Chapter Forty-Four: Bribing the County Mistress

  As he walked out of Chun Ying Building, Song Kai had a slightly relaxed expression on his face.

  This Mid-Autumn Festival, if Autumn Moon really gets first place, it will be a huge help to the inn. On one hand, after Autumn Moon becomes famous, she can help promote the tea of the inn. On the other hand, the madam of Chunyuan Tower has also agreed that as long as Song Kai helps Autumn Moon win the title, she will agree to cooperate with Hongchen Inn and perform for free four times a month at the inn. If additional performances are needed, they will require extra fees.

  Song Kai rode on his horse, thinking about the next step. What if others didn't appreciate that poem "Water Tune Song Head" and he couldn't get the flower crown?

  It's best to promote our tea directly at the Mid-Autumn Festival, as long as those literati recognize the quality of our tea, they will come to Red Dust Guest House to drink tea, which will naturally enhance the reputation of Red Dust Guest House.

  If I can get the Mid-Autumn Festival special tea leaves, that would be great.

  Thinking of this, Song Kai had an idea and rode his horse back to the inn.

  Not long after Song Kai left, three figures appeared near Chunyuan Building. The first one was Yang Huaiyan.

  Yang Huaiyan looked up at the sign of Chunyuan Building, then sneered and muttered to himself: "This Song Kai is quite thoughtful, wanting to win over the flower queen in advance to promote his own inn. However, this year's flower queen will definitely not fall on Chunyuan Building. Let's go, to Mengxian Garden."

  Song Kai returned to the inn and first looked around inside. Sun Xi Mei and others were not there, it seemed that this group of people had not been here for a long time.

  "Song Kai!" Nie Zhongzheng waved his hand at Song Kai.

  "What?" Song Kai walked over.

  Nie Ling pointed to the backyard and said, "I've been thinking of tidying up the rooms behind the guest house recently. We can let people stay there, it's a cost-free business. It's a pity that those rooms are empty, what do you think?"

  Song Kai shook his head and said, "Forget it, a night is just a few hundred coins, too little, and taking care of guests is also very troublesome. We're not in a hurry, I've already found a way to make the guest house business better, let's wait patiently."

  "Alright," Nie Zhongyun could only nod, then took out a very thin Go manual and began to flip through it.

  "Do you want to learn Go?" Song Kai asked in surprise.

  "I'm just taking a look, it's too much trouble. Lately, business has been bad, and I also need to find something to do. I thought about drawing a Go board on the desk, so when customers aren't eating, they can sit in the store and play Go, which is also a way to attract customers," Nie Lingdang muttered to himself.

  Song Kai looked at Nie Lingdang in surprise.

  "What's with the look?!" Nie Lingdang glared at Song Kai.

  Song Kai found that Nie Zhong's nose was small and cute, so he reached out and pinched it, praising: "You're indeed a good material for business."

  "Go die!" Nie Lingdang slapped away Song Kai's hand, she didn't need a band-aid today, although still dressed as a man, but indeed looked very good.

  "Haha, it's settled then," Song Kai laughed loudly.

  "But Go is too complicated and tiring for the brain, I'm afraid not many people will play," Nie Lingdang closed his Go manual and sighed.

  "Then we can invent a few simple chess games, like Chinese Chess, Go, oh, Mahjong is even more exciting! Haha haha haha! But does that count as a casino or not, who cares," Song Kai chuckled to himself, and another string of unintelligible terms escaped his mouth.

  Nie Lingdang was already very calm, she asked: "What is Xiangqi and Mahjong, what are they?"

  "I'll teach you tonight," Song Kai patted Nie Zhong's head again, "Zhong Jun, not bad, I've decided to raise your salary."

  "Get lost!" Nie Lingdang saw Song Kai coming to touch his head again and couldn't help but bare his teeth.

  Song Kai burst out laughing and mounted his horse again, galloping straight back to Chun Tang.

  Arrived at Hui Chun Tang, there were fewer patients than before, but inside the store was still bustling with activity.

  Song Kai dismounted his horse and went into the store, where he found Sun Ximei.

  Sun Ximei was flipping through a tattered medical book when she saw Song Kai, stood up and nodded at him: "What brings you here?"

  "I see you guys haven't been going to Red Dust Inn lately, don't you miss it?" Song Kai asked with a smile.

  Sun Ximei wrinkled her nose and said, "Alright, I heard that your childhood sweetheart wife has disappeared?"

  Song Kai was taken aback, then remembered that he had been saying Sun Ximei was his wife all along, and everything he did before was because of his deep feelings for Liu Yuxian.

  He nodded, and Song Kai let out a sigh, saying: "Alas, these are not peaceful times. Yang Huaiyan's power is too great, and I have no choice but to avoid trouble. Just now, he drove away Liu Zhuang and Yu Cui, and now he's starting to make moves against my inn. He's spreading rumors that my inn is unclean, that people have died there, and even stealing the menu from my inn to give to other restaurants... Never mind, I've come looking for Li Menghuan. Do you know where I can find her, Madame Sun?"

  Sun Ximei nodded and said: "I was just about to go over too, let's go together. At this time, she must be locked up at home."

  Two people came out of Hui Chun Tang, Sun Xi Mei had someone lead Song Kai's horse into the medical institute, then they got on a carriage together and walked along a small alley.

  Inside the carriage, Song Kai looked around at the decorations and chuckled: "This is actually my first time riding a horse-drawn carriage, but it's really not that comfortable."

  Sun Ximei glanced at Song Kai and said, "This horse carriage is already considered top-notch."

  Song Kai wanted to open the window of the carriage.

  "Don't open it," Sun Ximei spoke out to stop him, and then blushed, "After all, this is a horse-drawn carriage. It would be strange for others to see us riding together."

  "Oh," Song Kai said with understanding.

  About half an hour later, the carriage slowed down and turned into a small alley.

  Sun Ximei opened the window and looked out, saying: "We're here."

  Song Kai also looked out and saw that the carriage had entered a small gate and was rolling along on the bluestone pavement.

  After walking for over 300 meters, the horse carriage stopped, and Song Kai and Sun Xi Mei got off.

  "My goodness, is this really the Princess's Manor?" Song Kai looked around, this wasn't a place to live, it was clearly a gigantic garden.

  "This is the backyard, walking forward is where Meng Huan lives and studies," Sun Ximei pointed ahead.

  There are lakes, bamboo forests, flower beds, and artificial hills around, with pavilions standing in the distance, covering a large area.

  No wonder Suzhou gardens are considered the best in the world, it seems that since the Tang Dynasty, these people from Suzhou have been popular for building gardens.

  As they walked forward, several figures appeared in the distance. Two of them were familiar to Song Kai - Xue Wei Hai and Sun Tang. The group walked slowly, seemingly discussing something. The leader was a woman wearing a black robe, whose face couldn't be seen clearly, but her slender figure could be made out.

  "Huh? Your grandfather? Is he here too?" Song Kai pointed into the distance.

  "Don't look, it's their adults' business," Sun Ximei pulled Song Kai into a courtyard.

  There is a waterwheel in the courtyard, a stream, and an archery target. A row of houses looks very majestic.

  Song Kai Xin sighed inwardly, this is indeed the life of a rich person, compared to his own life, it's not even worth mentioning.

  Two maidservants blocked Song Kai and Sun Xi Mei.

  "Miss Sun, who is this? Our young lady can't be seen with just any man," a maid said with an unpleasant tone.

  "Shut up!" Sun Ximei frowned, "How can you talk like that! Where is Meng Huan? Let her come out."

  That maid shrank back a step, while another maid had already run past.

  Before long, a girl in a floral dress ran out, who was Li Menghan.

  Li Menghan approached and saw that it was Sun Ximei and Song Kai, her round face full of surprise. "Huh? Song Kai, how did you end up here?"

  "This isn't asking you for a favor, is it?" Song Kai laughed and said.

  Li Menghan smiled and said, "I really have a big face."

  As they spoke, the three of them walked into Li Menghan's room.

  "Miss!"

  The maid stopped Li Menghuan and said, "Miss, he...he's a man."

  "He's definitely a man! He's still the most devoted man!" Li Menghuan raised her hand to stop, pouted and hummed, then pulled Song Kai and Sun Ximei into the room.

  "But miss..."

  The maid said half a sentence and then stopped, as if no one was paying attention to her.

  Inside the room, Li Menghan invited Song Kai and Sun Ximei to sit down.

  Song Kai looked around the room and smiled: "What are you doing cooped up at home?"

  Li Menghan heard this and immediately became sad, her round little face crying, "My dad is so unreasonable, I have to finish my homework before I can go out. Sigh, I really envy you, Xi Mei sister, you don't have to do homework."

  Song Kai and Sun Xi Mei burst out laughing at the same time.

  "Song Kai, what are you looking for me about?" Li Menghuan asked.

  "Oh, it's a matter of the guest house. Look, this is the new tea that just arrived at my shop, and it's one-of-a-kind. You try it first, and I'll talk later." Song Kai said, taking out a package of tea.

  Li Menghan and Sun Ximei opened the package, took a sip, nodded one after another, indicating that it was not bad. It didn't taste like tea soup with all sorts of things mixed together, nor did it taste bitter like white tea. Instead, it was refreshing and invigorating, indeed very good.

  "I'd like you to recommend that this tea of mine be served as the exclusive tea at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Party, what do you think?" Song Kai asked.

  "Only for tea?" Li Menghan and Sun Ximei asked in unison.

  "Right, what's wrong with that? This tea is only sold in my Red Dust Guest Shop. Later, at the meeting, if everyone thinks it's good after tasting it, they will naturally come to my guest shop to drink tea and chat," Song Kai smiled.

  Sun Ximei and Li Menghan simultaneously realized it, nodding repeatedly. This marketing tactic is indeed very creative.

  "Do you want me to talk to my father about it?" Li Menghuan asked.

  "Of course, and, hehe, if it's convenient, let your father give the scores to Qiu Yue of Chun Yuan Building, she is our hotel's agent, hehe, this is called bribery." Song Kai laughed.

  "You're quite straightforward," Li Menghuan stood up, "I like that. If you want me to do something for you, of course, you'll have to bribe me. Send me a poem about Mid-Autumn Festival then. I'll first deliver the tea leaves to my father, and it just so happens that there are several distinguished guests there as well."

  After finishing speaking, Li Menghan took the tea leaves and left in a hurry.