3 - Fumen Inn

Chapter 3 – Fumen Inn

Shangguan Yan squeezed in through the crowd and finally reached the front. She saw two groups of people standing face to face inside with one group comprising of five people facing two other people. First, she looked at the group of five people and noticed that a young man was surrounded by four guards. The gloomy handsome face of the young man was red and she knew that he had drunk too much.

When she saw this person, Shangguan Yan had to smile. Of course, she could never be compared to the handsome Ninth Prince of the Imperial Family!

Then she turned to look at the other two people and was startled.

Why is it him again?

At this moment, Di Jing was sitting at a table holding a teacup in one hand drinking calmly while a man was standing in front of him holding a sword facing the group of five men. She could recognize the man as Di Jing’s guard. However, this man was always guarding in the shadows and rarely makes an appearance, so she still did not know his name.

At this time, Tao Lang who was in the middle of persuading the people noticed her and immediately walked towards her.

“ Gongzi , you’re here.” On seeing that his Young Miss was dressed up in male clothing, Tao Lang greeted her as Gongzi .

“Is Ninth Gongzi here to drink wine and drown his sorrows again?” Ninth Gongzi is the Ninth Prince and she said those words with an expression of interest on her face as though the inn did not belong to her. Tao Lang understood her and sighed.

“He damaged a lot of things.”

“That’s alright. Anyway, it’s time to change the tables and chairs in our shop. Total up the amount then top up a bit more and get him to pay.”

Tao Lang sighed again. Only his Young Miss would feel so happy when her things are damaged. Thanks to the Ninth Prince, the rate of changing tables and chairs in their inn was much faster than other inns. When the Ninth Prince wanted to drink, he always likes to drink in this inn instead of going to the restaurants.

Shangguan Yan grinned. The person she likes the most is the drunk Ninth Prince. When this prince gets drunk, it is the time she can change new tables and chairs. At the same time, he would talk while he was drunk, and all the inhumane secrets of the imperial palace would spill out of his mouth. For example, who the Emperor favored or which imperial concubine fought with whom, or what the princes or princesses were doing……..everything was first-hand news.

On seeing the expression of ‘seeking fun’ on his Young Miss’s face, Tao Lang shook his head. “The Ninth Prince became drunk and turned crazy this time. He refused to let the other party off.”

Tao Lang explained the situation to Shangguan Yan.

It turned out that the Ninth Prince had wanted to reserve the whole inn for himself to drink alone, so he drove away all the other guests. However, one of the guests refused to leave and that person was Di Jing, so the Ninth Prince became annoyed. Unexpectedly, this Di Gongzi had only brought one guard with him but the guard’s martial arts was so good that the four guards of the Ninth Prince could not beat him. Thus the two sides ended up in a confrontation.

This man Di Jing is also quite interesting. At this time, he still has the mood to sit and drink tea with a display of calmness even though he is under such tremendous pressure.

However, Shangguan Yan felt utmost dissatisfaction with him……..because he is also very handsome and is so much more handsome than her!

“Alright, I’ll take care of it.”

In this inn, only she, Shangguan Yan can deal with the Ninth Prince without worrying about offending the imperial family. After all, the Ninth Prince and she are sworn brothers.

“Why do Ninth Gongzi has such interest and free time to come to my place for a drink?” Shangguan Yan smiled and came to stand in front of the Ninth Prince.

When the originally gloomy-faced Ninth Prince saw her, more than half of the killing aura on his body had subsided. Although his face still looked gloomy, everyone knew that in this whole world, he only holds one person in high esteem and that is his friend, Shangguan Yan.

Upon seeing the shopkeeper had arrived, the workers in the inn were all relieved and even the tight expressions on the four imperial guards became a lot more relaxed.

“Shopkeeper Shangguan.” The four imperial guards bowed politely and held up their hands to salute her.

Based on her businessman’s identity, her status was considered extremely low but in their master’s heart, this Shopkeeper Shangguan Yan held a lot of importance. Therefore, when the guards saw her, it seemed like they were looking at their benefactor and so they were polite to her.

After Shangguan Yan and the Ninth Prince had greeted each other, she turned her head to look at Di Jing and their gaze collided. She felt his stare was too piercing and could not help but let out a squeak in her heart.

He can’t have recognized her, right?

However, she immediately brushed aside this thought. She is now dressed in male clothing which is vastly different from female clothing. Even if they do look alike, most probably others would only suspect they are siblings.

Perhaps, Di Jing had the same thought so he kept staring at her.

Unexpectedly, just as she comforted herself with this thought, Di Jing suddenly stood up and walked towards her. After looking at her up and down, his gaze finally stopped at her face.

This gaze was a bit brazen and sharp.

“Miss, for someone who doesn’t venture out of the main door nor cross over the threshold of the side door, how come you have started to do business?” He asked in a deep voice.

Shangguan Yan was shocked.

This can’t be……..he can indeed recognize her!

When Shangguan Yan knew the situation had turned unfavorable, she immediately turned around and ordered Tao Lang.

“Clear the premise!”

When Tao Lang heard her order, he moved quickly and turned to the public with a smile. While holding up his hands into a fist, he bowed.

“Everyone…….the inn is repaying a favor to the neighbors today and good tea will be presented as gifts. If you want the gifts, please proceed to next door.”

The inn has always maintained a close and harmonious relationship with the neighbors and would not drive people away. Instead, a greater temptation was used to coax people away.

In this way, it will not antagonize people and at the same time, it will gain a good reputation, so the business will continue to prosper.

Since watching the excitement can never be compared to receiving gifts, so when the people heard Tao Lang, they immediately followed him to the other section of the inn.

Taking advantage of this noisy moment, Shangguan Yan hurriedly stepped forward and said to Di Jing. “ Gongzi , please keep this a secret. Don’t let others know that I was disguised as a woman.”

Di Jing was startled. “Disguised as a woman?”

“That’s right. It’s shameful for a man to dress up as a woman. I don’t want people to know that I have this habit. I also request Gongzi to help me keep this a secret. Please……..” She had an ashamed expression on her face and with her palms placed together, she pleaded with him.

Di Jing was stunned. Disguised as a woman? He stared at her face in disbelief.

“Are you a man?”

“ Gongzi is unaware, this humble one is only trying to make a living. My family is in difficulties and there are elders and young in the family. It’s beyond my control.”

While she was pretending to be pitiful and begging him with her eyes, she glanced at the Ninth Prince from the corner of her eyes. She did not want the matter of her disguising herself as a man to be exposed in public.

When she is disguised as a man, the Ninth Prince loved to cling to her. If he knows she is a female, then it will be disastrous………she does not want to be a concubine of the prince!

Fortunately, the situation inside the inn was in chaos and Di Jing’s voice was not loud while the Ninth Prince was still drunk, so he should not have heard Di Jing addressing her as ‘Miss’ just now. However, even if the Ninth Prince did hear, she still has a way to twist the words.

Once the restaurant was cleared of people, the workers closed the door to block off the view from outside. Now only she, the Ninth Prince, and Di Jing were left inside.

As soon as all the people who were watching the lively situation had left, she immediately changed her words and said. “In order not to disturb the quiet solitude of Gongzi , how about changing your room to the rear garden? There lies a garden and a pavilion with a larger room. I hope Gongzi won’t refuse my presumptuous invitation.”

Although doing business is a profitable venture, it is easy to get into trouble therefore, Shangguan Yan has always been a smooth-talker. A struggle between men has always involved face issues. At this time, it is not good to drive anyone away, so it is advisable to give out better inducements. First, it would not antagonize anyone and second, it could save the face of both parties.

First, she planned to invite Di Jing to the rear garden of the inn and then only settle the Ninth Prince.

It was obvious she was disguised as a man but she had deliberately said that she was a male who had disguised as a woman.

Unless she undergoes a body check, otherwise, she does not believe she cannot deceive Di Jing. Besides, it does not give others a queer feeling for a woman to disguise as a man but it is shameful for a man to disguise as a woman.

Moreover, she had deliberately moved close to him as though to say that if he did not agree, she, this man, will plaster ‘himself’ to him.

Sure enough, after listening to her, his expression also changed.

“Alright.”

Di Jing turned sideways to put some distance between them and when he turned his face away, disappointment filled his heart again. He did not expect that the other party would actually turn out to be a man.

If this is so…….then it is even more unlikely to be her.

His face turned cold and he did not look at her again.

Shangguan Yan had a smile on her face and was not bothered about his show of indifference. It was exactly what she wanted to achieve.

She ordered a worker to lead Di Jing and his guard to the rear garden and after they had left, she turned and walked towards the Ninth Prince.

“It’s boring to drink alone. Why don’t we drink together?” She sat down, picked up the wine jug to fill the cup of the Ninth Prince with wine, and then drank from his cup. It could be seen that the two people were very familiar with each other and they did not even mind sharing a cup.

One must understand that the Ninth Prince is a cleanliness freak but only shows tolerance to Shangguan Yan and allows her to behave without restraint in front of him.

Although the anger in the Ninth Prince had dissipated a lot, his face still maintained an angry look. Since the cup was already taken by ShangguanYan, he picked up the wine jug and drank directly from it.

“You’re not allowed to drink! Drinking anymore will make my heart feel distressed.” Shangguan Yan grabbed the wine jug and set it down farther away, then ordered some sobering soup.

Finally, the four guards could put down the worries in their hearts.

His Highness, the Ninth Prince does not even listen to his Mother, the Imperial Concubine and he is notoriously famous for his hot temper. Once he becomes angry, he can even kill people and disregards everyone else. However, the only person he will treat favorably is Shangguan Yan.

Shangguan Yan smiled. “The next time when you want to drink, you must wait for me. You can’t drink alone otherwise, it’s not a show of brotherhood spirit.”

“I’m in a bad mood.”

“Oh? Tell me, why you’re in a bad mood.”

She spoke softly and coaxed him to talk. Usually, she would listen whole-heartedly to him with relish as he talks about the secrets of the imperial palace but due to Di Jing’s presence today, she could not help but think about the man and was distracted.

Why is this Di Jing in the imperial capital?

Just now, his eyes were too piercing as he stared at her and it gave her a bad premonition. Perhaps, he just felt she looks familiar but unable to recognize her as that maid, Ma’er, in the past.

Did he come to the imperial capital to look for her and seek revenge?

The Ninth Prince started to talk to her in his drunken state and on the surface, she seemed to be listening to him but her mind had drifted to the past when she and Di Jing met.