Black-Clothed Dark Night

In the early morning, as Lin Su stepped out of the West Courtyard, he suddenly felt that the temperature was a bit low. That wasn't right; summer had just begun, so why the sudden chill?

He looked up and saw a figure entering the courtyard gate.

Clad in black, tall and with a devilishly curvy figure, she entered the gate, a black mask covering her face. She walked up to him and raised her hand, offering him an envelope.

He opened the envelope. Inside was a letter from Ding Hai, which roughly stated that the person who had arrived was named Dark Night, the one we agreed upon…

"Dark Night? What a strange name. Is it a nickname or her real name?"

Dark Night didn't answer.

"What are your skills?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dark Night suddenly vanished from her spot. The next moment, she appeared on the highest attic. In broad daylight, Lin Su couldn't see any trace of her movement at all.

Lin Su's eyes lit up: "Are you a cultivator, or a Martial Master?"

Still no answer. Dark Night seemed to slowly merge with the shadows of the attic.

"I acknowledge your movement technique, but you still need to take off that mask. We're under the same roof now, it's impolite to hide your face. Don't you think?"

Still no answer.

Lin Su got angry: "Come out here! I told Ding Hai I needed a woman, and you need to prove you're actually a woman!"

Prove she's a woman?

How to prove it?

Take off her pants?

Dark Night's eyes narrowed sharply, and a flash of light flickered within them…

Lin Su suddenly felt two silver lights shoot towards his face, chilling him to the bone. "Ah!" he cried, stumbling back two steps, his hand pressing his forehead. His face turned pale. What was that? He distinctly felt something slash his forehead, but he hadn't seen anything…

Xiao Tao ran over: "Young Master, what's wrong?"

"Look at my forehead… am I injured?"

Xiao Tao leaned in, moved his hand away, and examined it closely. "You're not injured, it's just a little red… Ah, no! It looks like words have been pricked onto your forehead with an embroidery needle. Shut… up! What does this mean, Young Master…"

Lin Su was furious: "That old scoundrel Ding Hai, I'm returning this merchandise, get me someone else…" She doesn't speak when she enters, doesn't answer when asked questions, and attacks when asked a few more? Damn it, I hired a bodyguard, not a father…

Ding Hai, of course, couldn't hear him.

Dark Night had already disappeared.

Lin Su jumped up and cursed, but no one paid him any attention.

Xiao Tao looked around, completely bewildered by what was happening.

The Young Master had two words etched onto his forehead: Shut Up. It made her not dare to speak…

After throwing a tantrum, Lin Su finally let it go. This woman was too terrifying. From seven or eight Zhang away, she etched two words onto his forehead with something unknown. He really couldn't afford to provoke her. If he truly angered her, what if she cut off his… you know what?

However, there were benefits after all. Lin Su truly understood that her methods were inscrutable. With someone like her guarding them, the Lin family's backyard would become a dragon's pool and a tiger's den.

Dark Night's arrival was known only to Lin Su. No one else, not even Lin Jialiang, who had forged the Azure Literary Pavilion and was theoretically a master, was aware of it.

To the southeast lay a vast expanse of hills, known as Qingqiu.

A streak of light rose from Qingqiu, folded in mid-air, and streaked across the sky, landing in a corner of Haining City. A beautiful maiden emerged; she was none other than the Zither-Holding Woman from the Haining Tower that day.

The Zither-Holding Woman gently raised her delicate hands. A seven-colored mist from her fingertips silently merged into the night. She was slightly startled. My earring, shouldn't it be at the Lin Manor in the east of the city? Why is it in the south? Could this kid also be a philanderer who frequents brothels?

Her figure moved, disappearing completely. The next moment, she passed through layers of buildings and appeared directly in a bedroom. Her gaze fell, and she was greatly astonished. On the bed lay only a middle-aged man with a large belly, not the dashing young man she remembered at all.

She raised her hand, the cabinet opened, and an earring flew out of thin air, landing in her palm. Wasn't it her earring?

"Shadow Tracing Backflow!"

Scenes flashed rapidly on the earring, finally freezing on the late night of the Haining Poetry Gathering. This middle-aged man was the pawnshop owner…

After the scene ended, the shopkeeper slumped back down, continuing his slumber.

The Zither-Holding Woman bit her lip tightly. "He dared to pawn my earring? And only charged 3 taels of silver? Who does he think he is? This is too much…"

Silently, she suddenly vanished from her spot. The next moment, she transformed into a streak of light and shot towards the east of the city.

Just as the light was about to fly over the courtyard wall, a silver light shot out from the attic. The Zither-Holding Woman felt a strange killing intent envelop her entire body. Greatly alarmed, she suddenly burrowed into the ground, and with a swish, she disappeared underground.

The silver light folded in mid-air and flew back to the attic, merging into Dark Night's eyes. They were two extremely fine swords.

Along with the swords came a silver blood bead.

Dark Night lightly tapped her finger. The blood bead spun on her fingertip. Her eyes also showed surprise.

The bloodline has evolved to silver?

Not simple. No wonder she could escape my Flying Lu Sword…

Near South Lake, the Zither-Holding Woman suddenly appeared. She touched her backside, her face changing drastically. Someone had slashed her backside, and it was bleeding profusely. Damn it, that bastard surnamed Lin, I will not rest until I have my revenge…

Lin Su sneezed, brushed Xiao Yao's hair from his face, and rolled over to sleep again.

In the attic, Dark Night's gaze pierced through the window, falling on the bed. With a hint of contemplation, she wondered, What was Adoptive Father thinking? If he wanted the wine recipe, he could have just captured him and tortured him with seven or eight types of punishment, and it would be done. Did he really need her to stand guard here? Standing guard is nothing; she could do it for a hundred years, but this is too much. With this hundred years, she could travel the world, visit all the Dao, and her cultivation would surely advance greatly!

Wasting precious cultivation time just to stand guard for this dilapidated marquis's mansion is simply… inexplicable!

The next morning, as Lin Su stepped out of his room, he ran into his second brother, the human clock.

"Third brother, there are only twenty-eight days left until the provincial exam..."

Lin Su replied, "Second brother, there are only a little over a hundred days left until the metropolitan exam!"

Lin Jialiang's eyes widened...

"Second brother, we brothers each have our own goals. Please don't just focus on me and forget your own."

The provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations, while seeming like the progression from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, and high school to university, were entirely different from the modern societal progression.

In modern society, the curricula and textbooks for elementary, middle, and high school are completely different, creating a generational gap. A high school student taking an elementary school exam would be a "dimensional reduction attack."

However, for the provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations, the textbooks were the same.

The progression from the provincial to the palace exam didn't represent a leap in tiers; it was merely three selections on the same level, choosing the best from the good, that was all.

Because of this, the time intervals between the provincial and metropolitan exams, and then to the palace exam, were not long. If you were outstanding enough, you could complete all three exams within a year as a commoner, achieving a massive leap in social class.

Provincial exam: June 18th.

Metropolitan exam: October 10th.

Palace exam: May of the following year.

Lin Jialiang shot him a look. "Do you need me to worry about you? Do you think your brother has been living in vain for the past three years?"

"Then let's have a competition. Let's see who takes the top spot in the metropolitan exam?"

"Take the top spot?" Lin Jialiang laughed. "Third brother, I have to say it again. Don't just spout such nonsense casually, lest you be laughed at..."

The provincial exam selected talent from one prefecture.

The metropolitan exam selected talent from one province.

The palace exam selected talent from one nation.

In the imperial examinations, the phrase "take the top spot" could not be spoken lightly. What does it mean to "take the top spot"? It means to be the sole leader, to achieve first place.

First place in the provincial exam: the Jieyuan.

First place in the metropolitan exam: the Metropolitan Examination Top Scholar.

First place in the palace exam, needless to say, is the well-known Zhuangyuan.

The first place, referred to with such honorifics, how extraordinary was that?

How could it be imagined by ordinary people?

In the attic, Dark Night indeed laughed. Two scions of a fallen family, actually talking about taking the top spot here, was truly laughable.

Lin Jialiang added, "Your immediate priority is still the provincial exam. Don't think about anything else, just focus on preparing! Your chances of passing this provincial exam... are not high, but gaining experience this time is still very important."

He left.

Dark Night in the attic suddenly realized that this young man in front of her hadn't even passed the provincial exam...

A young man who hadn't even passed the provincial exam dared to talk about taking the top spot in the metropolitan exam. Could this be what his adoptive father called "whimsical ideas"?

Lin Su below looked up at the attic. "My brother doesn't believe I can pass the provincial exam. What about you? Do you believe it?"

His voice was very soft, theoretically unable to travel ten feet, but Dark Night's eyes widened. Was he talking to her?

Lin Su said, "How about a bet? If I take the top spot in the provincial exam, you'll take off your mask and let me see it. Also, you have to prove to me that you're a woman!"

A flash of light flickered in Dark Night's eyes. Lin Su had been staring at the dark corner and suddenly saw the flash. He quickly turned his head and scrambled away, almost knocking over the table.

The light in Dark Night's eyes only flickered; she didn't attack. Seeing Lin Su scrambling, the corners of her mouth subtly curved...

Lin Su sat at his desk, opened his book, and his heart was pounding a little...

He had just tested it out a little. Speaking in such a low voice, she in the attic could actually hear him clearly. It was incredible.

With her here, was he being monitored even when he went to the toilet?

In the future, if he came up with any inventions, wouldn't she be monitoring them too?

This was bad. Could this be something Ding Hai, that old bastard, deliberately set up? Using her as a human surveillance device to control his so-called secret recipes?

Was he going to live anymore?

Change people!

Drive her away!

But the thought that arose was quickly extinguished.

He seemed to have no power over her at all. If he angered her, and a flash of light appeared in her eyes, his little brother would fly eight feet away. After that, he could only feast his eyes on beautiful women, and wouldn't this transmigration be in vain?

Baiji Plain was abuzz.

Xiao Xue returned to Baiji Plain with Xiao Wu and announced a bombshell piece of news.

They were buying Ting Rice at 3 qian of silver per 100 jin!

What did 3 qian of silver mean?

Three qian of silver could buy fifty jin of white rice.

In other words, worthless ting rice had suddenly become a precious commodity on par with white rice and fine flour, just at a slightly lower price.

How could the one hundred thousand refugees of Baiji Plain not go mad?

Their families of four or five people worked desperately to grow ting rice, and in one mature season (three months), they could only earn one tael of silver. Per person, that was less than three qian, yet now, they only needed to harvest the ting rice from their fields and sell it to Xiao Xue to earn two taels of silver!

Their income had tripled instantly!

More importantly, this harvesting work was originally their job. Even if no one bought the ting rice, they still had to harvest it, otherwise, they couldn't plant the next season's ting rice.

This extra money was pure profit!

With this additional sum, a large number of refugees could avoid starvation. Those with more laborers could even afford a padded jacket for the long winter.

This windfall from the sky sent the refugees of Baiji Plain into a frenzy, but it also raised a huge question in their minds: Why?

Had heaven opened its eyes?

Had they encountered a saint of a hundred lifetimes?

Or was this a grand deception?

Those who were skeptical remained observant, but Xiao Xue was, after all, a descendant of the Jiangtan refugees and had lived there for over a decade. She did have some friends. Her childhood playmate, Xiao Yue, was the first to respond. She harvested her family's ting rice and brought it to the large cart. After weighing, the total was 460 jin. Xiao Xue immediately had Xiao Wu give her one tael and three fen and eight li. With the shining silver in hand, Xiao Yue nearly fainted from crying.

She remembered her mother, who had starved to death. If something like this had happened earlier, would her mother have had to die of starvation?

Jiangtan went completely wild. Countless people rushed into the fields, and ting rice was loaded into carts bag by bag. Once full, Xiao Wu gathered several strong men to push the ting rice carts to the riverbank, load them onto a boat, and then transport them to Haining Wharf to be delivered to Lin Manor.

As more people got involved, helpers were needed. Xiao Yue became Xiao Xue's assistant, and another twenty to thirty men became Xiao Wu's helpers. The vigorous ting rice harvesting season began, and every household was filled with joy.

At night, bonfires blazed along the Jiangtan, and everyone gathered to celebrate. Xiao Yue finally voiced the words she had long wanted to say, "Xue'er, can you ask the Third Young Master if I can also do some work at the manor?"

"I'll try to talk to him. The Third Young Master has important uses for this ting rice, so perhaps they really do need more people."

As soon as this was said, all the other girls became excited and crowded around Xiao Xue...

The next day, Xiao Xue escorted the ting rice back to Lin Manor and met Lin Su. Lin Su was in the backyard, looking at the mountain of ting rice in front of him with a troubled expression...

In just ten days, they had collected a mountain of it, and they were still maintaining a progress of one full boatload every day. If this continued, the backyard would be too small to hold it all. Brewing wine required expanding the workforce, but hiring was a sensitive matter. If he mentioned it to Ding Hai, he could definitely recruit a large number of people, but who knew what kind of people they would be.

The last time he asked Ding Hai to find him a bodyguard, look at the kind of person he found. She hadn't spoken a single word to him since entering the manor. If the master spoke too much, she dared to carve "Shut up" on the master's head, and he couldn't get rid of her!

If more people like her were brought in, it was hard to say whether Lin Manor would still be surnamed Lin or Ding.

Therefore, not hiring through Ding Hai had become Lin Su's obsession, but if not him, then who?

Just then, Xiao Xue approached him, very reserved and expectant, and asked a question: "Young Master, there are many people among the Jiangtan refugees who want to help you with some work. Young Master, what do you think..."

Lin Su's eyes lit up. Jiangtan refugees?

Excellent, this was the group!

These people were penniless, without cars, houses, wives, or any distractions. All they wanted was to eat their fill. Give them a steamed bun, and they would give you their hearts to play ping pong with...

He nodded on the spot and gave Xiao Xue significant authority. "You decide. Recruit anyone with good character, regardless of gender. Start with a hundred people. You and Old Zhou can arrange them..."

As soon as Xiao Xue left, she told the people waiting outside, and they immediately erupted. When she called out names on the spot, more than twenty men were close to tears. Xiao Yue, who had come with Xiao Xue, also almost cried. As the scene descended into chaos, a dashing and handsome figure appeared at the entrance of Lin Manor. It was Lin Su.

"Greetings, Third Young Master!" Xiao Xue shouted, and everyone outside knelt down.

Xiao Yue also knelt, but she quietly looked up, observing the young master who was so mysteriously spoken of on the Jiangtan...

Lin Su spoke, issuing his first command: "Everyone, please rise. I need you to do something for me..."

Lin Su's first instruction was to separate Lin Manor from the backyard.

The backyard would be the production area, dedicated to making wine.

Lin Manor would be the living area.

They would be divided. The backyard would have two new gates: one facing the Yangtze River, as a cargo channel, and one facing the city, as an employee channel. The existing crescent-shaped gate of the backyard would remain, but ordinary people could not pass through it, except for management personnel like Old Zhou and Xiao Xue.

This was much better. The noisy business would be separated from Lin Manor.

This way, the workers wouldn't be constantly coming and going, disturbing the two young masters of Lin Manor while they studied.

Lin Manor became quiet.

The factory area in the backyard became lively.

In the attic, Dark Night finally witnessed the entire process of making the legendary "Immortal Wine" with her own eyes. Over a dozen large, strange contraptions steamed the ting rice, and from them flowed the legendary Immortal Wine.

Her figure flickered, and she suddenly merged into the darkness. In one night, she recorded all the details from ting rice to Immortal Wine. Before dawn, with a slight flash of light, the detailed information was transmitted far away...

During the entire process, she didn't alarm anyone.

For an expert like her, engaging in commercial espionage was truly effortless.

After uploading the information, she waited for her adoptive father's reply.

Once her adoptive father replied, she could leave. The world was so vast, and she wanted to see it...

The Martial Way was so profound, and she wanted to reach its peak.

Being forced to stay here and waste time with a useless scoundrel made her very impatient...

However, seven days later, her adoptive father's reply shocked her greatly.

Following the process she had uploaded, her adoptive father conducted an experiment, but no wine could be produced!

The mystery of the wine was not in these superficial processes. There must be something she had overlooked, something that was the key to winemaking.

How could this be?