CH 68

Chapter 68 Led to the Feast at Hongmen by the Little Marquis (2)

After the female brothel keeper was dragged away, the girls in the Qin Mo hid behind the door and did not dare to come out again. With everything she needed in her hands, Wen Yantong turned her head towards Chi Jingxi and expressed her gratitude. "Many thanks to Little Maquis for tonight. Yantong will not forget this favor."

Chi Jingxi asked, "How will you repay?"

Wen Yantong looked at him in confusion. "Re– Repay? How about... I'll treat you to a meal?"

She only wanted to try and ask him out, but according to Chi Jingxi's temperament, she would naturally be refused.

But unexpectedly, he agreed. "Yes."

Was this really Chi Jingxi? The same one who would knit his eyebrows and would rather take a detour when he saw her?

Wen Yantong was surprised, but she didn't dare to show it on her face. So she just asked, "Where do you want to eat, Little Marquis?"

"New Moon Restaurant." Chi Jingxi answered, "Just up front."

Mu Yang quickly interjected, "I don’t think we should..."

Wen Yantong looked at him. "What? What's wrong?"

Mu Yang smiled and looked at Chi Jingxi. Seeing that Chi Jingxi didn't respond at all, he had to bite the bullet and replied honestly, "That place costs a lot of money. I'm afraid that you won't have enough on you."

Wen Yantong let out a boisterous laugh. She raised a large amount of bank notes in her hand and said, "Don't worry. Even if there were four of you, I can still feed you till you’re full!"

Fu Zixian, who had a very low sense of presence, agreed with Mu Yang. "We should reconsider... What if we are behind schedule, and the Academy closes its gates on our way back?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chi Jingxi's indifferent eyes swept over him. As if carrying some kind of pressure, warning him not to interfere with his affairs, Fu Zixian immediately shut up. He shrank his neck back and no longer spoke.

Wen Yantong reconsidered it seriously. "Indeed, it's better to go another day. Anyway, our rest day is tomorrow, so we can go then."

"Today. After eating, I will send someone to send you back, so you won't be locked out," the all-powerful Chi Jingxi said.

Since he insisted so much, Wen Yantong could not refuse anymore, so she agreed. "Okay, let's all go together."

Fu Zixian said, "Then I– I'll go back first..."

"Don't. Wen Yantong is already going, so you can come too." Mu Yang said, "The more, the merrier!"

Fu Zixian said, "I can't go home too late, or Father will find fault."

This was an excuse. Wen Yantong knew as soon as she heard it. Prime Minister Fu didn't have much time to blame an unremarkable concubine-born son for returning home late, but maybe a concubine or one of his siblings in the backyard would ridicule him.

Fu Zixian made it clear that he didn't want to go, and Wen Yantong didn't want to force him. She was about to say a few words to him, but she heard Chi Jingxi say resolutely, "Let's go together."

Wen Yantong gave Chi Jingxi a horrified look and suddenly regretted agreeing to go to the New Moon Restaurant.

Not normal. This was absolutely abnormal! Chi Jingxi must be plotting something. No wonder Mu Yang looked a little weird when he heard that they were going to New Moon Restaurant.

It's just that the words have already been said. It was impossible for Wen Yantong to turn her face and change her mind. And with Chi Jingxi's temperament, even if she didn’t want to go, she would be dragged there. F*ck! She had unknowingly fallen into Chi Jingxi's trap!

After Fu Zixian heard Chi Jingxi speak, he didn't dare to say that he wanted to go home again, so he followed them to New Moon Restaurant.

Wen Yantong silently folded the silver note and put it away. She put her hands into her sleeves and followed behind the two with her neck shrunken in.

New Moon Restaurant was not far from Qin Mo. Just a couple of steps away, right across the street.

The decoration of this restaurant was much more stylish than that of Qin Mo. With all red lanterns, deep green tiled roofs, and the eaves of the pillars were carved with various patterns of auspicious animals… There were even two stone beast statues taller than Wen Yantong, sitting at the door. The whole thing looked quite atmospheric.

Four teenagers were standing at the door, two men and two women. When they saw Chi Jingxi, they immediately bent over and saluted. "Greetings, Little Marquis."

As soon as they spoke, the people inside immediately pulled up the scarlet cotton curtain.

Chi Jingxi was obviously a frequent visitor here. He walked into the building without looking around and brought two strangers, Wen Yantong and Fu Zixian, into the restaurant.

Two large pillars came into view. One was carved with a bird with long tail feathers; it looked unlike a phoenix. The other was carved with a fox-like beast. The eyes were inlaid with exquisitely carved glass stones, which looked quite dazzling.

The inside was extremely warm as if there was a central heater. The positions of the servants inside were also orderly. After seeing Chi Jingxi, the two people who were standing in the innermost place greeted him and led Chi Jingxi upstairs.

Wen Yantong didn't dare to make a sound. This restaurant was completely different from Crispy Fragrant House. Although the Crispy Fragrance House was also very grand, it was very lively. There were all kinds of people in it, so the lobby was very noisy. But here, it was different. There are no tables and chairs in the lobby, and all the guests are invited upstairs.

Therefore, the building was quite quiet, and the air was filled with the smell of burning incense. This made Wen Yantong, who had not seen much of the world, a little nervous.

The second floor was a winding corridor, in which there were various private rooms. Each room was separated by quite a distance. The person leading the way took them directly to the innermost private room.

As soon as the door was pushed open, laughter could be heard from inside. Someone shouted, "Hey! You two are finally here!"

Wen Yantong went in behind Mu Yang. She first poked her head in, only to see a table full of strangers, so she immediately retracted her head.

Chi Jingxi really was plotting something! He took her to the Feast at Hongmen![1]

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Footnote:

[1] Feast at Hongmen- a banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest. It refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang (刘邦) escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiangyu (項羽).