"Peach blossom brew in a peach blossom cup!" Yuling clutched a translucent pink glazed cup. Its exterior was adorned with gold-foil stamens and silver-foil petals, all inlaid along the black rattan vines wrapping around the glass. Half a cup of peach blossom liquor was poured into the pink glazed vessel. A single cup slid down her throat—not quite spicy enough. Another cup. Then another, and another. Before she realized it, she had drunk too much, slipping into the hazy, intoxicated posture of a sleepy kitten.
Bai Molian, seated beside her, had noticed the anomaly long ago. The Khitan envoys had all retired to their quarters to rest, leaving only three or four military officers still drinking heartily at the banquet while chatting freely about affairs of state.
"Go back and rest early, Yuling. You're drunk." Bai Molian's gentle male voice sounded from above her. The man stood up, intending to pull her straight up from the banquet table, but met with the little drunk cat's resistance.
She hadn't had enough yet! Dammit.
The man snatched the wine cup from her hand, and with a mix of coaxing and pulling, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her all the way back to the guest room he had reserved for her earlier in Luyin Pavilion.
And his own room was just across the hallway.
Dumping this adorable little drunk cat onto the bed, he glanced down at her, a teasing, mocking smile curling the corners of his lips. He leaned over to look at her sleeping face. Indeed, only when she was fast asleep did she bear even the slightest resemblance to the word "serene."
He brushed the messy locks of hair from her forehead, and just as he prepared to straighten up, his neck was gripped in a death grip, dragging him right back down.
He fell awkwardly to the side, pressing her down onto the golden couch. Trying to pry apart her imprisoning hands, he heard the soft, tender voice spill from the little figure beneath him: "Immortal Lord, don't leave me."
In her dreams and deep subconscious, she was still dwelling on some Immortal Lord from the heavens?
A wave of jealousy churned in his chest, souring his very heartstrings with a persistent, inescapable ache.
With a mischievous urge, he pinched her soft, pink cheek. His lips moved in to kiss her, but right as he drew close, a sudden sense of vexation overtook him. In the end, he merely brushed his lips lightly against the skin of her cheek. Yet that unintentional touch scorched his heart, sparking a tiny flame that soon raged into a fierce wildfire.
As if frightened, he bolted from the room, slamming the door shut with a heavy, airtight thud. Only then did he let out a breath and retreat to his own quarters.
Another sleepless night.
Early the next morning, a bustle of voices rose from outside. Bai Molian and a group of other military officers were busy respectfully seeing off the Khitan envoys as they departed Luyin Pavilion to pay tribute at the imperial palace.
At an hour like this, Bai Molian must surely be up to his ears in work, scrambling around in a chaotic panic... Wait! There couldn't possibly be many people left behind in the pavilion right now. Most likely, the guards watching her had also gone off to see the envoys out. Haha! What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Yuling rolled over and woke up instantly. She had slept exceptionally well last night. Could that peach blossom brew actually possess some miraculous properties to soothe the mind, aid sleep, or dispel fatigue?
Now or never. She cautiously cracked her door open a sliver. Sure enough, no one was guarding the hallway, and the other guest rooms were almost entirely empty.
Before she could slip out of her room, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the wooden staircase. She instantly tiptoed back inside and softly closed her door.
A maidservant from Luyin Pavilion arrived at her door and knocked on the frame.
"Please come in."
The visitor was holding a bowl of rock-sugar mung bean soup, which she placed on the table inside the room. She then picked up the small-leaf sandalwood teapot and poured a cup of herbal tea, setting the bowl and cup neatly side by side on the table. "Please try this hangover soup, Lady Yu," the maid said. "You drank quite a bit last night, and the Commander of the Capital Guard was very worried. Before seeing off the envoys this morning, he specifically instructed me to cook a bowl of sweet mung bean soup for you. He said it helps dispel fatigue and cure hangovers. If your head still hurts, you can also drink some of Luyin Pavilion's special herbal tea—both help clear the mind and aid sleep."
"Thank you for the trouble."
"You're too kind, it's only right. Oh, by the way, once the Commander returns from seeing off the envoys, he still has to receive two senior court ministers here in the pavilion to discuss military affairs, so I'm afraid he'll be staying overnight at Luyin Pavilion again today. He gave instructions that you would be best off staying in your room to rest today and returning to Bai Mansion with him tomorrow."
Yuling nodded along repeatedly.
As soon as the maid stepped outside, Yuling scooped two spoonfuls of the mung bean soup into her mouth. It was indeed wonderfully sweet, and the soft, tender beans had a powdery, dense yet crisp and refreshing texture. Before she knew it, the entire bowl was gone.
Since she had nothing to do today and felt bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, why on earth should she waste a whole day cooped up in a room? She had agreed to return to the Bai Mansion tomorrow, but she certainly hadn't promised to remain glued to her room every second of today.
Noticing how sparsely populated the pavilion was, she slipped all the way back to Tingyu Pavilion inn in the East City.
And today happened to be the grand opening celebration of the inn directly across the street—Jinlan Cottage.
Yuling held a delicate round fan in her right hand, waving it back and forth to cool herself down. The plain silk fan face was exquisitely embroidered with a dark blue-feathered, black-billed spiritual bird perched among a cluster of pink peony branches. Its eyes were embroidered with such vivid precision that they looked almost real. This was clearly the handiwork of a master embroiderer who had honed her craft over many years.
Wenxin, the shop assistant beside her, chimed in, "With Jinlan Cottage opening today, almost all the celebrities and politicians of East City have turned out. It seems this inn is far from being as simple as it appears on the surface. The backer behind it has never once shown their face. I've spent ages asking around among East City wealthy merchants who have dealings with the officials, and not a single soul knows this person's background. That just goes to show..."
"They are certainly no ordinary person."
Yuling murmured the words, stopping her fan. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a semi-translucent raw silk veil, tied it behind her head, and covered the lower half of her pretty oval face.
Arching a slender brow, a light, melodic voice slipped from behind the veil: "I'll just go check out what they're really made of. Are you coming with me or not?"
A look of distress crossed the shop assistant's pale face. "Boss, it's not that I don't want to go with you. I sit here in Tingyu Pavilion every day, running around and serving guests. Jinlan Cottage opened right across the street from us, and their staff are constantly walking back and forth outside. Even if we're strangers, after a few days we'd look familiar to each other. I'm afraid their staff would recognize me. But you're different—ever since Tingyu Pavilion opened, you've hardly ever been here. Their people are bound to find your face unfamiliar and won't recognize you at all."
"That makes sense. Then you stay here at Tingyu Pavilion and keep tending to the guests."
Taking another look around, Tingyu Pavilion was practically deserted. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
Wenxin hastily smoothed things over, "It's still early yet. By noon, customer traffic is bound to skyrocket, Boss..."
Without the patience to listen to his nonsense, Yuling strode with firm determination straight toward the entrance of the opposing inn.
A plaque of pure gold hung above the grand doorway, carved with the bold regular-script characters for "Jinlan Cottage". The entrance was resplendent with gold and jade, even the threshold plated in bronze and gold.
Yuling stepped heavily across that threshold.
Two attendants clad in black brocade immediately blocked her path, interrogating her about her background and demanding her invitation card.
"Ah, well, it's like this. I'm a maid from the Bai Mansion in West City. Hearing that the East City inn 'Jinlan Cottage' was opening, my master, the Commander of the Capital Guard, specifically ordered me to come and offer his congratulations. Look here, both of you—this is the Bai Mansion token, which proves my identity. Furthermore, I beg you both to kindly accept these few gold leaves. Although the Bai Mansion didn't receive an invitation, our sincerity in coming to congratulate you on your grand opening is truer than gold. Surely you wouldn't dismiss our Commander's face like this."
The two lacklings pocketed the gold leaves, whispered among themselves, and summoned a manager of the inn named Steward Li. Steward Li examined the white jade token over and over again, confirming beyond a doubt that Yuling's identity was genuine. Only then did he step forward, greeting her respectfully with a beaming, flattering smile: "Please don't take offense, Lady. The guards at the door were blind and failed to recognize a person of consequence—I hope you won't take it to heart. Because this inn is located in East City, naturally our primary invitations went to East City's elite. Furthermore, the West City Commander is of imperial noble lineage, and the threshold of the Bai Mansion is so lofty that Manager Yun, who drafted the invitations, simply didn't dare send one to the Bai Mansion, fearing it would disturb your peace. Please forgive us, Lady. Your visit today truly brings boundless honor to Jinlan Cottage."
Yuling seized the opportunity to fish for information: "Isn't Jinlan Cottage primarily an inn? It just feels like the interior decoration is far too extravagant. How many ordinary people could possibly afford to stay here?"
Steward Li lowered his head with a private chuckle, his face creasing into folds of fat, before smilingly leading her toward the VIP seating area near the door of the west side room on the ground floor. He then spoke at a leisurely pace, his tone laced with a hint of mystery: "Well, Lady hit the nail on the head right there! Our primary clientele is high-ranking officials and political elites. It's a place for everyone to discuss important matters in absolute, top-tier privacy."
Yuling nodded. "Understood."
She crushed a fresh longan fruit, peeled away the shell, bit into the sweet, tender flesh inside, and spat out the dark pit. Within a mere quarter of an hour, a miniature mountain of golden longan shells had piled up in front of her.
Surrounded by East City's dignitaries and nobility, she simply sat quietly in the VIP area, leisurely listening to what the surrounding politicians and elites were whispering about.
Noticing her fondness for longans, a nearby inn attendant hurriedly cleared away the fruit shells from her table and placed a large platter of fresh longans alongside five soft, glutinous figs right in front of her seat.
What is this? Are her competitors trying to fatten her up?
Suddenly, she lost her appetite.
"Lady, my master requests your presence." An attendant suddenly stepped up, startling her badly.
The mysterious master behind Jinlan Cottage was actually taking the initiative to invite her? Could it be that her identity had already been exposed?
Resigned to her fate, she sighed, glanced up toward the third floor, and had no choice but to follow the attendant up the stairs.
Finally, the two stopped in front of the door to the east side room on the third floor.
The attendant knocked on the door. "Sir, Lady Yu has arrived."
Good grief, she had barely sat on the first floor of Jinlan Cottage for a quarter of an hour, and they had already investigated her name right down to the last detail. She had to admit, the subordinates of this master truly operated with top-tier efficiency.
Were those servants downstairs just using delaying tactics earlier? Even the name of Commander Bai Molian hadn't worked. As expected, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.
She sighed inwardly once more, and at the attendant's gesture, she had no choice but to brace herself and step inside.
The moment she entered, the door was slammed shut behind her by the attendant. Good grief, was this an attempt to catch a turtle in a jar? Still, everyone was in fair competition here, and she had only come to observe and learn. Surely the master behind such a magnificent, high-end inn wouldn't be someone of overly narrow mind?
A series of delicately strung bead curtains hung at staggered intervals along the ten-meter hallway inside—such luxury truly belonged to a place where money flowed like water.
Through the hazy screen of bead curtains, two shadowy figures could vaguely be seen sitting opposite each other, deep in conversation and entirely focused on a complex chessboard before them, contemplating their next move.