The two bid farewell to Su Jinfeng. By then, afternoon had arrived, and their stomachs were beginning to growl.
At this moment, Jiang Moran was already starting to regret not staying for lunch.
There was no helping it, so he had to take Fengqingzi—who was currently acting as his manual labor—to hunt for food. The two headed toward the Guanyue Tower, a rather famous establishment in Fengcheng, though they had to pass by Prince Ning's Residence on the way.
At this moment, Prince Ning's Residence was already sealed off. Several people wearing black uniforms embroidered with golden crows were walking in and out. Silver tokens hung from their waists, save for one person who carried a gold token.
Fengqingzi, who was carrying the weapon casket, trembled slightly, almost dropping the casket to the ground.
He hurriedly drew closer to Jiang Moran and lowered his voice. “We're finished, Senior. They are from the Six Doors!”
“That golden crow-embroidered uniform is the hallmark of the Six Doors, and those hanging from their waists... those are the Golden Crow Tokens!”
Jiang Moran raised an eyebrow slightly and pushed away Fengqingzi, who was practically leaning all over him. “What about the Golden Crow Tokens? And seriously, back off a bit.”
“The ranks within the Six Doors are divided into Field Agents, Bronze-Rank Agents, Silver-Rank Agents, and Gold-Rank Agents. Gold-Rank Agents, in particular, are responsible for handling large-scale cases, which is why the tokens held by those at this level are called Golden Crow Tokens!”
“You could say that besides the Case-Solving Commander, the Golden Crow Token is the greatest symbol of authority within the Six Doors!” Fengqingzi said with a solemn expression.
Jiang Moran couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. That thing carried some serious prestige.
“Who are you, and why are you standing here?”
Suddenly, a voice echoed from behind them. The two instinctively turned around at the same time to see a man also wearing the Six Doors uniform standing behind them. Jiang Moran's gaze fell to the man's waist... where a bronze token hung.
Fengqingzi breathed a sigh of relief. Although the man was from the Six Doors, his rank wasn't high, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.
As they sized up the Bronze-Rank Agent before them, his loose golden crow-embroidered uniform looked a bit baggy on his frame, and his hair was messy and unkempt, giving him a rather scruffy appearance.
He simply stood there with his arms crossed, watching the two of them look him over.
“We are just passing through and heading to the Guanyue Tower for a meal,” Fengqingzi said, slightly cupping his hands.
“I see...” The man rubbed his chin, nodding slightly.
“As it happens, I'm a bit hungry too. Why don't we go to the Guanyue Tower together?”
“Sure... wait, what?”
Fengqingzi froze mid-sentence and looked at him in bewilderment. Wasn't that transition a bit too fast? Why the sudden invitation to head to the Guanyue Tower together?!
Seeing the confusion on Fengqingzi's face, the man chuckled and spoke generously, “To tell you the truth, I felt an instant connection with you both the moment I saw you. Don't worry, the meal is on me.”
Wait, is this really about who pays for the food?
Fengqingzi pinched the bridge of his nose, just about to decline, when Jiang Moran cut him off.
“Sounds great. Thank you very much, Officer.”
Fengqingzi looked at Jiang Moran in confusion, but seeing him wink with an entirely straight face, his racing heart finally eased a little.
Senior must have his own plans for doing this!
After exchanging greetings with the agent, the three of them set off toward the Guanyue Tower. Through their conversation along the way, they learned that the agent's name was Zhang Ming, and he was twenty-three years old.
This assignment was also a stroke of luck for him; a Bronze-Rank Agent normally wouldn't get to carry out missions alongside Silver-Rank Agents.
“Senior... do you have some kind of plan?”
Jiang Moran looked back at him with a bewildered expression. “What plan?”
Fengqingzi grew anxious. “Didn't you just give me a look earlier, telling me to play along?!”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Then... why did you let him join us for a meal at the Guanyue Tower?”
Jiang Moran had a sudden realization and leaned in close to him, speaking in a secretive tone, “This is a good thing! The prices at the Guanyue Tower are definitely not cheap.”
“When the time comes, we'll order a ton of food and even pack some away secretly, letting that sucker foot the bill. It's a perfect plan!”
Having said his piece, he stepped back, only to see an expression on Fengqingzi's face that he had never seen before—a complex mix of shock, bewilderment, utter disbelief, and a profound sense of whether he was fucking dreaming.
Several completely unrelated expressions were perfectly intertwined.
The last time Jiang Moran had seen such an expression was when he tricked someone into thinking the white clay in a vegetable garden was edible. The person had barely taken a few bites in the dirt when they looked up to see an old woman pouring manure over the patch.
Their expression back then was identical to Fengqingzi's right now.
Jiang Moran then slapped his shoulder, asking in an unfriendly tone, “What? Little Feng, do you have an objection to my perfect plan?”
Fengqingzi shivered and waved his hands frantically. “No, no, not at all! Senior's plan is truly a stroke of genius disguised as foolishness!”
“Heh, of course it is.”
The two traded sycophantic flattery all the way to the Guanyue Tower. Along the way, Zhang Ming's lips could not help but twitch multiple times.
Flattery was one thing, but they were laying it on incredibly thick—and incredibly loud.
Many local wealthy merchants and prominent figures were going in and out of the Guanyue Tower. There were also quite a few girls at the entrance welcoming guests; though they were not dressed overly revealingly, the flirtatious gaze in their eyes pierced straight to the patrons' hearts.
Only upon arriving did the group realize that the moon-viewing in Guanyue Tower actually referred to the pleasures of the red-light district.
...
Rate on N.U.
