Chapter 595: The Fame‑Seeking Jianghu Swindler

Afternoon.

The sun was at its height, heating the Qingshi slabs of Zhuque Avenue to a scorching temperature, and even the wind that swept through the street carried a hint of dryness.

In Cheng Nan, the Qingfeng Pavilion was bustling, its carved wooden windows half open.

The green bamboo curtains hanging under the eaves rustled in the wind, while a faint fragrance mingled with the scent of freshly brewed rain‑before tea drifted through the hall.

Groups of tea patrons sat scattered about, some whispering, some pouring and drinking for themselves, a scene of ordinary bustling life.

At that moment, a light, brisk footstep rang from the stairwell, accompanied by an off‑key little tune, shattering the hall's leisure.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a man in his early thirties, dressed in a lake‑blue brocade robe, a jade belt at his waist, cloud‑patterned boots on his feet, a plump face, and eyebrows and eyes radiating unmistakable merriment.

It was Liu Ye, a wealthy household with a somewhat lofty reputation.

Liu Ye's family had been merchants for generations, operating several silk brocade shops in Chang'an, with deep coffers; he loved making friends, spent lavishly, and was a regular at Qingfeng Pavilion.

As soon as he stepped through the door, the sharp‑eyed waiter rushed over with a diligent smile and a bright voice: "Liu Ye, you've arrived!"

While speaking, he deftly turned, grabbed the cloth slung over his shoulder, and hurried to an Eight Immortals table by the window.

He wiped the tabletop three times in quick succession.

He even polished the bench beside the table until it shone; only then did the waiter bow and say respectfully, "Please, have a seat!"

"You've come at a perfect time; the freshly sun‑dried new tea upstairs is fragrant!"

Liu Ye smoothed his cuffs, sat down boldly, stretched comfortably, his eyebrows curving like a crescent, and declared loudly, "Excellent! Bring me a pot of fine tea!"

"Also bring a plate of your most exquisite osmanthus cake and a plate of honey‑soaked kumquats!"

"Got it!" the waiter replied crisply, turned, and hurried to the back kitchen, his steps a few strides faster than usual.

In less than the time it takes to sip half a cup of tea, the waiter returned carrying a red lacquer tray.

On the tray, a Blue Porcelain Teacup gleamed clear and luminous, steam curling upward, beside it a plate of delicate, translucent osmanthus cake, and golden honey‑preserved kumquats looking irresistibly tempting.

He placed each item on the table, and just as he was about to step back, Liu Ye leisurely fished a few copper coins from his pocket, flicked them, and with a "ding‑dang" sound dropped them onto the table.

"Liu Ye, what's this…?" the waiter stammered.

"A reward for you." Liu Ye didn't even raise his eyelids, lifted the teacup and took a sip, his tone casual and magnanimous.

The waiter's eyes lit up instantly; he bent quickly, scooped up the coins, slipped them into his pocket, his smile widening as he bowed and thanked, "Thank you, Liu Ye!"

He said this, his gaze catching the uncontainable smile at Liu Ye's mouth corner, as if some colossal joy could not be suppressed.

The waiter, also quick‑witted and masterfully adept at reading cues, leaned forward, lowered his voice, and asked curiously, "Liu Ye, seeing you so beaming, isn't there some monumental happy event today?"

At his words, several patrons at the neighboring table simultaneously fell silent, perking up their ears.

"Oh?"

Liu Ye, hearing this, set down his teacup, raised an eyebrow slightly, glanced sideways at the waiter, and leisurely retorted, "You want to know?"

The waiter hurriedly nodded like crushing garlic, his face bearing a flattering smile, and cautiously probed, "Servant… may I know?"

"Of course!" Liu Ye slapped the table, his voice suddenly rising, his smile widening to the point of spilling over, and he declared loudly, "Such a heart‑warming good news should be celebrated worldwide!"

His words whetted everyone's appetite; the waiter, even more anxious, scratched his ear and cheek, and hurriedly asked, "Liu Ye, may I know what it is?"

The surrounding patrons also turned their heads, eyes full of curiosity.

Even the elderly men at the next table, who had been playing chess, paused their pieces and looked this way.

Liu Ye, seeing this, grew even more smug, cleared his throat, lifted his teacup for another sip, then slammed the cup onto the table with a "kwang‑dang" clang, his gaze sweeping the curious faces, and, with measured cadence, uttered, "It's that damn Qilin Talented Scholar who's dead!"

"He died on the road to Chang'an!"

"What?!" The words rang out like a bolt of thunder cracking through Qingfeng Pavilion.

Three middle‑aged men at the neighboring table sprang to their feet, their leisurely expressions instantly replaced by shock; one, a man with a goat‑beard, shouted, "The Qilin Talented Scholar Mei Renbi is dead?!"

His companion, equally incredulous, waved his hands repeatedly, "Impossible! I heard this morning that the Qilin Talented Scholar was supposed to arrive in Chang'an today; many scholars were preparing to behold his bearing!"

"How could he have died so suddenly?"

Mei Renbi's reputation has lately been the talk of Chang'an.

He is the leader of the Jiangyou Alliance of Liang Kingdom, reputed since childhood to be exceptionally intelligent, knowledgeable of astronomy and geography, master of military strategy, and also a gifted writer.

He is honored by the people of Liang Kingdom as the "Qilin Talented Scholar."

Now that he has come to Great Zhou, the literati of Chang'an eagerly await, hoping to see what sort of bearing this famed scholar truly possesses…

Among the crowd, a scholar in a sky‑blue shirt furrowed his brows, set his teacup down, and, puzzled, asked, "Hey, wasn't it said that the Qilin Talented Scholar Mei Renbi commands a legion of Jiangyou Alliance masters, countless talents?"

"When he travels, he's always surrounded by a massive escort; how could he suddenly die on the road?"

His words sparked even louder discussion throughout the hall.

Some echoed, others speculated; in an instant, Qingfeng Pavilion was abuzz with every kind of theory.

In a corner, a burly man lifted his tea bowl, took a sip, his gaze heavy as he spoke in a low voice, yet clear enough for all nearby: "Indeed! I've heard this person is extremely formidable, with daring strategy, even comparable to our Lord Chen Yan!"

Liu Ye's smile suddenly faded by half, his complexion shifting; he slammed the table hard, his eyebrows knitting, instantly displeased.

He spat fiercely toward the direction where the burly man had spoken, his saliva splattering the Qingshi slab floor with unabashed contempt: "Peh!"

That crisp spit echoed, turning the once‑bustling tea house into a dead silence.

All eyes snapped onto Liu Ye; the burly man also froze, his hand holding the tea bowl suspended mid‑air, his expression a bit startled.

Liu Ye's chest rose slightly, clearly inflamed by the remark "not inferior to Lord Chen Yan."

He craned his neck, raised his voice with obvious disgust, each word laced with harshness: "Does he even deserve to be compared with Lord Chen Yan

—just a fame‑seeking jianghu swindler, a mere façade!"

His words prompted an immediate chorus of agreement throughout the tea house.

At a table diagonally opposite by the window sat several young men dressed in splendid attire.

They wore silk brocade, jade pendants at their waists, unmistakably scions of noble families in Chang'an.

Just as Liu Ye finished speaking, a fair‑skinned, beardless young master slammed his folding fan with a "snap," loudly echoing, "Exactly! I've long found that Mei‑something fellow unsightly; he's clearly just a hollow show!"

He added, still not satisfied, curled his lip, his sarcasm nearly spilling over: "What cleansing of grievances, what helping King Ba‑Dong govern Bashu, never stealing by day nor locking doors by night—in my view, it's all just empty talk blown around the streets!"

"Who knows how much silver he secretly spent, bribing those storytellers and scriptwriters, just to elevate him into some so‑called 'Kirin Talented Scholar'!"

The other brocade‑clad youth at the same table kept nodding, then echoed loudly enough for everyone in the teahouse to hear clearly: "Exactly! Mei Renbi boasts even more boundlessly!"

He says that several salt fields and iron mines in the southern Liang Kingdom are half under the control of his Jiangyou Alliance…

And that the waterway trade route from Jiangnan to Jiangbei—most of it requires paying passage fees to his Jiangyou Alliance for free passage!

He paused deliberately, lifted his teacup for a sip, then set it down, a half‑smile on his face, his tone mocking: "Tsk tsk, this sounds absurd!"

"Is the emperor of Liang Kingdom a fool?"

"Can a mere wandering martial artist grow powerful enough to ride atop the royal house and defecate and urinate?"

"There is no such logic under heaven!"

"Exactly, exactly!" The third young man at the table immediately took over, leisurely sipping hot tea to moisten his throat, then proclaimed loudly: "And that nonsensical saying 'Obtain it, and you can obtain the world,' is a total farce!"

"If this so‑called Kirin Talented Scholar truly had such prowess, why not simply overthrow Liang Kingdom and become emperor himself?"

He said that while rolling his eyes disdainfully, adding with a scornful face: "In my view, this is all a stunt he fabricated himself!"

"He merely wants to use this hollow fame to recruit a ragtag crowd and wield power within Liang Kingdom!"

The middle‑aged man at the neighboring table, sporting a goat‑beard, now stroked his whiskers and spoke slowly, his tone tinged with mockery: "Earlier rumors claimed he was god‑like, that countless masters served under him, his influence spread across every prefecture of Liang Kingdom, and even Liang officials would give him a three‑point courtesy…"

Then, abruptly shifting his tone, his eyes even more mocking, he asked: "And the result?"

"Now he hasn't even reached Chang'an's city gate and died halfway there!"

The crowd chattered in a clamor, the teahouse atmosphere growing ever more heated; the earlier curiosity and admiration for Mei Renbi had long vanished.

In its place was a flood of contempt and disdain.

The waiter, seeing Liu Ye's expression soften, hurried forward, a flattering smile plastered on his face, bowing respectfully: "Sixth Uncle, you have seen and known so much; you surely understand the whole story…"

"Please tell us, big fellows, how exactly did Mei Renbi die?"

"Our hearts are burning with curiosity!"

At that remark, the chatter in the hall instantly fell silent; everyone stared at Liu Ye, eager for the answer.

Liu Ye, hearing the crowd's assent, felt his anger gradually dissipate, his complexion easing considerably.

He picked up a piece of osmanthus cake from the table, chewed it leisurely, then cleared his throat and said slowly: "You all know that Mei Renbi said she would reach Chang'an today, right?"

The others nodded one after another, their curiosity deepening.

Liu Ye set down his teacup, his fingertips lightly tapping the table with a crisp "thud‑thud", deliberately teasing a pause, then vividly narrated: "The result is that, thirty li from Chang'an, his party fell into an ambush by bandits!"

He paused again, then continued: "It is said the killing cries shook the heavens, blood flowed like a river; the more than twenty guards he brought, along with himself, were all wiped out clean, leaving not a single survivor!"

"What?!"

"All over twenty people died?"

"That's too tragic!"

Exclamations rose and fell, and the teahouse instantly erupted in a frenzy.

The brocade‑clad youth who had just echoed Liu Ye suddenly furrowed his brow, raising his doubt: "That can't be right!"

"Around Chang'an, in recent years, under Grand Preceptor Laoren and under Lord Chen Yan's governance, it has been very peaceful—walking at night without fear—so where could such formidable bandits come from?"

That question hit the nail on the head; the crowd nodded, their eyes full of bewilderment.

?

"I've heard people from Jing Zhao Fu get the inside scoop…"

"Jing Zhao Fu has already posted a bulletin stating that those bandits are not mere mountain‑grass thieves!"

He paused, then said word for word: "It is Gao Changjing of Qi State, who colluded with discontented Jiangyou‑Alliance‑opposed martial masters in Liang Kingdom, deliberately disguising himself as a bandit to lie in ambush halfway!"

"His purpose was to provoke a conflict between Great Zhou and Liang Kingdom, so he could reap the fisherman's profit!"

A dead silence spread over Qingfeng Tower's carved beams and painted rafters; even the rustle of the bamboo curtains beneath the eaves sounded unusually crisp.

All the tea‑drinkers in the room felt a jolt in their hearts; their gazes at Liu Ye were filled with sudden, startled enlightenment.

The first to recover was the young man in brocade finery at that table.

The youth who had just raised the question slapped his thigh hard, a look of sudden clarity on his face, and shouted loudly: "So that's it!"

Before the words finished, he gritted his teeth and cursed, his brows bristling with anger: "That Gao Changjing is truly insidious!"

"His belly is full of foul intent, trying to incite Great Zhou and Liang Kingdom into trouble, his desire to see Great Zhou perish never dies!"

"Exactly, exactly!" The other young man at the same table also clenched his teeth with hatred, pounding his fist heavily on the table, cursing: "This thief has always been extremely ferocious and cunning, the best at disguise and lurking; who knows how many calamities he has caused to Great Zhou!"

"When the Mingjing Office catches him, he must be torn to pieces a thousand times over, only then can my hatred be avenged!"

As soon as those words fell, another young man shook his head repeatedly, a hint of disdain on his face, his tone even harsher: "A thousand cuts is too cheap for Gao Changjing!"

He said, then suddenly squeezed his companion's eye, a sly grin appearing, stretching his words: "In my view, we should dismember him with six horses!"

"Six horses?" the boy at the same table blinked, subconsciously muttering it again, then furrowed his brow in confusion, curiously asking: "Weren't they always five‑horse dismemberments?"

"Where do we bind this extra horse?"