The person who walked out of the staircase was not big or tall, and he was even thin, but his footsteps were steady. Yang Ning knew that this man was powerful in martial arts at a glance.
The man was about forty-five or forty-six years ago, dressed in a black cotton robe, with a hat made of fox fur. He stood at the staircase and looked around. The man with a prominent nose lying on the floor didn’t dare to move a bit, yet he got up after seeing the comer and walked forward, greeting, “Manager, this guy beat us…”
“Clap!”
Before the man with a prominent nose finished his words, he was slapped so hard that half of his face was swollen in an instant.
“Manager…”The man was shocked and didn’t understand why he was slapped.
The middle-aged man said coldly, “I told you to invite Pearl, but what did you do? Since there are guests here, you should discuss with them. Why did you offend them?”
“Manager…”
Yuan Rong clenched his fists and said angrily, “That beast. I…I am going to see him.” He got up and prepared to leave, but after he took only a few steps, Yang Ning asked impassively, “Who are you going to see? Ding Yitu? Are you planning to fight against him or reason with him?”“I…”Yang Ning sneered. “You are a young master in the mansion of the minister in the Ministry of Rites, yet you want to fight against the manager of the Rising Sun Escort Agency. What can you do even if you win, not to mention whether you have the ability?”Yuan Rong was stunned.Yang Ning stated slowly, “You know more about Ding Yitu’s strength than me. This is a battle and the victory can’t be decided after only one fight.” He smiled faintly and added, “Yuan Rong, I will say something that you don’t want to hear. You, a young master in the mansion of the minister in the Ministry of Rites, probably can’t compare with the manager of the Rising Sun Escort
Yuan Rong laughed. “It turns out that you prepare to boost Shen Jiaonu. All of you are billionaires. Not to mention that you four join hands, it’s not difficult for any of you to boost a queen beauty.”Chen Mukuan laughed in a braying voice. “In fact, I hope that somebody will compete with us. If we win easily, it will be boring.”Yuan Rong looked around. There were many pleasure-boats around the boat king, and the guests in these boats were wealthy or powerful. The river was wide, but when all the boats surrounded it, it was inconvenient for them to move.By the Qinhuai River, there were also many people and bright lights.The election of the beauty queen was an annual grand occasion on the Qinhuai River, yet few people could afford to join it. Somebody once said that the election of the beauty queen was not a competition among the beautiful and talented girls but the rich men who had a big fortune.They spent gold on
It was silent at night, and the lights were soft, while many people’s hearts were tense.Chen Mukuan snorted and said in a braying voice, “It turns out that he has come, too. Dudes, do you think that we should admit defeat or play with him?”Jiang Cheng frowned slightly. “It appears that Jiang Suiyun is determined to win.”“Jiang Suiyun?” Yang Ning turned to Yuan Rong and asked, “Who is he?”Hearing Yang Ning’s question, the others couldn’t help but look at him in astonishment. It seemed that they should know Jiang Suiyun, while this question was surprising.Yuan Rong explained, “Young Master Jiang from East Sea, Jiang Suiyun is from the Jiang family on East Sea. The Jiang family does business on the sea. The family master Jiang Xiaoqing has a boat team with dozens of boats. If there is a family with more money than the country in the Chu State, it must be the Jiang family.”“They have more money than the
A big luxurious table was put on the deck of the boat, with more than ten beautiful maids serving around it. Three people were drinking wine and toasting each other at the table. When Zhu Yuchen and the others arrived, the three glanced at them.Yang Ning glanced at the three, too.He saw that the one facing him was his acquaintance, Dou Lianzhong, a son of the minister in the Ministry of Revenue, and he had seen the one on the left earlier, the manager of the Rising Sun Escort Agency, Ding Yitu. The one on the right was dressed in a purple brocade fur coat, with a white hat made of fox skin, about thirty years old, looking like a man from a wealthy family.Dou Lianzhong glanced at Zhu Yuchen and the others with a sneer. When he saw Yang Ning, he was stunned, and his expression changed.Yang Ning didn’t stare at the three at the table but saw that somebody faced the river surface by the side of the boat not far away behind the thre
Seeing that Dou Lianzhong was at a disadvantage, Jiang Suiyun sneered and stated casually, “You have a silver tongue. Are you covering up for them?”“Shut up!” Yang Ning immediately looked at Jiang Suiyun and sneered. “You, Jiang Suiyun, how dare you not kneel down after seeing me? Do you want to rebel?”“Me…” Jiang Suiyun was astonished. “Why should I kneel to you?”Duan Canghai had kept calm silently all the time. Now he finally took two steps forward and stated, “You are a civilian. How dare you not kneel down after seeing Marquis of Honor?”Jiang Suiyun was stunned. The manager of the Rising Sun Escort Agency Ding Yitu didn’t come over but just sat at the table drinking wine all the time. Hearing Duan Canghai’s words, his hand trembled slightly, and he turned to them, with his eyes becoming sharp.Zhu Yuchen and the others were involved in the dispute. After knowing Dou Lianzhong’s identity, all of them were scared
Ding Yitu didn’t speak, while Dou Lianzhong came over, saying casually, “Manager Ding works in an escort agency and travels around the world depending on his connections, and he knows countless people. However, in my opinion, there are many people who know Manager Ding, yet he may not remember all of them.”Yang Ning didn’t argue but asked with a smile, “Master Dou, I have heard that many pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River belong to you. Is it true?”“So what?” Dou Lianzhong asked in reply.Yang Ning replied while smiling, “Nothing.” Then he turned to Yuan Rong, asking, “Yuan Rong, does the pleasure boat where Pearl is belong to Master Dou, too?”Before Yuan Rong answered, Dou Lianzhong stated, “Right, that pleasure boat is mine. Xue from the Treasures House owed me a lot of money due to poor management those years, and that guy wanted to evade debts after dying, but it’s an unquestionable moral truth that if you owe somebody mone
Yang Ning and the others were undamaged. After they came back to Pearl’s pleasure boat, Zhu Yuchen and his friends finally seemed to wake up and came back to reality. They were about to kneel down and salute him, while Yang Ning expressed with a smile, “If I wanted you to kneel down, wouldn’t I reveal my identity earlier? It’s the election of the beauty queen tonight and we just want to have fun here. Since we are sitting together, it’s our fate. Don’t stand on ceremony.”Zhu Yuchen stated with gratitude, “Marquis, you are heroic and have saved us. If it weren’t for you, we might…”Yang Ning responded, “Don’t thank me. They even took me away with you. Otherwise, I might not get involved in it.”In fact, they were clear that even though the heir of Duke of Huainan was of an honorable position, the status of the Marquis of Honor was also extraordinary. At least, the heir of Duke of Huainan didn’t dare to take actions against the Marquis of Honor
Suddenly, they heard sounds of gong and then a voice from the boat king. “Now I will announce that the result of the selected beauty queen and concubines has come out...”It was silent around.Most people didn’t know what happened in the two pleasure boats where Yang Ning and the heir of Duke of Huainan were, and they just felt surprised at why the result hadn’t been revealed. Hearing that they would announce it, all people held their breaths.“The four concubines selected today are Zhuo Xian’er, Luo Ning, Dong Qiaoqiao and Wu Yin’er.” The voice was loud and spread far away. “The beauty queen is...”Before that man spoke it out, countless voices around appeared in unison. “Shen Jiaonu!”Many wealthy men including Jiang Suiyun from the East Sea had sent gifts, so even if Shen Jiaonu didn’t want to be the beauty queen, she couldn’t refuse.“There are one beauty queen and four concubines. Thanks to all the be