Chapter 446: Taihe Tower

The teahouse near Yunlai Inn is not particularly large, but it does have a two-story layout.

It is currently the afternoon, the very hour when there are many people.

On the platform in the Main Hall on the first floor of the teahouse, a middle-aged, slightly plump storyteller has just finished a long segment of storytelling and is drinking tea to moisten his throat.

Duan Rong walked into the teahouse, glanced at the storyteller, and headed straight for the second floor.

He ordered a few snacks and a pot of clear tea at random, then sat down at a seat by the window.

Duan Rong sat there, gazing out the window. He watched the pedestrians on the street and the buildings in this area.

This place is not the center of Shenyun Prefecture; he had deliberately entered the city through the East City Gate and chosen a rather remote Yunlai Inn precisely because he did not want to attract attention.

Duan Rong's state of mind was peaceful at this moment, and watching the coming and going crowds, he felt a sense of leisure.

After watching for a while, he sighed, "Life in the mountains is bitter after all; bustling places are more suitable for living."

Duan Rong had already made up his mind that if he achieved success in his cultivation in the future, he would never hide in the deep mountains; he would definitely find a place to live in this bustling marketplace. "The mortal world is the true place of practice, after all."

Duan Rong was merely daydreaming, and he immediately pulled himself out of that leisurely Artistic Conception.

He did not come to this teahouse to sip tea and sit idly.

Duan Rong swept a glance at the guests chatting in twos and threes on this floor, and his Divine Sense was suddenly released.

Before he came, Zhu He had given him two tasks. One task was to kill the Minister of the Secretariat Li Shensi without anyone knowing, and the other was to control and guide the public opinion of the marketplace, preventing it from fermenting in the direction of a political whirlpool.

In Duan Rong's view, these two tasks were closely related.

For example, if Li Shensi were killed in different ways, it would have completely different effects on the public opinion of the marketplace.

This is why, during the meeting, when Fan Hongjiao said she would mask herself and assassinate Li Shensi in the hall, she was immediately scolded by Zhu He.

Therefore, when considering how to kill Li Shensi, one must take into account how to guide the public opinion of the marketplace. This is precisely the principle that one who does not plan for the whole is not enough to plan for a part.

However, to guide the public opinion of the marketplace subsequently, one must first understand the public opinion field of Shenyun Prefecture and guess and infer what kind of topics would spread here like fire fueled by the wind...

Although Duan Rong has lived in this realm for six or seven years, these six or seven years are actually far from enough to precisely control public opinion.

What's more, in these six or seven years, he spent most of his time in bitter cultivation, and he has always lived in this realm with the mindset of a modern person.

He does not truly understand the underlying feelings in the spiritual world of the common people who live their daily lives in this realm.

Duan Rong sat in this teahouse to listen to exactly this part.

He wanted to use this to understand the public opinion field of Shenyun Prefecture.

In fact, the task Zhu He gave to Duan Rong would be a common task in the modernized internet world of his previous life; especially for those in public relations, one of their tasks is called public opinion monitoring.

And at this moment, in this sea of information that is the teahouse, Duan Rong is doing similar work. However, it is just that the tools have changed; the tool he uses is Divine Sense probing.

Duan Rong sat in this teahouse until the closing hour of the Hai period at night before he got up and left.

He left the teahouse, ate something by the roadside, and returned to the inn to sleep.

The journey had been exhausting, and monitoring public opinion in the teahouse was also quite mentally taxing; Duan Rong fell into a deep sleep the moment he lay on the bed, and the next day he slept until the sun was high before getting up.

Duan Rong washed up, ate some breakfast at the inn, and then went to the teahouse to sit for another day.

He sat in that teahouse for three consecutive days before changing to another place.

That teahouse was, after all, in a remote location in the East City District of Shenyun Prefecture; if he only monitored this one place, the sample for public opinion monitoring would be too singular.

On the morning of the fourth day, Duan Rong walked into Taihe Tower on Changle Street.

Taihe Tower is the largest teahouse in Shenyun Prefecture.

Not only is its location good, standing by the river, but it is also on Changle Street, where every inch of land is worth an ounce of gold. Those who come here to drink tea can be described as either rich or noble.

Taihe Tower has three floors in total.

The first floor is the Main Hall, where famous performers often tell stories and sing songs on the stage.

The second floor is for open-air elegant seating.

The most important part is this third floor.

The third floor consists of private rooms; many high-ranking officials and nobles have their own permanent private rooms on the third floor, and the price is naturally not cheap.

As soon as Duan Rong stepped into the teahouse, he felt the atmosphere was vastly different.

In the Main Hall on the first floor, quite a few guests were already seated.

A performer with makeup on the stage was singing pingtan, and their appearance and voice both revealed a faint sense of desolation.

What surprised Duan Rong was not the performer on the stage, but that although the teahouse already had many guests and some were chatting in low voices, the feeling the entire teahouse gave was still quiet.

This was completely different from that remote teahouse in the East City District.

Duan Rong walked slowly to the second floor, picked a corner seat by the window, and sat down quietly. In such an atmosphere, Duan Rong's footsteps could not help but become lighter.

Just after Duan Rong sat down, a waiter walked over, a subtle, faint smile hanging on his face.

The waiter was actually wearing plain-colored brocade clothes; although the color was not eye-catching, the material was definitely top-grade.

The waiter walked over and handed a list and a cinnabar brush to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong understood as soon as he saw the list; he ticked a few items with the cinnabar brush and handed it to the waiter.

The waiter bowed his head and waist slightly toward him, then took the list and left.

Throughout the entire process, the two did not say a single word.

Duan Rong watched the back of the waiter as he left and sighed slightly; although he had transmigrated here, for some reason, at that moment, he actually felt like a bumpkin entering the city.

Not long after, a pot of clear tea and a few small dishes were brought up; the waiter placed the dishes, bowed with his hands hanging down, and then retreated.

Duan Rong took a few sips of the clear tea; it was indeed clear, mellow, and fragrant.

He tasted the few small dishes again, but his brows furrowed.

To be honest, the taste was very average, even worse than that remote teahouse in the East City District.

Duan Rong then realized that the guests at the nearby tables were all sitting there chatting and basically didn't touch their chopsticks.

He immediately understood that Taihe Tower could naturally make the dishes well; at the very least, they would not be worse than that remote teahouse in the East City District.

However, a teahouse is a teahouse; a teahouse is not a restaurant.

Perhaps the most valuable thing about Taihe Tower is its atmosphere.

As long as this atmosphere remains, those who have visited will want to come again.

Yet, delicious dishes and this atmosphere are at odds, so Taihe Tower would rather sacrifice the flavor of its dishes to preserve the purity of this atmosphere.

This is also a way of doing business.

Duan Rong stayed at Taihe Tower for two consecutive days.

Over these two days, some of the topics discussed by these high-ranking officials and nobles truly shattered Duan Rong's worldview. Not to mention the penchant for boys, which existed in the ancient times of Blue Star as well. Some topics were truly beyond words...

After listening for two days, Duan Rong felt completely unwell.

The so-called upper class is, as expected, nothing more than fleas on a magnificent gown.

Even so, not everyone was discussing such topics; after two days, Duan Rong still gained quite a lot.

The next day, before dawn, Duan Rong climbed out of his room at the inn.

He walked to the Main Hall on the first floor of the inn, only to find the inn's doors still closed.

On the counter, a candle was about to burn out, its flame flickering high and low. Behind the counter, there was a faint sound of snoring.

Duan Rong walked over and saw a worker sleeping on a long bench behind the counter.

Duan Rong stood there and knocked on the counter with a thud-thud-thud.

The worker woke up, nearly falling off the bench; he rubbed his sleepy eyes, stood up, and looked at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Sorry to disturb your rest. Please, open the door for me."

The worker said, "Guest, you're heading out so early?"

Duan Rong said, "Yes. I have some business."

The worker removed the two middle door panels, and Duan Rong turned sideways to exit the inn.

The worker poked his head out to look, seeing only the pitch-black, silent street outside; he yawned, reinstalled the two door panels, turned back to blow out the nearly spent candle on the counter, and lay back down on the long bench to sleep.

In the darkness, Duan Rong moved his body, drifting through the night like a ghost.

At this time, dawn had not yet broken, and a lone star hung upside down in the sky. But he had still risen a bit late.

Over these past few days of monitoring public opinion, he had already obtained a massive amount of information.

One piece of information was that civil officials of the third rank or higher in Shenyun Prefecture held a morning court session every three days.

The location of the morning court was the Main Hall of the Prefecture Government Office.

The time was the third quarter of the Mao hour.

After passing through several blocks, Duan Rong faintly heard the shivering sound of a night watchman's clapper in the distance; while his figure flickered, he silently counted the time in his heart...

Once the count was finished, Duan Rong secretly thought: "The Mao hour has already begun; I hope I can make it in time."

Thinking this, he could not help but quicken his pace.

After passing two more blocks, he suddenly stopped not far from the entrance of a certain alley.

Inside the alley, it was pitch-black; deep within, two lanterns hung in front of the gate of a large residence. Looking from afar, those two dim, yellow lanterns were like faint stars in the dark sky.

On the side of the street at the alley entrance, there was a wonton stall with steam rising; two figures were busy under the light, appearing to be a husband and wife.

On an autumn morning in Shenyun Prefecture, there was still some chill, so having a bowl of wontons was just right to warm up.

Duan Rong walked over, sat down at the stall, and ordered a bowl of wontons and a steamer of buns.

"Guest, the wontons are ready-made, just need to go into the pot. The buns might take a while; they were just steamed and are still building up steam."

"No rush, bring the wontons first. To warm up."

"Coming right up!"

Before long, piping hot wontons topped with chopped green onions were served.

After pouring in a large spoonful of chili oil, Duan Rong slurped the wontons while his peripheral vision remained fixed on the alley entrance.

Li Shensi lived in that alley, and today was a morning court day; as the Secretariat Director, he would certainly attend as usual.

Duan Rong waiting here was actually just to see Li Shensi. To be honest, up until now, he didn't even know what the person he was supposed to kill looked like.

Better to have a look first.

Duan Rong had slurped half a bowl of wontons when he suddenly saw a sedan chair being carried out of the alley.

Four sedan carriers, burly in stature, moved the sedan chair with a fixed rhythm, causing it to sway slightly. In front of the sedan was a Personal Attendant, riding a horse slowly and holding a lantern to lead the way.

Just then, the man placed a steamer of buns in front of Duan Rong, but Duan Rong kept his head bowed, not even looking up.

At this moment, his Divine Sense had already been released, piercing through the sedan chair and locking onto the person inside.

The person sitting in the sedan was tall and sturdy, with knotted muscles on his arms and a face full of thick whiskers.

The Secretariat Director was the top civil official, yet this man had the appearance of a martial artist.

Duan Rong's Divine Sense swept over the rank badge on the front of the man's official robe; the badge featured a crane.

The official system of Qingzhou.

The rank badges on civil officials' robes were birds, while those on martial officials' robes were beasts.

And the crane was the leader of all birds, which indicated that the person in the sedan was a first-rank civil official.

It was indeed Li Shensi!

After confirming the identity, the next moment, Duan Rong's Divine Sense pierced through the man's dantian.

"True Qi Realm Fourth Layer!"

Duan Rong slurped another wonton and thought to himself: In the secular world, he could be considered a top-tier expert.

By now, the sedan chair had passed the wonton stall and headed toward the street ahead.

Duan Rong looked at the sedan chair in the darkness, his eyes flickering.

In fact, he could strike right now to kill Li Shensi.

He could even wipe out the couple at the wonton stall who had seen his face.

For him, having already achieved the Origin Qi Realm Fourth Layer, this required no effort at all; it was merely a simple task.

However, if Li Shensi were to be assassinated on his way to the morning court session, public opinion would certainly explode, and it would inevitably ferment in the direction of a political whirlpool.

After all, two successive Secretariat Directors had died unnatural deaths.

Furthermore, this Li Shensi had only been in office for two months before being assassinated in the street.

Such news was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a pot of hot oil; it was bound to explode!

"Li Shensi! Li Shensi! How exactly should I kill you?"

Duan Rong sat there, quietly eating wontons and steamed buns while pondering in his heart.

After he finished eating, he wiped his mouth, paid a few copper coins, and left.

After leaving the wonton stall, Duan Rong turned into that alleyway amidst the pitch-black night.

He walked slowly to the large residence in the alley and saw two lanterns hanging on the courtyard gate, with the characters "Li Mansion" written upon them.

Duan Rong circled to a dark spot, his thoughts stirred, and he released his Divine Sense once again.

His Divine Sense instantly passed through walls and courtyards, enveloping most of the residence in a flash.

Except for the guards patrolling while yawning, the entire residence was silent at this moment.

Duan Rong's figure suddenly moved like a ghost, vaulting over the courtyard wall.

He landed gracefully, already within the shadow of a large tree in the courtyard.

Not long before, a team of guards had just patrolled past this very spot.

Then, Duan Rong leaped in and out repeatedly in the darkness, searching Li Shensi's residence from top to bottom.

However, he did not discover anything.

This Li Shensi was originally the Prefecture Master of Nanyang Prefecture and had always served in local posts. All things considered, he had only been in Shenyun Prefecture for two months, and this residence had just been acquired; there had been no time to manage it, so how could there be any secrets?

After finishing his search of the residence, Duan Rong discovered that the sky was already beginning to brighten, so he leaped out of the residence from a patch of tree shadow and turned out of this district along the other end of the alley.

(End of chapter)