Chapter 289: The Aristocracy Holds a Meeting

The actual area of ​​Kyoto is much larger than it appears to the naked eye.

In addition to the seven cities built around the Imperial Palace, there are many hidden corners in Kyoto. These places are hidden in unknown mezzanines through unique magical powers and are called hidden houses.

The lower-end hidden houses simply have their entrances covered by sleight of hand, or simply use regular businesses as a cover.

As long as you enter and report the secret code, you can enter.

These hidden houses are often provided to businessmen for holding meetings concerning gold and silver trade. Although they are safe, they can only be considered average.

High-end hidden houses are completely different. Those houses are often located at the deepest entrance of the alley. There are many spells glued on top, and they cannot be seen from the outside. But if you master the invitation and enter the hidden house, you will find that there is another world inside.

These secluded houses are beautiful places for romance, with trees planted in the courtyards, rockery, and flowing springs. They are magnificent and seem like a dream.

Or it could be a turquoise lake with flower boats floating on it, and beautiful girls playing the pipa and dancing on it, welcoming wealthy young men to come in and enjoy a night of spring.

Changxian is completely different.

This is the most top-notch hidden residence in Kyoto, known to be hidden in the other world and as impregnable as the Imperial Palace.

In Kyoto, anyone with a little status and position likes to gather here with Changxian to talk about things that cannot be brought to the surface and tell about unknown secrets.

The real location of Changxian is in Fanyang, south of Kyoto. There is a prosperous street here with many businesses.

From the street-side opera houses and big flower buildings to the vendors pushing small carts on the road selling fresh snacks and night snacks, the place is extremely lively. If people living in Kyoto have nothing to do at night, they will choose to stroll here and take in the bustling scene of Kyoto.

And on this street, there are a total of three stores that can enter Changxian.

A brothel, a restaurant, and a gambling theater.

Sometimes when the disciples of aristocratic families needed to hold some meetings, they would pretend to be dandy and go there. After exchanging secret signals with the madam, the madam would naturally take them into a special room and send them to Changxian’s hidden residence.

Some young men who care about their reputation will go to the nearby canteen. Although they can also enter the hidden house through the canteen, there are many people eating there and there are many ears. If someone is lurking in the canteen and sees that this person has entered the private room for a long time and has not come out, he will definitely realize that something is wrong.

Today, the entrance to Changxian’s hidden residence was crowded with people, as was rare before. All the famous “dandy young men” in Kyoto gathered at the door and went into the brothel one by one.

Their expressions did not look as relaxed as if they were visiting a brothel. Instead, they looked as dejected as if their parents had died.

When they met at the door, they looked at each other, smiled helplessly, and bowed to each other:

“Brother Wang, I didn’t expect you to come too.”

“Brother Zhou, how is your family doing now?”

“Don’t mention it… My father drank three bowls of tea before he could suppress the acne in his mouth.”

“My eldest brother hasn’t slept for two days. He’s even dazed when he walks. He’s afraid he’ll miss a step and hit the ground head first.”

“It seems that the scriptures in our family are not easy to read.”

Sighing, he entered the brothel. The passers-by who didn’t know the details were stunned and bewildered by the scene.

I don’t know why these young men look so depressed when they visit a brothel, as if their parents have died or their family fortune has been ruined.

Naturally, the young masters didn’t care about the gazes of passers-by on the street. They entered the special room with ease, waited inside for half an incense stick, and then pushed open the door. Outside was a completely different world.

The sky is full of stars, the Milky Way stretches across the sky, and in all directions there are courtyards with flowing still water, rockery and trees, which are poetic and freehand.

There was a long table in the middle, which was already filled with many talented people from the capital, and there were also several girls in light clothes serving them tea and water.

At the moment, there are enough thirteen people in this hidden house, all of whom are well-known families in Kyoto. Their surnames are well-known and can make a sound when thrown on the ground, which can make ordinary people kneel down and kowtow. They are truly people of status and position.

But now they all hang their heads and can’t even fart.

The eldest son of the Lu family sat on the main seat, looking listless, as if he had lost all hope.

Many of the young men from aristocratic families looked at the young master of the Lu family with strange eyes, and couldn’t help but mutter in their hearts:

Why let this person preside over this meeting?
The Lu family’s eldest son’s depression was known to everyone in Kyoto. Their family already had low morale and needed an emotional booster, but they let this person come up and speak…

This… this is inappropriate.

“Everyone is here.” Just as these young masters of the aristocratic families expected, the eldest young master of the Lu family said weakly: “Everyone should know why we are having this meeting today.

“A year ago, a Taoist priest suddenly appeared in Daliang. He had the skills of a true immortal and was good at using top-level magic. He traveled around Daliang for a year and wiped out all the members of the hidden sect Xiao Huanxi. Even the leader of Xiao Huanxi died in his hands. I’m afraid his strength is stronger than that of the capital at that time.

“Now, this Taoist priest has made a big fuss and cleared out the upper floors of the library, saying that he wants to avenge the capital. The next step will definitely be to target our clan.” “What do you think? How to deal with that Taoist priest?”

After the eldest son of the Lu family finished speaking, none of the young masters from the aristocratic families around him spoke.

If the Taoist priest’s abilities had not been pointed out explicitly, these young masters could have said a few more words to boost morale. But now that the eldest young master of the Lu family has already revealed all of the Taoist priest’s abilities, who would dare to continue talking nonsense?
“Can’t you ask someone to come?”

Someone asked immediately.

“Now that the noble has not contacted us, it is up to us, the major families, to figure out a solution ourselves.” The eldest young master of the Lu family explained.

Even the nobleman is silent!
The young man who asked the question just now closed his eyes in despair.

The entire meeting fell into silence.

Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly depressing, the eldest young master of the Lu family couldn’t help but sigh:

“No, we should prepare a gift of apology, go to their house, kneel down and kowtow to them, and then reveal the elders who were involved in the incident that harmed the capital, and let the Taoist priest punish them.

“Let’s move away from Kyoto. Go to the edge, to Xuzhou, to Jingzhou, to the dense forest, and live there and hide for fifty or sixty years.

“In this way, after some time has passed, the immortal will probably have died down, and our family members can at least survive.

“What do you think, brothers?”

The eldest young master of the Lu family spoke sincerely.

If someone else said this, then this group of young masters would probably think that this person was mocking them, but since the eldest young master of the Lu family said this, it was very likely that he really thought so.

But who can swallow this?
All of their families had spent many years and much effort to gain a foothold in Kyoto and gain power over the world. Nowadays, many elders in the families are serving as officials in the court, enjoying the privileges that come with power.

Now they are asked to abandon everything, leave Kyoto and avoid the Taoist priest. Although they can do so, who can give up their own selfish interests?

There was a sturdy young man at the table who seemed to be very angry. He slammed the table, stood up, and shouted at the eldest young master of the Lu family:
“Lu Yang, what do you mean? Just because of this Taoist priest, you want us to leave Kyoto? I think your Lu family has clearly taken refuge with that Taoist priest! If you persuade us to leave, wouldn’t it be that your Lu family is the boss?”

The one who spoke was the Tianjiang Zhou family, a family with great military power in Kyoto. General Zhou was from this family, but the general had always had a bad relationship with the family, and the Zhou family was divided into two factions with General Zhou as the core.

One faction was the royalist faction, and the other was the aristocratic faction.

This Master Zhou is from the aristocratic faction.

Seeing this militant Master Zhou speaking, the other masters all closed their eyes and watched the show.

The eldest son of the Lu family looked at Mr. Zhou with a pair of frustrated eyes:
“Mr. Zhou, if you think this is inappropriate, do you have any other good ideas?”

“Just fight hard!” A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Master Zhou’s eyes. “That Taoist is just one person at best. Maybe he is stronger than the capital, but we in Kyoto are no pushovers! You still have the Black Cavalry. If you can convince my uncle to let the Imperial Guards form a large formation, coupled with the means of our family, how can we not kill the Taoist? We will definitely be able to kill the Taoist!”

“What should we do after we kill them? The killing of the capital master has already cost our family money and people, and we haven’t recovered until today. If it happens again, I’m afraid that several families will disappear completely from this capital. Are you willing to be the one to disappear?”

The eldest son of the Lu family also started to confront Mr. Zhou.

“So you’re going to be dogs? Licking the Taoist’s shoes? Don’t you think it’s dirty? And the Taoist may not even like you.”

“It’s better than trying to stop a chariot with an egg or a mantis trying to stop a chariot with its arms.”

The atmosphere at the conference table became increasingly tense. Young Master Zhou glared at the eldest young master of the Lu family, while the latter looked indifferent.

“Alright, Mr. Zhou, I have no intention of continuing to argue with you. I didn’t call you all here today to fight.”

In the end, the eldest young master of the Lu family took a step back, and Mr. Zhou sat back in his seat angrily.

However, the conversation between the two did make the other young masters in the meeting fall into deep thought.

The situation in Kyoto has changed dramatically, and it seems that the question is how to stand on the right side.

Although some people did not speak, their positions in their hearts had already been silently shaken.

Just as the atmosphere in the meeting was gradually falling into silence, a woman wearing thick powder suddenly hurried in from the door.

One of the official gateways to Changxian, the madam of the brothel.

She came into the hall with a strange look on her face and said anxiously:
“Gentlemen, it seems that there is a Taoist priest wandering outside!”

(End of this chapter)