Morning Moon Hall's main entrance was an octagonal tower, old but adorned with exquisite carved beams and painted rafters. Broad and imposing, it still retained its grandeur after weathering the years.
Behind the octagonal tower stretched a complex of pavilions and buildings arranged around three successive courtyards.
Situated in a bustling district of Dazhi City, the compound should have been a place where wealth flowed in. In reality, it was a long-established bookshop and library, frequented by scholars exchanging their thoughts in writing or holding forth in polished verse. Its literary air was refreshing.
Dazhi City's scholars and poets, along with well-bred young ladies who loved literature, all enjoyed spending time here. The surroundings were pleasant, and so was the atmosphere.
The hall master Dong Wenshu's father had established the bookshop using the family collection accumulated over generations. Its name conveyed the idea of reading morning and evening.
The aged appearance of the bookshop's entrance tower alone made it clear that this was no moneymaking enterprise. Ten coins bought a full day of reading, with tea included. Fifteen coins also came with a serving of pastries substantial enough for lunch, while borrowing a book cost two coins a day.
One piece of sandalwood gold could be exchanged for a hundred coins. With that income covering the expenses of such a large establishment, what profit could possibly remain?
Dressed as a servant in blue, Shi Chun sat crookedly at a desk in a corner that people rarely used, propping his chin on one hand against the tabletop. A book lay beside him, but his gaze kept wandering toward the well-born young ladies, admiring their figures.
Whenever he saw someone raise a hand and wave, he immediately got up, fetched a kettle from one of the stoves, and hurried over to pour