Chapter 129: Lu Ying’s High-Handed Bullying

Two quarter-hours later, the two arrived outside the tavern that was listed for sale. The tavern was situated in a recessed area, flanked by a coffin shop and a burial shroud shop on the opposite side. Not far away lay a dilapidated pit filled with filth. In such sweltering heat, mosquitoes and flies buzzed incessantly; it was no wonder business was poor.

Seeing Luo Zi gazing at the pit, Lu Ying remarked, "That land belongs to a wealthy household on this street. They have been talking about building a tavern there for five years, but it has been delayed all that time."

She truly had investigated everything.

Glancing at the tavern, which had only two diners, Lu Ying handed Luo Zi a few iron coins and instructed, "Luo Zi, go to the side and scout around. See how much business this tavern does each day and how much money they take in. I will have a use for that information later."

"Understood."

"Go ahead. I will go in and order two dishes to see how their cooking is."

Hearing that Lu Ying was going to order food, Luo Zi, who had not felt full for quite a long time, swallowed hard. He quickly straightened his posture and replied, "Right, I’ll get right on it." With that, he turned and left.

Just as Lu Ying walked toward the tavern, an ox cart drove up from not far away. The owner of the cart glanced back, spotted her, and immediately barked, "Stop, stop!"

Once the cart halted, the young man inside beckoned to a servant. The servant trotted over hurriedly.

The man pointed at Lu Ying’s figure, pulled out some iron coins, and gave them to the servant, saying, "Go and see what that woman is up to."

The servant had followed the man for many years; at a single glance, he understood his master’s intent. He whispered, "Does the master not like that young lady?" Looking in Lu Ying’s direction, the servant let out a meaningful, sinister laugh. He thought to himself that the young lady was quite pretty; if the master didn't like her, he could always take her for his own amusement.

The man glared at him, his face darkening as he snapped, "What do you know? That woman is full of tricks. Do you know why Ah Yan didn't come to Chengdu? It was her doing!" At this point, he added with venomous spite, "I have been waiting for an opportunity for a while now, but there are too many people watching her, both openly and secretly. I heard she has been busy trying to start some kind of business? How coincidental—I might not be able to handle her in other ways, but I know business inside and out. Since we’ve run into her today... go on, see what she’s planning."

"Yes, yes." The servant changed direction and entered the tavern from another side.

The tavern was large, yet it held only three or four diners. The waiter was lazily dozing off. Seeing the two enter, he glanced at them and asked languidly, "What would the customers like to eat?"

Lu Ying asked clearly, "Do you have everything?"

The waiter shot her a look. "We do."

Lu Ying asked, "Do you have braised dog meat?"

The waiter glanced at her again. "In this sweltering heat, who eats dog meat? We don't!"

"Do you have bear paw?"

The waiter looked Lu Ying up and down, let out a sneer, and shouted, "Oh? This young master wants to eat bear paw? We have it, we have it—one hundred gold pieces per paw. Do you want it?"

One hundred gold pieces for a single bear paw? Did he think the bear paw came from the Imperial Palace? Lu Ying’s expression turned cold.

Seeing her face darken, the waiter grew even more incensed. He shrieked sharply, "What is this? Dressed in a tattered scholar's robe and you come here asking for bear paw?" With that, he turned his head and shouted toward the back, "Second Sister! Second Sister, come out here!"

As soon as his voice fell, a high-pitched woman’s voice responded, "What is it?" A moment later, a fat, tall woman stormed out. She had slanted, upturned eyes and a mean, callous look about her.

The waiter pointed at Lu Ying. "This person asked if we had bear paw. I said one hundred gold pieces each, and he gave me a sour face."

Following the waiter’s gesture, the fat woman turned sharply and stared at Lu Ying. As she stared, her upturned eyes lit up, and she burst into a shrill laugh. "Asking for bear paw? Oh, oh, oh, how rare! A penniless scholar with nothing to his name dares to eat bear paw? How hilarious. In my opinion, someone like you should be sitting over there." She pointed at the dilapidated pit across the way, gesturing toward a beggar squatting there. "Birds of a feather flock together; people do what they are suited for, and eat what they can afford. You destitute wretch, an outsider without a copper to your name, what are you posturing for? If you’re a beggar, don’t pretend to be wealthy. If you don't have money, don't step into my shop! You can't afford to eat, yet you dare to give me a sour look? Who do you think you are!" She scolded him with gusto, spewing saliva as she spoke, which landed right on Lu Ying’s face!

Lu Ying had asked that question merely to gauge the level of the establishment. She had not expected that there was a reason for the tavern’s poor business. Some people simply loved to stir up trouble and look down on others. She had only asked one question and was met with such humiliation.

As the fat woman stood pointing and mocking her, with the waiter chiming in from time to time, many heads poked out from inside and outside the tavern to watch. Feeling herself surrounded and listening to the increasingly sharp insults, and sensing that the woman had become addicted to the abuse—venting all the frustration from her failing business and unhappy life onto her—Lu Ying’s face grew darker and darker.

But the more annoyed she became, the more the woman and the waiter enjoyed their tirade. The waiter even pointed at Lu Ying, jeering, "Oh, oh, oh, he’s angry! Second Sister, look how angry he is. Tsk, tsk, these scholars are the most ridiculous. What are you getting angry about? If you’re so capable, come over and bite me! Come on, come and bite me!"

When the waiter finished, the woman crossed her arms and shifted her target. "You poor book-readers, isn't it just that you've read a couple of books? What are you acting so refined for? Bah!" She spat a heavy wad of phlegm in Lu Ying’s direction and continued her tirade with even more vigor. "If you can’t afford to eat, don't eat! And you dare to ask for bear paw? Bah, you look like a penniless pauper, what are you trying to puff yourself up for in front of me?"

The commotion inside was so noisy that Luo Zi could no longer stand it. He rushed to Lu Ying’s side and said angrily, "Ah Ying, is this shrew bullying you?"

The mere presence of the larger, stronger Luo Zi made the shrew shrink back, and her shouting softened. But in an instant, as if she had recalled something, she regained her sense of confidence.

Lu Ying kept a cold face and replied in a low voice, "I am fine. This shrew and her brother are in a bad mood, and I just happened to cross their path." As she spoke, she felt a subtle intuition that this fat woman was harboring an intense hatred for her, and that there was a smugness behind her insults. The woman had reached into her sleeve pocket twice, as if she had received some kind of reward... it was likely not just a simple case of displaced anger.

Lu Ying was the kind of person who would eat anything in life, except for a loss.

She stared at the woman, who was still spewing abuse, and then at the waiter, who was reaching for a knife because Luo Zi had stood up. She turned abruptly and walked away.

Luo Zi was about to retort, but seeing Lu Ying leave, he was stunned. He hesitated for a moment before hurriedly following her.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Ying led Luo Zi away from the tavern, their figures disappearing into an alley. Seeing her flee without a fight, the fat woman let out a shrill, triumphant laugh.

Just as her laughter reached its peak of arrogance, Lu Ying reappeared.

This time, she was followed by a group of beggars. In broad daylight, under the eyes of the public, Lu Ying pulled a handful of iron coins from her robe. She stared fixedly at the fat woman and loosened her fingers, letting the coins drop one by one, allowing the beggars to scramble for them excitedly. In the middle of the street, Lu Ying’s voice rang out, cold and immensely arrogant: "Go! It’s that tavern. For every table smashed, you get an extra iron coin."

She paused slightly, as if to let everyone digest her words. Then, pointing at the fat woman and the waiter, she added, "You see those two clearly, don't you? Slap their faces, and you get an extra iron coin for each! But remember, no one else is to be touched or hindered. Do you hear me?"

A dozen beggars shouted in unison, "We hear you!"

"Good, then go!"

As soon as the words "go" left her lips, the group of beggars, both old and young, let out a howl and charged toward the tavern. Seeing the beggars rushing in, the waiter screamed, "You have a lot of nerve! In broad daylight, you, a scholar, actually incite people to violence?" His voice was filled with disbelief.

Unlike the waiter’s shouting, the fat woman was stunned at first. She stared blankly at the refined, delicate, and seemingly weak youth. Suddenly, she let out a shriek, her face turning deathly pale. "Master! Master! Come out quickly! A lunatic! We’ve met a lunatic!" As she screamed, she shook her fat frame and scrambled back into the tavern.

But this was her own tavern; she could run, but her property could not.

In an instant, the dozen beggars swarmed into the tavern. A continuous sound of heavy objects crashing to the floor echoed. Mingled with these sounds were the fat woman’s wails, "You god-damned thieves, stop! Ah! Help! Help! ...Young master, young master, it was this woman’s dog-eyes that failed to see talent! I was incited by others!" She wailed piteously, but she could not escape the tavern, only screaming continuously as she was clearly being surrounded and beaten by the beggars.

Before long, the waiter struggled to dash out, gasping, "I’m going to report this to the officials! I’m going to..." Before he could finish the last word, with a sharp "smack," a tall beggar slapped him heavily. The waiter’s head snapped to the side, his mouth split open, and he could no longer make a sound.

Luo Zi watched this scene, stunned. After a long while, he said dryly, "Ah Ying, let’s go quickly. If they really report this to the officials, it will be hard to handle."

"Don't worry." Lu Ying’s voice was calm. "The fact that this tavern is run this way is partly because their backing is insufficient." She paused and added, "Bullying others with power is actually quite interesting, especially when bullying those who look down on others with dog-eyes! We’ll just wait here. When the officials arrive, and the managers of the tavern show up, we can negotiate everything at once."

"Negotiate what?" Luo Zi was still bewildered.

Lu Ying looked back at him and said slowly, "Isn't it that I don't have enough money? The mistress of this tavern offended me, so she needs to offer some compensation. I don't want anything else—just have them sell me this tavern at a low price."

Narrowing her eyes, Lu Ying watched the officers appearing in the distance and pulled out a wooden plaque. This plaque had been given to her by Xiao Yan; with it, she did not need to announce herself when entering the Xiao estate. Of course, this was not the only plaque; she had them for other estates like Shang Wen's as well.

Handing the plaque to Luo Zi, Lu Ying said, "Take this and meet those officers. Tell them not to meddle in this. By the way, ask for the owners of the tavern and tell them that I will take this place for three hundred gold pieces. Hmm, I estimate the market value of this tavern is about four hundred gold pieces. But since the tables and chairs in the hall have been smashed, they should offer a discount, right? Tell them I think three hundred gold is just right. Of course, they can choose to disagree."

As she said this, Lu Ying’s gaze flickered, catching sight of the ox cart parked not far away.