Chapter 279 Selling Information
“That’s because I am going to travel around the country. So I need some time to get used to it.”
Lin Mengya smiled as she gazed at the mini version of Baiji. Lin Mengya reached out her hand to squeeze her pinchable cheeks.
Perhaps it was because Lin Mengya naturally looked gentle and friendly that the children were no longer afraid of her. They even boldly reached out to touch Lin Mengya’s face.
“You can’t be so rude to Miss. Xiaojia!”
The parents quickly tried to stop Xiaojia’s dirty hands from touching Lin Mengya’s face.
“Don’t worry. Children are naturally innocent and kindhearted. That is why they are so adorable.”
Lin Mengya did not mind the filth at all. She looked at Xiaojia and smiled.
After touching Lin Mengya’s cheek, the little girl started to chuckle.
“I’ve touched the Goddess of Mercy. Miss, you’re even more beautiful than the Goddess of Mercy in the temple.”
Her cute, childish voice made the people burst out laughing once again.
Lin Mengya pinched her little cheeks and thought, “Isn’t this kind of warm atmosphere what I’m looking forward to?”
Once inside the room of the pavilion, Lin Mengya and Qinghu sat down at the table to discuss how they were going to get to Sanjue Hall later on.
The table was full of dishes made by Aunt Bai. Not to mention that Baizhi had eaten so much that her stomach was bulging, even Lin Mengya could not resist the temptation to taste all of them.
Lin Mengya was toying with a walnut in her palm at this moment, but the expression on her face was rather tense.
“Presently, Sanjue Hall has its own network of herb-picking. We are able to supply our own herbs, especially the more common ones. Yunzhu had also made her independent decision to accept some business from the other pharmacies. After paying them, Sanjue Hall still has a surplus.”
As Qinghu reported the situation of Sanjue Hall to Lin Mengya, she responded by nodding continuously.
Yunzhu was a talent in business management. Not only was she adaptable, but she was also clever and sharp.
In reality, picking and collecting herbs was merely a gimmick. The main purpose of Sanjue Hall was to gather information regarding both sides of the Yangtze River through the network they established.
“Presently, we have established 13 branches in the state government. Every day, the network of people who collect the herbs from all over the place will bring back all the information to our branches, where the information is consolidated and categorized. Thereafter, the information is brought back to the capital city. We have new information coming in continuously every day. Although we can’t be compared to the established sects and powers yet, we have surpassed the regular powers.”
Lin Mengya nodded. She was the one who had demanded that there should be new information every day.
How valuable a piece of information was depended on its timeliness and accuracy. Sanjue Hall was definitely not lacking in these two abilities.
On the other hand, not everyone was interested in every piece of information.
The persons of dubious background, as well as those in the imperial courts, would be the people who would pay to get the information. The commoners generally would not need any information. Therefore Lin Mengya’s focus was to find out information about the Jianghu or the tendencies of political and military affairs.
There were certainly other categories of information. It was said that within the few months of its operation, Sanjue Hall was already filled with record books that were full of the information gathered.
There were also specialists who were in charge of destroying the outdated information.
She planned to imitate Bai Xiaosheng to list down every detail in order. This way, the information they gathered would be authoritative and accurate on their way forward.
In Lin Mengya’s mind, Sanjue Hall would eventually become the number one intelligence agent. This was the goal she was working toward.
Qinghu continued reporting the general situation of Sanjue Hall for a while more, then Qinghu and Lin Mengya quietly sneaked into the small horse carriage and went out of the city.
They exited through the city gates despite the tight security at the checkpoint there.
Outside the gates, innumerable village folks gathered from every direction. They were going into the capital to acquire goods for the New Year’s celebrations so they could enjoy a year of abundance.
The horse carriage traveled along a major road speedily, and soon they arrived at the small courtyard where Lin Mengya was once locked up.
After Yunzhu and Qinghu did some work on it, this place had become even more inconspicuous and hidden, yet more spacious inside.
Through a secret back door, the two of them directly entered the back of the courtyard.
The back yard was the innermost open space and its area was more than double its original size.
With pavilions by the water, the entire place was natural and scenic. It was not as meticulously designed as the Liuxin Courtyard, but it was stylish and orderly.
It had basically met Lin Mengya’s expectations. The building was in the style of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Coincidentally, there was even a natural hot spring in the vicinity. With the rise of steam from the hot spring, the courtyard appeared to look like the realm of the immortals.
In the future, when someone came to discuss business matters, Lin Mengya would be expected to entertain the customer personally.
The steam and mist could really create an atmosphere of being in some out-of-the-world paradise.
Lin Mengya, as the owner, had come here for the first time. She quickly covered her face with a veil that she had prepared earlier so that no one would recognize her.
“The Hall Master has arrived. This way, please,” said Yunzhu, all smiles, who had come out to welcome Lin Mengya.
She was clad in a plum-colored coat embroidered with the pattern of large Rosa Multiflora with golden threads. The collars of her coat were lined with white fox fur. Not only was the coat warm, but it made her look exceptionally elegant and beautiful.
Clothes with such bewitching colors and styles would have looked tacky on anyone else.
However, for some reason, Yunzhu looked exceptionally beautiful in them.
Strangely, her features had been restored to their former exquisiteness although she was already a middle-aged woman. The tattoo of a Rosa Multiflora on her cheek made her look extremely enchanting and bewitching.
Her smiles were so alluring they not only attracted men, but also Lin Mengya’s attention.
Although she had passed her prime, even with a head full of gray hair, she still was able to make men scrabble madly for her.
“I’ve no idea. Should I be congratulating you?”
Beauty used to be Yunzhu’s greatest weapon, but it was also the source of her pain and bitterness.
Over the past period of time, Lin Mengya had begun to treat Yunzhu as a friend.
Yunzhu forced a sad smile, which quickly disappeared, as she walked ahead, leading the way.
“I was meant to die, but you, Hall Master, saved me from death. My life now belongs to you, Hall Master. I don’t have the right to feel any way I like.”
Originally, Yunzhu had come to ask Lin Mengya to save someone’s life. However, one day, Yunzhu abruptly told Lin Mengya that she no longer needed her help in saving the person’s life.
Lin Mengya had no idea what the reason was. Nevertheless, Lin Mengya would be willing to agree to any condition set by Yunzhu as long as she was willing to help manage Sanjue Hall.
“Hall Master, there are three courtyards altogether. The one right at the front is for Master Sanjue to keep watch and assess the guests. The middle courtyard is used by our men from various branches to send, receive, and collate the information. As for the courtyard, it is where your accommodation is, as well as a place to keep the things that are top secret. All three courtyards are fortified with snares and traps. All our brothers will personal patrol this place 24 hours a day to ensure top-level security.”
Yunzhu explained the set-up of the place to place as she simultaneously led Lin Mengya into the second layer of courtyards from the back yard.
Compared to the quiet and elegant back yard, the front yard was very tidy and orderly.
Although they were the same size, the front yard felt like a more somber place perhaps because there were neat rows of squarish houses in it.
Various kinds of people were going in and out of the center of these small houses.
On the door of every small house there hung a plaque that stated the type of business it was managing.
With the goal of categorizing their information, there was a specialist to handle each specialized area.
The ones delivering the information were called the horse legs, those who went around searching for information were called informers, while the ones sitting inside recording were called gentlemen.
There was at least one gentleman in each small house. In some houses, there were two or more of them. The information that kept coming in would finally be delivered to Baixiao Pavilion at the back through these gentlemen.
All the horse legs and gentlemen obvious knew Yunzhu as the deputy hall master. As for Qinghu, whom they always saw wearing a smile, they did not dare to treat him with contempt.
They heard that Qinghu was a trusted aide of their mysterious Hall Master. He was someone they should never offend.
However, when they spied the mysterious young man in the middle, they could not help feeling suspicious.
“Who could this be that our deputy hall master would show the way, whom Qinghu had to accompany?”
“Could he be the Hall Master who never appeared?”
“Does he not look too young to be the Hall Master?”
As Lin Mengya traversed the place, everything she saw was as it had been designed by her, but still, it really surprised her how Qinghu and Yunzhu had carried out her plan so perfectly.
The horse legs, who were rushing here and there, greeted them before continuing on with their business of delivering information.
Lin Mengya could sense that the people here were suspicious of her. However, she did not intend to make her identity as the Hall Master known to them.
Likely, it was because of their suspicion of Lin Mengya that these untamed vagrants were fearful of her. If they were to learn of her background, they would probably not be as respectful toward her.
For this reason, Lin Mengya thought that there would be a better time to make her identity known and establish her authority in front of them.
This was not the best moment, and in fact, there was no rush.
“After having a look at everything, I would like the horse legs and the gentlemen to put on masks. The informers should also be wearing masks on the way here. While prying for information, if someone wishes to cooperate with us, he has to be carrying the seal of Sanjue Hall.”
Yunzhu and Qinghu exchanged looks as they were surprised to see that Lin Mengya was so meticulous and demanding in the things she dealt with.
They had really forgotten that the taboo in the business of information was to have someone remember their faces. In the past, the way Peach Blossom Dock dealt with their killers whose face had been exposed was either death or disfiguration.
However, Lin Mengya’s decision for their employees to wear masks meant that even if someone among them were to rebel and escape, Sanjue Hall would be totally unaffected. Moreover, it would catch them off guard.
“In addition, keep a portrait of every employee according to their departments as top secret. And no one is to leak or look at them. In case someone’s conduct turns egregious, we will be able to deal with it better with what we have.”
Lin Mengya was not a ruthless kind of person. She would never be able to annihilate her men just because their faces had been identified. This was the only way Sanjue Hall could be kept safe.
Yunzhu nodded immediately and promised that she would enforce the wearing of masks this very afternoon. As for these people, there was no fear of them turning into traitors. The reason being that many of them would have lost their lives if Sanjue Hall had not offered them shelter.
