At dawn, Lin Su had just stepped out of the west courtyard when he suddenly felt that the temperature was a little low today. That wasn't right—summer had only just begun. Why had it suddenly turned cold?
He raised his eyes and saw a figure entering through the courtyard gate.
Dressed in black, tall and slender, with a devilishly curvaceous figure, she wore a black veil across her face. She walked up to him, raised a hand, and handed him an envelope.
He opened the envelope. Inside was a letter written by Ding Hai. Its general meaning was that the person who had come was named Dark Night, the very person they had agreed upon...
"Dark Night? Why such a strange name? Is it a nickname or your real name?"
Dark Night did not answer.
"What can you do?"
The moment his words fell, Dark Night vanished from where she stood. The next instant, she appeared atop the highest pavilion. In broad daylight, Lin Su could not see her trajectory at all.
Lin Su's eyes lit up. "Are you a cultivator, or a Martial Master?"
There was still no answer. Dark Night seemed to slowly merge with the pavilion's shadows.
"I approve of your movement technique, but you still need to take off that veil. We're under the same roof now. Hiding your head and showing your tail is rather impolite, don't you think?"
Still no answer.
Lin Su bristled. "Get out here! I already told Ding Hai that I needed a woman. You need to prove whether you're actually a woman or not!"
Prove whether she was a woman?
How was she supposed to prove that?
Take off her pants?
Dark Night's eyes suddenly narrowed, a flash of light glinting within them...
Lin Su suddenly felt two silver beams shoot toward him, icy cold to the bone. With a cry, he staggered back two steps, clutching his brow, his face turning pale. What was that? He clearly felt something slash across his forehead, but he had not seen anything at all...
Xiao Tao ran over. "Young Master, what happened?"
"Take a look at my forehead... Is it injured?"
Xiao Tao leaned close, moved his hand away, and examined it carefully. "It isn't injured, just a little red... Ah, no! It looks like someone used an embroidery needle to prick two words into your forehead: Shut... up! What does that mean, Young Master...?"
Lin Su flew into a rage. "That old bastard Ding Hai! I'm returning this one. Get me someone else..." She had not said a word since entering, did not answer questions, and directly attacked him when he asked a few more. Damn it, he had hired a bodyguard, not a father...
Of course, Ding Hai did not hear him.
Dark Night had disappeared as well.
Lin Su jumped about and cursed furiously, but no one paid him any attention.
Xiao Tao looked around in every direction, completely unable to understand what was going on.
Two words had been pricked onto Young Master's forehead: Shut up. It made her afraid to speak at all...
After venting for a while, Lin Su ultimately let it go. This woman was too terrifying. From seven or eight zhang away, she had somehow carved two words onto his forehead. She was not someone to provoke. If he really angered her and she cut off his little brother, what then?
Still, there were benefits. Lin Su now truly understood that her methods were as unfathomable as ghosts and gods. With someone like her standing guard, the Lin Family's rear courtyard had become a dragon's pool and tiger's den.
Other than Lin Su, no one knew Dark Night had taken up residence, including Lin Jialiang, who had forged the Azure Literary Platform and theoretically counted as an expert. They all remained utterly unaware.
To the southeast lay a vast stretch of hills called Azure Hill.
A streak of light rose from Azure Hill, turned once in the sky, sliced through the heavens, and landed in a corner of Haining City, revealing a beautiful young woman. She was none other than the Zither-Holding Woman from Haining Tower that day.
The Zither-Holding Woman lightly raised her slender jade hands. A wisp of seven-colored mist at her fingertips silently merged into the night. She was slightly startled. Shouldn't my earring be at the Lin Manor in the east of the city? Why is it in the south? Could that brat also be some romantic rake who sleeps among flowers and willows?
Her figure moved, vanishing completely without a trace. The next instant, she passed through layer upon layer of buildings and appeared directly in a bedroom. One glance made her greatly alarmed. On the bed lay only a pot-bellied middle-aged man. There was none of the carefree, handsome young man she remembered.
She raised a hand, and the cabinet opened. An earring flew up through the air and landed in her palm. Wasn't this clearly her earring?
"Shadow Tracing Backflow!"
Sets of images rapidly flashed across the earring, finally freezing on the late night of the Haining Poetry Gathering. This middle-aged man was the pawnshop owner...
Once the scene ended, the shopkeeper collapsed back down and continued sleeping.
The Zither-Holding Woman bit her lips tightly. "He dared pawn my earring? And only took three taels of silver for it? Who does he think he's looking down on? This is outrageous..."
Without a sound, she suddenly vanished from the spot. The next instant, she transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the east side of the city.
Just as the streak of light was about to pass over the courtyard wall, a silver beam suddenly shot from the pavilion. The Zither-Holding Woman felt an unusual killing intent engulf her entire body. In utter shock, she immediately burrowed underground. With a hiss, she drilled into the earth and fled.
The silver beam turned in the air, flew back to the pavilion, and merged into Dark Night's eyes. They were two extraordinarily thin swords.
Returning with the swords was a silver bead of blood.
Dark Night lightly tapped it with a finger. The blood bead spun round and round at her fingertip, and surprise appeared in her eyes as well.
Her bloodline had already evolved to silver?
No wonder she could escape beneath the Flying Lu Sword...
Near South Lake, the Zither-Holding Woman suddenly appeared. She touched her butt, her face changing drastically. Someone had cut her butt with a sword, and blood was flowing without end. Damn it, that bastard Lin! I will not live under the same sky as you...
Lin Su sneezed, brushed Xiao Yao's hair off his face, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Inside the pavilion, Dark Night's gaze passed through the window and fell upon the bed, her eyes holding a trace of contemplation. What exactly is Godfather thinking? If he wants the wine formula, he could just capture him and use seven or eight kinds of torture. Wouldn't that settle it? Why make me stand guard here at night? Standing guard is nothing; I could do it for a hundred years without issue. But it is far too unworthy. With a hundred years, I could travel the world, visit every path, and surely make tremendous progress in cultivation!
Wasting precious cultivation time to guard this dilapidated marquis manor at night is simply... utterly inexplicable!
The next morning, Lin Su encountered his second brother, the human timepiece, the moment he stepped out of his room.
"Third Brother, only twenty-eight days remain until the Provincial Examination..."
Lin Su replied, "Second Brother, only a little over a hundred days remain until the Metropolitan Examination!"
Lin Jialiang's eyes widened...
"Second Brother, we brothers each have our own goals. Don't keep staring at me while forgetting your own goal."
The Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Palace Examination seemed like moving from elementary school to middle school, middle school to high school, and high school to university, but they were actually completely different from advancement in Modern Society.
In Modern Society, elementary school, middle school, and high school had entirely different courses and textbooks, displaying a clear generation-gap-like divide. A high school student taking an elementary school exam was a "Dimensional Strike."
Yet the Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Palace Examination all used the same textbooks.
From the Provincial Examination to the Palace Examination, what was reflected was not a leap between levels. They were simply three selections on the same plane, three rounds of choosing the best from among the best. That was all.
Precisely because of this, the intervals between the Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Palace Examination were not long. As long as one was outstanding enough, one could complete the entire process of the Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Palace Examination within a single year as a commoner, achieving a tremendous leap across social classes.
The Provincial Examination was on the eighteenth day of the sixth month.
The Metropolitan Examination was on the tenth day of the tenth month.
The Palace Examination was in the fifth month of the following year.
Lin Jialiang shot him a sideways glance. "Do you need to worry about me? Do you think your elder brother has lived these past three years for nothing?"
"Then let's compete. Let us see who takes the top spot in the Metropolitan Examination?"
"Take the top spot?" Lin Jialiang laughed. "Third Brother, I have to criticize you again. Don't casually spout such nonsense, or people will laugh at you..."
The Provincial Examination selected the talented of a prefecture.
The Metropolitan Examination selected the talented of a province.
The Palace Examination selected the talented of an entire nation.
In the imperial examinations, one could not casually speak of taking the top spot. What did taking the top spot mean? It meant standing alone atop the ao, claiming first place.
First place in the Provincial Examination was called the Provincial Laureate.
First place in the Metropolitan Examination was called the Metropolitan Laureate.
As for first place in the Palace Examination, that went without saying: the widely known Imperial Laureate.
The first-ranked person was addressed as "Laureate." How extraordinary was that?
How could ordinary people possibly imagine it?
Inside the pavilion, Dark Night truly laughed. Two sons of a fallen household were actually talking here about taking the top spot. It was utterly ridiculous.
Lin Jialiang added, "Your most urgent matter right now is still the Provincial Examination. Don't think about anything else. Focus on preparing! Your chances of passing this Provincial Examination... are not great, but the experience you gain this time will still be extremely important."
He left.
Dark Night in the pavilion suddenly realized something as well. This brat before her had not even passed the Provincial Examination...
A brat who had not even passed the Provincial Examination dared talk about taking first in the Metropolitan Examination. Did this count as the "wild imagination" Godfather had mentioned?
Below, Lin Su raised his head and looked toward the pavilion. "My brother doesn't believe I can pass the Provincial Examination. What about you? Do you believe it?"
His voice was very soft. In theory, it should not have carried beyond one zhang, but Dark Night's eyes widened. Was he speaking to her?
Lin Su said, "How about a wager? If I take the top spot in the Provincial Examination, you take off your veil and let me have a look. And you also have to prove to me that you're a woman!"
A gleam flashed in Dark Night's eyes. Lin Su had been staring fixedly at that dark corner when he suddenly saw the flash. He whipped around, fled like a rat with its head in its paws, and nearly overturned the table.
The light in Dark Night's eyes had only flashed; she had not attacked. Seeing Lin Su scrambling away in such a sorry state, the corner of her lips secretly curved upward...
Sitting at his desk, Lin Su opened his book, but his heart was still pounding...
Just now, he had performed a small test. Speaking in such a low voice, she in the pavilion could actually hear him perfectly clearly. It was too unbelievable.
With her around, would she be watching even when he went to the toilet?
If he made some invention in the future, would she be watching that too?
No, this could not have been deliberately arranged by that old turtle Ding Hai, could it? Was he using her as a human-shaped monitor to control all of Lin Su's so-called secret formulas?
Was this any way for a person to live?
Replace her!
Drive her away!
But he quickly strangled that thought in the cradle.
Before her, he seemed to have no authority whatsoever. If he angered her, a flash would appear in her eyes and his little brother would fly eight zhang away. From then on, he could only feast his eyes on beautiful women. Wouldn't this transmigration have been for nothing?
Baiji Plain was boiling over.
Xiao Xue returned to Baiji Plain with Xiao Wu and announced earthshaking news.
They were purchasing Ting Rice at three mace of silver per hundred jin!
What did three mace of silver mean?
Three mace of silver could buy fifty jin of White Rice.
In other words, Ting Rice, which had been utterly worthless, had suddenly become as precious as white rice and flour, only slightly cheaper.
How could the hundred thousand displaced people of Baiji Plain not go mad with excitement?
A family of four or five had to work themselves to death growing Ting Rice Flower, yet during one mature season of three months, they could earn only one tael of silver. Divided among them, each person earned less than three mace. Now, they merely had to gather the Ting Rice from the fields and sell it to Xiao Xue to earn two taels of silver!
Their income had suddenly tripled!
More importantly, this harvesting work had originally been their job. Even if no one bought the Ting Rice, it still had to be harvested, or Ting Rice Flower could not be planted for the next season.
This extra money was pure profit!
With this extra money, many displaced people would no longer starve to death. Those with more working hands could even add a cotton-padded coat during the long winter.
This enormous pie falling from the sky drove the displaced people of Baiji Plain mad, but a huge question mark also appeared above their heads. Why?
Had Heaven opened its eyes?
Had they encountered a good person cultivated over a hundred lifetimes?
Or was this a great swindle?
Those who remained skeptical continued watching, but Xiao Xue was, after all, descended from the displaced people of the riverbank and had lived here for over ten years. She had friends. Xiao Yue, a companion she had grown up playing with, was the first to respond. She harvested her family's Ting Rice and transported it before the cart. After it was weighed, the total came to 460 jin. Xiao Xue had Xiao Wu pay her one tael, three mace, and eight fen on the spot. The moment the shining silver reached her hand, Xiao Yue cried so hard she nearly fainted.
She thought of her mother, who had starved to death. If such a thing had happened earlier, why would her mother have needed to starve alive?
The riverbank went completely mad. Countless people entered the fields, bag after bag of Ting Rice being carried onto the carts. Once a cart was full, Xiao Wu gathered several men to push it to the river, load it aboard a boat, transport it to Haining Wharf, and deliver it into the Lin Manor.
Once there were more people, helpers were needed. Xiao Yue became Xiao Xue's assistant, while another twenty or thirty men became Xiao Wu's assistants. The bustling Ting Rice harvest season arrived, and every household beamed with joy.
At night, flames soared into the sky along the riverbank as everyone gathered to celebrate. Xiao Yue finally said what she had wanted to say for a long time. "Xue'er, could you speak to the Third Young Master and ask whether I could do some work at the manor too?"
"I'll ask him. The Third Young Master has an important use for this Ting Rice. Perhaps they really do need more people over there."
Once these words spread, all the other girls became excited and crowded around Xiao Xue...
The next day, Xiao Xue escorted the Ting Rice back to the Lin Manor and met Lin Su. Lin Su was in the rear courtyard, staring gloomily at the mountain of Ting Rice piled before him...
In only ten days, they had collected a mountain of it. And every day, an entire boatload still came in. If this continued, the rear courtyard would no longer hold it all. Brewing liquor required expanding recruitment, but hiring workers was a sensitive matter. If he told Ding Hai, he could certainly recruit a huge number of people, but who knew what sort of people they would be?
Last time, he had asked Ding Hai to find a bodyguard. Look at what sort of thing he had found. Since entering, she had not spoken a single word to him. If the master said a few more words, she dared carve words onto his head to tell him to "shut up." And he could not even send her away!
If several more like her came, whether the Lin Manor was surnamed Lin or Ding would become hard to say.
Thus, not seeking workers through old Ding had become Lin Su's obsession. But if he did not seek Ding Hai, whom could he seek?
At precisely that moment, Xiao Xue approached him. Very restrained and expectant, she asked, "Young Master, many people among the displaced people at the riverbank want to help you with some work. What do you think...?"
Lin Su's eyes lit up. The riverbank displaced people?
Good! That was exactly the group he needed!
These people were utterly destitute—no carts, no houses, no wives, no distracting thoughts. All they wanted was a full stomach. Give them a steamed bun, and they could dig out their hearts for you to use as ping-pong balls...
He nodded on the spot and granted Xiao Xue enormous authority. She could handle it herself. As long as they had good character, recruit them freely, men and women alike. Start with one hundred people, and let her and Old Zhou arrange things...
The moment Xiao Xue went outside and told the others, the crowd immediately exploded. When she called out names on the spot, over twenty men nearly cried. Xiao Yue, who had come with Xiao Xue, nearly cried too. Amid the utter chaos, a carefree and handsome figure appeared at the Lin Manor's entrance. It was Lin Su.
"Greetings, Third Young Master!" Xiao Xue cried out, and everyone outside dropped to their knees.
Xiao Yue knelt as well, but she secretly raised her head and examined this Young Master who had been spoken of in such godlike terms along the riverbank...
Lin Su spoke, issuing his first command. "Everyone, get up. Help me do something..."
Lin Su's first instruction was to separate the Lin Manor from the rear courtyard.
The rear courtyard would become a production area, dedicated to making liquor.
The Lin Manor would be the living area.
The two would be divided. Two new gates would be opened in the rear courtyard: one facing the Yangtze River as a freight passage, and one facing the city as an employee entrance. The crescent-shaped gate originally connecting to the rear courtyard would remain, but ordinary people would no longer be permitted to pass through it, aside from managers such as Old Zhou and Xiao Xue.
This was much better. The noisy business was separated from the Lin Manor.
That way, workers coming and going would not disturb the two young masters of the Lin Manor as they studied.
The Lin Manor became quiet.
The factory area in the rear courtyard became lively.
Dark Night in the pavilion finally saw with her own eyes the entire process of making the legendary Immortal Wine. A dozen large and strange contraptions steamed Ting Rice within them, and the legendary Immortal Wine flowed out.
Her figure flickered, suddenly merging into the darkness. In one night, she recorded every detailed step from Ting Rice to Immortal Wine. Before dawn, a faint flash of light sent the detailed information far away...
Throughout the process, she did not alert anyone.
For an expert like her, doing the work of a commercial spy came as naturally as lifting a hand.
The information had been sent, and she waited for Godfather's reply.
Once Godfather replied, she could leave. The world was so vast; she wanted to see it...
The martial path was so wondrous; she wanted to climb to its summit.
She was extremely impatient with spending time here beside a good-for-nothing bastard...
Yet seven days later, Godfather's reply left her greatly shocked.
Following the process she had sent, Godfather's side had conducted an experiment, but they simply could not produce liquor!
The secret of the liquor did not lie in those superficial procedures. There had to be something she had overlooked, and that thing was the key to brewing it.
How could that be?
Before you continue