A monetary note was tossed onto the table. It was indeed a monetary note worth a hundred silver coins.
Ling Han gave a faint smile. Since there was someone deliberately giving him money, then he would of course not refuse. He said, "Waiter, did you hear that? Someone is treating me to a meal, so why don't you quickly serve some fine wine and dishes?"
"F***!" Young Master Kong was extremely furious. This brat accepted his money and was still not getting lost? He placed his right hand onto the table and threatened, "Poor fool, if you don't want to get beaten up, you'd better get lost quickly!"
In the Imperial City, in a public place, even a prodigal young master like him would not dare to openly threaten the life of someone else.
Ling Han turned his head to look left, then turned to look right, and asked, "Where is this barking coming from? Wang, wang, wang, what an irritating noise!"
A "puchi!" sound was heard. Someone could not hold back their laughter at this. The laugh was a crisp sound, having a captivating feeling that could not be described by mere words, and instantly caused quite a number of people to turn around to look at the source of the laugh. The one who had laughed was an extremely beautiful young woman, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, and her features were clearly defined as if they were shaped by a knife. This woman had a very unique bearing.
Because she was seated, there was no way to see how shapely her figure was, but when one saw how her breasts were big enough to block one's eyes from continuing to move down the rest of her body, one should know how impressive her figure should be.
All of a sudden, everyone was stunned by her beauty. What was even stranger was that such an outstanding beauty had been sitting here for so long, yet they had only realized it now. But they quickly realized the reason why—there was a piece of light muslin on the table of this beauty. Most likely, when she came in, her face was veiled. It was only when she began to eat that she removed her veil, so she did not attract much attention.
Moreover, this beauty was definitely not an ordinary person. There were three large, sturdy men dressed all in black seated together with her at the same table. They did not have any particular expression on their faces, but it was obvious they were her bodyguards, because only the beauty was holding chopsticks, while the other three were sitting very alertly. The reason why they had not been standing behind the beauty was obviously not to attract unnecessary attention.
However, their cold expressions and uniform clothing was enough to attract attention.
Young Master Kong was also staring at the beauty, and could not help reveal a perverted expression. He asked the beauty, "Beauty, what's your name?"
The beauty did not answer, but one of the men in black waved a hand at Young Master Kong, as if he was shooing away a fly.
Young Master Kong had the feeling like he was about to go crazy. Just now, a young man actually dared to ignore him, and now another person was waving his hand at him to chase him away. What was going on here? Could it be that after a single night, the Imperial City was no longer the Imperial City he knew?
"How dare you be so insolent towards Young Master Kong!" one of the friends of Young Master Kong stepped out and shouted loudly at that man in black.
There was no change in expression on the man's face. He only took out a golden plaque from his robes, and once again made a shooing motion.
"Heng, whatever plaque that is, it's useless. Our Young Master Kong-"
"Pa!"
That scoundrel friend was just about to brag about Young Master Kong yet never thought that he would be suddenly given a heavy slap. He looked at Young Master Kong in disbelief, because the one who had slapped him was precisely Young Master Kong.
"If you f****** want to die, don't drag me along with you!" Young Master Kong cursed at him furiously, and then turned to the man in black. His expression had instantly become very respectful, and said, "This Master, please forgive this Kong Wen Hui for his blindness."
"Hiss…!" All the people in the restaurant were astonished. Had this Young Master Kong been bewitched or something like that? He had first slapped his own lackey, and was now taking the initiative to apologize? There was only one possibility then—the other group had a far bigger background than the Kong Clan, so even the young master of the Kong Clan could only bow his head humbly in front of them.
The man in black still did not speak, and only waved his hand a third time.
This time, Young Master Kong dared not disobey. He left with his tail between his legs, and did not even take back the monetary note worth a hundred silver coins.
He was already scared out of his wits.
Everyone could not help but look at that plaque. What kind of identity did that plaque represent that even Young Master Kong was scared off by it?
"Ah, I remember now!" one of the customers exclaimed in surprise, but he immediately used his hands to cover his mouth, a terrified expression appearing on his face.
"Hey, hey, hey. Just tell me quietly. What does that plaque represent?"
"That's right, tell us."
The man who shouted just now looked over at them, but when he saw that there was no visible reaction from the three men in black—as if they could care less—he said bravely, "They are the palace guards, the Black Cloud Army!"
All of a sudden, the entire restaurant became completely silent.
The words "Black Cloud Army" seem to have power by themselves, causing everyone to tremble in fear.
And that was exactly the truth of the matter. The Black Cloud Army were the imperial guards of the Imperial Family, and they were the most elite unit. All the members of this army were elite martial artists. More importantly, they had the power to kill without punishment!
In the Imperial City, even the Spiritual Pedestal Tier elites of the Eight Great Clans could not simply murder anyone they disliked. As the saying goes, a country has its laws and a family its rules. However, the Black Cloud Army could do so as long as they thought that a person could possibly become a threat to the safety of the Imperial Family.
Thus, even a person as arrogant as Young Master Kong could only run away as fast as he could. Otherwise, if he was killed, he'd have died for nothing.
Everyone else became even more curious. Who exactly was this outstandingly beautiful woman that she would have three members of the Black Cloud Army stay by her side to protect her? From her looks, she was alluring, voluptuous, and very mature, so she should not be an innocent maiden anymore. Thus, she should not be a princess or something of the sort.
Could she be one of the Imperial Consorts?
When they thought about this, everyone immediately cast their eyes elsewhere. This was the Emperor's woman. If anyone dared to look at her for too long, who knows, they might have their eyes removed. Yet why had a woman of the Rain Emperor left the palace?
Ling Han swept his eyes over the three members of the Black Cloud Army and that beautiful woman, and was slightly surprised—those three members of the Black Cloud Army were only in Gushing Spring Tier, yet the beautiful woman was actually in Spiritual Ocean Tier!
A woman in her early twenties was already in Spiritual Ocean Tier? That was really too unbelievable.
This woman should have used some kind of medicine to preserve her beauty, and her real age should be at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Otherwise, she should not be a citizen of Rain Country, but must have come from some major sect outside of Rain Country. That would not be strange then.
One by one, the customers all settled their bills and left. To be in the same room as three members of the Black Cloud Army that could kill without suffering any kind of punishment—just thinking about it made their hair stand on ends and lose any appetite they might have had.
Ling Han's dishes were also served. He began to eat without care.
Sounds of music were suddenly heard, and soon footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Very soon, the owners of the footsteps had arrived on the second floor. They were an old man and a young girl. The old man had a slightly stooped figure and had a goatee, while his hands held onto a huqin. [TL/N: Huqin – Chinese two-stringed fiddles, with snakeskin-covered wooden soundbox and bamboo bow with horsehair bowstring]
The young girl was dressed in coarse clothing, but her poor attire was unable to hide her shapely figure. She wore no make-up, but her face was refreshingly beautiful and extremely gorgeous. In terms of beauty, she was only slightly inferior when compared to Liu Yu Tong and Li Si Chan.
"Zhiya, zhiya", the old man found a spot and sat, then began to play his huqin, whereas the young girl began to sing along to the music. Her singing voice was sinuous and melodious, causing anyone who listened to be unknowingly captivated by her voice.
Even the three members of the Black Cloud Army who had not spoken or smiled at all could not help but show moved expressions and captivated eyes when they heard the naturally beautiful singing voice of the young girl.
Ling Han, meanwhile, gave a sigh. Looks like he would not be able to enjoy this meal in peace.
…He had sensed killing intent!