Chapter 581: Hesitation

At noon the next day, the owners of the top restaurants abandoned their nearly empty establishments and gathered in the grand hall of Dong Weilang’s residence, the owner of Chen Guang Restaurant.
Fourteen of them—none missing. Their faces showed signs of exhaustion. Even Dong Weilang, the host, had no mood for pleasantries upon their arrival.
These fourteen owners of top restaurants were also among the wealthiest men in the capital, each with dark circles under their eyes. The poorest among them still had five wives and concubines, but the dark circles weren’t due to that.
“Gentlemen, I spent the whole night thinking yesterday, yet I still have a terrible headache. I wonder how about you?” Finally, Dong Weilang broke the silence.
“What else can we do? Is there any other choice but to fight on?” Ling Weifeng replied coldly. His eyes also had dark circles, but unlike the others, he had spent the night figuring out how to unite the fourteen top restaurants to stall Lin’s Inn.
“Feng Lin Restaurant is wealthy and has branches all over the Great Han Kingdom, so it certainly can afford such losses,” Yang Cheng’an, the owner of Yan Xun Restaurant, replied indifferently.
“Our money at Feng Lin Restaurant didn’t come easily either. But if we don’t fight hard, does Boss Yang think there’s another way?” Ling Weifeng countered.
Yang Cheng’an was speechless, and the others remained silent. After spending the night considering various possibilities, they had concluded that their only options were to fight hard for another chance or retreat and yield to the officials, nobles, and wealthy elites.
Like Dong Weilang, the owners of the top restaurants were also undecided after a night of reflection. The stakes were simply too high. If they fought hard, they might lose decades of accumulated wealth and go from being the wealthiest in the capital to ordinary rich men.
But if they didn’t fight, their monthly profits of hundreds of thousands would drop to tens of thousands, which they were equally unwilling to accept.
“Gentlemen, I want to withdraw…” Suddenly, Jiang Fang, the owner of Yang Fan Restaurant, spoke up.
His words immediately caused turmoil in the hall.
If Ling Weifeng was the first to decide to fight on, then Jiang Fang was the first to decide to retreat.
Ling Weifeng’s words shifted everyone’s mindset slightly toward fighting hard. But Jiang Fang’s words pulled it back to indecision, even tilting them slightly toward retreat.
“Boss Jiang, I heard you made a good profit from the cotton fields you bought in the south of the city last year?” Ling Weifeng suddenly said.

“Over a year, it’s only thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver—please forgive me, Boss Ling,” Jiang Fang said with a shake of his head.
“If Boss Jiang wants to withdraw, is it because he plans to take over the surrounding lands and become a local tycoon in the capital?” Ling Weifeng asked with a smile.
“Wherever there’s a chance, there’s a way. I’m just a restaurant owner; how could I understand such things? I just run a restaurant wherever I go.” Jiang Fang naturally wouldn’t admit it. After thinking about it all night, he had indeed considered switching to becoming a local tycoon.
As Ling Weifeng said, the cotton fields he bought casually last year had indeed earned him tens of thousands of taels of silver. Though this amount was a drop in the bucket for him, what mattered was that all the land around those fields was suitable for growing cotton. He had originally planned to buy more cotton fields this year, but now that his main business had been severely hit, he didn’t just want to buy some more—he wanted to acquire large areas of land. With his connections in the capital, as long as he was willing to spend money, the local tycoons and farmers wouldn’t dare refuse to sell their land to him.
If he bought all the cotton fields, although the annual profit wouldn’t compare to that of his restaurant, it would still be about 30-40% of it. If he invested the remaining silver in other industries, the profit might even rival that of Yangfan Restaurant. Compared to competing head-on with Linji Inn, having cotton fields as a backup reduced the risks significantly.
“As far as I know, the high price of cotton last year was entirely due to the floods in Yaoyin Commandery. This year, Yaoyin Commandery has favorable weather…” Ling Weifeng smiled as he looked at Jiang Fang and said lightly, “To be honest, I really think Boss Jiang is better suited to running a restaurant. With his abilities, it’s not hard to become a local tycoon, but becoming a major one is a bit difficult.”
Jiang Fang was shocked and asked anxiously, “Boss Ling, did Yaoyin Commandery suffer floods last year?”
“Haven’t you done any research, Boss Jiang?” Ling Weifeng retorted.
Jiang Fang smiled bitterly. Yaoyin Commandery was located in the west of the Great Han Kingdom, thousands of miles away from the capital, so news there couldn’t spread widely. Plus, he hadn’t placed much hope in cotton farming last year—it was just a minor side business, so he naturally hadn’t invested much effort in it.
“Yaoyin Commandery is a major cotton-producing region. With the establishment of the merchant guild, goods can be traded more easily. Next year, Boss Jiang had better be prepared for losses,” Ling Weifeng said with a smile.

“If we don’t back down, we’ll sink deeper into trouble, which is also a big problem.” Jiang Fang understood Ling Weifeng’s intentions behind saying so much and said helplessly, “Lin Ji Inn is like a bottomless pit. No matter how much silver we invest, it seems as if fate protects it, always finding a way to turn things around. No matter how much we plan, we can’t outwit fate, can we?”
“Lin Ji Inn is indeed very lucky, but I don’t believe its luck will last forever. To be honest with you all, as far as I know…” Ling Weifeng glanced at everyone’s faces and slowly said, “Emperor Qianwei doesn’t have much time left; his death is imminent.”
“Is that true?” Everyone was shocked.
“Of course!” Ling Weifeng nodded.
Everyone became agitated. If it were true, it meant that Lin Ji Inn’s biggest backer, Emperor Qianwei, would vanish, and its second biggest backer, King Qingliu, would also see his influence greatly diminished.
When a new emperor ascended the throne, no matter which prince it was, as long as his foundation wasn’t solid, he would never allow someone like King Qingliu to remain. Once he took power, his first move would be to weaken King Qingliu’s influence as much as possible. It was inevitable that King Qingliu would fade from politics and see his influence drop significantly.
In other words, by then, Lin Ji Inn would have no backers left. As long as people were willing to spend silver, they could easily crush Lin Ji Inn.
Of course, this was on the assumption that Ling Weifeng was telling the truth, and that the emperor’s death wasn’t too far off. If it took three to five years, it could drive them to bankruptcy.
“Everyone, don’t hesitate. If we don’t fight back, all our previous efforts will be in vain. If we fight, there’s still a chance to turn things around,” Ling Weifeng said loudly. “You all have come through many hardships. To build or maintain this business, who among you hasn’t had to fight desperately at some point?”

“I have indeed encountered such situations before. Like me, who took over the Chiba Restaurant from my father just thirty years ago,” said Liu Dahua, the owner of the Chiba Restaurant. “The nearby Ruijin Restaurant saw me as young and easy to bully, so they tried their best to suppress us. Back then, our Chiba Restaurant couldn’t even be counted among the top restaurants in the capital, and its scale was far smaller than that of Ruijin Restaurant. I remember we were forced to choose between giving up our regular customers to focus on ordinary patrons, or fighting to the death. I took all the savings of the Chiba Restaurant and went to invite the renowned chef Wang Chuan, who was idle at home, offering him an exorbitant salary of ten thousand taels of silver per month. I recall that even in our best times, the Chiba Restaurant only made a profit of a little over five thousand taels of silver per month—so it was indeed a desperate move.”

After a pause, Liu Dahua continued, “But times have changed. I now have over twenty million taels of silver at my disposal. There’s no need to rely on just one source of income. With such a large sum, why not venture into other industries? If I give up the relationships I’ve built over decades and go to some other region, with these twenty million taels, apart from banks, gambling houses, and pawnshops, what industry can’t I dominate?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Liu Dahua’s words reflected their own thoughts. Even those who inherited their businesses from their fathers had gone through many hardships to become owners of top restaurants; otherwise, they would have been swallowed up by competitors long ago. They had the courage to take risks when necessary. But in the current situation, they felt the risks were far greater than the potential rewards.

Ling Weifeng remained silent. He knew that without showing real strength, he couldn’t convince these people to change their minds.

After pondering for a while, as the support from the others gradually faded, Ling Weifeng spoke up, “If our Fenglin Restaurant is willing to bear half of the costs, I wonder if you might give up your hesitant attitude?”

“Bear half of the costs?” The others were puzzled.

“Yes! If we end up losing in the fierce competition with Linji Inn, our Fenglin Restaurant is willing to take half of all the losses. The other half can be shared equally among everyone,” Ling Weifeng nodded.

“This…”

Their hearts raced. Ling Weifeng’s words held great appeal for them. It meant their risks could be reduced by half.

“Boss Ling, why are you willing to take such a huge risk just to convince us to continue fighting against Linji Inn?” Liu Dahua suddenly asked.

“It’s simple—the Lin’s Inn is located elsewhere, but it poses a threat to our Maple Forest Restaurant as well!” Ling Weifeng said coldly. “For Maple Forest Restaurant and Lin’s Inn, the only outcome is a life-or-death struggle.”

Everyone suddenly understood. Putting themselves in their shoes, they realized that if they were in the same situation, they would have no choice but to fight to the death against Lin’s Inn. Otherwise, once Lin’s Inn established an absolute advantage in the capital, it could quickly divert its efforts to suppress competitors elsewhere. With the support of its headquarters in the capital, Lin’s Inn could easily drive Maple Forest Restaurant to extinction. The same applied in reverse—if Lin’s Inn was defeated in the capital, Maple Forest Restaurant could gradually take over its other branches.

This indirectly meant that by defeating Lin’s Inn, Maple Forest Restaurant’s benefits wouldn’t be limited to the capital; all its branches across the Great Han Kingdom would benefit as well. In comparison, such costs didn’t seem too high.

However, no one expected that Ling Weifeng’s first concern was how to buy time. No one knew that Maple Forest Restaurant and the Third Prince had already reached an agreement: once the Third Prince ascended the throne, he wouldn’t touch Maple Forest Restaurant’s financial resources. Instead, he would help it reach new heights and ensure its prosperity for a hundred years.

The reason, of course, was that Maple Forest Restaurant was not just a source of funds for the Third Prince.