Chapter 56: This Building Is Not Bad!
Fang Xinghan had always been curious about Qingqing’s ident.i.ty. Li Hongtian merely smiled and said, “Do you think that person would have got away from messing up my clothes if she wasn’t the mistress? To be honest, it also felt a little weird to me in the beginning, but after hearing what you have said today, for Hong Xiaobao to be able to create a brand new martial art by himself, then his future would be far brighter than it would have been had he stayed a normal prince. Hmmm, now he has piqued my interest. Since I have nothing better to do at the moment, I guess I should stay around this place for a while. As for the other side… With the Star Lord Xiao Tianyu guarding it, I doubt that most of the people in the Jiang Hu would cause trouble there.”
Having said that, Li Hongtian looked around suddenly and said, “Then again, this Warm Fragrant Building is really one of its kind… I’ve heard that the Great Healthcare here is a rather great experience. Hehe, have you tried it before?”
Upon hearing that, Fang Xinghan felt like laughing out loud. “Well, I haven’t tried it myself, but Zuo Shixian, the preceptor of my sect said that there is a range of services that are provided here from foot ma.s.sages, foot baths, back ma.s.sages as well as shoulder ma.s.sages. I heard it feels rather pleasant. If Brother Li is free, you should definitely go give it a try.”
Haha, it’s pretty refreshing to see a top player in the Jiang Hu to come to this establishment to try the Great Healthcare.
“Haha, I guess from what you have just said, it does sound like it would be a rather pleasant experience,” said Li Hongtian with a hearty laugh. “Hm, alright. Then I won’t bother you when I go try the Great Healthcare out. You go do what you have to do while I go have my fun. I even heard that they have musical performances here! Later when I try out the Great Healthcare, I will also get to enjoy nice music! Ah, this ninth prince really knows how to enjoy the pleasures of life, I rather like that part of him!”
While he usually wore a cheerful and happy expression, Li Hongtian was a lawless person who did whatever he wanted. His personality was well known across the Jiang Hu. Fang Xinghan stood up and said, “Since that’s the case, I will take my leave now.” He turned around and rushed towards the direction Hong Xiaobao left in.
……
Meanwhile, Hong Xiaobao walked around aimlessly around the streets of the imperial capital. Behind him followed Qingqing and her aunt. Hong Xiaobao asked, “Qingqing, where are you from? With only the two of you around, I bet you’ve sufferred quite a bit traveling around the lands.”
When she was with Xiaobao, Qingqing put on the facade of a good, obedient girl. While she looked around the busy streets, she replied, “I am from the Yunwu Commandery of the Fengyuan Nation. In the recent years, the demonic beasts have broken through the city walls and all my family members have died. Only I was fortunate enough to survive because I was away having fun with Auntie Liu. With nowhere to return to, we started wandering around the lands and went many places before finally arriving here.”
The Yunwu Commandery of the Fengyuan Nation had been invaded by demonic beasts a couple of years ago. Hong Xiaobao had also got wind of this event at that time, so he didn’t question Qingqing’s story much and patted her shoulder full of pity. He consoled, “Alright, it’s already in the past. Now that you’re in my territory, I’ll make sure that n.o.body will dare to bully you.”
Hearing Hong Xiaobao’s sincere consolation, Qingqing nodded and stopped talking. Jian Pu on the other side however looked at Hong Xiaobao and nodded with acknowledgement.
Hong Xiaobao was unaware that they came up with this backstory earlier and thought that the two were normal people. While there was a possibility that he might find out about their cultivation, that was not really an issue so Hong Xiaobao should not think too much about it either.
Now that they have spent some time with Hong Xiaobao, they understood that he truly had a benevolent and kind heart and did not abuse his powers against other commoners. Qingqing seemed quite happy to be spending time with him, so Jian Pu was not worried about the situation.
“Brother Xiaobao.” Now that she had gotten rather attached to Hong Xiaobao, Qingqing seemed to be much more talkative. “What kind of work do you have for us? Is it something that I can handle?”
She approached Hong Xiaobao because she wanted to see if he really could form his own major sect within a short period of time. Leaving out everything else, there was still the problem of money to worry about. That’s the main reason why Qingqing was so intrigued about this whole thing.
“Ah, your jobs won’t be that difficult, don’t worry,” replied Hong Xiaobao with a smile. “Recently I’ve invented a Living Printing Technique that I will use to produce newspapers. Your job is to arrange the wooden blocks for me. It’s not that tiring, just a little troublesome.”
“Living Printing Technique?” This was a term that Qingqing had never heard of. She softly mumbled it to herself once or twice and committed it to her heart. It was at this time when Hong Xiaobao suddenly set his sights on a large luxurious building. Smiling, he said, “Haha. I never thought that I’d find this. This building seems rather s.p.a.cious! Alright then, the headquarters of the Grand Alliance will be set up here!”
This was a rather large building with up to nine floors. The main entrance doorway was six meters wide and the walls of the building seemed up to hundreds of meters high. The main entrance was locked shut and the plaque that was there before had already been removed. While Hong Xiaobao had grown up in the capital for all his life, he still wouldn’t be able to remember the owner of this building as the capital was a really large place.
It was at this moment when Fang Xinghan came over. Upon seeing the building, he laughed and said, “Oh, Xiaobao… This building looks pretty good. Are you planning to use this as the main production headquarters of the ‘Jiang Hu Stories’? Do you want to go in and check it out first?”
Having received a grand favor from Hong Xiaobao, Fang Xinghan decided to try his best to help him out in return to the best of his ability. Otherwise, if the owner was a large figure from another nation, it would be hard to convince such a person to leave the place.
“It feels pretty great. Then I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you with this,” said Hong Xiaobao as he gladly nodded. Hmm, with Fang Xinghan helping out with this matter, things will be much more convenient. Given his insight, I believe it’ll be rather easy for him to decide whether this is a good place to use.
With Hong Xiaobao’s approval, Fang Xinghan instantly disappeared into the mansion and returned after 3-5 minutes and brought along an old man in his sixties. Smiling, he said, Xiaobao, I’ve already checked the place out and it’s about 1.65 acres of s.p.a.ce within it, which isn’t too big. The greatest part about this building is its elegance. Also, it also faces the south direction with the Chijing City waterway right behind it. This location is rather auspicious and business run here will definitely flourish as you’ll frequently encounter those who would offer you help. Oh, and this man is the watchman of the building, so I brought him along.
Hmm, Fang Xinghan is rather capable after all. Not bad.
Hong Xiaobao asked with a face full of smiles, “Uncle, does the owner of this building intend to sell it? It’s such a nice place, why is n.o.body living in it? I wonder how much is he willing to let it go for? If everything is alright, I think I want to purchase this place.”
“Are you the ninth prince?” The watchman was startled when he was suddenly hauled away by Fang Xinghan. Upon recognizing Hong Xiaobao in his golden dragon-patterned robe, he quickly kneeled down and said, “This subject of the empire greets the ninth prince.”
“Oh no, quick, get up.” Hong Xiaobao did not like to have others kneeling before him and he quickly hauled the watchman up. “You don’t have to be so courteous, mister. About the building…”