Listening to the clanging and banging mixed with cries of “Aiya!” and “Aihai ya!” coming from upstairs, everyone downstairs – whether staff or customers – remained completely calm, eating and drinking as usual, as if nothing had happened.

There was no helping it. In the capital, this sort of thing was too common. Any tavern that hadn’t had a fight or two wouldn’t dare claim to be in the restaurant business.

Hearing the commotion upstairs die down, the shopkeeper behind the counter, who had been working his abacus, knew the fight was about over. He jerked his chin toward the upstairs.

“Go ask those gentlemen if they want food and drink, and while you’re at it, take a look and estimate how much the tables, chairs, benches, bowls, chopsticks, and plates will cost,” he said.

The staff responded and thumped upstairs.

The second floor was just like the first – all the customers were unaffected. The only thing everyone regretted was that the fight was in a private room, so they couldn’t watch.

A staff member knocked on the door and asked.

“Bring up your most expensive banquet, and also call seven or eight of your best women,” a voice said from inside.

Wonderful~ Not only did he get beaten, but now he had to pay through the nose too.

The staff member responded loudly and trotted off.

“Seven or eight women!” Fan Yilin shouted. “Aren’t you afraid of dying from exhaustion!”

Li Tong hurriedly tugged at him.

“Say less…” he said, covering his face.

Before he finished speaking, a stool leg flew over with perfect accuracy, and Fan Yilin clutched his shoulder, crying out repeatedly.

At this moment, he was sitting on the ground, his face unchanged but his expression extremely twisted, his hands and feet seeming to have no proper place as he felt around his body.

If one were to open his clothes and look at this moment, they would see Fan Yilin was already covered in bruises.

This was the technique of beating people. After all, everyone here had status, and they still needed to maintain their appearance when they went out. As the saying goes, “beat the person but not the face.”

“Your Excellency, this is just a joke. Please be magnanimous…” Li Tong said with an apologetic smile once again.

His good intentions were not appreciated. Fan Yilin shouted, interrupting him.

“It’s not a joke. I just wanted to hit this blind bastard!” he said.

Li Tong covered his face again.

But this time, nothing came flying over.

The man sitting on the room’s only surviving table smiled and actually waved his hand.

The four men with their bloody aura turned and left.

Half the oppressive feeling in the room dissipated.

Li Tong breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although he had lived in the capital all his life and had never left it, the capital had all kinds of people, so he could tell at a glance that these men were not ordinary household guards – they had truly seen blood!

What kind of person could have such fierce guards?

Even though he and Fan Yilin had made their comeback, the capital was never short of various nobles who suddenly appeared. It was better to be cautious and not ruin what was already a dreamlike and unreal future.

“Alright, stop talking tough,” Chang Yuncheng said, picking up the wine pot beside him. It had been knocked over during the earlier fight, and he shook it. Not a drop of wine remained, so he threw the wine pot on the ground somewhat irritably. “Hurry up!”

Both Li Tong and Fan Yilin shuddered.

High-pitched shouting came from outside the door.

“Coming~”

The door was pulled open, and a full banquet with its table was carried in. Four or five other staff members calmly cleaned up the broken tables, chairs, benches, and ceramic pieces in the room like a whirlwind. Even the flowers arranged in the corners were replaced. In almost the blink of an eye, the room was refreshed and restored to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Chang Yuncheng drank wine in large gulps and ate the dishes.

“Not bad. You little bastard do have some taste in food, drink, and entertainment,” he said with a laugh. “The food and wine are excellent!”

Fan Yilin spat heavily.

“At least better than your taste!” he cursed, watching Chang Yuncheng eat meat and drink wine in large mouthfuls, feeling indignant. He scooted over from where he sat on the ground, picked up his chopsticks, and also began eating heartily.

It seemed they knew each other?

Li Tong finally realized this, looking at the man and then at Fan Yilin.

“Come, eat,” Fan Yilin beckoned to him.

Li Tong nodded and sat on his side.

There was another knock at the door, followed by sweet, melodious voices.

“Master, the young ladies have arrived,” the staff member said from outside.

The door opened, and fragrance wafted in, accompanied by the tinkling of jewelry.

“Gentlemen,” seven or eight women of various figures, all dressed up beautifully, surged forward with smiling faces to greet them.

With these women in the room, Fan Yilin felt the atmosphere had improved somewhat, and his mood lifted.

He quickly scanned them with his eyes, already spotting four or five to his liking. Just as he was about to speak, Chang Yuncheng raised his hand and pointed.

“All of you sit over there in the corner,” he said.

The women were stunned for a moment, but they didn’t ask anything. The gentlemen probably hadn’t finished their business yet, and they knew the rules. So they smiled and responded affirmatively, then sat down on the floor in the corner with their melodious voices. Several of them, seeing Fan Yilin’s gaze, all sent him coquettish glances and charming smiles, making Fan Yilin’s heart itch even more.

Here, Chang Yuncheng ate meat and drank wine in large mouthfuls. Li Tong didn’t know what relationship the two had and didn’t dare speak, so he could only eat and drink with his head down. Fan Yilin, seeing Chang Yuncheng eating and drinking heartily, felt upset, so he also ate and drank heartily.

The courtesans who had been sitting to the side waiting for them to finish discussing important matters began to feel something was wrong. They stopped talking and stared blankly at these three men who were eating and drinking with their heads down.

So they were called here to watch them eat?

Fan Yilin was the first to put down his chopsticks, snorting heavily.

“You can still eat? Seems I haven’t scolded you enough,” he said with a snort.

Li Tong simply stopped caring. At worst, he’d get another beating. He could see that this person was measured in his actions and wasn’t trying to kill them.

Chang Yuncheng paid no attention and ate comfortably.

“You were surprised to receive the letter, weren’t you?” Fan Yilin continued.

“Surprised my ass!” Chang Yuncheng said.

Fan Yilin spat.

“I say Lady Qi writing you a letter was already honoring you. If it were up to me, someone like you isn’t even worth scolding…” he said. “What a waste of paper…”

Chang Yuncheng’s chopsticks paused slightly. He tilted his head, feeling that he had just heard a few words he shouldn’t have heard, somewhat strange…

But this Fan Yilin always spoke incoherently…

“…You’re lucky. Lady Qi had just left when you arrived. Otherwise, what’s the point of writing a letter? It’s better to scold you face to face…” Fan Yilin continued.

Before he finished speaking, there was a “thud.” Chang Yuncheng had stood up. Because he stood too suddenly, the table in front of him was almost overturned, and the bowls and chopsticks made collision sounds.

Here we go again!

Fan Yilin covered his head, and Li Tong covered his face and turned aside.

But no big fist came down.

“What did you say?” Chang Yuncheng asked in a trembling voice.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Fan Yilin shouted, though his hands were still protecting his head.

Chang Yuncheng grabbed him and lifted him up.

“She, she came to the capital?” he asked in a trembling voice.

Only then did Fan Yilin realize what he was asking.

“Why are you playing dumb? Didn’t she tell you in her letter?” he asked, staring. “Oh, maybe Lady Qi didn’t tell you. Just scolding you would be enough to never finish…”

Chang Yuncheng felt his hands trembling.

She really came?

“She, she came by herself? Or…” he asked, looking at Fan Yilin and suddenly thinking of Fan Yilin’s identity.

The Wang family…

Fan Yilin knew so much detail, could it be… could it be… a relative visiting…

A relative!

Chang Yuncheng involuntarily tightened his grip.

Fan Yilin let out a howl.

This frightened the courtesans in the corner, who also screamed. The room suddenly became chaotic again.

The staff downstairs heard this and were delighted.

“Quick, go prepare another top-grade banquet,” he said to his people with a beaming smile.

Unfortunately, no one ordered another banquet. Instead, someone rushed downstairs in a hurry, taking three steps as two, and left before anyone could even see his figure clearly.

This was trying to skip out on the bill!

The staff member had a flash of inspiration.

“Quick, block him,” he shouted, personally leading people to rush up.

Sure enough, another man was pulling at the door to leave, but was grabbed by the person behind him.

“I say, Little Li, what do you mean? You’re not going to make me pay for this Tianxiang Tower’s top-grade banquet alone, are you? Weren’t you treating today?” Fan Yilin shouted.

“Young master, there’s still the ladies’ powder money!” a courtesan hurriedly reminded.

“What powder money? I didn’t do anything! You all watched me eat – you should be paying me!” Fan Yilin shouted back.

This remark caused trouble. The courtesans immediately exploded.

“Third Master, someone’s eating at the flower house and not paying!”

With this shout, several burly men emerged from downstairs, surrounding them with fierce expressions.

Fan Yilin and Li Tong shuddered with fright.

“Brother Fan, this, this… I’ll treat you another day. I’m a concubine’s son at home and unmarried. You know I don’t have money…” Li Tong said hurriedly, lifting his foot to run.

“Damn it, you can’t do this!” Fan Yilin shouted, grabbing him and not letting go. “Don’t you have any loyalty? I don’t have money either!”

“You have more money than me. When I get my salary, I’ll treat you,” Li Tong said. Fan Yilin’s strength was greater and he couldn’t break free, but he had a sudden inspiration and pressed Fan Yilin’s shoulder.

Fan Yilin’s shoulder had been injured by Chang Yuncheng’s men. When pressed, he immediately howled, and his hand naturally loosened.

Li Tong took the opportunity to break free.

Looking at the staff members blocking the stairway in formation, Li Tong smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll settle the bill in the back,” he said, covering his face with his hand.

The staff made way, and he fled like smoke, ignoring Fan Yilin’s pig-like screaming behind him.

“…I was blind in choosing friends! You heartless, ungrateful friends!”

Chang Yuncheng didn’t care about Fan Yilin’s misfortune at being trapped in Tianxiang Tower. He ran all the way to the prefect’s residence where he was staying. His guards didn’t know what had happened and followed him in his mad dash. All along the way, the streets were thrown into chaos with chickens flying and dogs jumping, people and horses tumbling, almost alerting the Five Districts Military Commissioner who thought there was a rebel disturbance.

“Where’s the letter?” Chang Yuncheng shouted as he rushed into the courtyard.

His personal guards were somewhat confused by his shouting.

“Fan Yilin’s letter!” Chang Yuncheng shouted again.

One guard came to his senses.

“Oh, Prince, I haven’t had time to burn it yet. I’ll go burn it now…” he said hurriedly.

Before he finished speaking, Chang Yuncheng kicked him.

“Burn what? Go get it for me quickly!” he shouted urgently.

After a chaotic scramble that nearly scattered their luggage throughout the room, they finally found the letter.

Chang Yuncheng took it and found his hands were shaking badly. He couldn’t tear it open properly after several attempts, which surprised the guards watching him.

With great difficulty, he tore it open, and sure enough, another letter fell out from the folded paper.

Chang Yuncheng caught it, threw away Fan Yilin’s letter, and held this one with both hands.

The envelope was very simple, with somewhat sloppy, crooked writing: “Chang Yuncheng.”

This was handwriting he was all too familiar with…