Moonlight Pavilion
Tang Yuehua was hung against the wall by tentacles, her toes dangling above the floor and her eyes rolled back.
"You can't take it after just two rounds?" Jiang Ce's voice held a hint of teasing.
"Teacher..." Tang Yuehua's voice was weak, and her legs were still trembling.
Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Tang Yuehua jolted.
"Miss, the steward is waiting for you." The voice of Tang Jiu, her guard, came from outside.
The sound of trickling water seeped through the gap beneath the door. Tang Jiu paused, sensing that something was off.
"Miss, are you all right?"
"I... I'm fine. Go on ahead. I'll be there in a moment."
Tang Yuehua struggled to keep her composure, every word taut with strain.
Tang Jiu frowned, but in the end, he obeyed and left.
Jiang Ce pulled out a tentacle and flicked the droplets from it, his tone teasing. "So scared you wet yourself?"
Tang Yuehua's face flushed bright red with embarrassment.
"Teacher... I still have Moonlight Pavilion matters to take care of..."
"No rush. Let's discuss the important things first." A tentacle slid off her and continued blocking the sluice gate. Jiang Ce's tone turned serious.
"On the surface, Moonlight Pavilion will remain an etiquette academy. Behind the scenes, we'll turn it into an intelligence network. The children of nobles will learn etiquette from you, and with your Noble Ring ability, they'll let slip more information than ten scouts could gather."
Tang Yuehua caught her breath and nodded earnestly. "This student understands. Soon, Moonlight Pavilion students will be spread across all the major families in Heaven Dou City. They'll hear everything in casual conversations between classes that they'd never hear at a banquet."
"First, turn the people around you into your own. Those two Soul Sage guards your father sent—they belong to the Clear Sky Sect, not to you. We need to deal with them first."
Tang Yuehua fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
The two guards were loyal to the Clear Sky Sect, not to her.
"Good. I'll take control of them now. Earlier, in Sunset Forest, I hunted two twenty-thousand-year soul beasts: a Nether Poison Scorpion and a Memory-Devouring Soul Spider. They gave me two skills that are just what we need."
"Paralysis Stinger injects neurotoxin, rendering the whole body immobile. Its duration decreases with the target's strength."
"Memory Override can erase or replace memories from the past half month and implant new ones. It won't work if the target's Mental Power is more than twice mine."
"Even though my body's only got twenty-five thousand years of cultivation left after splitting, that's more than enough to deal with two Soul Sages."
In Moonlight Pavilion's rear courtyard, the two Soul Sage guards stood watch at the foot of the stairs.
Jiang Ce flowed out from behind Tang Yuehua as black liquid, silently spreading across the floor.
Two tentacles shot out. Their tips hardened into scorpion-like stingers and pierced the guards' necks with pinpoint accuracy.
Soul Skill: Paralysis Stinger.
The two men's pupils contracted. They tried to summon their Martial Souls, but their bodies had already lost all control.
Their minds remained clear, but their limbs felt as if every last bit of strength had been drained from them. They couldn't even open their mouths.
Soul Skill: Memory Override.
Moments later, the guards' eyes shifted from bewilderment to emptiness, then from emptiness to a new loyalty.
"Done. Their loyalty to the Clear Sky Sect is carved into their bones, but they've always treated you properly. Your father really did send them in good faith. Their memories have been rewritten, so you can call on them whenever you want."
Tang Yuehua watched the black patterns that flashed across the two guards' bodies, then let out a soft breath.
After all, they were her guards.
Thank goodness Teacher hadn't killed them. He'd only changed who they served.
The steward was already waiting in the meeting hall.
"Miss Tang, Boss Zhao is pressing us again. He says if we don't pay the remaining balance on the timber soon, he'll sue us for breach of contract at the auction house. Also, the stone shop south of the city says our Moonlight Pavilion order is too small and they don't want to take it."
Tang Yuehua took the list and scanned it.
"Pay Boss Zhao the remaining balance as agreed, but send back all the substandard timber and have him replace it with new material. As for the stone shop—tell them Moonlight Pavilion doesn't work with people who look down on us. Tell him to get lost."
The steward froze.
He'd worked at Moonlight Pavilion for half a year, and this was the first time he'd heard their employer say get lost.
In the past, she'd bitten her lip and said they'd find a way. Today, it was as if she'd become a different person.
"Take back the deposits from those small businesses west of the city that are trying to take advantage of us. From today on, Moonlight Pavilion won't accept any offers made in bad faith. If they want to work with us, they can renegotiate at market rates. If they don't, the door's right there."
The steward took the list and quickly left.
Tang Yuehua stood alone in the vast hall, looking down at the Soul Power churning in her palm.
The confidence Teacher had given her was enough to let her do many things she'd never dared even dream of before.
But confidence alone wasn't enough.
The sect elders were eager for her to marry into another family. To them, coming to Heaven Dou City to establish Moonlight Pavilion was a waste of time.
The more they thought that way, the more she had to prove herself.
She needed a foundation that could take root without relying on the Clear Sky Sect's name.
She sat at the table and spread out her plans.
On the surface, the Royal Etiquette Academy would continue teaching etiquette, music, and literature.
Behind the scenes, every bit of information from students' casual chats and conversations at banquets would be collected and filed away.
The empire's movements, sect deployments, Spirit Hall activities—all of it could become her trump card at a critical moment.
"Teacher, we don't have enough people at the start."
"Pick unaffiliated lone wolves from the mercenary guild, and pay them well. Use your Noble Ring to verify their loyalty—your domain can sense emotions and true intent, so it's practically made for screening spies."
Tang Yuehua's eyes lit up. "We could also pick a few students from noble families with clean backgrounds and sharp minds, then train them to join the middle ranks later. As for loyalty, Teacher can rewrite their memories."
The Black Latex Suit tightened slightly in reward. Tang Yuehua bit down on her pen to suppress the strange feeling in her throat, her ears burning.
When the steward came in again, she'd already filled several sheets of paper.
"The eldest son of the Liu Family in the north of the city has sent another invitation, asking you to attend a banquet. He's the one who tried to force us to sell our land last time."
Tang Yuehua set down her pen, a cold curve forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Reply that Moonlight Pavilion doesn't sell land, and I won't attend the banquet. Also, have someone keep watch nearby. Next time, he won't get a rejection letter."
The next morning, the atmosphere at the Moonlight Pavilion construction site had changed completely.
The steward was three times louder than usual, and suppliers were summoned one by one to renegotiate their contracts.
The stone shop owner was kicked off the list on the spot, and the small businesses that had tried to take advantage of them had their contracts terminated outright.
"Moonlight Pavilion doesn't lack materials. It lacks people who know the rules."
Before the morning was over, news of Moonlight Pavilion's renewed show of strength had spread through Heaven Dou City's business circles.
In the afternoon, Tang Yuehua sat in the newly arranged intelligence room, with the steward and the two Soul Sage guards whose memories had been rewritten standing before her.
She glanced at the list the steward had handed her and crossed out two names.
"These two have backgrounds that are too clean—so clean it doesn't seem real. Don't contact them until we've investigated.
"We can approach the remaining three lone wolves. Don't discuss anything important yet. Hire them as peripheral security in Moonlight Pavilion's name and observe them for a month."
She turned to the two Soul Sage guards. "Change into ordinary clothes and go to the east and west markets. Within a month, find out every information channel in Heaven Dou City's lower-level mercenary circles. When you return, I'll arrange new identities for you."
The two men bowed, accepted the order, and left the intelligence room.
The steward excused himself and left shortly afterward.
"Teacher, we've built the framework for the intelligence network, but we still need to settle on its core focus."
"Don't try to do too much with intelligence. Start by getting to know Heaven Dou City inside and out."
Tang Yuehua circled three priorities on the plan:
The noble circles, business guild activity, and mercenary missions.
"This student understands. We'll start with these three areas, establish ourselves, and then expand outward."
"Then the entire intelligence network will cover the whole Heaven Dou Empire!"
"Clever student. I'll have to give you a proper reward."
"Mmm..."
"Teacher, I want to be on top."
"Oh?"
"Get on top, and freeze yourself!"
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