Chapter 80: Chapter 80: The Entire City is Full

The group followed the two men to a hotel.

The man with short, gray hair smiled mockingly. “There have been too many tourists in the Empire recently, so the hotels are basically all full. Our guests may need to share a room, two people per room.”

At these words, many people looked surprised and angry.

In the Interstellar era, land was vast and populations were large, so housing was never an issue.

Not only were there numerous planets, but buildings were also constructed to be exceptionally tall, so cramped living situations were virtually nonexistent.

They were here for a program, all of them famous composers and singers in the Federation.

Never mind a luxury suite, but shouldn’t a deluxe single room be the bare minimum?

But in the end, they couldn’t even get single rooms, let alone deluxe ones!

Antonio, one of the veteran composers from the West Sea, asked in a low voice, “Since this hotel has no rooms, why don’t we switch to another one?

If the program’s budget is tight, we can pay for it ourselves.”

They were all A-listers in the Federation’s music scene. None of them were short on money, and naturally, none of them wanted to share a room.

Whether it was composing music or practicing singing, they needed a quiet, private space. What was the deal with two people sharing a room?

Although they could room with their assistants and ask them to step out when they were busy, doing so would be a complete loss of face.

Xie Lili whispered again, “This is the second show of force.”

If it weren’t for the inappropriate setting, Jiang Qin would have wanted to laugh.

’How did I never notice how amusing this girl is?’

The gray-haired male host smilingly rejected Antonio’s suggestion. “My apologies, guests, but there really are a lot of tourists in the Empire lately, so this is the only hotel with any vacancies.

If you don’t believe me, you can have your attendants go and check.”

Antonio’s face was grim. “Xiao Xi, go check if the Six O’Clock nearby has any vacancies.”

Hearing this, the two male hosts weren’t flustered in the slightest. They waited leisurely for them to send someone to ask, seemingly certain of the outcome.

The gray-haired male even added a reminder, “It would be best for all of you to decide quickly. After all, rooms are scarce. In a little while, even this hotel might be full.”

The three vice-ministers said nothing.

This was no longer an issue of two people sharing a room; it was deliberate obstruction.

If they accepted this, there was no telling how many more times something like this would happen.

But the other party’s excuse was perfectly valid.

After all, they had already explained that there were many tourists and the hotels were full. If the Federation group made a fuss, it would put the program organizers in a difficult position.

Since the other side intended to make things difficult for them in this manner, they must have made thorough preparations long ago.

It was likely that throughout all of Immortal City, no other hotel besides this one would accommodate them today.

As for staying in someone’s private mansion, estate, or the like, that was also impossible.

Federation people were not eligible to purchase property in the Empire.

And Imperial people wouldn’t host Federation people.

Regardless of whether they were friends or not, when the Empire’s elite were clearly making things difficult for the Federation people, no Imperial citizen would choose this moment to step up and defend them.

Not unless that person had no intention of staying in the Empire any longer.

***

A while later, the few assistants who had gone out all returned with grim expressions.

The result was self-evident. Not only were all the hotels in Immortal City full, but even rental properties were completely occupied. They couldn’t find a single other place to stay.

The gray-haired male sneered, “See? I told you I wasn’t deceiving our guests.

Now that you’ve confirmed it, can we enter the hotel?”

With no other choice, they ended up staying at this hotel.

Jiang Qin shared a room with Xie An’an, while Xie Lili stayed with the assistant of Tianwen’s new singer.

The number of females who came this time was an even number, which made the assignments work out perfectly.

Jiang Qin wouldn’t have minded sharing a room with Shi Lichuan—after all, her safety would be guaranteed—but she couldn’t. Unless she and Shi Lichuan intended to get married, she had to avoid any hint of scandal.

It didn’t matter much for the female, but it would mainly affect the male’s marriage prospects.

Unless they were discussing marriage, males would generally maintain their distance from females.

If word got out that he had stayed alone in a room with a female, it was likely no other female would ever choose him.

After all, there were far too many single males in the Interstellar era; no female would choose a male who was ambiguously involved with another female.

To them, this was a form of infidelity.

So, to ensure her bodyguards’ marriage prospects weren’t ruined, she had no choice but to split up the Xie sisters.

In the team from Tianwen this time, besides herself, there was one other female, a Queen-level singer. The rest were all males.

As for female assistants, only the Queen-level singer and the new singer had brought one each, both of whom were Beastman females.

Therefore, Jiang Qin, who traveled with Half-beastman bodyguards, was quite the conspicuous one.

However, since no one really interacted with her, no one came up to ask her about it.

After the rooms were assigned, the two male hosts prepared to leave. Before they left, they told the group about the welcome banquet the next day.

The banquet would be at eight o’clock tomorrow evening, located in a luxurious banquet hall not far from here.

No one would be coming to pick them up; they were to make their own way there.

Those who had participated in the program several times before were already used to this kind of treatment, so they weren’t angry this time.

Only the first-timers felt embarrassed.

Even Jiang Qin could feel just how little say the Federation had in front of the Empire.

They really could only swallow their anger and hold their tongues…

After all, in the recent Mecha Competition, the Federation was completely crushed by the Empire. There had been about three competitions held this year, and without a doubt, the Federation had lost them all.

They were the Mecha Battle, the Sports Meet, and the Robot Design Competition.

The composer competition was the fourth.

In the second half of the year, there would be the Movie Box Office Competition and the year-end Hot Songs Chart.

Next year would be Combat Suit Design, Deserted Star Survival, and so on.

Anyway, they just competed in a cycle covering all sorts of industries.

In the various competitive programs each year, the Empire basically swept first place in everything. They had the capital to be arrogant.

***

The next day, Jiang Qin arrived at the banquet venue with the people from Tianwen Entertainment.

They had to take care of their own gowns and makeup.

Fortunately, her system had a sewing machine module, so she had already prepared her gown the night before.

The others, presumably, had brought their own.

Most were high-end luxury gowns from major brands.

Only Jiang Qin’s was custom-made, but the gown was so luxurious that no one dared to look down on her.

Minister Qi pressed a button, and a cool, deep blue Flying Car materialized.

But… the next moment, a robot appeared and emotionlessly slapped a ticket on the vehicle.

“Non-Imperial vehicle detected parked illegally. Please present your driver’s license.”

Qi Yu pursed his lips, his face dark as he pulled up his driver’s license from his Light Computer for the robot to scan.

“This driver’s license does not belong to the Empire. According to new Imperial traffic regulations, foreign tourists are not permitted to operate Flying Cars, starships, Mechas, etc., in the center of Immortal City. Guests are advised to use ride-sharing Flying Car services for transportation.”

???

“But it was allowed back in May, wasn’t it?”

The robot replied, “Yes, guest. The new regulation was issued in July.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep