“Wow, wow... the food here is just too delicious! I’ve never tasted such delicacies in my life, wow, wow...”

Early in the morning, a loud voice nearly shook the roof tiles off the restaurant, the piercing sound waves shooting straight up into the sky.

The person eating here was a man, about twenty years old, broad-shouldered and burly, devouring his meal with gusto and occasionally letting out a few roars.

This man was named William Clark, a helper that Brian Carter had asked David Carter to bring in. Although he wasn’t paid, he was promised free meals—yes, he was a shill.

As for this guy, Brian Carter was extremely dissatisfied. His eardrums had suffered enough. He strode forward and said, pained and exasperated, “Brother Clark, you’re being too over the top. Are you attracting customers or scaring them away? I brought you here not to teach you to be so superficial. An actor’s self-cultivation comes from within...”

William Clark kept shoveling food into his mouth, looked up with a sideways glance, and said in a cocky tone, “What are you talking about? It really is delicious. David Carter told me to come and shout like this. My throat’s already dry, what more do you want?”

Brian Carter felt a surge of anger, but still tried to reason with him, speaking earnestly, “You need to be more subtle. Also, stop yelling ‘wow wow’ all the time. People who don’t know better might think this is a shady place. You need to show some class—only with class can you attract customers. Brother Clark, try a few times, don’t rush, take it slow.”

With his mouth full of food, William Clark mumbled, “This is just how I am, what can you do about it?”

Brian Carter lost his temper and stretched out his hand. “Pay up! You’ve eaten so much of my food, give me money.”

But William Clark just sneered and said slowly, “I’m a well-known tough guy in Luoyang. Wherever I eat, I never pay.”

A tough guy...

Brian Carter’s eyes widened—this was basically a gangster.

He quickly pulled David Carter aside and whispered, “What’s the deal with this guy named Deng? Is he some street thug?”

David Carter gave a wry smile. “Cousin, you said you wanted a ‘shill.’ In Luoyang, who else but these lowlifes would do this kind of thing?”

You’re going to be the death of me.

Brian Carter was on the verge of tears—what bad luck! He could only go back to William Clark and say, “Brother Clark...”

Afraid that Brian Carter would ask him for money again, William Clark immediately glared and shouted, “What do you want? I ate your food, so what? I’m happy eating here, and I’ll keep coming back. You want money? I don’t have any, but I’ve got my life!”

“...”

Brian Carter wanted nothing more than to rush up and grab his ear or bite his neck, but he was clearly no match for him. Besides, judging by the bulge at the man’s waist, could he be carrying a weapon?

Seeing Brian Carter stunned, William Clark had a pang of conscience. He propped up his feet, scratched his toes, and tried to comfort Brian Carter: “Young Master Carter, I know you. You’re a scholar, and I respect scholars the most. Look, have I ever bullied you? Today you treated me to a meal, and your food is truly delicious—I’ll remember your kindness. Just now, you turned on me, but if it were someone else, I’d have stabbed him already. But you’re different. I’ll keep coming here to eat. Don’t you scholars have a saying, ‘draining the pond to catch the fish’? If I hurt you, where would I go for food? At the teahouse at the end of the street, the owner, Wang—don’t know if you know him—I only ate a few of his cakes and drank a few pots of tea, and he talked bad about me behind my back. I didn’t say a word, just beat him up until he was black and blue. See, after that, he learned his lesson. Now, whenever he sees me, he greets me with a smile. And then what? We became friends. The more I beat him, the closer I got to him. That way, others see and know, oh, so Old Mr. Clark isn’t actually bad-tempered, he’s actually very loyal.”

This guy Deng, every word was a threat. At first, Brian Carter’s face was a bit pale, but then, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes. “What did you just say?”

“I said Old Mr. Clark isn’t actually bad-tempered...”

“No, no, the sentence before that.”

“The more I beat him, the closer I got to him.”

Brian Carter’s body trembled, and he froze on the spot.

It was as if he’d gone mad—suddenly, he understood.

Chapter 6: Rising to Prominence

So that’s it, that’s it!

Brian Carter danced with excitement and couldn’t help but exclaim, “I finally understand!”

That plaque was a treasure.

It was just a pity that his old father hadn’t recognized this, while the Zhou family had seen its value.

The plaque was inscribed by the Prince of Dai, who later became the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was extremely fond of the food here, so he left his calligraphy. Later, he died under mysterious circumstances. He was the Empress’s own son. Now, rumors in the city say the Crown Prince was killed by the Empress. There are two possibilities: one, the Empress killed her own son—there are no secrets that don’t leak, so all sorts of rumors spread. The other possibility is that the Crown Prince really did die suddenly. When the Empress took the throne, some people didn’t dare oppose her openly but were still resentful, so they fabricated these rumors to attack the Empress, to undermine her legitimacy.

But as for the Empress... how would she fight back?