Chapter 418: Promotion and Wealth

Scanning the room slowly, Yang Yankang’s gaze no longer carried its former imposing dignity but instead showed kindness and warmth. Coupled with a faint smile, it was easy to mistake him for someone else.
Of course, an illusion remained an illusion. No one doubted that this same ruthless governor was still in control, so everyone sat upright, too afraid to relax. Although Yang Yankang had said this was the last item, who knew if it wasn’t just the last regarding the wet worm disease issue? Without giving 100% effort, one might easily fall into Yang Yankang’s trap and be left with nothing left.
After finishing the scan, Yang Yankang’s smile deepened as he said, “It’s getting late. If everyone has no objections, shall we stop here for today?”
Everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief and agreed to Yang Yankang’s decision. Once his gaze moved away, they quickly shifted their attention to Lin Dong.
With the earlier decisions, no one doubted that Lin Dong was just one of them. But when it came to mobilizing all the inn staff, it was clear that Lin Dong was the biggest loser of the day.
“Since there are no objections, please!” Yang Yankang stepped aside slightly and escorted everyone out of the back hall before stopping amidst numerous footsteps. Turning around, his face, once wearing a faint smile, suddenly showed excitement befitting no ordinary provincial official.
Today’s success truly warranted such excitement.
Every move and reaction of everyone was within his calculations.
In a few days, with the party leader’s maneuvering in the court, when the over seventy-year-old Minister of Personnel was forced to retire after half a year of illness, Yang Yankang believed no one in the Great Han Empire was more qualified to take over that position.
Having served as governor for four terms, he had ample experience to become Minister of Personnel. With the entire Outer Idle Party backing him with all their resources, support was unquestionable. And when the recently devoted Emperor Qianwei sent the Heavenly Might Pavilion to Lingnan Prefecture to assess his performance and curb the disasters caused by the wet worm disease, his skill and ability were also beyond doubt.
Plus, by hiding the fact that he had received one million taels from Maple Forest Restaurant and more taels from three pharmacies, any slip could give Emperor Qianwei or the new emperor an easy handle on him, ensuring no obstacles to gaining trust.

Experience, support, ability, trust… Even now, Yang Yankang was 80% confident that he would be able to keep control of the position of Minister of Personnel. As the head in charge of evaluating and promoting officials, this role might usually be a troublesome one, but now that Emperor Qianwei’s health was declining day by day and the struggle for the throne had reached a critical point, it became essential for all princes eyeing the throne to win over this position. By securing the full support of the prince most likely to become the new emperor, once he ascended, both the leader of the opposing faction and those holding high-ranking positions would fall into his hands. Although the position of Minister of Personnel could be extremely dangerous during such a time, with one wrong move potentially leading to death, it still offered the chance to reach the highest levels of power. For Yang Yankang, this was far better than sitting obediently in a provincial office, earning a mere million or two in silver per year. He always believed that the imperial court was his true stage. To have such a crucial opportunity at such a critical moment, Yang Yankang really wanted to thank Lin Dong in person. Without Lin Dong, there would be no Lin’s Inn; without Lin’s Inn, Liang Gufeng wouldn’t have come knocking with silver to propose recruiting all the inn’s staff. Without Liang Gufeng’s interference, he wouldn’t have come up with this plan to reach the highest levels of power. Of course, though he thought this, Yang Yankang certainly wouldn’t actually go to thank Lin Dong. To him, Lin Dong was just a stepping stone—someone he had no interest in knowing what would happen to after he used them to rise. In fact, he even thought about killing this resentful stepping stone with his own hands once he reached the top. “Fu Tongshan won’t enjoy his glory for long.” With a cold smile, Yang Yankang turned and strode back to the inner palace. Offending Lin Dong meant offending Fu Tongshan, and by extension, the Hua family. In the past, the former affected his career, while the latter affected his wealth—neither of which he dared to provoke lightly. Normally, he even had to wear a smile and be extremely polite when meeting them. But this time was different. His interests were so great that Yang Yankang could disregard everything else. Not to mention Fu Tongshan or the Hua family, even if it meant committing treason that could lead to the execution of his entire family, he would still dare to do it if there was even a sliver of a chance. Reaching the highest levels of power was his lifelong goal. What else could he possibly want once he achieved that? The night was quiet, under the same starry sky, but Yang Yankang had no idea what Lin Dong was thinking at that moment.

“Master Lin, congratulations! Congratulations on accomplishing all three acts of kindness—donating silver, providing land, and offering labor. I believe the people of the three western prefectures will be eternally grateful to you, Master Lin.”

Obviously, Liang Gufeng, who had chased Lin Dong to the end of the street despite being out of breath, also had no idea what Lin Dong was thinking at that moment. Around them, the wealthy and influential figures couldn’t help but cast sympathetic glances at Lin Dong, each pretending to understand his plight. One was just a manager hired by Maple Forest Restaurant, while the other was a true tycoon. Moreover, helping someone in need is far more memorable than adding to their already abundance, and since Lin Dong was such a renowned good man, it went without saying that everyone would side with him immediately. Yet, they merely sided with him—no one was foolish enough to clash verbally with Liang Gufeng, who was already acting rather arrogantly.

At this point, Liang Gufeng lacked any sense of grace. Of course, people could understand him—putting themselves in his shoes, if they found themselves at a loss and then got a chance to push their rival into a corner, they might act even more recklessly than Liang Gufeng.

Lin Dong turned to look at Liang Gufeng, who was drenched in sweat behind him, and said calmly, “Master Liang must have spent quite a bit of silver for today, right?”

“Not at all,” Liang Gufeng shook his head repeatedly. “Our Maple Forest Restaurant only donated 40,000 taels of silver, just like Lin’s Inn. Besides, we don’t have any large courtyard behind us—only a piece of land that we originally planned to use for a gym, which is anyway unused. Compared to Lin’s Inn’s astonishingly large backyard and its operational gym, it’s insignificant. Moreover…”

Liang Gufeng took a few quick breaths. Though exhausted and sweating profusely, he still exuded enthusiasm. “Moreover, Lin’s Inn even assigned all its staff to assist the county government. Compared to their generosity and righteousness, our Maple Forest Restaurant hasn’t done enough—far from it.”

“Master Liang is too modest,” Lin Dong said, climbing onto the carriage with a smile. “Excessive modesty is nothing but hypocrisy.”

“It’s not modesty at all. Master Lin values me too highly,” Liang Gufeng shook his head. “It’s Master Lin who is truly modest—quietly donating more than anyone else, without even worrying about the inn’s business.”

Lin Dong smiled, entered the carriage, and pulled down the curtain.

“Master Liang, shall we meet again next time?”

The voice coming from inside the carriage made Liang Gufeng pause briefly before he burst into laughter.

“See you next time, Manager Lin. We’ll meet again soon.”
Liu An pulled on the reins, gave Liang Gufeng a sharp glance, then waved his whip, causing the carriage to turn slowly.
“I hope Manager Lin can stay as calm as today next time we meet,” Liang Gufeng called out loudly to the back of the carriage.
“Sure, definitely!”
Inside the carriage, Lin Dong kept his eyes half-closed, mentally going over the countermeasures he had thought of in the back hall of the county office, checking for any flaws. Meanwhile, in his dantian, a misty mass of light continued to emit spiritual energy, which flowed rapidly through his meridians before returning to the dantian.
“Manager, where are we going?” Liu An’s voice suddenly came from outside the carriage.
Lin Dong smiled calmly and said, “It’s so late. Where else can we go but back to the inn?”
Liu An chuckled nervously and hesitated, “Manager, the county official summoned so many people today. Judging from Liang Gufeng’s attitude, it’s probably not targeted at our Lin’s Inn, is it?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Let’s talk about it when we get back to the inn. That way, I won’t have to repeat everything,” Lin Dong replied nonchalantly.
Despite his anxiety, Liu An had no choice but to nod and focus on driving.
Under the cover of night, fearing collisions with unexpected obstacles, Liu An drove much slower than before. It wasn’t until early morning that they finally returned to the inn.
As Lin Dong had expected, when the carriage entered the side door of the back yard and the curtain was lifted, Ma Chun was immediately visible, walking back and forth by the stone table in the cold wind.
Seeing the carriage arrive, Ma Chun rushed forward quickly. Before Lin Dong could get out, he said anxiously, “Manager, you’re back so late. Could it be that Yang Yankang wants more than just money? Otherwise, you would have returned earlier. Miss Yun even went to the county office specially, thinking you were in trouble.”
“What trouble could I possibly be in?” Lin Dong glanced toward Yun Lan’s room, feeling a warmth in his heart. In the entire Lingnan City, he believed that aside from those in Lin’s Inn, almost no one else had the strength to fight him.
“Manager, what does Yang Yankang mean?” Ma Chun couldn’t help but press further. He always felt that this matter was far more than just an opportunity to make money.
“What else could it mean? Nothing but rising in rank and getting rich!” Lin Dong smiled, sat down on the stone bench, and waited until Ma Chun and Liu An also sat down before explaining what had happened at the county office.
“Damn it!”
“Bastard!”
The more they listened, the angrier Ma Chun and Liu An became. By the end, they were clenching their fists, filled with hatred. Especially Ma Chun, who came from a lowly background, was even tempted to storm the Fenglin Tavern and the county office alone.

“Boss, if we really give in to their demands, our Lin’s Inn will have to close for nearly a year. Even if the spirit stone heaters and scented oils are introduced to turn things around, it will likely take at least a year and a half to defeat Maple Forest Restaurant.”
“Yes! Boss, we need to find a way to solve this.”
“Of course we must,” Lin Dong said calmly. “Those who dare trouble Lin’s Inn should be prepared for the consequences.”