Teasing Emotions

Lu Sheng froze.

Yan Mountain City was nothing like Nine Links City. A single restaurant in Yan Mountain City would be worth at least ten in Nine Links City! Yet there were fifteen restaurants here! This was no ordinary grand gesture! Those fifteen restaurants alone were worth more than the entire Lu Family estate, even if it were all sold off.

That was because, beyond the money on the surface, opening restaurants in places like these required pulling strings and greasing countless palms behind the scenes. From top to bottom, it would take at least a million taels in silver notes. That alone would swallow more than half the Lu Family's wealth.

What was a tycoon? This was one!! At that moment, Lu Sheng fully understood what it meant to crush people with money, what it meant to spend a fortune with a single throw, and what it meant to be kept! And that was without even mentioning money. Old Master Chen's network alone, once Lu Sheng agreed, would not only completely solve the matter of medicinal herbs and tonics, but would likely make finding martial arts far easier as well.

Yan Mountain City was nothing like Nine Links City. This place was a major stronghold of the central region, guarding the throat between the northern lands and the Central Plains. The city governor here had direct ties to the upper ranks of the imperial court.

For Old Master Chen to gain a firm foothold here and become the richest man in the city, his foundations had to far exceed anything Lu Sheng had imagined. He was absolutely not as worthless as that young master had judged him to be yesterday.

Facing Chen Yunxi's confession, Lu Sheng knew that even in a place with open customs like this, a woman needed tremendous courage to confess first. Yet Chen Yunxi had done exactly that.

He drew a deep breath and looked at the girl standing close before him.

"Put those things away first."

At his words, Chen Yunxi carefully studied Lu Sheng, then looked at the business deeds in her hands. She gently bit her lip and put them away.

"Brother Lu, you..."

"It isn't that I have no feelings for you. To others, your long legs are a flaw, a congenital disability. But to me, your legs are the most beautiful part of you." Lu Sheng could not help saying it after all. If he did not, the words would choke him.

Chen Yunxi had initially thought he was comforting her. But when she looked carefully into his eyes, all she saw was sincerity. At once, she understood that he was telling the truth. Lu Sheng truly liked long legs, rather than those delicate, petite girls.

"But..." Lu Sheng changed his tone. "Chen Yunxi, are you sure you truly understand me? Do you really know what kind of person I am? We have only known each other for a few months. What you have seen of me is only the side I show at School Hall. You have not truly and completely understood me, and I have not completely understood the rest of you either. I do not want my future other half to regret the decision she made today after discovering my other sides."

The truth was, he said this more because he did not want to drag Chen Yunxi into his life.

With the Modifier, and after encountering things like ghosts and demon spirits, he was not like ordinary people who were content to live a mundane life. He wanted to make himself strong. He was unwilling to live like mortals, relying only on luck and the contemptuous neglect of others. In this dark and dangerous world, he wanted to seize his own fate!

That was what he wanted. Yet such a life and pursuit were filled with danger. Starting a family too early would only give others a weakness to seize.

After hearing Lu Sheng's words, Chen Yunxi not only failed to grow disappointed, but her eyes shone even brighter.

"Brother Lu treats money like dung. Yun Xi knew she had not misjudged you!" Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she gazed at Lu Sheng, brimming with tears.

"Since Brother Lu is unwilling for now, Yun Xi will listen to you. From now on, I will come to understand you properly, understand everything about you, and accept everything about you!" After saying that, she covered her flaming face with both hands, let out a soft cry, then turned and ran away.

Lu Sheng watched her departing back in speechless silence.

Did that backfire??

Shaking his head, he returned to School Hall and continued attending class.

Before he knew it, the day had passed. Wang Ziquan never appeared that day. Song Zhenguo took the time to visit the rented house where Wang Ziquan was staying, but found no one there. Growing concerned, he arranged with Lu Sheng that if Wang Ziquan still did not come the next day, they would go look for him together.

After a night passed, Lu Sheng entered School Hall at the usual time the next day. When Old Master Lu began his lecture, Wang Ziquan was absent once again.

Old Master Lu called roll, then asked a few questions about Wang Ziquan's household situation.

"This student's rented house is next to Wang Ziquan's. Yesterday, I did not see any lamplight in his room. It seemed he had gone out," replied a scholar who looked frail and weak as he rose to his feet.

"Gone back home?" Old Master Lu frowned. "Even if he went home, he should have asked the school for leave. This is outrageous! Does he no longer want this year's Yearly Examination recommendation?"

The Yearly Examination required a joint recommendation from the school. A list of names had to be submitted, or one could not take the exam at all. If one performed too poorly at the school, one would not receive a recommendation and would not even be qualified to sit for the Yearly Examination.

"With the Yearly Examination so close, Ziquan would never make such a foolish mistake." Song Zhenguo spoke softly and hurriedly rose. "Master Lu, perhaps Ziquan has encountered some urgent matter. I know his cousin in the city. I will go ask about the situation in a while."

"Mm, go. Fellow students ought to help one another." A trace of approval flashed through Old Master Lu's eyes.

The matter was then set aside, and he continued explaining the meanings of the classics.

Lu Sheng glanced at Song Zhenguo and saw his brows furrowed in concern for Wang Ziquan. He focused his thoughts and remembered the pleasure boat he had visited in the middle of the night. Perhaps asking Song Zhenguo about it would yield some clues.

He endured until classes ended. The lectures held no difficulty for Lu Sheng. With the academic ability of a former graduate student, passing such material was effortless. There was no challenge in it for him.

But for Song Zhenguo, once his mind wandered, this material became extremely difficult to learn. After class, he still bent over his desk, organizing the passages from the classics Old Master Lu had explained earlier and recording them.

"Brother Zhenguo." Lu Sheng walked over and spoke softly. "I feel something is not right. Ziquan is usually the most cautious and careful among us. He takes the schoolwork even more seriously than any of us. How could he miss class for two days in a row?"

Song Zhenguo slowly put away his brush and ink, his face equally puzzled.

"That is exactly what I was thinking, so I planned to go ask about it."

"Let us go together. I am worried too," Lu Sheng said seriously.

Song Zhenguo looked at Lu Sheng in surprise. During the break earlier, he had asked the classmates he usually spent time with. Several people who had seemed close to him, male and female alike, had been unwilling to go looking into the matter and invite trouble. The moment they heard of it, they all found one excuse or another to refuse. It had made him see clearly what sort of goods these so-called friends truly were, and he had been feeling quite upset.

Yet Lu Sheng had unexpectedly come to him of his own accord and offered to investigate together.

"Very well. Brother Lu, please wait a moment while I pack my things."

"Alright."

Once Song Zhenguo had packed up, the two swiftly left the school. At the entrance, they boarded a prearranged carriage and headed straight into the city.

Both were worried along the way. Wang Ziquan regarded the school's Yearly Examination as more important than anything else. How could he suddenly vanish without a trace? At a cosmetics shop on Golden Source Street in Yan Mountain City, they quickly found Wang Ziquan's cousin, Chen Hong. He was the owner of the shop and had begun managing the business himself at a young age.

"Cousin Ziquan? No, he has not come by. Whenever he plans to return home, he always comes to ask me to help carry things back for him, books, trunks of clothes, and the like. Now that you mention it, I have not seen him for several days either. Wasn't Cousin with you and Brother Song at a gathering before?" Wang Ziquan's cousin Chen Hong asked in confusion.

Upon hearing this, Song Zhenguo's expression grew even more worried. He looked at Lu Sheng, and the two exchanged glances.

"Yes, he did attend a gathering with us before. We simply have not seen him these past two days, so we came to ask."

"Oh, come to think of it, Cousin came here late the night before last, in the middle of the night, and asked me for several fine sachets and face powder." Chen Hong grinned. "I would say there is an eighty or ninety percent chance that spring has stirred in his heart! Hehe, the sachets and powder he took were all styles for young girls too. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"The night before last? What time?" Lu Sheng suddenly asked, his expression turning strange.

"Around Chou Hour, I think. It was very late. I was already asleep when Cousin knocked and woke me, insisting that I come downstairs to get him the things. Sigh, being woken up so late left a deep impression on me." Chen Hong stroked his chin. "Come to think of it, taking sachets and face powder at such a late hour... tsk, tsk..." A smile that all men understood appeared on his face.

Song Zhenguo was somewhat stunned, his brows tightly furrowed as he failed to understand what was happening.

But Lu Sheng had already formed a guess, and his mood grew heavy.

Song Zhenguo saw Lu Sheng's expression and knew he had thought of something. He hurriedly bade Chen Hong farewell.

After leaving the shop, he pulled Lu Sheng into a corner by the street.

"Yuesheng, tell me. Did you think of some clue? Ziquan did not even tell his own cousin, and he went out the night before last. But that night, wasn't he still drinking with us on the pleasure boat??" His expression was grave.

Lu Sheng stared seriously at Song Zhenguo.

"Zhenguo, actually, after we left that night, I went back to that pleasure boat once."

Song Zhenguo froze. "Why did you go back, Yuesheng? It was already so late. The pleasure boat had probably closed for the night, hadn't it?"

"It had closed." Lu Sheng's face was solemn. "I went because I had left my money pouch on the boat and returned to retrieve it. I did not expect..."

"Did not expect what??" Song Zhenguo's expression also turned grave, affected by the atmosphere in Lu Sheng's words.

"I did not expect there to be no one at all on the pleasure boat. Red Lanterns hung everywhere." Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes and continued. "I quickly entered the room where we had been before. There were two additional large lanterns hanging inside, but there was still no one there. Not even a single cleaner could be seen. Later, I found my money pouch and hurried out."

"No one at all... Could it be..." Song Zhenguo suddenly seemed to think of something. "Could it be that Ziquan went looking for his cousin in the middle of the night because he wanted to deliver face powder and sachets to one of the girls on the pleasure boat? But since you went back too, how..."

"It is very possible!" Lu Sheng thought of it as well. "Let us stop guessing and go directly to the pleasure boat to ask."

Song Zhenguo nodded at this.

Without another word, they hailed another carriage and headed for the banks of Pine Cypress River. The sky was gradually darkening, just the right time for nighttime revelry and drinking with courtesans.

Song Zhenguo led Lu Sheng along familiar paths to the pleasure boat they had visited before. It was called the Oriole Oriole Pleasure Boat.