Chapter Eighteen: Victoria's Secret

  It is said that life has three realms: the first realm is where you take action yourself. The second realm is where others say you are capable. The third realm is where those who say you are capable must themselves be capable.

  A sentence "You are too talented" may be a compliment or flattery from an ordinary person. But when it comes out of Zhu Houzhao's mouth, the meaning is completely different. The emperor's appreciation represents too many things: wealth, glory, power, everything is in it.

  Liu Jin, who had been sitting silently beside Zhang Yong, heard Zhu Houzhao's evaluation of Jiang Xia and suddenly understood that Zhu Houzhao really appreciated Jiang Xia. The more Zhu Houzhao appreciated Jiang Xia, the more Liu Jin felt that his investment was not in vain.

  For Liu Jin, the small family of Qunfang Pavilion was really not worth mentioning. Using half of the shares to win over a young man who might be appreciated by the emperor was completely worthwhile. It's like playing chess, you can unconsciously place a piece somewhere, and that piece may play a crucial role at some point.

  In Liu Jin's heart, Jiang Xia was just such a chess piece. However, Zhu Houzhao appreciated Jiang Xia so much that Liu Jin felt he should take good care of this chess piece. If handled well, this chess piece would become incredibly powerful.

  Jiang Xia didn't understand the exaggerated sentence of Zhu Houzhao, but after hearing it, he completely waved his hand and said: "Second brother, you don't know, this is not the most serious. Brother, I am designing a whole set of Victoria's secrets, when the time comes, I will make one and invite you to come and see."

  "What's Victoria's Secret?" Zhu Houzhao was perplexed, having no idea what "Victoria's Secret" referred to.

  Jiang Xia smiled and said, "It's okay, you'll understand in a while."

  As the T-stage show went on, various costumes were showcased one after another. Just as it was about to end, the turtle-like announcer walked onto the T-stage and said: "I wonder if you gentlemen have had enough to see?"

  "It's so cool! It's really too cool, but unfortunately you can only look and not touch. It's really frustrating!" A guest dressed as a government official in the middle of the hall exclaimed excitedly.

  "Don't worry, sir, the girls are all in the back. Soon you can go to the back and choose one, pay the silver, not only can you touch, but also... hehe, it's possible."

  "Really? That's great, I was worried it would be look but don't touch. It can... Hehe, how much silver will this cost me?"

  "Gentlemen, you're quite generous, but today's T-stage show is just a small test for our Huafang Pavilion. In ten days, we'll be hosting an even more explosive T-stage show called 'Victoria's Secret'. Perhaps many of you gentlemen don't know what 'Victoria's Secret' is, so now let's invite a young lady to give you a demonstration!"

  The old turtle finished speaking and jumped off the stage. A young girl with a shy expression walked out from behind the curtain.

  "Wow!" "Oh!" "Ooh!" "Ah..."

  Short skirts, suspenders, cheongsam dresses, these were already enough to make the guests feel stimulated. But now this girl directly walked out in just a bra and panties, strutting like a cat, making the guests feel their blood vessels bursting with excitement, hot-blooded and surging.

  "Ah! I've got a reaction, I've got a reaction!" The wealthy silk merchant from the south of the city, Old Master Ma, had always been plagued by some underlying illness that made it impossible for him to... However, despite this, he still enjoyed visiting brothels. Every time he called over a girl, although he couldn't really... indulge, he would have the girls call out to him instead.

  But as soon as he saw the girl on the stage wearing a three-point suit and walking, Mr. Ma suddenly reacted. He excitedly stood up, took out a stack of silver tickets from his pocket, and anxiously shouted: "Quick! Arrange a girl for me immediately, hurry up!"

  The girl finished the show, and the turtle announcer walked onto the stage again: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what they call Victoria's Secret. If you want to see more performances, come to our Qunfang Pavilion with an invitation ten days later. We will start distributing invitations from tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, please wait for good news."

  After he finished speaking, the old turtle left. Another batch of girls went up to the stage to dance, and the lights in the hall were re-lit. The entire hall was suddenly bright as day, but all the guests inside felt a sense of loss and desolation.

  The performance ten days later is definitely worth watching. The guests in the hall secretly made a decision in their hearts.

  Zhu Houzhao, who had been staring blankly for a long time, finally came back to his senses after a while. He looked at Jiang Xia and said, "Big brother, this invitation..."

  Jiang Xia smiled and took out a purple invitation card with intricate patterns from his pocket, handing it to Zhu Houzhao: "Don't worry, how could big brother forget about you? I've already prepared this for you long ago."

  "Thank you, big brother." Zhu Houzhao put away the invitation and said somewhat embarrassedly: "Big brother, if there's nothing else, I'll go take a look at those girls' clothes first, you sit down first."

  Jiang Xia smiled slightly and nodded: "Go ahead, go ahead, choose whichever one you like, big brother is treating today."

  "Thank you, big brother." Zhu Houzhao bowed and immediately took Zhang Yong and Liu Jin away in a hurry.

  That night, Zhu Houzhao stayed in the Qunfang Pavilion, and Jiang Xia, who had been tired all day, rested early. The two did not see each other again afterwards. Because of the consideration for the early court session the next day, Zhu Houzhao left with Zhang Yong and Liu Jin in the middle of the night.

  On the way back to the palace, Zhu Houzhao had a tired look on his face, but he couldn't hide the excitement between his eyebrows. He sat in the same horse-drawn carriage as Zhang Yong and Liu Jin. After thinking for a moment, Zhu Houzhao said: "Liu Jin, I have two things to instruct you, you must do them well."

  "Your humble servant obeys your orders, Your Majesty. Please be at ease. Whatever Your Majesty commands, I will do my utmost to carry out to the best of my abilities."

  Although the carriage was narrow, Liu Jin still did not lose his manners and knelt on the carriage to respond.

  Zhu Houzhao nodded in satisfaction: "My sworn brother Jiang Xia, you've just met him. Now I entrust two things to you: First, use all your might to seal off the news; before I reveal my identity, absolutely do not let Jiang Xia know my true identity. Second, go and instruct the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard that no one is allowed to cause trouble for Guanfang Pavilion, and even more so, Jiang Xia must not suffer any harm whatsoever. Do you understand?"

  "I understand, I will obey!" Liu Jin led the way.

  Liu Jin was the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, and the two things that Zhu Houzhao had just ordered were merely two small matters for him, which could be easily accomplished with ease.

  But what's worth considering is why Zhu Houzhao ordered him to do these two things. The reason was naturally guessed by Liu Jin, and Zhang Yong also guessed it.

  Even Zhang Yong guessed a deeper layer. He already knew that the backstage boss of Qunfang Pavilion was Liu Jin, and now Jiang Xia's status in Qunfang Pavilion was surprisingly light, so it must be Liu Jin who deliberately promoted him.

  As for why Jiang Xia was deliberately promoted, the answer is self-evident and must be due to Jiang Xia's relationship with the emperor. Now that the emperor has issued these two orders, they seem a bit puzzling at first glance, but in fact, as long as you combine them with Zhu Houzhao's character, it's easy to guess why Zhu Houzhao wants to issue these two orders.

  First, he cannot let Jiang Xia know his emperor identity. Obviously, Zhu Houzhao thought it was fun to disguise himself as a commoner and be with Jiang Xia together, so he wanted to continue playing along, therefore he cannot let Jiang Xia know his identity. Second, he cannot let Jiang Xia get hurt. This is simply nakedly showing love and care for Jiang Xia.

  Enough to make an emperor worry about his safety, it can be seen that Jiang Xia's position in Zhu Houzhao's heart is not light.

  The higher Jiang Xia's position in Zhu Houzhao's heart, the more helpers Liu Jin had. Zhang Yong looked at Liu Jin with a jealous gaze. Unexpectedly, Liu Jin also looked back at him, and a faint smile appeared on his lips as he placed his right little finger in front of his eyes to take a look.

  Zhang Yong's eyebrows furrowed, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Liu Jin's action was very clear, it meant that Zhang Yong was still tender when fighting with him.

  Zhang Yong looked at Liu Jin and suddenly thought of something.

  When he first saw Jiang Xia, Jiang Xia's status in the group was not high. But today, seeing Jiang Xia, his status in the group seems to have improved a lot. So this is to say that Jiang Xia is not someone Liu Jin has been cultivating for a long time, but rather he knew that Zhu Houzhao had been close to Jiang Xia before, so he promoted him.

  Now that Liu Jin has received the imperial edict not to reveal the emperor's identity, it is certain that Liu Jin had not told Jiang Xia about his identity before. In that case, hasn't Jiang Xia not yet formally become a disciple of Liu Jin?

  Zhang Yong thought of a clever plan in his heart, if he could buy Jiang Xia in advance and bring him under his own door, making him his own man. Maybe later he could even turn Jiang Xia into Liu Jin's mole.

  Liu Jin thought he had picked up a treasure, but never thought that the treasure was actually a knife hidden beside him, which could stab him at any time.

  Haha... This plan is really too clever.

  Thinking of this, Zhang Yong looked at Liu Jin with a triumphant gaze. His eyes seemed to be saying that it was still uncertain who would end up dead, and they should just wait and see.

  Liu Jin was slightly stunned, he didn't understand why Zhang Yong suddenly looked so pleased with himself. However, since Zhang Yong's pleasure meant Liu Jin would be displeased, Liu Jin couldn't help but feel a little uneasy and began to speculate in his heart.

  Zhu Houzhao inadvertently saw Zhang Yong laughing brightly, and he smiled and asked: "Zhang Yong, what are you laughing at?"

  Zhang Yong was startled, and only then did he react to his earlier complacency. He immediately bowed and replied: "I report back to Your Majesty, I was thinking about what I saw and heard in the Huafang Pavilion earlier. Unexpectedly, Jiang Xia still has some talent, and actually came up with such a clever plan. The business of the Huafang Pavilion will probably be booming from now on."

  "Hmm, I suppose so." Zhu Houzhao chuckled and said: "What a pity you're a eunuch. If you were a real man, you'd understand the kind of stimulation that was in the group flower pavilion earlier... That feeling is really... Alas, I now feel it's going to be a long ten days before I can see 'Victoria's Secret' again."