Chapter 579: The Day After Tomorrow

Inside Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong and Emperor Qian Wei engaged in a battle of wits. Emperor Qian Wei aimed to use the killing of officials to provoke Tianwei Pavilion into attacking Lin’s Inn, so as to capture everyone there. Lin Dong gritted his teeth, buying time at all costs, trying to seize every moment to turn the situation in his favor.

Outside Lin’s Inn, with dividends being distributed repeatedly, the fourteen top restaurants were bustling with customers, thriving immensely. In contrast, Lin’s Inn was on the decline, increasingly unable to compete with those fourteen top restaurants. It even seemed to have given up on trying to compete, aiming to make as much money as possible before closing down.

The fourteen top restaurants grew even more prosperous. Of course, they too suffered losses—indeed, far greater than those of Lin’s Inn. Lin’s Inn’s loss was mainly the loss of regular customers; without them, operating would be extremely difficult. Meanwhile, the top restaurants lost a large number of share certificates. For each share certificate lost, these restaurants suffered losses of at least thirty to forty taels of silver. With over a thousand share certificates lost per day per restaurant, their businesses remained busy at all times, but the potential losses amounted to thirty to forty thousand taels of silver per day per restaurant—this figure already included profits.

Such losses would be unbearable for the owners of the top restaurants, even though they each possessed tens of millions of taels of silver. After all, this money had been accumulated over decades or even generations. Spending millions of taels to defeat a competitor simply didn’t seem worthwhile.

Unless the competitor posed a serious threat to their own business and defeating them could bring them huge profits. That was exactly the case with Lin’s Inn. In the eyes of the restaurant owners, Lin’s Inn had the backing of Qingliu Wang and offered a variety of unique features, which not only posed a serious threat but also made them eager to acquire those features for themselves.

Once Lin’s Inn was defeated, they believed that with a high enough offer, Manager Lin would surely agree to sell those unique features. After all, businessmen put profit first. Losing in the capital was just a setback; they could use the substantial profits to further develop their businesses in their own regions.

Even if Manager Lin refused to sell out in anger, as long as he left the capital and was out of Prince Qingliu’s sight, everyone was confident they could use their networks to drive Lin’s Inn to a dead end. Everything hinged on first forcing Lin’s Inn into insolvency; otherwise, with Prince Qingliu as its backing, no amount of money would help. That’s why they were willing to reveal the accounts and total shareholdings. You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb—the owners of the fourteen top restaurants all had strong ambitions to swallow Lin’s Inn whole. In the evening, Lin Dong arrived outside the Tianzi Room and knocked gently on the door. “Who is it?” Yang Shun’s uneven voice came from inside. “It’s me, Lin Dong,” Lin Dong replied calmly. “You again? Why do you have to disturb the emperor while he’s resting?” Yang Shun snapped coldly. Lin Dong remained silent, believing Emperor Qianwei would order the door to be opened. Sure enough, not long after, the door creaked open, and Yang Shun glared at Lin Dong reluctantly. “Lin Dong pays his respects to the emperor!” Extending his hands, Lin Dong bowed slightly toward Emperor Qianwei on the colorful bed, a faint smile in his eyes as he glanced at it. The colorful bed had been at level 4 at 99% for two days and would reach level 4 after just one more night. Reaching level 5 would allow it to gain an additional attribute. What Lin Dong hoped for most was that this new attribute would enable its effects to cover the entire inn. If it were another type of attribute, he wouldn’t mind either. Level 1 could induce sleep, level 2 could send someone into a dream while keeping them awake. Level 3 allowed control over the type of dream entered, and level 4 could extend life. Each level was stronger than the last, and with one more level, even if it didn’t cover the entire inn, the attribute would surely be extraordinary—at least more powerful than life extension. Of course, according to Lin Dong’s thinking, if each level indeed became stronger, it would likely reach a point where it could cover the entire inn. If that happened, the bed’s attribute would shift from single-user use to multi-user use. Honestly, it might not be much stronger than life extension. If another attribute were added, covering the entire inn might no longer be possible, and it’s likely that in the future, only one person would be able to use the new attributes of the bed. Emperor Qianwei nodded slightly, pointed to a chair beside the desk, and a faint smile appeared on his aged face. “Sit down.” “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Lin Dong expressed his gratitude, his tone much more polite than when he had met Emperor Qian Wei before.
The emperor’s smile and friendliness were naturally not reciprocated. For months on end, the two had engaged in a battle of wits. Although Lin Dong was at a disadvantage, with the help of the two undercover agents, Yang Shun and Jiang Qianchi, he managed to hold a slight edge, thwarting Emperor Qian Wei’s plans time and again.
Lin Dong believed it was impossible for the emperor to not notice anything. Once it might have been luck, twice maybe luck, three times still luck… but it couldn’t be luck every time. He understood that if it weren’t for the intense struggle for the throne and the emergence of a strong rival—Prince 25—who had been assassinated, leaving the emperor preoccupied, he might have, in a fit of anger, sent guards to attack directly.
Even so, Lin Dong had learned from Yang Shun that the emperor was already beginning to summon a large number of officials with clear evidence of crimes—officials originally intended for the new emperor to execute to assert power. The intention was likely to carry out a mass killing of officials at Lin’s Inn.
If only one person was killed, and not by Lin Dong himself, Tianwei Pavilion would only target the perpetrator. In that case, Lin Dong would just need to hand over the killer to settle things. But if many died, Tianwei Pavilion, to prevent any faction from training assassins to kill officials, would punish the entire faction.
Judging by the timeline, he could probably buy himself about half a year more.
Of course, half a year was enough, in Lin Dong’s view. With that time, Lin’s Inn’s guard force could maintain a decisive advantage over Tianwei Pavilion. Although they hadn’t yet reached the point where they could defeat Tianwei Pavilion without any losses or even destroy it, their own safety would be assured.
During these six months, Lin Dong certainly didn’t want to anger Emperor Qian Wei, which was why his tone was much more polite.
The emperor’s mood was unpredictable. Moreover, as he was already in his declining years, coupled with the uncontrollable troubles of two potential heirs to the throne being killed in quick succession over the past few months, Lin Dong had no doubt that the emperor was in a state of extreme volatility.
Lin Dong didn’t want to provoke the emperor into losing his temper and sending the palace guards to attack Lin’s Inn directly.
Placing his chair directly opposite the emperor, Lin Dong sat down gently and said, “Your Majesty, I was wondering if you have time in the next few days?”
The emperor glanced at Yang Shun beside him.
“Your Majesty needs to host a banquet for several princes tomorrow; he’s busy,” Yang Shun replied calmly.
“What about the day after tomorrow?” Lin Dong asked.

Yang Shun glanced at Lin Dong indifferently and said, “The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of the late emperor. By law, the whole country should fast. It’s one thing for you to disregard the imperial throne and fail to observe the fasting rules, but do you really expect the emperor to cancel the fasting and sacrifices as well?”
“What about the day after that?” Lin Dong pressed further.
“The day after that is when the emperor assesses the abilities of the princes,” Yang Shun replied, continuing to stare at Lin Dong as he answered each question.
Lin Dong wasn’t in a hurry. Just as he was about to ask more, Emperor Qianwei waved his hand and said, “Let’s go the day after that! Let Consort Xing represent me in the assessment.”
Yang Shun hesitated for a moment before reluctantly saying, “Your servant obeys the order!”
“Shopkeeper Lin, is one day enough?” Emperor Qianwei looked at Lin Dong with a kind smile, though there was also a hint of inquiry, as if he was willing to add more time if needed.
“It’s enough!” Lin Dong stood up and bowed to Emperor Qianwei again. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Lin Dong will ensure the safety of Lin’s Inn. I will welcome you ten miles away.”
“You’re going to arrange defenses? What kind of defenses can you possibly set up? Just don’t cause trouble,” Yang Shun said sardonically.
“No need to welcome you ten miles away. Just make sure there’s good wine and food ready,” Emperor Qianwei said with a smile, stroking his beard. “Especially the Braised Vitality Pills—tell the chef to prepare them well. I like them.”
“Yes!” Lin Dong nodded firmly.
“Sit down!” Emperor Qianwei gestured for Lin Dong to sit.
Lin Dong slowly sat down.
“Shopkeeper Lin, I heard there have been some trouble at Lin’s Inn recently. Is that true?” Emperor Qianwei asked casually.
“Your Majesty, it’s true,” Lin Dong nodded. “It was just a trick by some rival restaurants trying to force Lin Dong to take action and cause deaths. Fortunately, it wasn’t too serious. Since they’re actually spending money staying and eating at Lin’s Inn, although Lin Dong can’t just drive them away, he’s not afraid to outlast them.”
“I see. If you need help, I can send people to drive them away,” Emperor Qianwei said slowly.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It’s just a minor issue, and Lin Dong will handle it. Besides…” Lin Dong smiled. “Once the day after tomorrow passes and everyone knows Lin’s Inn has the emperor’s favor, who would dare cause trouble here?”
Emperor Qianwei nodded lightly.
Seeing that the emperor had no desire to continue the conversation, and since Lin Dong didn’t want to create trouble and anger the emperor, he immediately stood up to take his leave.
“Your Majesty, Lin Dong won’t disturb your rest any longer. Goodbye.”
“Yang Shun, see Shopkeeper Lin out!” Emperor Qianwei waved at Yang Shun.
“Let’s go, Shopkeeper Lin!”
Yang Shun quickly walked to the door, pulled it open, and glared at Lin Dong coldly.

Leaving the room, he bowed to Emperor Qianwei once more before walking downstairs. As expected, in three days, Lin’s Inn would launch a major counterattack against the top restaurants.