Chapter 509: A Letter

“This…”
Facing Ma Chun’s question, Xin Taiqi hesitated for a moment before explaining, “Our Junda Restaurant’s business relies heavily on the fact that King Ruiqing likes a few of our signature dishes. I remember it was on the fifth day of the sixth month—while King Ruiqing was chatting with friends, I overheard him highly praising the fragrances and two signature dishes from Linji Inn. He even said that if the distance wasn’t too great, he would visit Linji Inn every time. So… out of selfish motives, I wanted to take possession of things like Linji Inn’s VIP cards and Spirit Stone Fans. That’s why I asked Skull Camp for help to force Linji Inn into poor management and force it to close. But when I found they were all ruthless, I had no choice but to hand over the methods to make those items or cooperate with Junda Restaurant.”
“I see,” Ma Chun said, relieved. Since the Wealth God was about to leave, it made sense why Xin Taiqi was targeting Linji Inn.
“Manager Ma, I must take my leave.”
Xin Taiqi had no mood to chat. He bowed briefly, stepped forward again, but after just a few steps, a voice behind him shouted, “Wait!”
Turning around, Xin Taiqi saw it was still Ma Chun.
“Did you say it was the fifth day of the sixth month?” Ma Chun asked in a serious tone.
Xin Taiqi nodded slowly, not quite understanding.
“King Ruiqing has never been to Linji Inn before the fifth day of the sixth month,” Ma Chun said, turning to Lin Dong with firmness.
“Hasn’t been to Linji Inn?” Lin Dong was slightly surprised.
“Yes, not once before that date. After that, he started coming frequently—of course, assuming he hadn’t disguised himself to visit. But is that possible? Visiting Linji Inn wouldn’t affect him at all. Junda Restaurant cares about which restaurant he chooses, but he doesn’t need to care about Junda’s opinions. Besides, why would he come openly afterward?”
Ma Chun was confident in his memory. King Ruiqing was one of the surviving old princes and a notable figure in the Great Han Nation. It had only been over a month since the Spirit Stone Fans were introduced, and he remembered most of the notable people who had visited Linji Inn in the southwest city. He had written them all down and would often take time to review or recall their appearances—this was his strength and a necessary skill for interacting with others.

Xin Taqi was stunned. Though his heart was dead, his mind was still clear. Ma Chun’s words meant he had been set up. Among all the owners of top restaurants, those known for their cruelty and cunning had been tricked into nearly destroying their own families. Moreover, he himself wasn’t even the target of the scheme—just a tool. If even the Prince of Ruiqing could be bribed, the person behind this scheme must be someone extremely powerful. Xin Taqi gritted his teeth. If Lin Ji Inn hadn’t offended any other important figures, he had one suspect: Fenglin Restaurant. With the biggest clue found, Lin Dong and Ma Chun surely understood that Fenglin Restaurant was the main suspect. “I seem to have heard that the Prince of Ruiqing has no connection with Fenglin Restaurant, and the prince he supports isn’t the Third Prince,” Ma Chun hesitated. “We should let Liu Xiu know about this when we have time. I think he’ll find it useful.” Lin Dong paid no attention to Ma Chun’s hesitation, knowing he was temporarily misled. The Prince of Ruiqing was being used to frame Lin Ji Inn, and Lin Ji Inn’s enemies—Fenglin Restaurant and Fu Tongshan—only Fenglin Restaurant could afford to bribe the Prince of Ruiqing. No matter how influential Fu Tongshan was, he couldn’t ask an old prince to do such a thing; only the Third Prince, who had the highest chances of becoming the heir, had the power to do so. Moreover, Fu Tongshan had no motive—what he wanted was Fu Zizhou’s confession, and the success of Lin Ji Inn had nothing to do with it. No one would know that Xin Taqi was colluding with bandits. Fenglin Restaurant, on the other hand, had a strong motive—most importantly, they knew about Ling Chenyue’s grand scheme and could use Junda Restaurant to create trouble and distract Lin Ji Inn. This would also hurt Lin Ji Inn’s business. If Junda Restaurant could bring Lin Ji Inn down, Fenglin Restaurant could earn more money for the Third Prince in the coming years, without having to wait until he ascended the throne to deal with Lin Ji Inn. But in all their calculations, Fenglin Restaurant overlooked the fact that Xin Taqi knew the bandits, and those bandits led to Xin Taqi’s family being executed. Ma Chun casually asked why. If Xin Taqi had used other methods to deal with Lin Ji Inn, given his style and Lin Ji Inn’s attitude toward various enemies, reconciliation would be impossible—there would be no chance for talks. Undoubtedly, Fenglin Restaurant had seen this too.

As for his relationship with Prince Ruiqing, during the most intense struggle for the throne, the third prince was the one with the greatest chance of ascending to the throne, so he could reconcile with anyone. After all, even Liu Xiu, who currently held the highest prestige among the princes, had to choose to cooperate with the third prince due to his own ambitions.

Reaching out to Prince Ruiqing was just to avoid arousing Xin Taiqi’s suspicions, and Xin Taiqi only cared about Prince Ruiqing. This information might be quite useful to Liu Xiu, but it offered no help to those who were plotting schemes and could even lead to misunderstandings.

“Boss, what should we do?” Ma Chun said through gritted teeth.

“First, find out if Liu Xiu is aware of this. If he is, send a letter to Fenglin Restaurant later,” Lin Dong said calmly. “The content… just express gratitude to Prince Ruiqing for his support of Linji Inn. As for the rest, whether it’s Ling Weifeng or Ling Chenyue, they’ll know what to do.”

“What if Liu Xiu isn’t aware?” Ma Chun pressed.

“See if it’s useful. If it is, still send the letter, but this time the content should be ten silver notes worth ten thousand taels each,” Lin Dong replied leisurely.

“Silver notes?” Ma Chun was puzzled.

“We got quite a few silver notes from Ling Chenyue last time. What does it matter to give a few more?” Lin Dong smiled.

Ma Chun suddenly understood. The news that Prince Ruiqing had sided with the third prince was of no use to Liu Xiu, so it was better to directly demand terms for reconciliation. If it could help Liu Xiu, then they could spend some money and use Ling Chenyue’s schemes to make a deal.

“Boss Xin, excuse me for not seeing you off further,” Lin Dong said, bowing to Xin Taiqi.

Xin Taiqi nodded slowly, bowed in return, and left the backyard.

“Alright, the most important step is done. You take care of the rest. I’ll go around with Yun Lan to open branches everywhere. I’ll be back in a few days,” Lin Dong instructed.

Ma Chun became excited immediately. This meant that Linji Inn would soon be present in every county and city across the Great Han Kingdom. As the head manager of over ten thousand branches, if he made this public, Ma Chun believed he would instantly become one of the most influential figures in the Great Han Kingdom. Going from a petty thug to one of the most influential people in just a few years—something he could never have imagined before. Just four or five years ago, his dream was to become the leader of the thugs in a certain street in Southwest City, so that street vendors and shop assistants would bow to him. His influence would grow from being able to take fruit from a stall without paying, wipe it on his sleeve, and eat it, to being able to get fabric from a shop without spending a penny and have a tailor make him suitable clothes for free.

Eagerly returning to the inn, Ma Chun immediately went to Prince Liu Xiu’s Mingwang Mansion. Realizing that the information about Prince Ruiqing’s defection to the Third Prince would be extremely useful, he wrote a letter at the Mingwang Mansion and then personally delivered it to the Ling family.

In the afternoon, Ling Weifeng was sorting through letters sent from various branches when sudden, urgent knocking pulled his attention away from the mountain of letters.

“Come in!” Ling Weifeng straightened up and called out calmly.

The door creaked open, and Ling Zhengyang rushed in, holding a thick envelope.

“Second brother.”

“Stay calm!” Ling Weifeng said quietly.

Ling Zhengyang awkwardly stepped forward and handed the envelope to Ling Weifeng.

Ling Weifeng glanced at the envelope, which had no words on it, opened it, and found a stack of silver bills worth ten thousand taels.

“Who sent this?” Ling Weifeng asked.

“Linji Inn!” Ling Zhengyang replied anxiously. “I suspect Lin Dong wants to use our elder brother and Zi Han to force us into some kind of deal. With the bandit issue still unresolved and Fenglin Restaurant already under suspicion, any further commotion could draw the attention of Prince Qingliu to us. I think Lin Dong is trying to get Prince Qingliu to focus on us.”

“What did the messenger say?” Ling Weifeng asked.

Ling Zhengyang shook his head. “It was Ma Chun, the manager of Linji Inn. He delivered the letter and left right away.”

Ling Weifeng remained silent, ignoring the agitated Ling Zhengyang. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly stood up and slammed the table hard.

Bang…

Amid the loud noise, Ling Weifeng roared, “Someone, get Ling Chenyue here immediately, now!”

The two servants waiting outside were startled. One quickly responded and rushed out, while the other smiled bitterly—his young master must have caused some trouble again.

“Second brother…” Ling Zhengyang hesitated.

Ling Weifeng waved his hand to stop him and continued sorting through the letters. Left with no choice, Ling Zhengyang paced back and forth in the room, growing increasingly anxious. He was good at direct competition and ingenious business strategies, but he was completely helpless with schemes and intrigues. And since this matter was so critical and Ling Weifeng remained silent, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

An hour later, the door burst open, and the burly Ling Chenyue appeared.

Ling Zhengyang quickly closed the door. Ling Weifeng stood up and handed the envelope to Ling Chenyue. “It was delivered by the manager of Linji Inn. He just left the envelope and went.”

Ling Chenyue took the envelope, pulled out the silver notes, glanced at them, and after pondering for a moment, frowned and said, “It seems Lin Dong really isn’t afraid of the threat posed by the Third Prince once he ascends the throne to Linji Inn.”
“Do you mean Lin Dong is confident that after the new emperor takes power, he can lead Linji Inn out of the empire’s control?” Ling Weifeng asked in surprise.
Ling Chenyue nodded slowly, stuffed the silver notes back into the envelope, tossed it onto the table, and said indifferently, “For now, we just need to create some situation for Linji Inn that will draw in Tianwei Pavilion’s attention. Since Lin Dong only wants to rely on me and Zi Han for some cooperation, we’ll go along with his wishes. But we shouldn’t fully cooperate either—let’s delay things as much as possible. It’s impossible for Linji Inn, no matter how capable it is, to get out of this predicament in just a few years.”
Ling Weifeng nodded slowly. Ling Chenyue’s plan was the same as what he had thought.
Ling Zhengyang was confused; he didn’t understand what the two of them were talking about at all.