Chapter 420: Preparing to Counterattack

After checking the situation outside, Lin Dong pushed open the door of the storage room, stepped out, and leaped onto the roof. He then swiftly moved from one roof to another, arriving at the back courtyard of the mansion in just a moment.
Although it was early in the morning, several maids were already cleaning in the back courtyard. Lin Dong picked up two small stones, swung his right arm, and sent one of them flying toward Liu Xiu’s window. With a soft thud, the stone penetrated the paper window, creating a hole about the size of a finger.
A moment later, Liu Xiu stepped out and looked around. Lin Dong swung his arm again, and the remaining stone flew out slowly, carried by the cold wind. Thanks to the Reverse Meridian Pill Lin Dong had given him earlier, Liu Xiu now possessed the strength of the second level of the Mental State phase. Hearing the sound of the wind, he easily caught the stone.
Looking down at the stone in his hand, Liu Xiu realized that someone was looking for him.
“Sir, good morning!”
The maids, upon seeing Liu Xiu, quickly put down their tasks and greeted him.
“I need to practice my spiritual skills. You may leave,” Liu Xiu said with a wave of his hand.
The maids hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving.
After ensuring no one was around, Lin Dong projected his mind outward and jumped down from the wall.
“Brother Lin?”
Seeing Lin Dong, Liu Xiu was slightly surprised.
“Thanks for helping with those thirty portraits of ladies last time,” Lin Dong said with a smile before stepping forward.
“You’re too kind, Brother Lin. I didn’t even intend to thank you for lending me the eagle beast bird,” Liu Xiu replied with a smile, leading Lin Dong into the room. After closing the door, he busied himself preparing tea before sitting down across from Lin Dong.
Lin Dong took a sip of tea and got straight to the point. “I’m here to ask if you can do me a favor.”
Liu Xiu smiled bitterly. “Can’t Brother Lin just come to catch up or visit?”
Lin Dong smiled but ignored him and asked, “When do you plan to start your big project?”
“In two months,” Liu Xiu replied without hesitation.
“Can it be moved up by two months?” Lin Dong asked.
“Two months earlier? Start these days?” Liu Xiu was surprised.
“Yes!” Lin Dong nodded.
“Alright, it’s already prepared anyway. I originally planned to start after spring, so it would coincide with my father’s birthday, bringing more benefits,” Liu Xiu said with a smile. “Starting two months earlier just means losing a bit of advantage.”
“Can Yang Yankang be included too?” Lin Dong pressed further.
“Yang Yankang? The governor of Lingnan City?” Liu Xiu was astonished. “Do you know him well, or do you have any grudges against him?”

“Celebrating a festival!” Lin Dong explained. “Last evening, he gathered all the extremely wealthy people in Lingnan City with assets of over a million to discuss the issue of wetworm disease. As a result, I became the biggest loser.”
Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment before sneering, “Fine. After starting to clash with the various sects, I’ll send him a letter asking how to handle this situation. On one side is a prince with no real status, and on the other are sects that are independent of the imperial court. I’m sure he’ll definitely side with the sects. After that, we can just have a few of the sects that compromise frame him. Colluding with sects is a crime serious enough to send him to the execution ground. Even if the External Idle Faction pleads for him, he’ll almost certainly lose his position.”
“Could Tianwei Pavilion discover it?”
This idea was exactly the same as what Lin Dong had thought in the carriage. The only thing that worried him was the Scout Tower.
Tianwei Pavilion’s Scout Tower was unmatched in investigating enemy movements or carrying out assassinations during wartime, as well as in solving cases in peacetime. They were virtually invisible and could solve any case. If they really investigated Lin’s Inn and uncovered all its strange advantages, things would get interesting.
“They won’t dig too deep!” Liu Xiu laughed. “At most, they’ll find out that I framed Yang Yankang and then stop there! After all, Tianwei Pavilion isn’t that easy to control. If they keep investigating, it’s pointless. At most, they’ll think I’m eyeing the position of governor or that I have some grudge against Yang Yankang.”
“How do you mean that?” Lin Dong was confused. “By your logic, doesn’t that mean the emperor knows about your plan?”
“Actually, according to the laws of the Great Han Dynasty, to ensure that an incompetent emperor doesn’t lead the country to destruction, Tianwei Pavilion must remain independent. That is, unless there’s a rebellion or coup serious enough to overthrow the Great Han Dynasty, Tianwei Pavilion has no right to interfere in secular affairs, nor does the emperor have the right to interfere with Tianwei Pavilion’s recruitment or assignments.”
Liu Xiu explained, “Although this law has somewhat changed over time, Tianwei Pavilion is still limited to investigating cases for the emperor. No matter what evidence they find, they’re not allowed to make it public. In other words, my father can know about my plans, but none of the officials, scholars, or common people can. Even if my father wants to deal with me, before the great achievement of forcing all the sects to compromise cools down, he has to keep promoting me. Otherwise, if he forces me to rebel, the influence of this achievement could cause huge turmoil in the Great Han Dynasty, and he would likely be criticized in future generations.”

“Moreover, when it comes to choosing an heir for the Great Han Empire, ability is what matters most. If I can make all the sects in a province compromise, whatever the reason, that’s enough to prove my ability. Everything else is unimportant. Using any means to climb up is quite common in the imperial palace,” Liu Xiu said with self-mockery. “To be honest, my father might even start to feel pity for me. He climbed to power in the same way back then.”
Lin Dong was speechless. The most dangerous and treacherous place was indeed the imperial court. Compared to that, the scheming in business paled in comparison.
After filling Lin Dong’s cup with more tea, Liu Xiu asked, “Brother Lin, is Old Master Ding doing well?”
“He’s the same as always—sleeping and drinking. There aren’t many people in the entire Great Han Empire who are more comfortable than him,” Lin Dong smiled. Remembering Liu Xiu’s hesitation earlier, he asked, “This won’t affect your plans, right?”
“Just a minor impact,” Liu Xiu shook his head. “I originally planned to return to the capital right away thanks to this achievement. If I could also take down Yang Yankang along the way, it would free up a position as a prefect. But it’s not a big problem; I have a way to bypass that position.”
Lin Dong frowned and suddenly said, “Anyway, since your achievement is significant enough, after taking down Yang Yankang, you can find some excuse saying it was a misunderstanding and bring him back. He should be willing to serve you, right?”
Liu Xiu’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but praise, “That’s a good idea. As far as I know, Yang Yankang is one of the key figures in the Outer Idle Party, and it seems he’s eyeing the position of Minister of Personnel. If I can win him over and use him to gain the support of the Outer Idle Party, it would be a huge help to me. But since he dared to provoke Brother Lin, he deserves no mercy.”
Lin Dong didn’t want to owe Liu Xiu too much favor, so he immediately shook his head. “There’s no need to deal with him later.”
Liu Xiu laughed. “I always thought Brother Lin didn’t like to keep grudges. I remember when Lin’s Inn was suppressed, what Brother Lin usually did was find someone to beat them up while they were away, then find a way to get some money back. If we wait until we no longer need Yang Yankang, it could take several years—after all, we still have to be careful not to offend others.”
“I’ve run the inn for a long time. Now that I encounter some problems, I can’t help but think about how to solve them in a civilized way,” Lin Dong said with a wry smile.
Liu Xiu chuckled.
“Alright, go ahead and get busy!” Lin Dong stood up and took out several wooden boxes from the mobile counter and placed them on the table.
“They contain spiritual pills and materials to aid in cultivation. There are instructions inside each box. Consider it payment for your help this time!”

Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
When Lin Dong left the room and returned to Lin Ji Inn in Lingnan City, a light much brighter than the sky finally appeared on the horizon.
Not long after returning to his room to practice, there was a knock at the door. Ma Chun brought news that Jiang Jianxing had returned.
After leading Jiang Jianxing to the back yard and asking a few questions, Lin Dong understood why the upgrade task had not been completed. It turned out that the group of bandits was small and highly mobile. Upon hearing that soldiers were pursuing them, they immediately threw the Black Fiery Grass down from the cliff and hid in a concealed place, planning to retrieve it piece by piece once the chaos subsided.
After more than a month of searching, the pursuing soldiers luckily caught one bandit who had come out to breathe fresh air due to suffocation. Though they couldn’t extract much information, they used a few tactics and successfully captured the other bandits. Later, they traced back to find the Black Fiery Grass, gathered it from the entire cliff base, and slowly brought it back up the cliff. As a result, it took over two months to find the grass and another month to bring it back.
After exchanging a few polite words, Lin Dong expressed his intention to buy 50,000 plants of Black Fiery Grass, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.
Jiang Jianxing was willing to give 50,000 plants to Lin Dong but refused to accept any payment, let alone cover the 10% penalty fee for Lin Ji Inn.
For Jiang Jianxing, the 10% penalty plus the loss of 50,000 plants meant a loss of around 100,000 taels of silver—nearly 20% of his profit.
100,000 taels of silver was an enormous sum in Jiang Jianxing’s eyes, but he was willing to suffer this loss.
Even after losing 100,000 taels of silver, if he returned, raised more Black Fiery Grass, and fulfilled the contract completely, he would still make a profit of over 100,000 taels—far more than the few thousand taels he earned in a whole year before. More importantly, he would have access to the large pharmacy in Lingnan City, ensuring a steady stream of business in the future.
If it weren’t for Lin Dong’s help in establishing a connection between the county government and the Military Assessment Institute, Jiang Jianxing believed he would have no choice but to go home, secretly arrange a way out for his family, and hang himself at the gate to prevent his creditors from targeting them.
Not to mention making money, he wouldn’t even be able to save his life.
Jiang Jianxing wasn’t the kind of ungrateful person, so naturally, he refused to accept any money.

Unfortunately, Lin Dong wasn’t the kind of person who liked to take advantage of others. For him, upgrading the inn was already the greatest reward. Asking for another payment that seemed valuable in others’ eyes didn’t make sense. In the end, Lin Dong left this matter to Ma Chun while he returned to his room to practice. He only learned the outcome at noon. The Black Fiery Grass was accepted, and Lin’s Inn lent 1.2 million silver taels to Jiang Jianxing. Then, a guard was sent to take Jiang Jianxing to Tianfeng City on an eagle-beast bird. This way, Jiang Jianxing could deliver the remaining Black Fiery Grass at once, and it would also allow Hua Wuyue, who had already arrived in Tianfeng City, to obtain enough of it at a price of about two silver taels per plant. With that, all the necessary preparations were done. All that remained was to wait for the people from the three western provinces to arrive before delivering the Black Fiery Grass near Fenglin Restaurant.