“Young Master Lu, this is the place. The east of the city is the most flouris.h.i.+ng place in the capital city. When His Majesty heard that you were coming, he instructed this servant to prepare a place for you to stay. It won"t be convenient for you to stay in the inner courtyards of the imperial palace. It seems like His Majesty is wise. It"s our Cloud Water Nation"s fortune to be able to house someone of your stature. This servant didn"t waste his efforts in picking out a residence for you. You might be staying alone, but I"m afraid there will be plenty of people lining up to pay you a visit when they find out that you are staying in the imperial city. As such, the courtyard of your residence can"t be small. This servant made the decision and prepared a slightly larger residence for you. I hope Young Master Lu will not blame me.” Eunuch De Quan was a eunuch that managed to serve beside the emperor. He might be asking the guest not to blame him, but he was actually trying to tell Lu Wenshu that he had put in a lot of effort.
De Quan might be an old fox, but Lu Wenshu was also a person who had seen the ways of the world. He understood what Eunuch De Quan meant, but he maintained an indifferent expression and feigned civility. “Eunuch De Quan is too serious. I think that this residence is perfect. Eunuch De Quan is only thinking of my wellbeing, how can I blame you? I shall trouble Eunuch De Quan to bring me around this residence.”
When De Quan heard Lu Wenshu"s praise, he understood that Lu Wenshu was satisfied with his arrangements, at least on the surface. For a person like Lu Wenshu, as long as he didn"t flaunt his arrogance, there wouldn"t be much to pick on. A brilliant smile appeared on De Quan"s face and he said, “Young Master Lu, this way please.” He bowed slightly and made a gesture for Lu Wenshu to enter.
It was almost lunchtime and after De Quan brought Lu Wenshu for a tour, the sun was already high up above their heads. The two of them were rather exhausted. Lu Wenshu, who was rather tactful, immediately asked Eunuch De Quan to stay for lunch. “Eunuch De Quan, it is about time for lunch. Why don"t you stay for a meal?”
When De Quan heard Lu Wenshu"s invitation, he was over the moon. However, he frowned and replied, “It is truly this old servant"s honor. However, this old servant is His Majesty"s personal eunuch and I must serve His Majesty during lunchtime. If I don"t get back in time, I might be punished.”
“Eunuch De Quan, please forgive me. I have been living in seclusion for too long. I even forgot such a basic thing. I have truly sinned.” Lu Wenshu didn"t feel angry after hearing De Quan"s refusal and instead, he replied politely..
Thinking about Lu Wenshu"s status and how politely he treated a eunuch like himself, De Quan became embarra.s.sed., “How can that be? This old servant"s status is too low and I can"t blame Young Master Lu for forgetting. If Young Master Lu insists on having a meal with this old servant, why not wait until this old servant is free? I shall treat Young Master Lu to a meal. After all, according to our Cloud Water Nation"s tradition, the host cannot allow the guest to treat them.”
“Then I shall wait for Eunuch De Quan"s invitation. When Eunuch De Quan is free, please don"t forget about our promise today. Please go ahead and return to the palace. I no longer need anyone to accompany me.”
“Young Master Lu doesn"t have to see me out. It is about time for this servant to report back to the palace.” De Quan bowed to Lu Wenshu before rus.h.i.+ng towards the imperial palace.
When Lu Wenshu saw that De Quan had finally vanished from his sight, he withdrew his pretentious smile. Since Bai Luochu"s death, a smile like this had never appeared on his face. It was truly a pity that he couldn"t invite De Quan for a meal. Of course, Lu Wenshu didn"t want to use the chance to curry favor with the imperial clan. With Lu Wenshu"s status, even if he didn"t look for anyone, they would probably enter in droves and flatten his doorstep. The reason he wanted to invite De Quan for a meal was because De Quan was someone who served beside the emperor. Lu Wenshu felt that if he could obtain information from someone like that, he would be able to save a lot of effort.
Now that his plan had failed, it was time to think of another way to obtain information.
Before he could do anything, Lu Wenshu"s stomach rumbled loudly. He realized that it was time for lunch and he quickly headed out to look for a decent restaurant.
After the waiter served the final dish, Lu Wenshu took out several silver fragments and placed it on the table. “Brother, this is my first time in the capital city. I wish to ask about the local customs and culture... Do you think the silver here is enough for that kind of information?”
When the waiter saw the amount of silver fragments on the table, he felt that there weren"t too many. However, it was still much more than what he could earn in a day. Nodding his head, the waiter bent over with a beam on his face and asked, “This Young Master, you may ask what you wish to know. This one has been in the capital city for several years now. As long as this one knows the answer, I shall tell you everything without reservation.”
“That will be for the best. I will have to trouble brother to speak a bit more.” Lu Wenshu acted like a graceful young master as he started to throw out his questions.
“I wonder if brother can tell me more about the n.o.ble clans in the capital city? Who are they?” Lu Wenshu thought that since Divine Physician Bai was on such good terms with an imperial member in the Cloud Water Nation, he should be from a well-known clan. Not to mention the incredible amount of money required to cultivate a physician. How could he come from anywhere else other than a n.o.ble clan?
Lu Wenshu didn"t know that he was already looking in the wrong direction from the beginning.
“The capital city truly has plenty of aristocratic clans. You might be able to see seven to eight of their descendants when looking down the street. After all, the imperial city is the foundation of the Emperor, even the commoners here can be treated as officials without ranks. Don"t you think so? As for the most ill.u.s.trious clan… that will be the Su Clan.”
The waiter spoke of all the aristocratic clans he could think of but Lu Wenshu felt that he was going to fall asleep. After so long, he wasn"t able to obtain any useful information.