The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 73 Listen to my advice
Upon hearing that Du Yuan was truly willing to treat him to a free meal out of her own pocket, he was immediately impressed.

The elegantly dressed young man was overjoyed, thinking to himself that all his efforts in speaking had been worthwhile.

He immediately pulled Du Yuan towards a restaurant not far ahead.

"Although I'm not a native of Qingzhou, I consider myself well-versed in the local cuisine. Of all the places around the Prince's Mansion, this one is the best!"

"It truly offers high quality at a low price, and is honest and fair to all, young and old."

The elegantly dressed young man led the way, while Du Yuan followed behind, looking around the restaurant.

It's an ordinary restaurant, neither particularly good nor bad.

It seems that this richly dressed young man really just wanted a free meal, rather than trying to rip off his customers.

However, to Du Yuan's surprise, as soon as the elegantly dressed young man entered, the shopkeeper, who was doing the accounting, stopped turning the abacus beads and instead leaned on the counter, laughing:
"Oh, Young Master Liu, what brings you here again? You still owe us that money on the table!"

The elegantly dressed young man hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"What Young Master Liu? You must be mistaken. I am Young Master Wang!"

The shopkeeper and the waiter both smiled and agreed.

"Yes, yes, we got it wrong. Your surname isn't Liu, it's Wang."

Some of the diners around him laughed along, as if he was doing quite well here.

Du Yuan, trailing behind him, watched with increasing interest this remarkable man who had just declared himself a member of the Langya Wang clan and was now being called Young Master Liu.

He was dressed in fine clothes, yet couldn't afford a single meal. His background seemed entirely fabricated, but his witty arguments were certainly not something an ordinary person could utter.

What an interesting guy.

After the shopkeeper finished laughing, he continued to ask:

So what do you want now?

The elegantly dressed young man hurriedly pulled Du Yuan aside and said:

"This is a Zen master I just met outside. We hit it off immediately, so he's making the arrangements for lunch today."

Du Yuan nodded to the shopkeeper and said:
"Please prepare a private room. You can order whatever you like. After all, I'm new here and don't know what your restaurant's specialties are."

"Alright, please come up, you two!"

The waiter led Du Yuan and her companion into a private room.

The elegantly dressed young man once again displayed his eloquence to Du Yuan.

He can talk about anything and everything, from the most remote corners of the world to the most distant places. There's nothing he won't talk about, and no matter what it is, he can speak eloquently and make people feel very entertained.

This guy is indeed very capable, but I don't know why he's behaving this way.

However, Du Yuan didn't intend to delve into it further. After all, who doesn't have things they don't want to show others?

Since the other party has no intention of revealing anything and it will not harm you, why be the tactless villain?

He acted as a talkative chatterbox, sharing his rich experiences and relieving boredom, while Du Yuan acted as the host, inviting everyone to dinner.

It is enough to form a good relationship with each other.

After both parties had eaten and drunk their fill.

Du Yuan called over the waiter to prepare the bill.

After thinking about what she had seen earlier, Du Yuan asked again:

"How much money is still short in this young master's account? If it's not much, I'll make up the difference!"

Du Yuan is not short of money, and this person is really quite remarkable, so Du Yuan is happy to help him out more.

But the waiter laughed and said:

"The shopkeeper said that we won't accept money from this Mr. Liu, uh, no, this Mr. Wang. Because everyone thinks Mr. Wang is a really wonderful person, and we haven't been this happy in a long time."

"What I said earlier was just a joke, please don't take it to heart. And the innkeeper also said that your meal today is on the house as well." Du Yuan looked at the richly dressed young man across from her, who was constantly pouring wine for her, with increasing surprise.

When the other person saw Du Yuan looking at him, he chuckled and held his wine glass, looking quite pleased with himself.

Du Yuan chuckled softly, then pointed to the wine jug in his hand and said:
"But I heard him say that this pot of wine is a sixteen-year-old daughter's red. It would cost at least four or five taels of silver, which is quite a lot!"

"It's not a small amount, but since it's for Young Master Wang, the shopkeeper will decide to waive it."

Du Yuan waved her hand and laughed, "So it's your manager hosting the banquet, not me, so you have to accept this."

Du Yuan took out a ten-tael silver ingot from the small seal under the table.

This was given to him by Qian Youcai.

The waiter didn't refuse; he simply took it and said:

"Please wait a moment, I'll go downstairs and give you your change."

"No need to bother coming up, I'll just pick it up when I go out in a bit."

The waiter said he was leaving.

As the door closed again, Du Yuan noticed that the elegantly dressed young man opposite her had stopped pouring wine.

He was tilting his head slightly, gazing at himself with a mixture of sighing and self-mockery in his eyes.

Du Yuan asked with a smile:
"What's wrong? Does this drink suddenly not suit your taste?"

To everyone's surprise, the other party said:
“That’s not very fair of you. But in the end, I misjudged him. I only saw that the old bald monk had some skill, but I didn’t realize it at all. You are the real master who doesn’t show off.”

Having said that, he picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and then sighed softly:
"I originally thought I was able to get this free meal from you because of my unparalleled eloquence and knowledge. I never imagined that I got it by making people laugh."

Du Yuan suddenly realized:

"You just noticed?"

It seems this person is also a cultivator, and just noticed that I took silver from the small seal under the table.

This piqued Du Yuan's interest greatly; it was the first time he had seriously encountered another cultivator.

The other person pointed to their eyes, their tone carrying an undeniable arrogance:
"My eyes are unparalleled throughout history! That's why I didn't have a single ten-tael silver ingot on me before I knew you!"

"Since it wasn't there, yet it was brought out, then I must have misjudged it, to the point that I only realized it now, even with the real person right in front of me."

Having said that, he cupped his hands and smiled:

"It seems you must have found my previous witty arguments laughable."

As soon as she finished speaking, Du Yuan noticed that the person in front of her had undergone a dramatic change in demeanor.

If he was once a refined and elegant gentleman, then...

At this moment, the elegantly dressed young man sitting opposite Du Yuan, slowly pouring wine for himself, exuded no trace of ostentation, only a profound and dignified presence, as if he had been tempered by time.

Those eyes gave Du Yuan a sense of penetrating people's hearts and reflecting the ages.

Du Yuan was certain that it wasn't the gaze of someone treating others as equals, but rather a condescending look from someone who had seen it all.

But this feeling only lasted a moment before his carefree and nonchalant attitude returned.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh at me again. I actually laughed at that bald monk for living so many years, but I never imagined that I didn't have much spiritual cultivation either."

After speaking, he picked up his wine glass again, cast a deep gaze at Du Yuan, and said meaningfully:
“You are different from that bald monk who pretends to be kind, and even more different from that old Taoist priest who can’t even be bothered to pretend. You are genuinely kind-hearted and still young. This murky water is too deep and too muddy; you should never have gotten involved.”

After speaking, he downed the warm wine in his cup in one gulp. As he set the cup down, he suddenly raised his hand and pointed south:

"Take my advice: no matter who's behind you, abandon this matter and quickly go somewhere else, preferably the southwest, or even the capital region. That way, you might find a way to survive!"

(End of this chapter)