Film & TV: Public Enemy of Justice

"That's right, that's right! I'm so sorry, Boss Lin, I will definitely promote the benefits of the Demonic Pavilion extensively in the future, making it famous throughout the country!" Young Master Lu then came to his senses and immediately...

He lowered his head and said.

"I thank you for your kindness, sir!" Shiliu said, bowing her head.

The dignitaries and wealthy young men around them certainly didn't miss a word of what the couple said to Lin Yaoxie and what his response was. When they heard that Lin Yaoxie had granted Young Master Lu's request to redeem Shiliu without any hesitation or obstruction, everyone present cheered and surrounded the two with various blessings and teasing remarks.

As Shiliu and Young Master Lu looked up, ready to go find the madam in charge of Shiliu, Lin Yaoxie and Shiliu exchanged a knowing smile.

This wasn't the two mocking or ridiculing Young Master Lu; rather, it was a recollection of the bet they made that morning when discussing their plans.

Lin Yaoxie recalled the look of gratitude, admiration, and fear on Shiliu's face when he told her about his plan this morning.

"Young Master Lin, you must be joking. I'm already feeling uneasy about all the ladies recommending me as the top courtesan of the second rank. And tonight you want me to be the prize for the show, a task that everyone's in the spotlight. I really can't do that, Shiliu." Shiliu looked at Lin Yaoxie nervously.

"It's okay, I have faith in you. And don't forget, your task isn't just about getting the show's reward, but also about deciding to open a brothel and telling all your sisters about it tonight. Do you remember?" Lin Yaoxie looked at Shiliu seriously, not wanting her to belittle herself or try to escape the task.

"Of course, the sisters, including myself, haven't forgotten that once we meet a high-ranking official or a wealthy young master who is interested in us and wants to redeem us, we should agree to their request to redeem us and then act as their eyes and ears to help them gather intelligence." Shi Liu racked her brains to recall what Lin Yaoxie had told the ghosts of prostitutes in the cemetery, afraid of missing any key points.

Seeing Lin Yaoxie nod, Shiliu finally felt relieved, but then a surge of curiosity welled up inside her, and she wanted to ask Lin Yaoxie some questions.

Lin Yaoxie naturally voiced Shiliu's concerns, and said, "Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Answering your questions will help me clarify the plans and objectives I am about to implement."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." With Lin Yaoxie's permission, Shiliu's questions came at him like a barrage of bullets.

Shiliu didn't ask any of those vulgar questions, like why Lin Yaoxie would spend time taking care of these prostitutes who were originally dead, giving them bodies and providing them with a place to live where they could adapt.

After all, Shiliu, who had been a prostitute for many years, was not like those naive little girls. She wouldn't waste time asking about the obvious fact that Lin Yaoxie was just using the prostitutes.

The first question is, why were the best courtesans designated as first-class geishas, ​​instead of all of them being directly assigned to serve guests?

Lin Yaoxie's answer was very clear: he wanted to maintain the value of the prostitutes in Yaoxiefang. If someone were to take out a large number of gold bars with a purity far exceeding that of all gold on the market and put them up for sale, then it wouldn't be long before all the gold on the market would become worthless.

The value of the prostitutes under his command must be consistently maintained at a high level, because only in this way can it fit Lin Yaoxie's plan. Furthermore, these top-tier courtesans cannot simply be hidden away; they must simultaneously be molded into the face of Yaoxie's establishment, to demonstrate the immense power of Lin Yaoxie, the owner of Yaoxie's establishment...

The second question is why the prostitutes were allowed to redeem themselves and return to their brothels. Even in the brothels, they could subtly coax the high-ranking officials and wealthy young men into revealing the information that Lin Yaoxie wanted.

Lin Yaoxie's answer this time was very detailed:

First and foremost, it's about demonstrating strength: only brothels with sufficient resources can maintain a constant flow of customers.

Secondly, while many things can be gleaned from pillow talk, many more things are not said in bed. This requires prostitutes to be redeemed and returned to the homes of high-ranking officials and wealthy young men. Whether as wives, concubines, maids, or servants, prostitutes acquire a wider variety of information than simply as their bedmates.

Secondly, and most importantly, the prostitutes in the Demonic Pavilion are all created by Lin Yaoxie's powerful cultivation. Whenever Lin Yaoxie wants to use their bodies as his eyes, he can truly do so. In other words, he can use the prostitutes as spies, and at crucial moments, they will be Lin Yaoxie's true eyes.

"Now you understand, right?"

"Pomegranate understands. I humbly request Young Master Lin's permission to step down and prepare for tonight's program." Pomegranate was very satisfied and asked Lin Yaoxie for leave.

Lin Yaoxie immediately waved his hand, signaling Shiliu to leave. Shiliu left immediately, leaving Lin Yaoxie alone to think.

After answering Zhao Ling'er's question from the previous night—a completely different topic involving the prostitute Shiliu—Lin Yaoxie deeply felt the stark difference in thinking between Zhao Ling'er, the righteous female protagonist, and the prostitute, who was more like a villain's henchman.

Lin Yaoxie forcibly stopped himself from his memories. Seeing that his spy plan was going smoothly, he naturally didn't bother to recall the past. After all, it's better to reflect on things after failure. Now he should enjoy the wine of success and continue to run Yaoxie Workshop.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Colleagues Are Enemies

Time flies like an arrow, and the years slip by like a shuttle. The fleeting years have passed in the blink of an eye, and more than half a month has gone by since the opening of the Demon's Den. Life passed slowly and uneventfully, until one day an uninvited guest appeared, marking the beginning of a new chapter.

As Yaoxiefang was thriving, one noon, a middle-aged customer with a fat head, big ears, a thick waist, and a big belly entered Yaoxiefang.

It was obvious that this person had ill intentions. Usually, when customers came in, they would stare with lustful eyes, searching for the sensitive spots of the beauties in the Demon Hall, looking as if they wanted to swallow the beauties whole.

However, this customer entered with an angry expression. Looking at the various arrangements in the Demon Pavilion, all the beauties in the Demon Pavilion were frightened by this fat, big-eared middle-aged man, and none of them dared to come up and serve him.

Unexpectedly, he called out, "Can't you find a single person in this vast Demonic Pavilion to serve me?" Although Lin Demonic could tell at a glance that this man was up to no good, given that the Demonic Pavilion's motto was to serve its customers, and also to see what tricks his opponent was up to, he beckoned to the girls in the pavilion:

"Girls, stop standing there like idiots! It's a pleasure to have friends coming from afar, so hurry up and greet our guests!" Since Lin Yaoxie had spoken, the girls went forward to greet the fat, big-eared middle-aged man.

Lin Yaoxie, remembering that he still had some matters to attend to, instructed Zhao Ling'er to receive the middle-aged man and specifically told her to inform him if anything seemed amiss.

The middle-aged man said, "No rush, bring me your demon shop's signature dishes first. I need to savor them properly. I'm starving!"

He then instructed the kitchen to prepare food for the middle-aged man. In just over ten minutes, a large table was filled with dishes, but the man still complained about the slow pace, constantly cursing and swearing. Lin Yaoxie was not present because he had other matters to attend to; otherwise, the middle-aged man would have been in trouble.

It was fortunate that Zhao Ling'er had a good temper; otherwise, if Zhao Ling'er had spoken, this middle-aged man would have been attacked by the crowd. If it had been Lin Yueru or Anu, this middle-aged man probably wouldn't have had a good ending either.

The middle-aged man was picking and choosing the dishes, complaining about the appearance of one dish and the taste of another. The chef thought there was something wrong with his cooking, so he came up to taste the dishes himself, only to find that there was nothing wrong with them. Everyone around was also completely baffled, wondering what the man's intentions were.

The middle-aged man had barely taken a couple of bites when he slammed down his chopsticks and said, "This food is for pigs! You big guys are bullying your customers!"

Although Zhao Ling'er had a good temper, she was still furious when she heard these words. However, considering that the store had not even been open for a month yet, it was not good to have rumors of discord with customers. So she chose to be tolerant and not argue with them.

With a forced smile, he said, "Perhaps everyone's tastes are different. Chef, would you please make another one according to this customer's request?"

This time, Zhao Ling'er was more cautious. She first asked the other party to propose a standard for cooking, and then she cooked according to that standard. This way, she could avoid the other party's endless but meaningless criticism.

Seeing that he could no longer focus on the food, the middle-aged man shifted his focus to the beauty of the food.

So the middle-aged man demanded that Zhao Ling'er reveal her top courtesan from the Demon Brothel. This time, Zhao Ling'er didn't need to answer; the surrounding maids had already spoken:

"Do you think anyone can just see our top courtesan at the Demon Pavilion? You should take a good look at yourself before you start picking and choosing. We're already being lenient by letting you in."

Zhao Ling'er was secretly delighted upon hearing this, but considering the shop's sake, she still said:

"Hey, you little brat, who told you to be so talkative?"

After hearing these insults, the others felt a surge of satisfaction, as if they had finally gotten their revenge.

The middle-aged man gave up on the idea of ​​the top prostitute and turned to ordinary third-tier prostitutes instead. Since third-tier prostitutes don't have many customers, they don't refuse anyone who comes.

After a night of passion, the middle-aged man left.

Not long after, news spread throughout Suzhou that the fat, big-eared middle-aged man had been enjoying himself at the Demon Hall, but when he left, he found that his genitals were unbearably itchy. Upon examination, he discovered that he had contracted a sexually transmitted disease!

In an instant, Suzhou was abuzz with controversy. The fishing boats almost unanimously supported the middle-aged man, and many pointed out that in addition to the prostitutes having sexually transmitted diseases, the restaurant's poor decor and terrible food were also problems.

These messages were like hammer blows, slamming one after another onto the signboard of the Demon Shop. Now, the Demon Shop was like a newborn baby, thrown into the sea by the entire city.

Some people didn't believe it at first because they had personally visited the Demon Workshop, tasted the food, and knew its layout. However, rumors spread like wildfire, and as more and more people talked about it, the number of people joining the campaign against the Demon Workshop grew larger and larger.

Immediately after the incident, Zhao Ling'er contacted Lin Yaoxie and told him about the situation. Upon returning, Lin Yaoxie went to check on the third-tier prostitute who had served the middle-aged man that night.

The third-tier prostitute cried her heart out because she didn't have any sexually transmitted diseases at all! She was extremely careful about personal hygiene and it was impossible for such a thing to happen. However, the third-tier prostitute's explanation was not convincing enough, so Lin Yaoxie still examined her.

After waiting for a while, the answer was found: the third-tier prostitute was perfectly fine. So it must be that the middle-aged man himself had a disease, but he didn't infect the prostitute. The answer was obvious: the middle-aged man was deliberately framing the Demon Brothel.

Once the thought process was clear, the answer became very obvious, so Lin Yaoxie convened a debunking conference, inviting the middle-aged man to confront him face-to-face.

The clarification meeting was held on the same day. After the middle-aged man took the stage, he began to accuse the evil spirit shop of bullying its customers, saying that it was bad in this way and bad in that way. The people below the stage were also very agitated. Some of them even wanted to smash the evil spirit shop. They only left reluctantly after being glared at by Lin Yaoxie.

When the third-rate prostitute came out, the middle-aged man suddenly turned on her, claiming that it wasn't this woman who had accompanied him that night, but another woman who had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. He said that the Yaoxiefang had deliberately replaced her with a healthy woman to cover up their crimes.

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Truth Revealed

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ling'er was extremely agitated, because this woman was personally chosen by this middle-aged man. Now that such a mess has occurred, he chooses to avoid talking about it. He is truly a shameless scumbag. She thought of going on stage and shouting angrily at him.

Lin Yaoxie stopped Zhao Ling'er's actions in time; otherwise, the group of people in the audience who blindly followed the crowd and had no opinions of their own would have believed everything they heard. If what happened on stage today had spread, there would have been many different versions of people criticizing Yaoxiefang.

It's now quite clear that this middle-aged man isn't here to talk, but to nip the Demon Pavilion he founded in the bud. We'll deal with things one by one. You admit to having an STD today, we'll talk about it later. But you can't deny the environment and the food.

Thinking of this, Lin Yaoxie went up on stage and addressed the crowd below:

"Dear fellow citizens of Suzhou, if you are really worried about our Yaoxiefang, you are welcome to come and see for yourselves. I promise that if the food is not good, or if you think the decoration of Yaoxiefang is very poor, I will not charge you any fees. You can come and inspect our Yaoxiefang right now."

The crowd flocked to the Demon Hall, and after many people tried it, they were all very satisfied. However, they did not have a good solution for the problem of sexually transmitted diseases.

After a debunking conference, two of the three issues were resolved, but the last one was the most critical. If this issue wasn't resolved, Yaoxiefang would be unable to regain the public's trust.

A few days after the debunking conference, the number of customers coming to the store did not increase much, which made Zhao Ling'er very distressed. She asked Lin Yaoxie for help. Lin Yaoxie was very pleased because he liked to see Zhao Ling'er anxious and flustered when she had no opinion of her own.

But this wasn't the time to keep Zhao Ling'er in suspense. If she suddenly lost her temper, he really wouldn't be able to handle it. So he said to Zhao Ling'er:

"Since the citizens don't believe us, we can set a trap and make the person who deliberately smashed our signboard come out to testify for us."

"How can we get him to testify for us? He's only here to ruin our reputation," Zhao Ling'er said with a suspicious look.

"That's why I said we should set a trap and wait for him to fall into it. Sigh, tell me, aren't you stupid?"

"You're the silly one, I'm not talking to you anymore, you never say anything serious!" Zhao Ling'er pouted.

"The weather is so nice today, and my Ling'er is so beautiful. I'll set a trap for her later," Lin Yaoxie suddenly blurted out, leaving Zhao Ling'er completely bewildered. She replied, "..."

"what do you mean?"

"You said I never say anything serious, so tell me, which of my three sentences just now was inappropriate? Was it the beautiful weather today? Or setting a trap? Or…"

As he spoke, Lin Yaoxie turned his head, looked into Zhao Ling'er's eyes, and said lightly, "Or is it a bit inappropriate to say that my Ling'er is beautiful?"

Seeing Lin Yaoxie gazing at her with deep affection, his voice slightly low, Zhao Ling'er blushed involuntarily. To avoid Lin Yaoxie seeing, she hurriedly turned away and said hastily:

"You're so glib. If you keep this up, I'm not talking to you anymore."

Lin Yaoxie looked at Zhao Ling'er with amusement. After her face flushed like a baby's, Lin Yaoxie felt that Zhao Ling'er was still quite cute.

"Alright, I'll go get ready first. You should also finish what you're doing, and then we'll witness this miraculous moment together."

"Hmm," Zhao Ling'er stammered. Only after hearing Lin Yaoxie's footsteps gradually fade away did Zhao Ling'er breathe a sigh of relief. Thinking of Lin Yaoxie's bewitching eyes just now, her heart couldn't help but pound faster.

What's wrong with me? Zhao Ling'er thought to herself. Perhaps she had already thought of the answer, but she tried her best to deny it.

The current Zhao Ling'er is a conflicted Zhao Ling'er.

On the other side, Lin Yaoxie invited several respected elders from the city to Zuixianglou. Although they didn't know what it was about, the elders felt that Lin Yaoxie wasn't the type to joke around, so they went along with him.

A portly middle-aged man had already entered the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion and started ordering food, with women on either side of him, looking quite carefree and happy. Several elders, upon seeing this, were puzzled. Wasn't this the man who smashed the signboard of the Demonic Pavilion? Why was he here?

The middle-aged man, having eaten and drunk his fill, summoned several attractive women to his bedchamber, but they refused, whispering amongst themselves that he carried a sexually transmitted disease and was unwilling to share a bed with him. The middle-aged man flew into a rage:

"You women! It's not like I'm not giving you money. Would I shortchange you?"

The owner of Zuixianglou hurriedly came out to explain, saying it wasn't about money, but some other reason, without going into details. However, he kept staring at the middle-aged man's crotch. The middle-aged man understood and secretly whispered to the owner of Zuixianglou. Upon hearing this, the owner of Zuixianglou beamed with joy and ordered the girls to serve the middle-aged man.

The girls were unwilling, since once infected with a sexually transmitted disease, it's very difficult to get rid of it. So they all shook their heads, and no one dared to compete for the money.

The middle-aged man, with his fiery temper, shouted:

"You old women, you don't appreciate my kindness! I don't have any STDs! I only wanted to sabotage that evil brothel. Now that I've achieved my goal, I don't need to pretend anymore!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yaoxie and a group of elders emerged from behind the door, all condemning the middle-aged man and saying:

"Young man, what you're doing is really unethical! You can't rest easy knowing you've ruined his reputation like this!"

The middle-aged man sensed something was wrong and tried to slip away, but none of this escaped Lin Yaoxie's eyes. He grabbed the man's back with one hand, like an eagle grabbing a chick, and just like that, the middle-aged man lost all his arrogance!

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Lin Yaoxie said calmly.

"I understand! I understand! Just spare my life!"