“Eh, alright, alright.” Jin Manjue scrambled on all fours toward the bookshelf.
Fearing he might have some trick up his sleeve, Yun Huizhou immediately followed. His blade remained unsheathed as he stared intently at Jin Manjue’s every move.
Jin Manjue looked up, retrieved a ledger from the shelf, brought it to the table, and flipped it open.
Lian Li followed and leaned over to look at the contents.
February 8th: Beauty Rankings, 65th place. Heroine Guo requests her rank be moved to the top fifty in the next issue.
March 12th: Beauty Ranking, 86th place. Young Master Liu requests his rank be moved to one spot ahead of Heroine Deng in the next issue.
March 13th: Beauty Ranking, 73rd place. Heroine Deng requests that Young Master Liu cannot be placed ahead of her.
(The requests of these two conflict; both parties have been informed as such. They have agreed to a duel outside the city on March 20th.)
April 20th: Handsome Men Ranking, 21st place. Young Master Sun requests to enter the top twenty in the next issue.
April…
May…
As Lian Li read through the list, he couldn’t help but shout “Holy crap” in his mind.
With so much behind-the-scenes manipulation going on, just how much prestige did these three rankings actually have?
Yun Huizhou was also stunned for a moment when he saw the records in the ledger. He asked Jin Manjue, “Is this what you meant by ‘never helping anyone tamper with the rankings’?”
Jin Manjue gave a fawning smile. “My little life is more important, my little life is more important.”
Having said that, he picked up a brush and asked, “Great Heroes, how do you intend to change the ranking?”
Lian Li pulled out the Beauty Ranking booklet he had bought earlier, flipped to the very last rank, and said, “Just put me in first place.”
The smile on Jin Manjue’s face froze. Then, for the first time, he spoke in a very serious tone. “Young Master Lian, the top ten of all rankings cannot be tampered with.”
Lian Li looked up at him but didn’t speak.
Jin Manjue gripped the brush, lightly tapping it against the tabletop as he continued, “The top ten are different from the other ranks. They are authentic rankings compiled with great effort over the course of a year. Although there may be changes, they absolutely cannot be manually altered. We only recognize the results compiled by Jinzui Tower.”
Hearing this, Lian Li raised an eyebrow.
Because Jin Manjue had agreed to change the ranks so readily before, and because of the records in that ledger, Lian Li had assumed these three rankings were purely for entertainment.
He hadn’t expected them to actually have some level of credibility.
However, it seemed only the top ten held any weight; the other ranks were just for show.
Jin Manjue glanced at Lian Li’s expression and added another point: “Although any rank outside the top ten can be changed at will, someone who isn’t on the list at all cannot force themselves onto it.”
In other words, anyone whose name appeared on these lists was someone Jinzui Tower recognized as being in the top one hundred.
As for what happened after getting on the list—from the eleventh to the hundredth place—you could cause as much of a fuss as you wanted.
But you couldn’t touch the top ten.
Lian Li nodded. He had only been speaking casually; jumping from one hundredth to first place was indeed a bit too ridiculous.
Just as he was wondering where would be appropriate to move himself, he heard Yun Huizhou, who had been silent for a long time, speak up.
“Then change it to eleventh place.”
Lian Li thought: What a ruthless man.
Jin Manjue: “…”
Jin Manjue didn’t move. Yun Huizhou placed his blade on the table and looked at the man with a half-smile. “Didn’t you say the top ten are off-limits? This is the eleventh spot. Why haven’t you changed it yet?”
Jin Manjue smiled. “Alright, I will record it right now. In the next issue, Young Master Lian will be placed at eleventh.”
After saying this, he added hesitantly, “What if someone else comes looking for me later, also wanting this eleventh spot?”
Yun Huizhou said decisively, “Then tell them to come find me for a duel.”
Jin Manjue asked, “If Great Hero Yun is not in Linjiu City, how should I notify you?”
Yun Huizhou raised his hand and patted Jin Manjue’s shoulder. “Under normal circumstances, the Martial Arts Alliance can contact me. Your Jinzui Tower surely wouldn’t be unable to find the Martial Arts Alliance, right?”
Jin Manjue nodded with a smile and recorded Yun Huizhou’s request.
After Lian Li saw Jin Manjue finish writing, he suddenly asked, “How did you know he was Yun Huizhou? From the moment he walked in, he never said who he was.”
A smug smile appeared on Jin Manjue’s face. He said, “Regarding the people on the three rankings, although I haven’t seen every single one with my own eyes, I remember their portraits perfectly. The moment I saw him in person, I had a few guesses.”
“Furthermore, when you took out the booklet and asked me to change the ranking, Young Master Lian, I naturally knew you were Young Master Lian Li.”
“And Young Master, you are close with your Senior Brother and are inseparable. Naturally, I would know who the person coming with you was.”
“Moreover…”
“Moreover what?” Lian Li asked.
Jin Manjue said, “Moreover, Great Hero Yun is also listed on the Handsome Men Ranking.”
Lian Li: “What?”
Yun Huizhou: “Huh?”
“You’re on the Handsome Men Ranking and you didn’t know?” Lian Li asked, nudging Yun Huizhou’s arm.
Yun Huizhou replied, “I never paid attention to this before.”
Jin Manjue fumbled around and pulled out another booklet. It was the latest edition of the Handsome Men Ranking. He flipped to the page where Yun Huizhou was located.
Lian Li looked and was amused. This man’s ranking wasn’t high either—only ninety-ninth place. So, he asked Jin Manjue, “Quick, look and see who is in one hundredth place?”
Jin Manjue paused for a moment, then obediently flipped to the hundredth spot.
The hundredth spot was exactly Lian Li’s name.
Lian Li: “Why am I behind him!?”
Jin Manjue explained, “Because Great Hero Yun made the list first…”
Remembering that these three rankings were just for fun outside of the top ten, Lian Li stopped obsessing over the matter.
He stared at the ranking for a good while, then said to Jin Manjue, “For this Handsome Men Ranking, move me to eleventh place and put Yun Huizhou at twelfth.”
Jin Manjue picked up his brush and stole a glance at Yun Huizhou. Seeing that Yun Huizhou had no reaction, he recorded their request.
Now that their demands had been granted, Lian Li pointed at Yun Huizhou’s portrait and said, “This drawing isn’t as good-looking as you are in person.”
Yun Huizhou nodded solemnly and said, “Same for yours. The drawing isn’t as good-looking as you are in person.”
Jin Manjue’s gaze shifted between the two of them before he looked away.
After the two of them exchanged a round of mutual flattery, Yun Huizhou was just about to leave when Lian Li suddenly remembered that they had only changed the rankings—the most important thing hadn’t been changed yet.
Thus, Jin Manjue saw the people who had already reached the door to leave suddenly turn back.
Having just breathed a sigh of relief, he instantly became tense again. He asked, “Do the two of you have anything else?”
Lian Li said, “Yes. Who wrote the introductions next to the portraits in the rankings?”
Jin Manjue: “Uh…”
Seeing this reaction, Lian Li immediately pressed, “Was it you again, kid?”
“Um…” Jin Manjue’s eyes darted around.
Lian Li whipped out his whip and cracked it several times in front of Jin Manjue.
“Change it for me!”
