Restaurant, the Lin’s Inn is nothing but an ant under an elephant’s foot. It’s certainly satisfying to pull out a single hair from an elephant’s body, but Lin Dong must be aware of the consequences. If he really did that, our Fenglin Restaurant could simply risk losing a few million taels of silver by opening another Fenglin Restaurant next to all of Lin’s Inn’s branches, offering free meals every day—enough to crush Lin’s Inn. So, as long as Lin Dong isn’t stupid, he definitely won’t do something that’s not worth the cost.”
“R-really?” Jiang Youcai’s depressed mood instantly turned excited, his eyes filled with a desire for confirmation.
“To find out if it’s true, we just need to go talk to Lin’s Inn,” Ling Zhengyang said impatiently, waving his hand. “Go prepare the carriage first. I’ll go to Lin’s Inn once I’ve thought things through.”
“I’ll go prepare the carriage right away.”
Jiang Youcai nodded quickly and rushed toward the courtyard entrance.
Ling Zhengyang sighed heavily, rubbed his temples, and sat back down. He picked up the chopsticks on the table, took a vitality beef ball, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing mechanically without really tasting it.