ebookland Chapter 97 Kaiyang Town 2
Chapter 97 Kaiyang Town 2
The largest inn in Maple City is called Cloud Floating Inn. The innkeeper is a Foundation Establishment cultivator. To be able to occupy a prime location in such a densely populated area and open the largest inn in the city, the innkeeper must have some background.
"Brother-in-law, what brings you to our humble shop? And who are these immortal lords?" The group had barely stepped into the inn when the innkeeper came out to greet them. He was slender, with a shrewd glint in his eyes and a cunning look on his face.
Seeing that Cheng Jiu and the other two were extremely respectful, they subtly observed each other without being annoying, and even resembled the city lord's uncle and son-in-law.
"Uncle Li, you've arrived. Prepare three superior rooms for these three young immortals," the city lord said to his brother-in-law.
"Yes, yes! It just so happens that numbers seven, eight, and nine in the Tianzi section are all available, forming a row, which is perfect for the three young ladies to rest." After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he received an approving look from his brother-in-law.
“Fellow Daoists, although this Yunfu Inn is run by my brother-in-law, it is the best inn in the city. In terms of accommodation, it can be compared with Baofu Inn. You can ask Uncle Li for help if you encounter any problems.”
The city lord looked at the shopkeeper: "Uncle Li, these three fellow Daoists are Immortal Lords from the Upper Sect who have come to support the city's defense. I'm entrusting them to you. You must take good care of them. If you fail to treat them well, I will hold you responsible."
"Oh dear, brother-in-law, don't you know me? I'm always the most considerate person. These three fellow Daoists are staying at my Yunfu Inn, and I will make sure they feel right at home. You can rest assured!"
As Uncle Li said this, he also raised the level of importance he placed on the three of them to the highest level.
"How many spirit stones for three superior rooms per night?" Wen Sishu asked.
“Aren’t you three being too polite and insulting? You three have come to protect Kaiyang Town, so it is only right and proper for me, as the city lord of Fengcheng, to do my part as a host.”
"This inn is run by Uncle Li, so how can we let you three fellow Daoists pay for it? My city lord's mansion will cover all the expenses. Please don't refuse." The city lord waved his hand.
Since things had come to this point, it wouldn't look good to refuse again, so the three of them didn't back down.
"I wonder if the three of you have time tonight? The city lord's mansion is hosting a banquet to welcome you. Would you do me the honor of joining us?" the city lord asked cautiously.
"No need! We'll only stay one night and then leave. We have many more missions to complete and really don't have time. Thank you for your kind offer, group leader." Wen Sishu disliked these kinds of gatherings the most and declined.
Cheng Jiu and Mao Hongsheng also agreed. If the city lord insisted, they were willing to pay such a small amount of money.
Seeing that the three were adamant, the city lord did not insist. "Since you are new to Maple City, would you like to take a look around? That way, I can show you some hospitality."
The journey through Maple City revealed a bustling scene. Despite the impending beast tide, the city's businesses remained open to customers, and the people were unperturbed.
Outside, the lights were bright, and the evening market was bustling with people, with the faint sounds of vendors calling out their wares audible.
People coming in and out of the inn bypassed the group, looking on with some surprise as the city lord appeared in the inn.
The three considered it for a moment and nodded. The city lord's eyes flashed with joy when he saw that they had agreed.
This is the busiest place. In addition to the various embroidery pavilions, bookstores, music pavilions, food pavilions, opera houses, and gold pavilions, there are also some small shops. Although small, it has everything you need.
They sell some novel items there, such as jewelry. They may not be of high quality, but they are novel.
There were also some foods, as well as shadow puppets and acrobatics that had been transformed from the mortal world, only the cultivation version seemed more realistic.
Cheng Jiu and his companions had a blast, especially at the library. It truly lived up to its reputation as a small town, housing a collection of storybooks and jade slips, some of which had even been destroyed.
On the surface, the bookstore here sells some cultivation techniques, but in reality, it engages in some shady business, such as selling storybooks.
Moreover, in small places, the connections are wild; besides those written by big names in the cultivation world, there are also those who come from the mortal realm.
The fanfiction in the Mortal Realm is incredibly diverse, covering all sorts of topics. Cheng Jiu even came across a fanfiction featuring the emperors of the Lin Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty!
Good heavens! Cheng Jiu was completely stunned. You have to understand that both of these dynasties were feudal dynasties, where the royal family was supreme. How could someone be so bold as to dare to slander the royal family!
Wow! Well done!
Cheng Jiu strongly suspected that the author of this book was someone from the royal family. After all, even the emperor of the Wei Dynasty knew perfectly well that he had been sent to the Lin Dynasty as a hostage when he was young.
Moreover, the emotional interactions between the two seemed very genuine, suggesting that the story was indeed true.
The two emperors did indeed grow up together when they were young, and even the Wei emperor was able to return to the country only because the current Lin emperor took the initiative to plead for him.
However, the relationship between the two is definitely not the one depicted in this fanfiction; it is more of a mutually beneficial relationship based on mutual exploitation.
After all, neither of the two great dynasties had produced any wise rulers in recent years, but the Qiongyun Dynasty had produced one wise ruler after another, and was showing a tendency to surpass the two great dynasties among the three great dynasties.
That's why the two dynasties joined forces to fight against the Qiongyun Dynasty, in case she really did unify the mortal world.
Although the Qiongyun Dynasty claimed that men and women had relatively equal status, it was essentially a matriarchal dynasty.
If the Qiongyun Dynasty really attacks, wouldn't their emperors be captured and taken to the Qiongyun Empress's harem?
The idea that a queen's harem would need men to reproduce is something they simply cannot accept.
If Empress Qiongyun knew what they were thinking, she would definitely spit in their faces. Shameless! She doesn't accept just anyone, does she?
Even just seeing them standing in front of her made her feel like she was being taken advantage of.
Aside from this rather outrageous fanfiction, Cheng Jiuzhen witnessed firsthand what truly outrageous unofficial histories are. For example, in this one, Prince Xian rapes and murders the Crown Prince across borders, and the Crown Prince, to protect his lover, elopes with Yuanyang.
The death of the former crown prince of the Wei dynasty was rather bizarre, as he died suddenly. Therefore, the Wei dynasty had no choice but to recall the current Wei emperor, who was already a hostage.
Because it was so bizarre, there have been many different versions of the story among the people, and countless stories have been written about it.
At first, it was pretty normal, mostly about solving cases and making deductions.
The story gets increasingly dramatic. For example, this story is about the current emperor of the Wei dynasty, who is very unwilling to accept his idle life. On his way away from the Wei dynasty, he meets a powerful remnant soul and learns the art of traveling a thousand miles a day.
As a result, when he was about to kill the former crown prince, he saw that the prince was quite handsome and couldn't bear to kill him, but instead became lustful.
After the death of the former crown prince, the current emperor of the Wei dynasty worried that people would suspect him, so he seduced the current emperor of the Lin dynasty and made him testify on his behalf. In the end, with the help of the crown prince of the Lin dynasty, he successfully returned to the court.
The plot is so dramatic and the language so sharp that Cheng Jiu can only say he's been opened to a whole new world! This book is truly unique and explosive even among those fabricated rumors.
While the royal family can be quite dramatic, it's not actually that explosive.
The former Crown Prince of Wei was born to the former emperor's most beloved concubine. Although the current emperor of Wei is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, the former emperor favored the son of the concubine.
Therefore, during the banquet between the two dynasties, the Lin dynasty jokingly said that it and the Wei dynasty would exchange hostages to prove the friendly relations between the two dynasties.
The former emperor agreed without the slightest hesitation! Then he bestowed the title of Prince Xian upon his eldest son, whom he considered an eyesore, and sent him to the Lin Dynasty.
The Lin dynasty was also dumbfounded; they had not expected the Wei emperor to be so sincere.
Of course, the power struggles within the Lin Dynasty royal family were not peaceful either, and those who supported the second prince's eyes lit up as soon as they saw him.
Since the Wei Dynasty was so sincere in establishing friendly relations, the Lin Dynasty could not afford to be outdone. They wanted the former emperor of the Lin Dynasty to send the current emperor, who was then the crown prince, to the Wei Dynasty.
However, the current emperor of the Lin family is not a pushover.
Her father was a martial saint who guarded the border. Upon hearing about what had happened in the previous dynasty, she led a team of imperial guards, striding arrogantly and with unparalleled elegance, up to the Golden Palace and plopped down on the dragon throne.
The late Emperor Lin didn't dare to utter a sound. Afraid that she might be uncomfortable, he reluctantly moved another chair over and sat down next to her.
All the civil and military officials, those who were prepared to offer advice, dared not utter a sound when they saw the imperial guards behind them, who looked like menacing stars.
The Second Prince and his entourage were nothing more than clowns, after all, the Empress's father was not only a martial saint, but the Empress was also the granddaughter of a literary saint of the dynasty.
With both civil and military power, even though she was arrogant all these years, she has remained firmly in her position as empress and her son as crown prince.
As for why these people are so ungrateful, what else could it be? They feel that if the crown prince is too secure in his position, they will have no chance to seize their own interests.
Unfortunately, although the previous emperor was very powerful, he was a coward. Although he had many concubines in the harem who had given birth to many sons, he did not dote on the empress.
But if the empress really got angry, he didn't dare to utter a sound.
Perhaps he did have some ulterior motives, but when facing the Empress, his choice was always to decisively betray those who supported him and then absolve himself of all responsibility. Over the years, he had never dared to raise his voice at the Empress, a fact known to almost the entire Lin Dynasty.
Because the empress was not favored, the emperor rarely stepped into her coffin more than a few times a year.
Therefore, this group of people felt that they saw an opportunity, after all, the supreme ruler of the Lin Dynasty was the emperor.
But after fighting time and time again with high expectations, this group of people became numb; they had never seen such a cowardly emperor.
Therefore, the current emperor's ascension to the throne went very smoothly, because the opposing forces were all betrayed and killed by his father.
The three of them were selecting storybooks, while the host who managed the bookstore was sweating profusely and completely exhausted. Although he ran this business, he mostly did it in private. However, the three of them were brought over by the city lord.
He was reading those stories about the shady industries when he saw the city lord flipping through jade slips next to him. He felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. It was all over!
"You have quite a complete collection here," the city lord joked. "You even have the Blood Rain Record."
"No, no! Lord City Lord, you're joking. These are just some storybooks I randomly collected. I have no idea what's inside! Please be aware of this." The shopkeeper wiped his sweat and chuckled.
"I want these gentlemen!" The city lord stroked the jade slip in his hand, quite fond of it. Young people like Cheng Jiu might not have read it, but this storybook was enthusiastically received as soon as it was published.
The person who wrote this storybook must have been quite capable; some people may even have gained enlightenment through it.
Many of the cultivation tips inside are very practical and can answer most of the questions encountered on the path of cultivation.
Most importantly, it looks great!
Unfortunately, only 1 copies were printed at the time, and they were never reproduced.
It can be said that the entire cultivation world went crazy for it, with the highest-priced item even fetching 50,000 top-grade spirit stones at auction.
The bookstore owner's heart bled upon hearing his words: "Lord City Lord, this is a grave mistake..."
Meeting the city lord's sharp eyes, he could only meekly and reluctantly reply, "Thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones."
Considering this was the city lord, he lowered his offer a bit.
On the other side, Cheng Jiu and the other two had also made their selections, put the books aside, and the city lord paid the bill voluntarily.
I bought pastries and candies on the way, and also bought a lantern.
It can only be said that if this city lord really wanted to please people, he would go to great lengths to do so, even taking the three of them to the food pavilion, not caring about the price, but only about the taste.
Moreover, the spirit beasts could also eat; the little cloud beast, the little black dragon, and the divine-eyed moon shadow tiger all ate with great satisfaction.
"Shu'er, what are you doing here!" The city lord exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the graceful figure in front of him.
Ignoring Cheng Jiu and the other two, he rushed to the girl's side.
Reaching out to touch the girl's hand, he glared at the maid beside him: "How are you taking care of Miss? And Miss is so frail, it's late at night and the dew is heavy, how can you let her go out?"
"Please forgive me, sir!" The maid knelt down.
"Father, don't blame her. I insisted on coming. After taking the medicine you got from Medicine King Valley, I'm much better. I really wanted to see the night market! Yuanjuan couldn't persuade me otherwise, so she came along."
The girl was graceful and delicate, like a willow swaying in the breeze. She wore a yellow dress underneath a large, bright red robe, and was beautiful and charming. But upon closer inspection, she had no eyes and no life in her eyes, and her whole appearance was sickly.
Even against such a bright color, it still looks too pale.
Just looking at her makes one's heart ache, and one can't help but feel pity for her; she is such a delicate and lovely woman.
"You! You can come to see me anytime you're better! Get up now and take good care of Miss. If anything happens to her, I won't hold you responsible."
"Thank you, sir," Yuan Juan said gratefully, tears streaming down her face, as she reached out to support her young mistress.
"Father, do you still have guests? Go and keep them company. I'm fine on my own." The girl looked at Cheng Jiu and the other two behind him.
The city lord was now completely preoccupied with his daughter, and only after hearing her words did he manage to regain his composure.
"I'm sorry!" The city lord said apologetically, "This is my youngest daughter, Qiu Shuyu. She was born with a deficiency in her body. Although she is beautiful, she is destined to die young. I love this daughter more, so please forgive me."
The three shook their heads: "It's alright. Wouldn't it be too heartless of us to be too harsh on the city lord for expressing such deep fatherly love?"
Wen Sishu examined her carefully: "Miss, you have a congenital heart disease, and it seems to be quite serious. But it's not incurable; taking a Heart Nourishing Pill will do the trick."
The city lord shook his head with a wry smile: "The Nourishing Heart Pill is an eighth-grade elixir. How could a city lord like me, from a small city, possibly obtain it?"
Years ago, I took Shuer to Medicine King Valley for treatment, but we couldn't even get a glimpse of an eighth-grade alchemist. The three of them..."
He paused: "I know that the three of you are the prodigies of the Guiyuan Sect. I wonder if you could recommend an eighth-grade alchemist? If you are willing to help, I will do anything for you!"
"Father!" Qiu Shuyu called out. Over the years, her father had asked many people for help for her health, and she knew how difficult that had been. Now, for her sake, he was making this request again...
"Shu'er, don't speak." The city lord's chubby face was full of pleading.
If he weren't afraid they would think he was morally blackmailing them, he would even kneel down! He truly loves this daughter to the core.
The three of them had a great time under his care, and the city lord had a very good reputation along the way.
There are three towns under Fengcheng. Fengcheng had already cleared out the southwest corner of the city, and the people there were given a large sum of resettlement money.
This place was specifically for settling people who had taken refuge from the three towns. The city lord's mansion would also provide three meals a day, which might not be very good, but it was enough to fill the stomachs of these people.
These people sought refuge in villages and towns, and they didn't actually have many spirit stones on them, so they faced considerable financial pressure.
However, with the protection of the city lord's mansion, and the fact that they were allowed to engage in some small businesses in the city to supplement their household income, they would also occasionally hire people to do work relief to alleviate their financial burden.
They may not have treated the other two towns as well as they had treated Kaiyang Town, which they brought with them, but it was still quite good.
Therefore, Wen Sishu didn't mind helping him.
"Have you prepared the medicinal herbs?"
The city lord's chubby face was filled with joy upon hearing this: "Don't worry, little immortal, I still know the rules. These are three portions of medicinal herbs. And these three rings are a small token of my appreciation. Regardless of whether things succeed or not, I will be eternally grateful to you, little immortal."
Wen Sishu accepted the four rings he sent, distributed them to Mao Hongsheng and Cheng Jiu, and then put them into his own ring: "I will give these medicinal herbs to my senior brother to refine. Don't worry, once the pills are finished, I will have them delivered to you by express courier. Remember to sign for them when they arrive."
"I am already deeply grateful for your help, Little Immortal Lord. How could I not be at ease? Please allow me to do my part again. Miss Salo is performing today, and I would be honored if the three of you would grace us with your presence." The city lord was overjoyed. He did not believe that these three young prodigies would be interested in such a small thing of his.
Anyone willing to help is welcome!
Qiu Shuyu: "Yes, please, my three benefactors, do not refuse!"
Seeing that the father and daughter had gone this far, Wen Sishu and the other two agreed.
After listening to Yue Feng's performance, Cheng Jiu thought it was just so-so. However, Yue Feng's skill on the zither was indeed excellent; the music was beautiful, like a clear spring in the mountains.
Anyway, Wen Sishu and Mao Hongsheng listened very attentively.
After watching the performance and listening to the folk songs, the group said goodbye and returned to the inn.
The city lord also returned to his mansion with his daughter. Because his daughter's matter had been resolved smoothly, his plump figure radiated joy.