Chapter 442: All Eyes on the Moon

The knocking at the door by the hostess took some time before being noticed.
To Fu Zizhou’s left, a young man in his thirties with a plump face waved his hand. Behind him, a servant rushed forward to open the door.
The hostess stepped closer to Fu Zizhou in small steps and whispered in his ear, “Young Master Fu, someone is looking for you.”
“Who is it?” Fu Zizhou asked casually.
Inside the private room, the flattery ceased as soon as they saw Fu Zizhou was occupied.
Although Fu Zizhou didn’t want to hide anything, the hostess, adhering to the rules of Wanxian Tower, still whispered, “They say it’s your friend from Southwest County.”
“Southwest County?” A flash of shock crossed Fu Zizhou’s eyes, and the shame buried deep in his heart gushed forth like a rushing stream.
“Young Master Fu, they don’t know you’re here. They just rented a room on the second floor. Should you meet them or not?” the hostess asked.
A surge of hatred boiled within Fu Zizhou. They had come after all. Holding the son of the current grand tutor’s weakness, he had always thought no one would miss such a chance to seek wealth through risk. Three years later, they had indeed shown up.
Taking a deep breath, Fu Zizhou tried to calm himself. His expression remained unchanged—after all, as the son of a grand tutor and having been in official service for over a year and a half, he had long mastered the art of keeping a composed face.
After pondering for a moment, Fu Zizhou gave a slight gesture, having made up his mind.
Behind him, the servant Ma Ye stepped forward quickly and bent down, asking, “What orders do you have, young master?”
“Take Zhang Kun with you. If you can settle it with money, do so; if not, just drive them away. Remember, don’t make too much noise. Find someone to follow them later and figure out where they stay. You and Zhang Kun must return immediately—don’t let anyone suspect anything,” Fu Zizhou instructed Ma Ye in a low voice, his eyes flashing with intensity.
Though he wanted Zhang Kun to kill those people right away, he had to be cautious. Only by ensuring that weakness was completely erased could he avoid any trouble for himself or his father, who held great power in the court.
“Brother Zhang, let’s go,” Ma Ye said. He dared to ignore or even look down on the other young masters present, but he didn’t dare act arrogantly toward Zhang Kun, who also stood behind Fu Zizhou. The reason was that Zhang Kun enjoyed Fu Zizhou’s favor even more—Fu Zizhou often kept him by his side, and occasionally, Ma Ye even saw the respect Fu Zizhou showed toward Zhang Kun.
Zhang Kun, with his face always dark and expressionless, strode out of the room.
“Brother Zhang, wait! We don’t even know where they are yet!” Ma Ye hurried after him.

After the hostess closed the private room, the plump-faced young man laughed and said, “Brother Fu, you have a friend visiting—why didn’t you bring them along?”
“It’s just someone I met during a trip a few years ago. I casually mentioned that they could come to the capital if they needed anything, and I didn’t expect them to actually show up,” Fu Zizhou replied nonchalantly.
“I see.” The plump-faced young man looked enlightened, then turned to Lan Yin, the top-rated girl from Wanxianlou with an innocent appearance that made it hard to approach her, and asked, “Has the hour of Shen arrived?”
“It should be,” Lan Yin said, pouting and looking annoyed.
“Don’t be upset. I’ll come find you tonight if necessary.” The plump-faced young man hugged Lan Yin and planted a kiss on her fair, unadorned face, leaving behind some muddy saliva.
“Young Master Ling, that’s what you said,” Lan Yin said happily.
“When have I, Ling Chenyue, ever lied to a pretty girl?” The plump-faced young man patted Lan Yin’s cheek, glanced briefly at the faces of the other top-rated girls at the table, and laughed heartily. “If you can get the people around you to come as well, we’ll play a game of competing for silver coins—just the of you this time.”
The top-rated girls were overjoyed. Their value for one night was already exorbitant at a thousand taels of silver, but this Young Master Ling almost never set the prize below a million taels in his game of competing for silver coins. Over the past thirty-odd years at Wanxianlou, there had been 65 instances where a million taels were wagered, and 46 of those came from his game.
More importantly, in the past, this game only involved the girls chosen by Young Master Ling and those without clients that night, but this time, all the dozen or so top-rated girls were participating. This meant that, with average luck, each of them could earn over a hundred thousand taels of silver.
Without hesitation, the top-rated girls became enthusiastic, using every trick at their disposal—be it charm, delicacy, or innocence—to attract their own clients.
Meanwhile, the young masters, distracted by Ling Chenyue’s interruptions, also came back to their senses. Those who sat at Fu Zizhou’s table were all from wealthy and powerful families. Aside from a few who were impatient, the rest poured out endless flattery toward Fu Zizhou, showing little interest in the stunning top-rated girls around them.

The only son of the immensely powerful Grand Preceptor Fu, the most talented scholar in the capital, the top scorer in the latest imperial examinations, and promoted to the fourth rank at just 26—although it was a minor position, it allowed him to enter the Council Hall to participate in state decision-making… With so many honors, Fu Zizhou certainly deserved everyone’s admiration, and the arrogance on his face didn’t bother anyone at all.

At that moment, Lin Dong was downstairs, eagerly observing the layout of the private room. Compared to the rooms on the third floor, this one was naturally of lower quality, but in Lin Dong’s eyes, it was still luxurious. What made him squint around even more was that the decoration of this room was outstanding, clearly the work of a master craftsman. The entire room was filled with charming colors; pink gauze separated the walls, and behind it, the doors to four attached rooms were faintly visible, sparking an irresistible urge to explore further. The rosewood tables and chairs, potted plants emitting a fresh scent, and various jade carvings—all matched the atmosphere of the room perfectly.

In comparison, the private rooms at Lin Ji Inn in Lingnan City were much shabbier, despite also being quite expensive. Lin Dong had already made up his mind to visit the palace as soon as possible to find Yang Shun, before the decoration of the new inn’s rooms started.

Next to him, Lou Wanshan gave up. She had been trying hard to figure out Lin Dong’s identity, but his occasional answers always revolved around Lin Ji Inn. She knew about Lin Ji Inn, which had been rebuilt on the basis of Longzhong Inn, and that it had the means to buy up surrounding land at high prices. But no matter what, she couldn’t connect the owner of an inn with Lin Dong. Despite her eloquence, all the information she could gather was that he was just an innkeeper. Undoubtedly, this man’s mind was too deep; continuing to probe would likely be futile. With no other choice, Lou Wanshan decided to give up. It wasn’t appropriate to leave before the food, drinks, and girls arrived, so she turned to talk about other topics.

Suddenly, a knock at the door drew both Lin Dong and Lou Wanshan’s attention, and Qiao Tianhao, who had been staring at Lou Wanshan’s face and chest, finally snapped out of his daze. “Come in!” Qiao Tianhao called out loudly.

The door opened quietly, and the hostess brought Ma Ye and Zhang Kun in. “Owner, are these the two people you’re looking for?” Qiao Tianhao glanced at Ma Ye and Zhang Kun with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

“Who’s looking for my young master?” Almost at the same time, Ma Ye glanced at Lin Dong and Qiao Tianhao, his disdain in his eyes even stronger than that toward Qiao Tianhao. He didn’t possess Lou Wanshan’s keen eye; both of these men wore ordinary satin clothes—not bad, but barely enough to qualify them as rich. Ma Ye didn’t even deem Ling Chenyue, who spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on brothels and casinos from time to time in recent years, worthy of attention, so naturally he didn’t take Lin Dong and Qiao Tianhao seriously either.

Next to him, Zhang Kun frowned slightly. As soon as he entered, he had used his spiritual senses to investigate—there was no trace of spiritual energy in these two. There were only two possibilities: either they hadn’t learned martial arts, or their cultivation levels were two stages higher than his own. Zhang Kun tended to believe the former, but if neither of them had learned martial arts, why would Fu Zizhou ask him to make this trip? Ma Ye, though just a lackey, had learned some skills—not truly a martial artist, but more than enough to handle three or five ordinary people with ease.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “Young Master Fu doesn’t want to see me?”

“Do you even deserve it?” Ma Ye glared at Qiao Tianhao, whose tone wasn’t very polite, then glanced at Lin Dong. He took out a silver note from his sleeve, stepped forward, and tossed it onto the table. “This is for you. Get lost! Don’t bother my young master again.”

Lin Dong remained silent, while Lou Wanshan and Qiao Tianhao showed different reactions. Lou Wanshan frowned slightly, annoyed by this lackey’s attitude. Tossing a silver note and telling someone to leave wasn’t uncommon, but it depended on who the person was. Hadn’t she even seen that even she, the owner of Wanshan Tower, had to sit here?

She wasn’t afraid of trouble, but she didn’t want Wanshan Tower to get into trouble because of a lackey.

Qiao Tianhao, on the other hand, was amused. What kind of person was this? More arrogant than Lord Qiao, yet with no real strength. From his tone, he seemed like just a lowly servant looking for trouble!

“Why are you smiling?” Ma Ye glared at Qiao Tianhao.

“I’m smiling because you’re looking for trouble without realizing who you’re talking to. Not only in front of my boss, but even in front of Lord Qiao, do you think you have the right to be so arrogant?”

Qiao Tianhao stood up, twisting his neck a few times, his face showing a lewd and evil smile. He didn’t know why Lin Dong had come to Wanshan Tower looking for someone, but he knew that although Lin Dong had no interest in arguing with a lackey and didn’t want to cause trouble in Wanshan Tower, which could be considered a rival, he wouldn’t give up until he saw the real person. Judging by this lackey’s attitude, it was clear that some lesson would be necessary before the real person would show up. Thus, Qiao Tianhao had reason to believe he’d have some fun today.

“Blind your dog’s eyes, Brother Zhang! Stop supporting him!” Ma Ye flew into a rage. Relying on his favor with Fu Zizhou, he not only ignored Fu Zizhou’s orders but even dared to shout for violence in front of Lou Wanshan.
Lin Dong shook his head in secret. This Ma Ye reminded him of Yang Shun. Both were deliberately indulged by their masters. The masters of these two must have similar thoughts—use them when needed, and when they’re no longer useful, there’s always an easy reason to kill them.