Speaking of hot springs, one cannot help but mention the hot spring in the backyard of Wuxian Pavilion, where we stayed when we were in Jinxi.

It was there, by a twist of fate, that Jing Zhe ate his first ever master-disciple rice bowl, and found it unforgettable.

Therefore, the hot spring is considered the place where Jing Zhe, Mu Qingren, and Wang Yingqiu, master and apprentice, fell in love. So when Mu Qingren and Wang Yingqiu heard about the hot spring, they were filled with thoughts.

There happens to be a natural hot spring on the mountain behind Wuxian Pavilion, where the disciples of Wuxian Pavilion often practice their skills. This is also why they chose to settle there when they went to Jinxi.

Later, after Mu Qingren became Jing Zhe's woman, she told him about this.

However, they absolutely did not believe that Jing Zhe went to the hot springs just to take a bath—but why were they so looking forward to it?

So the four of them headed towards the back of the mountain.

Since we were going to soak in the hot springs anyway, we couldn't go in fully clothed.

So, the considerate Jing Zhe had already helped Mu Qingren, Wang Yingqiu, and Zhang Xiaoyu take off their clothes beforehand, and then sent them into the steaming hot spring...

If you remain as bright and pure as the moon, I would brave ice and snow for your sake.

That night, with the full moon shining in the sky, it was a sleepless night after all. In the hot spring, the battle was fierce and the outcome was uncertain.

In the final stages of the battle, Zhang Xiaoyu, who had been observing the battle for the first half, had no choice but to join the fray, and Mu Qingren and Wang Yingqiu's bold words crumbled at this moment.

In the end, only Jing Zhe had the last laugh.

The next day, before dawn, Jing Zhe flew out of Wuxian Pavilion carrying Zhang Xiaoyu. As for Mu Qingren and Wang Yingqiu, Jing Zhe kept his promise and didn't let them get out of bed. They didn't even bother to open their eyes when Jing Zhe left...

...

The reason he chose to go back so early was twofold: firstly, he was afraid that the people from Wuxian Pavilion would be upset if they saw him when they woke up in the morning; secondly, there was probably going to be a good show at Juxian Tower today, and without him as the main character, the show couldn't go on.

Back at Juxianlou, Jing Zhe and Zhang Xiaoyu took a nap together. Around 7:00 AM, Jing Zhe got up and went downstairs.

At this moment, Manager Hu was sitting in the hall, and the bald waiter was standing next to him, bowing and scraping, seemingly listening to what he was saying.

Chen Jiannan and the others had already gotten up and were following behind Jing Zhe. Today they were going to officially take over this place. Juxianlou was about to disappear from Ruzhou City, and in its place would be their Da'an Newspaper branch, as well as Wenxiangju and the wine shop branch!

With that in mind, everyone was eager to try!

When Jing Zhe came downstairs, Manager Hu glanced at him, then lowered his eyelids, his expression full of disdain.

"Manager Hu, where are the account books?"

Jing Zhe spoke first.

"Ledger? What ledger?"

Manager Hu began to play dumb.

Jing Zhe sneered: "Naturally, it's the account book of Juxianlou!"

"You think you can look at Juxianlou's account books?"

Before Manager Hu could speak, the bald waiter answered for him.

"I've lost the entire Juxianlou restaurant to them, so I must see the account books."

Manager Hu sneered repeatedly: "Juxianlou is still mine. You want to see the account books? Dream on!"

Because the Crown Prince of Yu, Prefect Liu, Master Qu, and Manager Hu never considered that anyone else in Ruzhou could pose a threat to them, all their previous power and wealth transactions were recorded in the book, including how they cheated and extorted other shops, or where Prefect Liu obtained his ill-gotten gains. All of this could be washed away with a simple entry and exit from Juxianlou.

The reason why Manager Hu recorded everyone's "crimes" in the ledger was actually to more firmly bind himself to Prince Yu and others.

When Jing Zhe asked for the ledgers yesterday, everyone was taken aback. Manager Hu's first thought was to alter the ledgers.

Losing Juxianlou was already painful enough; if he were to see that ledger and it were to leak out, he might lose his life!

However, when the Crown Prince of Yu made the suggestion, Manager Hu gave up the idea of ​​changing the account books and was no longer nervous.

Jing Zhe was furious upon hearing this: "Yes, Juxianlou is not mine yet, so I can't look at the accounts!"

Then he stretched out his hand: "Hey Manager Hu, where's the land deed? Didn't you say you'd give me the land deed before noon? It's past 7 AM now. If you still can't produce the land deed by then, don't blame me—"

"Don't blame me, okay?"

Manager Hu looked at him with a mocking expression.

Jing Zhe was speechless for a moment: "There were so many people at Juxianlou last night who can testify. If you go back on your word, you can expect me to take you to the authorities!"

Manager Hu continued to sneer, "Don't even think about this land deed, because the bet you made with me last night is completely invalid!"

Why?

Jing Zhe looked angry, but he was actually very excited inside.

Luckily, I held my nerve last night and didn't reveal my identity. Sure enough, it looks like they're going to resort to dirty tricks again!

Perfect opportunity! Let's take them all down at once!

"Because the money you used to turn on the lights when you were guessing the riddles yesterday was stolen, the bet doesn't count!"

"Oh? Robbed? Robbed from whom? Manager Hu, this is ridiculous. To avoid handing over Juxianlou, you can come up with such a idiotic excuse. Are you senile? You're just spouting nonsense."

"you--"

Manager Hu was initially furious, but then he thought to himself, "Heh heh, we'll find out soon enough whether it's nonsense or not!"

As he spoke, he gave the bald waiter a wink, "Keep an eye on all these people, don't let a single one of them escape! They're all accomplices!"

"..."

Jing Zhe was also very curious about the upcoming show, so he found a seat and began to look forward to it.

Under the direction of the bald waiter, a number of burly men appeared in Juxianlou and guarded all the entrances.

At this moment, a commotion arose outside, and a large crowd poured into the entrance of Juxianlou. In no time, the hall of Juxianlou was packed with people, even more crowded than the night before.

"Young Master..."

Hearing the familiar and pleasant shout, Jing Zhe turned around and saw Zhou Ziqiong running towards him. Perhaps because she was running too fast, her face was flushed and covered with beads of sweat.

"Ouch~"

Because there were so many people in the hall, just as Zhou Ziqiong was about to reach Jing Zhe, she was bumped by someone, lost her footing, and fell forward.

Jing Zhe reacted quickly and caught her in one swift step. He managed to catch her, but the next moment was even more awkward.

Because Jing Zhe was supporting the wrong spot.

To be precise, it wasn't the spot I was holding onto, but rather the spot I was gripping that was a bit off...

Looking down at Zhou Ziqiong, I saw that her face was even redder, as if you could squeeze water out of it...

————