Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 140

Lu Tang couldn’t bear to watch, her nose tingling with sadness. “Don’t cry, you should be happy. Are you willing to go? I’ve already started the renovations these past few days. By the time you get out, it should be ready for you to take over. How about it?”

Lu Tang was never good at handling such situations.

Seeing Zhou Jing cry in front of her, she couldn’t think of a single comforting word, so she spoke softly, almost in a coaxing tone.

Zhou Jing nodded through his tears, afraid he couldn’t express his gratitude enough. He knelt down and kowtowed to Lu Tang several times.

Frightened, Lu Tang quickly knelt down too. “Don’t kowtow to me. I’m not the one who saved you. If you’re grateful, thank that person when you get out.”

Zhou Jing remembered the young man who visited him that night in the prison. Without asking more, he wiped his tears and hoarsely said his first word, “Thanks.”

Seeing he finally stopped kowtowing, Lu Tang sighed in relief. “Now, let’s discuss our plans. You know the location of Prosperity Inn. Opening an inn there, we can’t just follow the usual path. I don’t know how it was before, but now, there are many inns in Yuhang, and we don’t have much of an advantage.”

Running an inn was something Zhou Jing was both skilled at and passionate about. His eyes lit up as they discussed it.

“We should go for a high-end luxury route.”

Lu Tang nodded. “I thought so too. But there are different types of high-end luxury. I want to add some unique elements to the inn to distinguish it from other high-end inns in Yuhang.”

“What do you want to add?”

“Song and dance performances are common in Yuhang. This place is full of talented people. I want to collaborate with the academies. We can collect essays from the academies, select concise and brilliant stories, and then create a dedicated storytelling area as a feature of our inn.”

Zhou Jing’s eyes brightened. “Like a teahouse?”

Lu Tang nodded. “Yes, but higher-end than a teahouse. The stories told in teahouses are often repeated. We will be unique and promote the reputation of Yuhang’s scholars. So, our high-end luxury will be elegant and sophisticated.”

Zhou Jing immediately understood Lu Tang’s idea.

There were countless inns in Yuhang of various types. Lu Tang wanted Qiao Family Inn to stand out as a dark horse by leveraging the fame of scholars. Once they established that reputation, whenever there were literary gatherings in Yuhang, notable people would likely choose Qiao Family Inn. Once they stayed there, they would become living advertisements for the inn.

Lu Tang looked at Zhou Jing. “Do you think it’s feasible? If so, I’ll contact people and prepare a poetry gathering for the inn’s opening day, inviting some well-known scholars from nearby.”

Zhou Jing was still pondering when Lu Tang spoke again. He immediately laughed, “A poetry gathering is easy to organize, but the people are hard to invite.”

Lu Tang patted her chest. “As long as you think it’s feasible, I’ll handle the invitations.”

Zhou Jing tilted his head curiously. “Why do you need my opinion?”

“Because you’re the Manager of our inn.”

Zhou Jing’s throat tightened.

“Our inn.”

“Manager.”

Words hidden deep in his heart, Zhou Jing asked tremblingly, “When can I get out?”

Lu Tang smiled easily. “Three to five days, maybe as soon as tomorrow.”

Zhou Jing felt as if his blood was rushing to his head.

He had been imprisoned for three years, three sets of three hundred and sixty-five days, each day consisting of twelve hours.

Was he finally going to be released?

After leaving the prison, Lu Tang immediately started visiting various academies in Yuhang with Yuan Bao and Xu Shen.

She had a personal reason for wanting to collaborate with the academies besides benefiting the inn’s business.

Years ago, the academy where Xie Yu had studied had humiliated him. If she had the power, she wanted to seek justice for him.

Isolating a child like that—since the teacher had done it, she would now isolate that academy for Xie Yu.

Lu Tang was never a broad-minded person. She was quite petty and protective of her friends. She always sought revenge for any wrongs done to her or her friends, even if the grudge was from many years ago.

While Lu Tang prepared the inn, Qin Mo began taking action against people.

He targeted Huang Yunsheng with a simple method—entrapment.

He used Xie Jin’s case as bait, waiting for Huang Yunsheng to pressure the Yuhang prefect. Then, at the right moment, he would push Xie Chengnian forward.

Xie Chengnian’s only task was to bring up the old case in Jinling.

As soon as Xie Chengnian and Huang Yunsheng started arguing about the old Jinling case, Qin Mo would arrest him.

From Huang Yunsheng’s arrival in Yuhang to his capture by Qin Mo, it took only three hours. Even when Song Qingzhan kicked him to his knees, Huang Yunsheng was still in shock.

In the Yuhang prefect’s office, Qin Mo sat in a high position with a gloomy expression, looking down at Huang Yunsheng. “Lord Huang, it’s been a long time. How have you been?”

Huang Yunsheng stared in astonishment at the man in front of him.

“Ninth Prince?!”

The shock came from deep within his bones. He almost blurted out, “What are you doing here?”

As soon as he arrived in Yuhang, he took Xie Jin’s father to see the Yuhang prefect. He had subtly pressured the prefect to release Xie Jin.

The prefect had agreed, but suddenly, someone informed them that there was an urgent matter at the office, and the prefect left them waiting.

Given the prefect’s word, Xie Jin’s father was delighted and was discussing where to eat later when Xie Chengnian suddenly came in.

Before they could react to why Xie Chengnian could enter the prefect’s office so freely, Xie Chengnian brought up the old Jinling case.

Just as Huang Yunsheng and Xie Jin’s father started speaking, the door was pushed open again.

Qin Mo entered.

Huang Yunsheng’s scalp tingled.

This prince had been leading troops in battle since he was a teenager. His anger alone was enough to terrify people.

Kneeling on the ground, Huang Yunsheng trembled.

He was an imperial appointee for waterworks, specifically overseeing the construction of a dam in Qingshui County.

When Gu Yunhe got into trouble last time, Huang Yunsheng had managed to extricate himself. The original plans had to be revised because of Gu Yunhe’s issue, causing delays in the waterworks project, which had already displeased the Emperor.

Now, he, who was supposed to be working diligently in Qingshui County, had left his post without orders and come to Yuhang, which had nothing to do with his duties.

Deceiving the Emperor and neglecting his duties, and caught red-handed by the Emperor’s son.

When caught, he had been angrily discussing the old case. He didn’t know how much the Ninth Prince had heard, but it didn’t look good for him.

Xie Jin’s father never expected a prince to show up. He knelt on the ground, barely daring to breathe, and recalled his recent outburst.

What had he said?

He seemed to have said that the people who died in the old Jinling case deserved it?