A Dance to Topple Cities, The Battle for Empty Fame (Part 1)

Outside Ming Jian Tower, the crowd was already bustling and noisy. It took a fair bit of effort for Ji Yuan and Jiu Yan to dismount their carriage and enter the building. Yet for Ji Yuan, this kind of scene was far more comfortable than being inside the carriage. For some reason, whenever he was alone with Jiu Yan, there was always a suffocating sense of restricted breathing. Only upon arriving inside this Ming Jian Tower did he truly breathe a sigh of relief, adding a few more fractions of confidence to the information mentioned in the intelligence reports. According to the intelligence, Jiu Yan was mild-mannered and indifferent, keeping to himself and rarely going out in his daily life. He outwardly displayed only a single hobby, which was "taming women and crafting incense"—roughly speaking, as the name implied, using this to stimulate his inspiration. While in Huayan City of the Northern Wilderness, Jiu Yan had taken in a beautiful dancer, and it was said his methods later on were quite brutal. The origin of that dancer was precisely the Yinan Garden of Huayan City. As for the Yinan Troupe, it was formed from the transformation and rebranding of Yinan Garden. Just as he prepared to head upstairs, Ji Da gave a reminder from behind. Ji Yuan looked back, only to see the carriage carrying Duanmu Senqiu also pulling up. Once it came to a halt, two people alighted from the carriage. Aside from Duanmu Senqiu, there was also a tall, plump middle-aged man. Both of them wore brocade robes and jade belts, but the latter truly looked like a doughy, wealthy landowner. He smiled before speaking and appeared very amiable. This man was Zhu Baitu, the manager of Da Tongxing in Wu Gou City, whom Ji Yuan had gritted