Xie Lin changed into clean clothes, grabbed his money pouch, and hurriedly ran to the entrance of Rui’an King’s Residence.
Zhou Gu had arrived on horseback, leisurely leaning against his horse, waiting for someone to come out. Although Xie Lin only took a short while to emerge, he didn’t keep him waiting for long, Zhou Gu still gave him a cold glance, mounted his horse, and spoke to him, "Let’s go."
Xie Lin was confused, "What was that look you just gave me? Did I offend you by any chance?"
Zhou Gu, naturally, didn’t say "You’ve offended me", in fear that he would turn back, messing up his plan. He only urged, "Get on your horse quick."
Xie Lin felt a shiver down his spine, "Are you... keeping something inside yourself?"
Zhou Gu was impatient, "Are you coming or not?"
Xie Lin was getting cold feet, "You seem grumpy, are you sure we’re going for a drink?"
He better not be planning to take him to Duke Residence and practice martial arts with the guards there the way he practices within his own house. His basic self-defense skills wouldn’t stand a chance.
"What are you blabbering about? Didn’t you invite me for a drink a few days ago?" Zhou Gu, sitting high on his horse, looking down at him, "Got anything to fear?"
Xie Lin stiffened his neck, "Who’s scared?"
Zhou Gu was waiting for such brazen reply, "Then hurry up already!"
Xie Lin had no choice but to grab the reins, mount the horse, and thought to himself – let’s see who’s really scared today? His martial arts might be weak, but his alcohol tolerance... his alcohol tolerance was also weak.
But... but he wasn’t afraid of getting drunk!
Thus, both of them rode to the welcoming tavern in the east of the city.
At the entrance, Zhou Gu asked Xie Lin, "Have you brought enough money?"
Xie Lin nodded, "Fortunately, I’ve earned quite a lot these days. I still have half of the five thousand taels of silver my mother gave me.", He looked up at the signboard of the welcoming tavern, "That should be enough, right?"
Zhou Gu did the math for him, "Hmm, two thousand five hundred taels of silver. If you buy Drunken Flower Wine for two hundred taels per pot, it should be enough to buy twelve pots."
One pot weighs one jin, so twelve pots weigh twelve jins. With the remaining hundred taels, they could order a table full of dishes. Perfect.
Xie Lin’s eyes widened in shock, "Wait a minute! Are you saying you’ll be spending all my money in a single meal?"
He’d been inviting people for drinks these past few days but never to the Welcoming Tavern because the drinks here were too expensive. He couldn’t afford it, and didn’t want to treat others to such expensive drinks. And here was Zhou Gu, dragging him into the Welcoming Tavern without the slightest hesitation.
Ignoring Xie Lin’s question, Zhou Gu handed the horse reins to the waiter and walked straight into the tavern.
With no other choice, Xie Lin clutched his money pouch and followed him in.
The Welcoming Tavern had just received a new batch of alcohol; the supply was abundant. So even at noon, not as busy as the evenings, the room was filled with customers, and the scent of alcohol lingered everywhere.
Xie Lin took a sniff and muttered under his breath while trailing behind Zhou Gu, "There sure are a lot of rich people in the Capital City. So free in the afternoon to come and drink such expensive wines. The tavern mistress in Jiangning County knows how to do good business, the Welcoming Tavern opened only two or three months ago but has already made huge profits, it’d already caught people’s attention. If she keeps making money like this and blocking other taverns’ profits, she will surely face some trouble."
Zhou Gu acted as if he hadn’t heard, moved straight up to the second floor, towards the private room.
"Huh? Did you book this private room in advance? They’re usually hard to get." Xie Lin kept blabbering while following him, "Or did you plan all of this beforehand? Dragging me over here to drink on my dime?"
"No, just a spur-of-the-moment decision." Zhou Gu finally replied.
"You’re really lucky then, getting a private room as soon as you show up." Xie Lin’s footsteps clanking on the stairs.
Once they reached the private room, a table and chairs had been arranged near the window. Zhou Gu walked over, sat down, and to Xie Lin said, "Throw your money pouch to him and order drinks and food as we agreed."
Xie Lin twitched the corners of his mouth and regretted telling Zhou Gu about his wealth earlier. He tried to salvage his money pouch, "Are you sure the two of us can finish twelve pots?"
"If I say we can, then we can." Zhou Gu insisted, much better to pay first in case they got drunk and forgot about the bill.
Speechless, Xie Lin handed his money pouch to the waiter, instructing, "There’re two thousand five-hundred taels of silver here. Take it to the tavern keeper, ask them to serve us twelve pots of wine, and use the rest of the money to order a table full of dishes."
The young waiter had never seen such a generous customer before. He cheerfully agreed, taking the money bag and leaving with a big smile on his face.
Xie Lin couldn’t bear to part with it, clutching his chest in pain, "Oh, my money..."
Zhou Gu ignored him and leaned against the window, lazily watching the hustle and bustle outside. He remembered a day in Jiangning County when Su Rong wanted to save Jiang Xing. She had arranged a secret meeting with Jiang Xing at the Drunken Goose Restaurant. On that day, he had watched from the restaurant, observing Xie Lin, who had just arrived in Jiangning County, crossing the street.
Times flies, merely two or three months had passed. Now, he had returned to Capital City, and his engagement with Su Rong had been broken off.
Truly, the stars are ever-changing, and so is the human heart.
Xie Lin saw Zhou Gu gazing out the window and also looked out. Seeing the bustling crowd, he didn’t quite know what to look for. He turned his head back, and asked Zhou Gu, in incomprehension, "What are you looking at? Is there anything worth watching that you cannot take your eyes off?"
"There’s nothing interesting to see," Zhou Gu shifted his gaze back.
Xie Lin felt something was off about Zhou Gu and tentatively asked: "I heard that Lady Su Qi arrived in the capital on the day of the provincial examination. She then, fortunately, bumped into Duanhua Princess on the street and was invited to the princess residence as a guest. Not only was she unharmed, but she also left everyone astounded as she became a highly regarded guest in the princess’s residence. Is this true?"
These words hadn’t come out of nowhere, they had spread throughout the capital city. When he had first heard the news, he was dumbstruck and kept asking again and again if it was true - everyone said it was. He couldn’t believe it and ordered someone to check. It checked out completely, leaving him no choice but to believe it.
Seeing Zhou Gu remained silent, he asked out of curiosity, "Did you have an argument with Su Rong?"
Zhou Gu smirked but didn’t say a word.
Xie Lin concluded that Zhou Gu had indeed quarreled with Su Rong. He started to advise him, "Hey, you had such a good temper when you were in Jiangning County. How come you’ve reverted to your old ways now that you’re back in Capital City on your home turf? Your temper is now even worse? That won’t do. Who was it that said, ’a girl needs to be coaxed’? That’s right, it was my sister. She always warned me to restrain my temper, otherwise, no one is going to marry me in the future."
"Why are you so chatty after not having seen you for days? Did you have some roasted parrot or something?" Zhou Gu asked, seemingly annoyed.
Xie Lin fell silent at once.
The waiter brought in many pots of Drunken Flower Drink one by one, setting them neatly on the table - twelve in total. After that, some people brought in dish after dish, each delectable and tantalizing. Then, someone carried in a tray with a teapot and teacups.
The shopkeeper personally came to attend to the distinguished customers, saying with a smile, "It turns out to be Young Master Zhou and Young Master Xie. It’s a great honor to have you here. Our boss notes that whenever the two of you visit, we should charge the original price for the drinks, but waive the cost of the food and tea.
Having said that, he handed the money bag back to Xie Lin, "There’s still one hundred and two taels of silver left in it, Young Master Xie, please keep it."
Xie Lin was genuinely surprised as he thought every bit would be consumed, "Is your boss named Lan Niang?"
In Jiangning County, he had bought alcohol from the Welcoming Guest Restaurant a few times. The lady who sold the alcohol seemed to know that he was close to Zhou Gu and that they were staying at the governor’s residence together. Each time, she deducted a few taels of silver, always courteous and kind. He knew it was due to the face of Su Rong.
The shopkeeper laughed and nodded in agreement, "That’s right!"
Xie Lin confidently took back the money bag, making a promise, "Your boss in Jiangning County did a good deed for me, and today she’s showing respect again. If Welcoming Guest Restaurant ever gets into trouble, just send someone to the Rui’an Wang Residence to find me. I can’t promise to help with big issues, but I can certainly solve small problems."
The shopkeeper was waiting to hear this, and bowed gratefully, "Thank you, Young Master. We will not disturb you anymore, please enjoy the meal at your leisure."
Just as he was about to leave, Zhou Gu stopped him, "Wait."
The shopkeeper hurriedly stopped and looked at Zhou Gu, all ears, "Young Master Zhou, please feel free to command."
I don’t need to command anything. I just wanted to ask your boss, as you just mentioned, whenever we visit your place, there would be privileges. Is it for this time only, or for every single time in the future?"
The shopkeeper answered without hesitation, "Every time in the future."
Zhou Gu heard this and made a surprised ’Oh?’ sound, his tone full of sarcasm, "Then you ask your boss for me, the young master is now divorced, so what kind of privilege is this?"
The shopkeeper was shocked.
Xie Lin was also shocked and his eyes widened immensely.
Zhou Gu finished speaking, waved his hand, "Off you go!"
The shopkeeper immediately hid his surprise, bowed again, and exited, closing the door gently behind him. After leaving the room, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself, the young master is divorced, and they hadn’t received the news yet.
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