Brought to His Knees

Spring City was a beautiful city with a long history.

This city of more than five million people was divided into an old district and a new district. The old district had largely retained its historical character, with buildings hundreds or even thousands of years old everywhere, and even the city walls were remarkably well preserved.

Spring Dawn Teahouse stood beside the old city wall.

Spring Dawn Teahouse was renowned throughout Spring City. It was said that its construction had consumed over a hundred nanmu trees more than a century old, including quite a few precious Golden-thread Nanmu trees, which would now be worth more than gold.

Its craftsmanship was also exquisite. It had been built entirely with mortise-and-tenon joints without a single nail, with bracket sets, upturned eaves, carved beams, and painted rafters. Back then, it had been a place for Spring City's dignitaries to relax and socialize.

Although Spring Dawn Teahouse was still open to the public, its prices were exorbitant. Even the most ordinary pot of tea started at several hundred yuan, enough to deter ordinary people.

Zuo Yi and Fang Xiaohui arrived together at a private room on the third floor of Spring Dawn Teahouse.

The private room was not large, but it was decorated with great elegance. A rosewood tea table stood in the center, and seated imposingly in the seat of honor to the right of the doorway was a man wearing a brocade Tang suit.

The man was pot-bellied and as fat as Maitreya. His round, fleshy face looked festive, and his narrowed eyes gave him a kind appearance.

He wore all manner of pendants and jewelry: dzi beads, amber, Buddhist amulets, and a thick gold chain. The jade thumb ring on the hand holding his teacup was especially conspicuous.

By the window,