The online commotion was just the beginning.
However, while everyone was jumping up and down munching on melon seeds, some people had already started to feel something was off.
"Qin Yuezhang's past relationships with those exes, everyone pretty much found out about them later. Being that cautious in the end, didn't he still fail to hide anything? Besides, it's not like his family is truly without money; they couldn't possibly be that stingy. Unless—"
Liu Rulan crossed her arms, her gaze falling on the scenery rushing past the car window, her tone calm. "There's definitely something else hidden behind this."
Even Lao Qi, the driver, though a man of few words, had his own perspective. "Those exes of Qin Yuezhang might know something, but they only revealed the parts of the information that are advantageous to themselves."
To put it bluntly, coming forward to expose Qin Yuezhang at this moment wasn't really about venting anger. Seeing their former flame's power and influence fading away, they rushed to take a jab at him. Their main goal in doing this was none other than using this wave of traffic to whitewash their own reputations and, in the process, absorb a wave of heat.
"There are no videos or pictures circulating online yet, which shows they still have some reservations." Xiao He also scrolled through his phone, analyzing seriously. "Perhaps what they and Qin Yuezhang want to hide is the same thing. But because they want to distance themselves from Qin Yuezhang and gain traffic, the information they've revealed so far is relatively mild, without causing substantial harm."
After all, the matter of a man and woman getting a hotel room, when singled out for public figures, is already very undignified. But if you insist on saying Qin Yuezhang has a problem, it can't really be considered a major issue. At most, netizens will call him a "fake" while also throwing in a "stingy man."
All of this is merely criticism on a moral level; it can't really do anything to Qin Yuezhang.
"Wow, your analyses are so spot-on."
Xiao Chen was a bit dumbfounded, not expecting the others to have gleaned such crucial insights from the currently revealed information.
"Just wait."
Liu Rulan snorted with a light laugh. "There's more drama to come—"
As the woman finished speaking, the van finally came to a slow stop.
Lao Qi said in a deep voice, "We're here."
Xiao He put down his phone, shifting his gaze away from the mix of true and false comments online, and landed it on the ancient-style architecture ahead. He took a deep breath. "So this is it—"
The ancient-style building before them was built against the mountain. The majestic and glorious manor gatehouse bore a black wooden plaque inscribed with "Thousand Leaves Manor." A pair of brass door knockers on the main gate still gleamed with a golden sheen. Surrounding the manor's perimeter were woods and vegetation, with a long staircase inside the manor leading up the mountain.
This manor was constructed with classical grandeur, resembling the martial arts families from wuxia stories, the wealthy and powerful clans from ancient costume dramas, or the reclusive sects from xianxia tales... In reality, as one of the most famous filming locations in film and television, it had appeared countless times in various movies and TV productions.
Here, almost every single day of the year, different production teams came to shoot scenes. Just making a reservation could take one or two years.
But of course, that's for smaller productions.
For a major production like *Record of Chasing the Wind*, they naturally booked the entire location and even undertook a degree of reconstruction.
Just this location alone had consumed a significant amount of the production team's time and effort. And what could now be presented before everyone's eyes was one of the most impressive places in *Record of Chasing the Wind*—"Thousand Leaves Manor"!
In the story background of *Record of Chasing the Wind*, Thousand Leaves Manor was a merchant entity independent of the Seven Great Families of the martial world. They primarily conducted various businesses within the jianghu, collected rare treasures, and gathered all sorts of news from the martial world, but they did not participate in its conflicts, making them a very neutral presence.
Simultaneously, this place was also the venue for the competition to become the Martial Arts Alliance Leader in each term.
As everyone knows, where there are people, there is a jianghu, and where there is a jianghu, there is struggle. The Martial Arts Alliance Leader is the most prestigious and powerful peerless master in the jianghu, capable of rallying hundreds with a single call, vanquishing evil, and impartially judging right from wrong.
Thus, the competition for the position of Martial Arts Alliance Leader is a major event for many in the martial world.
Thousand Leaves Manor, as a neutral entity, serves as the host venue for each Martial Arts Alliance Leader Conference. They never participate in the struggles for the Alliance Leader position, focusing solely on seizing this opportunity to make money and do business.
After all, this is the time when the martial world is most crowded.
Rare treasures, forged swords, century-old medicinal herbs... It must be said, the master of this manor truly knows how to do business. Just the auction held during each conference allows him to rake in huge profits. He then, in turn, recruits the outstanding heroes and talents who shine during the grand competition to serve Thousand Leaves Manor, protecting its assets from harm.
In the plot, the protagonist Song Chenye will visit this place multiple times, even participating in the final grand competition for the Martial Arts Alliance Leader. Many characters' highlights and fight scenes basically originate from here.
So one can imagine that Xiao He will be staying at this place for quite a long time.
"Let's get out of the car first."
Liu Rulan reminded.
Xiao He got out of the car. Xiao Chen grabbed the bags, while Lao Qi turned the car around to park at a nearby parking lot.
The group truly resembled disciples first entering the jianghu as they walked up to the imposing manor gate, unsure if they should knock on the massive door before them.
"That's strange, where are they?"
Xiao Chen also looked around, curiously eyeing the tightly shut gate.
The place looked very deserted, not at all like a production set was filming.
"Teacher Xiao! Manager Liu!"
Right at that moment, a voice called out from the side.
They all looked over.
They saw a young man wearing a khaki vest, with rather unremarkable features, jogging over.
"Huff, huff, sorry to keep you waiting."
The young man said, panting, then pulled out his work ID. "I'm a production assistant for the *Record of Chasing the Wind* production team. I'll take you to the side entrance right now."
"The entrance isn't here?"
Even Liu Rulan was a bit surprised.
"Yeah, yeah, we're still working on some details for this main gate, so we opened a small door on the side."
The young man explained while pointing in a direction.
"Oh, I see. We drove past it—"
Xiao He followed the young man a few steps to the side and indeed saw a small, inconspicuous gray-painted door set into the blue brick wall not far away. The door was wide open at the moment, with staff members occasionally carrying things out and walking in the opposite direction of the main gate, apparently heading towards the parking lot over there.
"This place has changed so much. I don't remember this at all from my last visit." Liu Rulan expressed surprise.
"Yeah, the director made a lot of changes to film the Thousand Leaves Manor scenes here. He paid a pretty hefty compensation fee this time."
The production assistant whispered, revealing the information.
Xiao He was curious. "Was the director not satisfied with the manor's current decor?"
Although Xiao He had never visited this filming location in person, he had seen it on TV.
To say the ancient-style architecture and decor of this manor were exceptional... well, after watching so many period dramas, they all start to look the same, nothing particularly special. The sets don't vary much, and Xiao He had already developed aesthetic fatigue.
Hearing that the director of the *Record of Chasing the Wind* production team wanted to redesign the sets, Xiao He didn't hold out much hope either.
The production assistant smiled. "The director has requirements; we just follow them."
And when they formally stepped inside the door, all of Xiao He's doubts vanished.
—Without a doubt, this was Thousand Leaves Manor.