Chapter 440: The Ling Family’s Eldest Son Who Doesn’t Live Up to His Name

Glancing at Zi Han beside him, Ling Chenyue picked up his wine glass and said with a smile, “Brother Lin, let’s drink this together. Then we can quickly finish discussing the important matters so we can focus on listening to Zi Han’s next piece. You don’t know—just having enough silver isn’t enough to hear Zi Han play; one also needs talent and status. We’re all benefiting from Brother Fu’s influence.”
“That’s right.”
The young masters and lords didn’t know about the secrets between Lin Dong, Fu Zizhou, Ling Chenyue, and Zi Han, so they immediately became lively upon hearing this. As Ling Chenyue said, Zi Han’s self-composed and performed pieces couldn’t be achieved just by having plenty of silver. Although talent might not be strictly necessary—Ling Chenyue mentioning it was merely to flatter Fu Zizhou—status was absolutely essential, and the requirements were extremely high.
Among those present, aside from Ling Chenyue, who had heard Zi Han’s music thanks to his vast wealth, even Fu Zizhou had never heard it before. Of course, given Fu Zizhou’s status, he wasn’t as far below those young masters as their fathers were, but status was complemented by wealth. Though Fu Zizhou had money, he would never spend hundreds of thousands just to listen to music.
Even if word of this spread to the imperial court, many of the young masters present had fathers in high positions, but that didn’t matter much. Fu Zizhou was different—his father’s status was highly envied, and so was his own. A small flaw might be forgivable for others, but for Fu Zizhou, it was unforgivable. Given Emperor Qianwei’s actions over the past year and a half, it was clear he intended to nurture Fu Zizhou, like another rising star in the court, as a key ally and future powerful minister.
If Fu Zizhou were caught with even the slightest flaw, even if it was just a joke, he would surely be viciously attacked.
Originally, Fu Zizhou didn’t want to get involved in the chaos at the Ten Thousand Immortals Tower. Although the young masters here had fathers who belonged to the elite faction, it was possible that some idiots might accidentally reveal this matter. Though there was no evidence, the court often didn’t need it. With enough talk, rumors could spread just the same.

Just a famous prostitute from a brothel. Although Fu Zizhou had long heard of her and was curious to see her, his desire wasn’t strong. For him, women were far less important than power. At 26, he was still unmarried, without obstacles like Lin Dong’s, which was truly unusual in the Great Han Kingdom. Moreover, Fu Zizhou was the only son of the current Grand Tutor and was himself handsome and talented.

Anyone sensible knew he was waiting for the right moment—either when the princess favored by Emperor Qianwei reached marriage age, or when a minister who might become crucial in the throne struggle emerged—so he could target his daughter.

It was a shameless plan, but the ministers had no choice but to admit that Fu Zizhou’s status, talent, and good looks were beyond their daughters’ ability to resist or retain him. As for what Emperor Qianwei thought, no one knew. Some ministers who were enemies of the Literati Party sometimes wondered if the emperor might deliberately find an excuse to kill Fu Zizhou because of his interest in his daughter.

Helpless, Fu Zizhou still had to come, as the one who invited him was Ling Chenyue, who, though not the highest-ranking person in the capital, was undoubtedly the worst at managing wealth.

The backbone of this spendthrift’s family business was the prince whom Fu Tongshan considered most likely to inherit the throne. Although Fu Tongshan didn’t support this prince, things were unpredictable, and it was possible he might switch his support later. In that case, Ling Chenyue would be a useful bridge.

Amidst the noisy questions from the young masters, Lin Dong drained the fine wine in his cup and said calmly, “It’s actually not a big deal. I opened an inn nearby some time ago, but the president and vice presidents of the guild refused without reason to let my inn join the guild. So, I had to come and ask Young Master Fu to see if he could ask Grand Tutor Fu to pass on a message.”

“Just that? There’s no need to involve Grand Tutor Fu. It’s just joining a guild—no need for such a big deal.”

“That’s right! It’s a trivial matter. Although the guild president is the younger brother of Lord Liu of the Ministry of Punishments, and Lord Liu isn’t part of our Literati Party, with just one word from Brother Fu, I’m sure he won’t dare refuse.”

“Brother Lin, you really overvalue your inn. One word from Brother Fu could be worth millions of silver coins—enough to buy a hundred or eighty inns, I guess?”

The young masters burst into laughter. Initially, they had been jealous of Lin Dong because of his favor with Zi Han, but they didn’t dare offend him outright. Once they learned he just ran an inn, their expressions and tones changed completely.

Ling Chenyue’s face remained calm, but he inwardly smiled bitterly—how ironic to run into the owner of Lin’s Inn here! Fu Zizhou also kept a straight face, but in his mind he was carefully figuring out whom Lin’s Inn had offended. Three years ago, after being tricked by Lin Dong into signing a confession in Southwest County, Fu Zizhou returned to the capital. Though he didn’t dare take action against Lin Dong, he sent people to keep an eye on him. He was well aware of how Lin’s Inn had grown rapidly, opening branches throughout Lingnan Commandery in just a few years. Suddenly, Fu Zizhou looked up at Ling Chenyue beside him. Ling Chenyue looked puzzled and asked, “Brother Fu, what’s wrong?” “Nothing much. Young Master Lin’s inn seems to have a close connection with your Fenglin Restaurant,” Fu Zizhou said with a smile. “Oh…” Ling Chenyue responded briefly and fell silent. Fu Zizhou didn’t take it too seriously. Ling Chenyue was just a spendthrift; he wouldn’t care about such trivial matters as Fenglin Restaurant’s business being damaged in one commandery. After some thought, Fu Zizhou gave up the idea of having Ling Chenyue intervene. After all, if it was Fenglin Restaurant that created obstacles for Lin’s Inn before it even opened, it meant Fenglin Restaurant took Lin’s Inn as a serious competitor. The current leader of Fenglin Restaurant was Ling Weifeng, the second young master of the Ling family. Fu Zizhou had heard of him and knew he was a prominent figure in the capital. His depth of strategy and cunning were such that Fu Tongshan had even suspected Fenglin Restaurant’s role beside that prince might not be limited to being a source of wealth—Ling Weifeng might also be a top-tier strategist. In Fu Zizhou’s view, since Ling Weifeng had taken away Ling Chenyue’s family wealth, Ling Chenyue would surely agree to any amount of silver demanded to silence rumors. But if he wanted Ling Weifeng to let go of an enemy, given Ling Weifeng’s past behavior, it was unlikely. It seemed they had just established some connections only to have to fight again. Though Fu Zizhou felt somewhat resentful, fortunately, there were always ways to resolve conflicts in the court. The faction of scholars and their rivals from behind Fenglin Restaurant had clashed many times before, so he wasn’t worried about one more fight. As long as the bridge of Ling Chenyue, who could be useful in the future, remained intact, and his own side had enough resources to turn things around, it would be fine.

On the other side, a smile involuntarily appeared on Lin Dong’s face. This trip to the Wanxian Tower was becoming increasingly interesting to him. Here, he could encounter a powerful warrior in a period of rebellion, and this warrior was none other than a famous prostitute in the capital. Even more interesting was the chance to meet the eldest son of the Fenglin Restaurant, who didn’t seem to be the worthless man rumored to have had his inheritance stolen by his younger brother.

Soon, Fu Zizhou made up his mind and said, “Young Master Lin, how about we discuss this after listening to the music?”

“Okay, shall I go back to the inn and wait for you, Young Master Fu?” Lin Dong nodded with a smile. He knew Fu Zizhou was worried about arousing suspicion, so he didn’t mind the delay.

“Won’t you stay and listen?” Fu Zizhou almost couldn’t help but wink at Lin Dong. They had been cooperating well until now, but something went wrong at the last moment. Someone who liked brothels should be able to look away when seeing the capital’s most famous prostitute. After all, everyone’s attention was on Zi Han, and no one would notice Lin Dong. But leaving without even listening to the music—although the young masters present might not suspect anything now, they would surely be suspicious later.

“No, I still have some matters to attend to.”

Lin Dong shook his head again. Aside from being initially impressed, he wasn’t very interested in Zi Han, the capital’s most famous prostitute. Playing music and singing took at least an hour or two to finish. With that time, it would be better to return to the inn to practice and arrive at the Heaven Sword Sect an hour or two earlier, thus starting his marriage life sooner.

As for not cooperating with Fu Zizhou, it was also a warning to him—killing two birds with one stone.

“Since that’s the case, Young Master Lin, please go ahead.” Fu Zizhou couldn’t insist, so he simply nodded.

Lin Dong stood up, bowed to the crowd, and turned toward the door amid impatient responses.

Boom…

Just a few steps later, the door collapsed. Outside, Qiao Tianhao held Ma Ye, looking very pleased with himself.

“Young master, save me! Young master, save me! He gave me a lot of poison. You must avenge me…” Ma Ye, with a swollen nose and face, looked up and, upon seeing Fu Zizhou, cried bitterly as if he had met a relative.

Seeing Fu Zizhou indifferent, Ma Ye intensified his efforts and pointed at Lin Dong, shouting, “Young master, and him too! They called you an idiot, said you were all show and no substance, and called the Grand Tutor a bastard…”

Lin Dong laughed and couldn’t help but turn to look at Fu Zizhou.

Fu Zizhou’s face turned red as he glared fiercely at Ma Ye. As Lin Dong had predicted, he was indeed deliberately indulging Ma Ye, so that if Ma Ye discovered any of his secrets, he could justify silencing him at any time. But he never expected that this indulgence would lead to him being humiliated in front of so many people.

Ma Ye’s first sentence still sounded plausible. But the second sentence—anyone who wasn’t stupid could tell from Ma Ye’s expression and tone how much truth was in it.

A lackey actually dared to disregard his master’s wisdom in front of a crowd and even insult the old master right there. Fu Zizhou believed that although the young masters present might not show it, they surely despised his way of managing subordinates.

Under the gazes of over a dozen people, including the city’s most famous prostitute, Ma Ye grew more and more aggressive. Gradually, he began to blame Fu Zizhou’s ancestors using Lin Dong’s name.

In his mind, the young master would surely explode with anger later and grind Lin Dong to dust. As for himself, if he could make everyone think that this fury was due to his favoritism, he would gain a great deal of prestige. From then on, these young masters would surely give him more silver notes when they met him.