Chapter 232: Congratulations to Harmony Tower for Earning the Jinyiwei’s Arrest Quota
Beauty Banquet?
The moment Cheng Yu heard those three words, he immediately raised his brows slightly.
Back when he had still been in the north, he had already heard that the high officials and nobles of the Great Qian Capital loved every kind of pleasure.
Their methods of enjoyment were also endlessly varied.
Some were bold and lavish. Some required enormous expense, but they still counted as within the normal range.
Yet among them was another type of enjoyment built upon the suffering of others.
The Beauty Banquet was one such example.
A beauty’s delicate body would be used as the platter to hold delicacies from the mountains and seas, letting the tongue and eyes be indulged at the same time, achieving an extravagant, depraved form of pleasure.
One could easily imagine the horrifying industry behind it.
He had not expected Harmony Tower to offer this kind of Beauty Banquet, and he had even happened to run into it himself.
“Tell me about it.”
Seeing that Cheng Yu was interested, the manager was instantly overjoyed.
The price of a single Beauty Banquet was extremely high. If an ordinary person lacked sufficient wealth and status, they would inevitably shrink back the moment they heard of it.
This young man was clearly the leader among these Jinyiwei and was respected by the others. As expected, he was no ordinary figure.
If he could be drawn into becoming a regular customer of Harmony Tower’s Beauty Banquet, it would be excellent business for Harmony Tower.
“Then please allow me to impose and introduce our Harmony Tower’s Beauty Banquet to you honored lords. As the saying goes, beauty is a feast for the eyes, so why not feast upon it...”
The manager winked and gestured constantly with his hands, doing his utmost to recommend that the guests order a Beauty Banquet, as only that could display their status and nobility.
He spoke with great animation.
However, the expressions of Xiao Qi and the other Jinyiwei from the Great Qian Capital gradually became strange. They had invited Cheng Yu to this banquet to thank him, so why had this man brought up such a thing?
Xiao Qi’s brows, in particular, furrowed deeper and deeper.
Several years ago, the Beauty Banquet had once been extremely popular in the Great Qian Capital. High officials and nobles all took pride in being able to enjoy a Beauty Banquet.
Because of this, a whole series of sinful dealings had been born.
Xiao Wuji naturally could not tolerate such filthy matters appearing beneath the feet of the imperial palace.
He had ordered a thorough investigation of every restaurant and establishment, demanding that all the beauties be dismissed and strictly forbidding the provision of Beauty Banquets.
As a member of the imperial clan, Duke Zhongyi naturally had to obey the imperial decree with utmost care.
Thus, he had strictly ordered Xiao Qi, his grandson, never to try such a thing.
At the time, Xiao Qi had never had any chance to understand or experience it. Yet he had not expected Harmony Tower to still be offering Beauty Banquets to this day.
Worse, they were even offering it to the Jinyiwei!
Was this not a naked slap in the face of His Majesty’s decree?
Precisely because of this, Xiao Qi noticed that Cheng Yu’s expression had become somewhat wrong.
On the surface, he still wore a faint smile, but the coldness deep in his eyes could no longer be restrained.
From what Xiao Qi had learned not long ago, this Lord Cheng was a man who cared for the people.
When he was in Jiannan Circuit, he had once carried out large-scale household raids and exterminations because of the crime of slaveholding.
He absolutely disliked this sort of thing to an extreme degree.
“...After the delicacies have been enjoyed, the beauty may naturally be arranged however the honored guest wishes. I wonder if this would satisfy you, honored guest?”
After exhausting his tongue in explanation, the manager looked at Cheng Yu with incomparable anticipation.
Please order a set!
Cheng Yu smiled and nodded, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.
“It sounds quite good. I just do not know why you wanted to recommend it to us.”
This was something the Great Qian Emperor had explicitly forbidden, yet they still dared recommend it to the Jinyiwei.
This Harmony Tower truly was rather strange.
The manager answered calmly, “All of you honored guests possess such distinguished bearing. Naturally, you are all refined and noble guests. The Beauty Banquet suits you best!”
Cheng Yu nodded.
“Refined, is it? Good. Go and call your boss over. Only he would be suitable to receive a distinguished guest like me.”
“The boss?”
The manager felt somewhat puzzled. Why call the boss just to eat a Beauty Banquet?
However, when he saw the silver-bright token Cheng Yu had placed on the table, he immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
He instantly bowed and scraped before hurrying away to find someone.
A silver token. At the very least, this man was a Jinyiwei Commandant and a martial artist of the Upper Three Ranks!
He was absolutely a major customer!
Xiao Qi and the others looked at Cheng Yu in confusion.
“My lord, you are...”
They could tell that Cheng Yu had no interest in the Beauty Banquet at all, but why had he still called the establishment’s boss over?
Cheng Yu shook his head calmly.
“I told you before that within the territory of Great Qian, nothing stands above His Majesty. Our duty is to convey His Majesty’s authority.”
“Words alone may not make you understand. Today, I will demonstrate it for you. This Harmony Tower knowingly violates the law. I would like to see what exactly is going on.”
Xiao Qi and the others nodded. So their lord was about to make a move!
Anticipation immediately rose in their hearts.
They knew very well what kind of figure Lord Cheng was. It was inevitable that he would awe the Great Qian Capital.
Could today be the beginning?
Before long, a richly dressed, plump middle-aged man entered the room.
He squeezed the flesh on his face into a smile and said, “I have kept you honored Jinyiwei lords waiting. I am Qian Shengcai, the owner of Harmony Tower.”
Cheng Yu nodded calmly.
“Introduce your Beauty Banquet to me. What specific varieties do you offer? I will not be impressed by ordinary ones.”
Qian Shengcai’s eyes immediately lit up. Had a discerning major customer come today?
He hurriedly said, “As long as the honored guest wishes to order it, we have everything—Sixteen-Year-Old Banquet, Maiden Banquet, Twin Banquet, and even Female Martial Artist Banquet!”
Watching that obscene expression on his face as he spoke, treating living people as dish after dish to introduce, Xiao Qi and the others furrowed their brows. They only found it utterly disgusting.
Cheng Yu’s expression showed no obvious discomfort. Instead, he asked curiously, “Female martial artists are willing to do this too?”
When Qian Shengcai heard this question, an expression of “you understand” immediately appeared on his face.
“Whether they do it or not depends on whether great figures like you honored guests are willing. Whether they themselves are willing is useless. Harmony Tower has plenty of methods. Hahaha...”
After saying this, he even laughed.
Those who enjoyed Beauty Banquets all possessed an extreme arrogance toward power and status.
Flattering them as people who could easily decide the fate of beauties and even female martial artists was the best way to curry favor.
Yet as he laughed and laughed, Qian Shengcai realized that the atmosphere around him had become extremely strange. No one was laughing along with him at all.
They were all only staring at him indifferently!
Fortunately, in the next moment, Cheng Yu did not let Qian Shengcai fall into complete awkwardness. He stood and began applauding.
A smile appeared on Qian Shengcai’s face.
“My lord, have you decided which dish you would like to order? I recommend the Twin Banquet. We recently bought a pair of twins, and both are clean and untouched!”
Cheng Yu smiled and shook his head.
“I am not ordering.”
Not ordering?
Qian Shengcai froze, and the smile on his face instantly stiffened. He had spoken painstakingly for so long. Had this man been amusing himself at his expense?
Cheng Yu’s smile remained calm.
“I am applauding to congratulate Boss Qian.”
“Congratulate me for what?”
“Naturally, I am congratulating Harmony Tower for seizing the Jinyiwei’s arrest quota for this quarter.”