Chapter 463: QingSong Villa

Thirty li west of the city, Lin Dong and Yun Lan stopped.
Before them lay a massive manor, surrounded by a wooden fence forming a large circle. Inside were endless paddy fields. The green rice stalks swayed in the breeze, resembling groups of students reciting poems.
Scattered among the fields were small wooden houses, like tireless warriors guarding these fertile lands. Seeing smoke rising from the houses and no one around to guard them, Lin Dong glanced at the plaque hanging above the two giant wooden gates of the manor and motioned for Yun Lan to enter.
Following the gravel path through the middle of the paddy fields, the two continued forward and soon arrived at a large courtyard covering at least four to five thousand square meters.
The front gate was open, and two servants were sitting in the shade, chatting idly. Upon seeing strangers arrive, they immediately stood up.
“Who are you looking for?”
“We are friends of Lord Ren from Southwest County, here to catch up,” Lin Dong explained.
“My lord is not here. You…” One of the older servants hesitated. It was unreasonable to let them in after they had traveled such a long distance, especially since there were no villages or shops nearby. Moreover, it wasn’t certain if they were really friends of the lord—after all, they might be scammers.
“Could we wait inside?” Lin Dong asked.
“Well… Li An, go ask Old Dog Li if they can let us wait inside,” the older servant ordered.
The servant named Li An nodded immediately and hurried off to the inner courtyard.
Half an hour later, Li An returned in a hurry.
“What did Old Dog Li say?” the older servant asked.
Li An hesitated for a moment before telling the truth, “He said my lord won’t be back for a month or two. There are no guest rooms here, so he suggested we go to the accounting office and get 200 coins each to go.”
“May I ask who Old Dog Li is?” Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh. The owner of the Lin’s Inn was being treated like a poor relative asking for help.
Still, 100 coins—enough to buy shoes at 10 coins a pair—might not even cover the cost of shoes for both of them if they traveled from Southwest City to the capital.
The two glanced at Lin Dong and Yun Lan. The man had an extraordinary presence, while the woman exuded an indescribable ethereal aura. They certainly didn’t seem like the kind of people who would report others.

The older servant explained, “Old Li is the second manager of our QingSong Villa. He decides everything big and small here; he’s a cruel and scheming man. We servants don’t lack work. If it weren’t for the high wages at the villa, even working for Master Ren or the chief manager would be fine—we’d have quit long ago.”
Lin Dong understood and, after thinking it over, said helplessly, “Since it will still be over ten days, I’ll come back in about ten days. Please let me know when Master Ren returns.”
“Brother Ma, how about I go look for the chief manager?” Li An asked.
“The chief manager is here?” Lin Dong was slightly surprised. He had thought Yang Lai Ting was always with Ren Qing Song, and since the servants went to report to the second manager first, he hadn’t asked further.
“Yes, Liu An, go look for him,” the older servant explained. “The chief manager likes company and usually stays with the villagers; he only comes back at night. Everything at the villa is decided by Old Li.”
“Is it okay if we wait here?” Lin Dong asked.
“It’s fine. It’s too hot to wait outside; there’s shade inside.” The older servant was kind-hearted and immediately invited Lin Dong and the other to come in. He felt he had the authority to do so.
Lin Dong nodded with a smile, took out two silver ingots worth five taels each from the mobile cabinet, and handed them to the older servant, saying with a smile, “Take this, brother. Buy some wine for the young man just now.”
“How could I accept this? How could I…?” Though the older servant spoke politely, he instinctively tucked the silver into his clothes. Five taels of silver was enough for a month’s salary for him—normally, it would be equivalent to two months’ salary.
With such a kind person offering him silver, the older servant became even more polite. He brought over stools, poured tea, handed out fans… busying himself. Though he was alone, he no longer worried that Lin Dong and the other would take the chance to sneak into the house. After all, they had already given him ten taels at once—he had never met such a generous swindler. Even if they really tried to do something today, he would accept it. It would be a good opportunity to decide to leave QingSong Villa and even accuse Old Li of misusing staff, possibly getting him expelled too.
They waited for over an hour. As the scorching sun neared the zenith, a figure finally ran in from outside the courtyard.
Lin Dong stood up. Though there was some distance, he could clearly see that it was Yang Lai Ting.
Running into the courtyard, drenched in sweat, Yang Lai Ting was so out of breath he could hardly speak a word.

“Uncle Yang, it’s been just over half a year since we last saw each other, and you’ve changed so much.” Lin Dong was astonished—wearing a coarse cloth jacket, barefoot, with a darkened face. This appearance was completely different from the Yang Laiting in Lin Dong’s memory.

After taking the tea handed to him by the older servant, Yang Laiting gulped down a few sips and finally regained his strength. Smiling, he said, “Don’t even mention it. With nothing to do, I ended up doing hard labor for some local families. Under the scorching sun, my skin almost peeled off.”

“Uncle Yang isn’t with Dean Ren?” Lin Dong was slightly surprised. The two of them had been master and servant since childhood. And since they both had no family, they now seemed more like brothers than master and servant.

“That place isn’t allowed for outsiders,” Yang Laiting said helplessly. “There was no other choice but for Dean Ren to buy a manor here for me to live in.”

“Why do hard labor instead of being a wealthy landowner?” Lin Dong laughed. “Surely it’s not because Uncle Yang did something wrong and got punished, is it?”

“You know I’ve been stuck in Southwest City for over forty years. After finally having some excitement for a few years, now they want me to idle around again. How can I bear that?” Yang Laiting shook his head, then suddenly slapped his own forehead. “Look at me, lost in old memories. Manager Lin, Miss Yun, please come inside.”

“If Dean Ren really needs over a month to return, I’ll come back another time!” Lin Dong shook his head. He knew that with Yang Laiting here, Ren Qingsong couldn’t possibly return only once every month or two. Although Tianwei Pavilion’s plantation was off-limits, it wasn’t exactly a secret. As the second-in-command, Ren Qingsong surely wouldn’t have his access restricted.

By saying this, Lin Dong wanted to know the exact time. Also, he wanted to play a trick—he believed Yang Laiting still didn’t know the true nature of the second butler. Otherwise, Yang Laiting would have already thrown him out.

After all, they were old friends, and since Yang Laiting hadn’t learned martial arts, there was a risk he might fall victim to this second butler one day.

“He comes back every few days. Calculating the dates, he should be back by evening. I’ve already sent Liu An to wait at Yan Mountain. That Li Chongshang is simply outrageous—daring to deceive even Manager Lin.” Yang Laiting was furious.

“You know this man’s character?” Lin Dong was surprised.

Yang Laiting shook his head. “Just now, Liu An came to find me. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was Manager Lin. Hearing that he didn’t invite you in, I got angry with him. Then Liu An told me everything about Li Chongshang. Deceiving both superiors and subordinates—it’s a real joke for Manager Lin. If I hadn’t been outside all day, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Lin Dong laughed. “It’ll be fun to watch Uncle Yang show his strength later.”

“Let’s go. Listen to Liu An—he says he’s hosting guests right now. I want to see who these guests are when he ignores such important visitors,” Yang Laiting said angrily.
“Anger harms your health. How’s Dean Ren doing at Tianwei Pavilion?” Lin Dong asked, changing the subject with a smile.
“The dean has just arrived and can’t access those high-grade cultivation aids at all,” Yang Laiting shook his head. “Moreover, the head of the Spirit Materials Building is old and hasn’t been managing it properly in recent years. I believe he’ll retire in another year or two. Aside from the newly promoted dean, the other three managers are all trying every means to suppress their rivals, hoping to take over as the head of the Spirit Materials Building. To succeed, it mainly depends on who has made the greatest contributions. In the Spirit Materials Building, the biggest achievement is ensuring that there are no issues in maintaining those high-grade cultivation aids. To achieve this, one must tightly control those materials. So, the dean simply can’t get involved.”
“The person with the greatest contribution in the Spirit Materials Building must be the one who finds new high-grade materials, right?” Lin Dong retorted. Ren Qingsong had only been in office for a little over half a year, and he already guessed it would be impossible to access high-grade cultivation aids so quickly. His purpose today was just to ask for details and see if he could offer some help.
Jin’s Inn had several types of high-grade cultivation aids.
“That’s not easy at all!” Yang Laiting shook his head repeatedly. One of the managers in the Spirit Materials Building could mobilize quite a few people, including two experts in the Heart Reversal stage. But even after half a year, they hadn’t found a single low-grade material, let alone any high-grade ones.
“Why look for them? I already have a few,” Lin Dong said casually.
“You do?” Yang Laiting stopped in his tracks and then looked at Lin Dong with excitement.
“I have a few high-grade cultivation aids, but I can’t provide the suitable environment and daily nutrients needed for them,” Lin Dong nodded.
“Then…”
Yang Laiting was puzzled, but Lin Dong shook his head and interrupted, “Let’s discuss this when Dean Ren arrives. No need to repeat it. Uncle Yang, this estate is quite large. How much silver did it cost?”
Yang Laiting nodded and smiled, “The dean is a manager in the Spirit Materials Building, holding a second-rank official position. He doesn’t need to handle things personally if he wants to build a family estate. As long as something can be done with silver, just write it down clearly on a list and hand it to the Internal Affairs Building.”
“That’s quite a benefit!” Lin Dong exclaimed in admiration.
As they talked, the three of them arrived at the hall.

The hall covered two or three hundred square meters. Its decoration wasn’t luxurious, but in this rural setting, it was by far the best. Paintings, antiques, and furniture were all priceless treasures.
On the two armchairs facing the entrance, covered with snow-white spirit beast skins, sat two middle-aged men in their early forties.
At the main seat, seeing Yang Laiting’s muddy feet stepping on the ancient yellow carpet covering the entire hall, Li Chongshang frowned.