The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#251 - Birthday Congratulations

Gu Caiwei went to celebrate the birthday of some Guild Leader Jiang, Lu Jing scratched his head, so all his effort to create this look today was for nothing.

He only came back to Kyoto this time to take a break from his busy schedule and wander around, planning to return to the academy before midnight.

And he didn't know when Gu Caiwei would be back, plus he still had to find food for the black cat, so he couldn't stay here and wait for Gu Caiwei.

Lu Jing was about to ask the female shopkeeper to pass a message to Gu Caiwei, but he turned his head and saw the worry on the latter's face.

Anyway, he was planning to stroll around the city next, so he might as well go to this Guild Leader Jiang's birthday banquet first.

So Lu Jing asked the female shopkeeper, "Where is that Jiang celebrating his birthday?"

The female shopkeeper was stunned, "Why are you asking this?"

"I also plan to do some business in Lintian Prefecture. It seems I have to build a good relationship with this Guild Leader Jiang in advance," Lu Jing said.

"You also want to do business in Lintian Prefecture?" The female shopkeeper was a little surprised, but she had a good impression of this seemingly generous man, and still reminded him.

"Guild Leader Jiang's identity is extraordinary. Not everyone can meet him. If you go to visit him rashly, you might be turned away and lose face."

"It's okay, just tell me the place," Lu Jing had attended many expensive banquets in his previous life, and was very familiar with this kind of wedding and birthday banquet.

Most of them are chaotic, with no one knowing anyone. It's impossible to tell if one person is missing.

And generally, a wedding banquet only has thirty or forty tables. Guild Leader Jiang, as the head of the chamber of commerce, and also celebrating his sixtieth birthday, probably has to set up a hundred tables. There definitely won't be few people going. Most of these people probably won't go alone, but will bring their followers and family members, which will be even more chaotic.

It wouldn't be too easy to sneak in.

And the fact was almost as Lu Jing expected. Guild Leader Jiang celebrated his birthday in his own restaurant. The entire restaurant was booked by him tonight. His eldest son and third son were specially welcoming guests in front of the door, and they seemed to have practiced some martial arts.

But the ones who were really acting as guards were actually a group of people drinking tea in the teahouse opposite. They should all be members of the Chang Le Gang, and the leader among them was a second-rate expert.

Lu Jing didn't recognize him, but even in a large gang like the Chang Le Gang, a second-rate expert should be a high-level member of the gang, probably at least a hall master or something.

In addition to that, there was also a group of镖局镖师 (bodyguards from a security company) responsible for maintaining order.

The scale was very impressive, not even worse than some court officials celebrating their birthdays. After all, officials in the court always have to consider their reputation among the people. Doing it too much would inevitably lead to suspicion of corruption, while Guild Leader Jiang himself was a businessman, so naturally he didn't have such concerns.

Lu Jing watched for a while outside the door and found that the guests who came were not only merchants, but also some martial artists and officials. Lu Jing finally chose to follow a Hanlin compiler into the restaurant.

A certain internet celebrity gave a correct demonstration of this matter in Lu Jing's previous life. This sister was also a magical person. She followed behind 福报 (Jack Ma) to attend some activity, and no one found out that there was a problem with her identity even after walking more than a hundred meters. She even nodded and smiled frequently to passers-by along with 福报.

The key to her success was naturalness. As long as your performance is confident and natural enough, the people who doubt you will turn to doubting themselves.

So Lu Jing followed behind that Hanlin official, with a straight face, and walked into the restaurant.

The gaze of Guild Leader Jiang's eldest son stayed on Lu Jing for a short moment. It could be seen that there was some doubt in his eyes, but because of the Hanlin's face, and the arrival of more guests behind him, he could only suppress the doubt in his heart, and watched Lu Jing walk into the restaurant.

After that, the Hanlin walked upstairs. Lu Jing planned to repeat his trick, but was stopped by a maid, who smiled at him and said, "Let me take you to your seat."

It seemed that Guild Leader Jiang, Gu Caiwei and others were all on the second floor, while the first floor was specially reserved for their servants.

But now that he had entered the restaurant, no one could stop Lu Jing from going wherever he wanted.

He found a time when no one was paying attention, and directly rushed up to the second floor in three steps. Then he looked around and easily saw Gu Caiwei in the crowd.

Gu Caiwei was still dressed as a man, wearing a 襕衫 (a kind of traditional Chinese robe), holding a folding fan, sitting at a table near the corner, and there was no one else at that table besides her.

In stark contrast to this table were the two tables next to her. Even the most corner and remote table was almost full of people at this time, making Gu Caiwei look a little lonely in the hall.

But Gu Caiwei herself seemed to be unaware, and still sat there calmly, drinking tea and waiting for the main event to begin, without any embarrassment.

Seeing this scene, Lu Jing couldn't help but feel a little dazed, and remembered the desperate and helpless little widow under the pear tree in the courtyard more than two years ago.

Facing the step-by-step pressure from the chief clerk's nephew, she had no way to deal with it, and even couldn't help but give up on herself, wanting to offer herself in order to seek revenge on Song Zhongwen.

It seems that he is not the only one who has grown in these years.

Seeing Gu Caiwei like this, Lu Jing's previous worries were relieved a lot. Obviously, Gu Caiwei had expected the situation tonight, and must have already had a countermeasure in her heart.

But even so, Lu Jing still walked to her side and sat down.

Gu Caiwei seemed a little surprised, "Brother, did you come to the wrong place?"

"What, is it not allowed to sit here?" Lu Jing lowered his voice.

"You can sit here, but the price is a bit high," Gu Caiwei smiled, "Otherwise, why do you think everyone is unwilling to sit at this table?"