Chapter 440: Stuck at the Chamber of Commerce

The price was fair, and the land deed specified the area. Why would Lin Dong waste time measuring the land? With five silver notes worth ten thousand taels paid, Manager Huang was quick to agree—asking only how to handle the transfer at the inn. After getting the answer, he immediately arranged a carriage to go to the government office in charge of the outer city and areas under the capital’s jurisdiction to process the transfer documents and update the land deed.

By the time he returned, Qiao Tianhao had already replaced the sign he was instructed to make. Lin Dong hurried to the counter and sat down, and the system prompt sounded immediately.

Lin Dong would take the lead to the capital for trivial matters like reconstruction and building connections, so there was no need for him to handle them personally. After adding the inn to the Inn System, Lin Dong rushed to the back yard, found an unoccupied room, set it up as a transport portal, and immediately went to Lingnan City to bring Ma Chun over. Then, after sending Qiao Tianhao, Cheng Bao, and others to try out the specialties and dishes of various restaurants, Lin Dong reserved a few rooms for Yun Lan and Feng Yue, each in their own room, to cultivate in peace.

Originally, Lin Dong thought the most troublesome part of these trivial matters would be buying land. Although he had enough silver and wasn’t worried about a lack of sellers, money didn’t fall from the sky, and even being a fool had limits.

Apart from the amusement park land, which was larger but easier to buy, neither the inn nor Lin’s Gym could be moved just by relocating one or two households. Roughly estimated, there were at least forty to fifty such households in total. Among these merchants and residents, there were surely those who wanted to take advantage of the situation or those whose shops and courtyards had been passed down for generations and refused to be moved.

Lin Dong estimated it would take a month to handle each one individually.

However, things didn’t go as planned. Buying the land was completed in just over half a month, and the reconstruction was progressing smoothly. The government office had also been properly handled, but the inn and Lin’s Gym got stuck at the Chamber of Commerce.

Ma Chun visited the president and vice president of the chamber for five or six days in a row, bringing more and more medicinal materials, antiques, and silver notes. Even one set of wheel rims was worn out, yet none of them agreed to let Lin’s Inn and Lin’s Gym join the chamber.

The reason was surprisingly simple: Lin’s Gym was in a special industry that had never existed in the capital before, so it needed discussion. It might take a year or two, or even ten or twenty years—no one knew for sure. As for Lin’s Inn, the prices of its dishes were considered too high, and the costs of many spiritual beasts and materials couldn’t be verified. Further investigation was needed, which might take a year or two, or even ten or twenty years.

Ma Chun’s astonishing oratory skills had no effect at all in front of the president and vice presidents of the Capital Merchant Association. So angry was Ma Chun that he felt like striking someone down before he finally had to go find Lin Dong.
Compared to Ma Chun, Lin Dong’s oratory skills were far inferior, so it was surely useless for him to go as well. Even if he brought ten times more silver coins, the president and vice presidents of the association were all extremely wealthy, and they probably wouldn’t even glance at them.
Of course, Lin Dong didn’t intend to go and suffer a setback himself. It was obvious that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. The two reasons given for not allowing him to join the association sounded plausible, but there was no mention of how to improve the situation. More importantly, Lin’s Gymnasium couldn’t be verified, but none of the larger restaurants didn’t manipulate food and drink prices. If not for the cost of decoration, bribes, and losses from spiritual beasts and materials… according to the profits set by the association, these restaurants would never make a profit.
The costs of spiritual beasts and materials in all large restaurants couldn’t be verified—so why couldn’t Lin’s Inn join the association?
Lin Dong would never believe that no one was pulling strings behind the scenes.
He had just arrived in the capital, hadn’t opened yet, and Lin’s Inn’s reputation was limited to Lingnan Commandery. At most, it was somewhat known in nearby commanderies thanks to the Spirit Stone Fans and VIP cards. Coming to this capital, it was completely unknown and couldn’t possibly bother anyone. The likely culprit was Fenglin Restaurant, which indeed had the power to influence the association.
Lin Dong didn’t have time to investigate who was pulling the strings. His top priority was to find a way to join the association.
Otherwise, he would face too many restrictions. The two most important ones were that at the association’s command, even things like rice, firewood, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, or even hiring carpenters to fix a door, could cost an exorbitant price. After all, every industry was under the control of the association. Another issue was the privileges associated with various merchant titles. Although Lin Dong was now a registered strongman in the Great Han Kingdom, his privileges were better than those of capital merchants who donated a million taels of silver per year, but these privileges focused on military strength and were far less useful for business than those of a county merchant.

The first problem is the delivery gates. Although very troublesome and likely to raise doubts about where Lin Ji Inn gets its various ingredients and supplies, it’s not entirely unsolvable in a pinch. The second problem, however, is what truly gives Lin Dong a headache. Without the privileges associated with a merchant title, Lin Ji Inn can be held to account in countless ways—such as selling high-grade spiritual materials or beasts, having floor heights that exceed regulations, or having too many employees… There are countless such issues, all of which seem legitimate. With Lin Ji Inn’s connections, these problems aren’t insurmountable either. If Liu Xiu, who is about to enter the capital, is brought into play, even if his backer is a prince eligible to compete for the throne, Liu Xiu’s achievements would still force that prince to step back temporarily.

But stepping back doesn’t mean they lack the ability to deal with Lin Ji Inn. If their backer is a high-ranking official in the court, it’s easier to handle; there’s no need to offend a suddenly appearing prince with a claim to the throne. If their backer truly is such a prince, they would undoubtedly be mortal enemies of Liu Xiu. One approach would be to send people to seal Lin Ji Inn first, then have Liu Xiu intervene to lift the seal, and repeat this process over time—always with a legitimate reason. Coupled with careful efforts to avoid giving Liu Xiu any leverage, Lin Ji Inn would hardly be able to conduct business.

Undoubtedly, this merchant guild must be brought into play.

After learning that the guild leader, Liu Yuedun, was the younger brother of the Minister of Punishments, Lin Dong thought it over carefully before deciding to take a risky gamble.

If Lin Ji Inn and Lin Ji Gymnasium wanted to make a move, the government would step in to deny the claims and hunt down those spreading rumors.

The only solution was to put pressure on Liu Yuedun—and that pressure had to be as strong as that exerted on him before.

Originally, Liu Xiu seemed the perfect candidate. Unfortunately, the news of him using the power of his family to force a clan to compromise had just reached the capital, and Liu Xiu himself was still in Qiufeng Mansion, so his help was too distant to be of immediate use.

Fortunately, Lin Dong had another candidate. Though this person might turn against them or even deal a greater blow to Lin Ji Inn, Lin Dong couldn’t afford to worry about that for now. The top priority was for Lin Ji Inn to get back up and running as soon as possible. Everything else could be put on hold for the time being.

Taking Qiao Tianhao with him, they left the still-under-reconstruction inn and headed straight for Wanxian Tower, where they stopped.

“Owner, I forgot my silver bills…” Qiao Tianhao rubbed his hands excitedly, but his disappointed expression when looking at Lin Dong made the scene particularly comical.

Lin Dong casually handed him a silver bill worth ten thousand taels.

Qiao Tianhao chuckled, puffed out his chest, and strode in a staggered gait toward the entrance of Wanxian Tower. He had a few silver notes in his storage ring, all taken from Ma Chun over time, totaling fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver. But he wasn’t the same person he was when he first arrived in the city—he would never do something foolish like offering to pay for others out of impulse. Using the boss’s money to show off his own power—that was what truly brought satisfaction.

“Please come in, gentlemen. Are you looking for Yanhong or Cuihong…” At the entrance, a girl dressed as a servant, yet unable to hide her pure face and graceful figure, stepped forward. She stopped mid-sentence, caught off guard.

“Go away…” Qiao Tianhao waved his hand impatiently.

The girl who greeted them immediately stepped back a few feet. She recognized him—though it had been several years since they last met, her memory of him remained unchanged.

Seeing this, Lin Dong regretted bringing Qiao Tianhao along and hesitated to walk with him. Qiao Tianhao always treated those who were polite to him with rudeness. It was possible he might cause trouble here. Lin Dong didn’t want any trouble in such a place, so he naturally slowed down, only resuming his normal pace after putting about three to four meters between himself and Qiao Tianhao.

Since the girl at the entrance knew the two were together, she didn’t greet Lin Dong, who didn’t mind either. He entered Wanxian Tower alone.

As soon as he stepped inside, a refreshing fragrance filled his nostrils. Lin Dong couldn’t help but show surprise.

From the outside, Wanxian Tower seemed merely extremely tall with a grand entrance, though its width wasn’t particularly impressive—only about thirteen or fourteen meters, possibly not even wider than a rice shop across from Lin Ji Inn. But once inside, it was astonishing.

The entire first floor was about eleven or twelve meters high and stretched two or three hundred meters long, appearing even more spacious than Lin Ji Gymnasium at first glance. The interior decoration was far beyond anything in Lin Ji Gymnasium—pink, unidentified wooden planks covered the floor, emitting a charming scent. Stepping on them felt soft and elastic, making one’s steps light and lively.

On the walls all around were connected colorful murals. On these murals, beautiful women depicted in lifelike detail appeared in various poses—some seductive, some enchanting, some pure… With their captivating eyes, playing music, and singing, they inspired endless imagination.

Even more uniquely, in the middle of the first floor, there was a circular corridor running around it.

In the corridor, there were countless beautiful women, each dressed and looking just like those in murals. Their beauty even surpassed that of the women in the murals, and looking up at the view beneath their skirts sparked endless imagination.
Lin Dong truly saw a lot—Yingfeng Tower in Autumn Wind City paled in comparison to this Wanxian Tower.