Chapter 113: Chapter 113: She Insists on a Showdown

"I’ll trade you information about Wangxian Building for it." Seeing Ming Lingyi’s continued refusal, Li Yun decided to play his trump card.

He knew that whoever showed their hand first, lost.

But he couldn’t worry about that now.

When Ming Lingyi heard this, she didn’t look excited at all. Instead, her face turned cold as she stared at Li Yun. "You’re still having me watched?"

"I’m not," Li Yun said.

’I just placed people around her to protect her. How could that be called watching her?’

’Besides, I just don’t want other people to bully her. That’s why I have the people by her side promptly inform me of any difficulties the restaurant might face.’

Ming Lingyi clearly didn’t believe a word he said, but she couldn’t be bothered to figure out if he was being sincere or not. ’If I just refuse him a few more times, this man will realize that no matter how much effort he pours into me, it will be useless.’

’The bond between them had been severed in their past life.’

"I don’t need it," Ming Lingyi said.

She had already sent Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue to investigate. Even if there was no news today, she figured they would dig something up within a few days.

Li Yun sighed. "The young women you sent out won’t be able to find out anything about Wangxian Building."

’With the people Ming Lingyi currently has at her disposal, the information would only come quickly if she had the three Wu siblings use their own intelligence network.’

’Anyone else would, at best, only uncover a puppet figure in the city.’

Ming Lingyi looked up at Li Yun.

"I’m not trying to coerce you," Li Yun said. "Even if you don’t make the sash for me, I was going to bring you this information anyway."

’Of course, he could have easily let Ming Lingyi know through Wu Zhaoyu. But if he had his Hidden Guards relay the message, what excuse would he have to come see her himself?’

Li Yun paused, then continued, "The people behind Wangxian Building are the Xie family."

The Xie family held immense power in Shangjing City. They were a century-old aristocratic house, a renowned and influential clan even during the previous dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Ming Lingyi asked, "They’re such a huge and powerful family. Why would they bother picking a fight with me?"

She didn’t understand, so when faced with Li Yun, the question came out naturally.

It had always been like this in the past. Even though she had been quite clever since childhood, it was mostly just a greater love for reading than the average person. After all, she spent her days confined to her chambers with nothing to do but read for leisure. But that small bit of cleverness was far from enough when faced with the profound scheming and turbulent politics of the imperial court.

Whenever Ming Lingyi came across something she didn’t understand, she would casually ask Li Yun.

’Li Yun always knew the answer, anyway.’

Only after the question slipped out so casually did Ming Lingyi realize she had, without thinking, once again treated Li Yun as someone she could always depend on.

Ming Lingyi’s brow furrowed.

Li Yun didn’t keep her in suspense. He sat down on the stone stool and poured her a cup of apricot blossom wine.

It was the same wine Ming Lingyi had just opened to smell, intending to have a taste.

There was no tea on the stone table, only the apricot blossom wine. Li Yun was about to pour a cup for himself as well.

"The Xie family is a century-old house with deep and extensive roots in the court. Mr. Xie has numerous protégés, and in the court, the Xie Family and these protégés all watch out for one another. Scholars from poor families who want to get ahead are sometimes willing to ride the Xie family’s coattails, and the Xie family, in turn, needs fresh blood to maintain their extensive family network. Wangxian Building is the most popular restaurant among scholars and literati. With the Xie family backing it, it’s a convenient way for them to see who has genuine talent and knowledge worth recruiting."

Li Yun’s hand paused as he was pouring the wine. He hadn’t intended to stop; rather, Ming Lingyi had reached out and blocked his hand as he spoke.

"Aren’t you injured?" Ming Lingyi snapped. "If you drink now and die in my little courtyard, wouldn’t I become a regicide?"

Her words were harsh, but Li Yun simply smiled.

It was as if he’d heard the most comforting words of affection.

"Alright, I’ll listen to you," Li Yun said.

Ming Lingyi: "..."

’He’s insane. Who asked him to listen to me?’

Li Yun had already continued, "Wangxian Building thrives on being a gathering place for students and scholars, which makes it convenient for the Xie family to recruit people. But now... tell me, isn’t your restaurant on rather good terms with quite a few people from the Imperial College?"

Ming Lingyi was taken aback.

’It was true.’

Ever since she first set up a stall at the entrance of the Imperial College, many of its students—not just Zhang Zhidong and his friends—had become fond of patronizing her restaurant.

In fact, just last night, nearly half the diners in the restaurant were from the Imperial College.

Anyone seeing it would have thought the Imperial College’s dining hall had moved to Huaided Fang.

The pieces fell into place for Ming Lingyi. "Just for that?"

"Just for that."

Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but sneer. "So because students from the Imperial College come to my restaurant, it gets in the way of their ’business’ and hinders their efforts to recruit talent, they have to come after me? What kind of reasoning is that!" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

As she spoke that last sentence, her voice was already tinged with anger.

She was usually quite easygoing, but that was only when everyone minded their own business.

Now that someone had deliberately come looking for trouble, how could she possibly remain good-natured?

"You’re right, it’s completely unreasonable," Li Yun agreed. "The Xie family is huge and powerful. If they failed this time, they might try to cause trouble for you again. Why don’t you leave this matter to me? I’ll figure something out for you."

If Li Yun truly wanted to move against someone, he could probably wipe out half of the Xie family’s business assets in the Capital with a flick of his finger. Even if they found out who was behind it, they wouldn’t dare to retaliate.

In fact, before coming here, Li Yun had already been planning to deal with the Xie family.

For the past few years, he had been busy subjugating the surrounding smaller nations and making them vassal states of Dayan. In the process, he had to rely on his ministers and trusted officials for many court affairs.

But now, Li Yun was discovering that some people’s appetites had grown too large; they were constantly coveting things they had no right to.

Now that the Xie family had fallen right into his hands, he wouldn’t mind making an example of them.

Ming Lingyi calmed down and refused Li Yun’s offer.

"No, I can handle it myself." ’She didn’t want to rely on Li Yun’s power. If she encountered trouble in the future, was she supposed to run back to him every time?’

Li Yun asked, "What do you plan to do? If you confront them head-on, you might not come out on top."

"Gongsun Liangce of the Jingzhao Mansion was only able to fine Wangxian Building for disrupting the business at Ming’s Restaurant, wasn’t he?"

"Even Gongsun Liangce couldn’t get a real hold on the Xie family. What could Ming Lingyi possibly do?"

"Stay out of this," Ming Lingyi said.

Since the Xie family was trying to destroy her business just because some scholars came to her restaurant for a meal, Ming Lingyi could only conclude that the so-called century-old aristocratic house was nothing special after all.

She had opened a restaurant, never intending to compete with anyone. All she wanted was to earn some silver and live a quiet, comfortable life.

But since someone insisted on getting in her way, her competitive spirit was sparked instead.

Now, she was determined to compete with Wangxian Building and see who would come out on top.