Chunmu River is a famous river in Jizhou. Its longest winding section is in Chunhui Prefecture. It also passes through many prefectures in Liuzhou and serves as a boundary marker, passing through the territories of two other large states before finally flowing into the sea.
The section of the river from Jiudaokou in Desheng Prefecture to the capital of Chunhui Prefecture is relatively straight, especially in this season when the southeast wind is relatively smooth, so it takes very little time to travel from Desheng Prefecture to Chunhui Prefecture.
Except for the first night when someone fell into the water and a clever giant black carp came to rescue them and ask for wine, the next two days of sailing went smoothly. We enjoyed the sounds of the hills and forests along the way, and saw the big pier outside Chunhui Prefecture in the early morning of the fourth day.
The closer you get to the Chunhuifu Wharf, the more ships there are around, from single-person boats to large ships, from passenger ships and cargo ships to fishermen's fishing boats. It is so busy that it cannot be compared to the wharf in Jiudaokou County.
All the passengers stood outside the cabin and looked out. Behind the dock, they could see the towering city walls of Chunhui Prefecture and the buildings inside that were taller than the city walls.
As we approached Chunhui City, the wind actually became weaker. The young boatman had already started rowing, and the passengers turned their eyes from gazing at the city to the surroundings.
The noise on the dock became more and more obvious, with cargo being loaded and unloaded, passengers getting on and off. The small boat that Ji Yuan was on found a berth at the edge and slowly moored to the shore.
At this point, everyone who had been traveling together for three days knew that they had to part ways. The fare had already been paid on the day of departure, so they could disembark at any time.
"Dear guests, the Jiang Shen Temple is located on the south side of the East City. You can see it if you walk south from the dock instead of entering the city. It is also a scenic spot in Chunhui Prefecture. If you have time, you can go and pay homage to Lord Jiang Shen!"
The old boatman tied the rope and suggested to the people who were about to get off the boat with a smile that the trip would be smooth sailing, and most importantly, the passengers on the boat would be happy and comfortable!
"Okay, I'll definitely go check it out!"
"Yes, I will definitely go and pay my respects and burn some incense!"
"See you, boatman!" "See you later!"
…
Ji Yuan, like everyone else, bowed to the boatman at the dock. The boatman and his son had no need to go to the city, so they would buy some things at the dock, clean the boat, hang up a sign of Deshengfu Jiudaokou, and take some passengers home.
The six people on the boat walked out of the dock together, and one of the scholars immediately asked Ji Yuan.
"Mr. Ji, my classmates and I are planning to visit Chunhui City and then visit the Jiangshen Temple. If you don't have any plans, why not come with us?"
"Yes, Mr. Ji!"
Ji Yuan looked at these people and bowed.
"Thank you for your kindness. I have something else to do. We are all in this together. We will meet again someday. I will take my leave now!"
The few of them said goodbye to each other and headed towards their destinations. Ji Yuan took a step ahead, and his steps became faster and faster. After a while, he disappeared.
"Today is May 12th. I wonder if Wei Wuwei has arrived at Chunhui Mansion and is ready?"
With this idea in mind, Ji Yuan first looked for a famous wine in the city to see how delicious it was and how it could attract the old turtle to come out.
After all, Ji Yuan hadn't seen much in this world. The thing he drank the most was Huadiao jar wine from Ning'an County. However, that wine was available everywhere and was not a rare thing.
Anyway, just wait near the South City Gate before May 15th, and you should be able to find Wei Wuwei. After all, Ji Yuan has such good hearing that he can even distinguish the burp of a familiar person from a distance.
As for the time when Wei Wuwei was trying to find a way to meet the old turtle, Ji Yuan didn't plan to show up in order to see something new. After all, apart from the Wei family, the only person who knew about this was the "public official" that night.
However, even if Ji Yuan wanted to show up, it would be fine. After all, in Wei Wuwei's eyes, he was an expert. If an expert knew about this, it wouldn't be surprising.
. . .
The prosperity of Chunhui Prefecture is far greater than that of Ning'an County and Jiudaokou. With poor eyesight but excellent hearing and sense of smell, Ji Yuan still feels like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden when he strolls around the city.
After asking around for a while, Ji Yuan finally found the tavern in front of him called Yuanzipu. The faint aroma of wine seemed to indicate that the store was worthy of its reputation.
The tavern was not very big, nor did it have a second floor. There were only a few tables inside. There didn't seem to be many people buying or drinking wine. There were only two tables in the corner where people were eating appetizers and drinking wine. And these appetizers didn't look like the tavern's dishes, but more like they were brought by themselves because they were wrapped in lotus leaves.
There were quite a few people who looked like shop assistants in the shop, but they were all resting at a few empty tables. The shop owner was behind the counter, constantly fiddling with the abacus and calculating in the account book.
"Boss, I heard that your Qianrichun is a famous wine that only Chunhui Mansion has. I wonder how much a pot costs?"
Ji Yuan walked into the store and asked the shop owner, who finished counting the money on hand before looking up at him.
"We only sell two kinds of wine in this store. Qianrichun is 2 taels of silver per catty, and you can get a small discount for a whole jar. Jianghua wine is 100 coins per jar, and there are 5 catties."
"Two taels?"
Ji Yuan was surprised. The price was not just a little bit expensive. Two taels of it were enough for several meals. It seemed that not only did he have extremely expensive wine in his previous life, he should have no shortage of it in this life too!
"Sir, would you like some Jianghua wine?"
The shopkeeper continued to calculate the bills in a flat voice, which made Ji Yuan feel a little embarrassed.
"Uh, boss, since Qian Ri Chun can be sold separately, can I buy a cup to taste it?"
"One cup?"
This kind of request is really rare, and mainly because no one has the nerve to make it in a garden shop. The shopkeeper couldn't help but look up and take a closer look at Ji Yuan.
He was wearing a grey robe with wide sleeves, a mahogany hairpin on his head, carrying a bag and an umbrella. He was dressed simply and neatly. His hairstyle seemed untidy yet surprisingly natural. He didn't look like a rich man but didn't look like someone who was here to make trouble either. When he saw that his eyes were only half open, the shopkeeper was obviously stunned for a moment.
"Sir, have you just arrived at Chunhui Mansion?"
"I just arrived today and heard about Qianrichun's reputation, so I wanted to give it a try."
“Come, come, come…”
The shopkeeper nodded, waved to Ji Yuan, took a jar from the shelf behind him and unsealed it.
He took out a small porcelain cup and placed it on the counter, then reached into it with a delicate small spoon and scooped out a small half of it. The amber-colored wine dripped in and just filled up the small porcelain cup. After pouring, the mouth of the cup was still connected to the spoon by a thin thread, which was only separated by the shopkeeper's shaking.
"Please enjoy your meal, sir. Please taste the flavor of this Qianrichun and give me your opinion. I'll take it as payment for the wine!"
Ji Yuan sniffed the aroma of wine and approached the counter. Without saying a word, he reached out and grabbed the porcelain cup and brought it to his lips to taste it. Surprisingly, he did not taste the bitterness that he needed to get used to. Instead, the taste was mellow with a delicate sweetness, and the alcohol content was slightly higher than the Huadiao he had drunk before.
After drinking the limited amount of wine in one gulp, a slight bitter taste and the stimulating smell of alcohol hit my nose, which then turned into a mellow sweetness. After swallowing it, the sweet fragrance lingered in my mouth for a long time.
Ji Yuan didn't like drinking in his previous life and thought that all kinds of wine were unpalatable. He didn't expect that he would be able to taste the flavor of wine in this life.
"Great wine, worthy of the name of Qianrichun!"
Ji Yuan did not say any explicit words of praise. He simply took out two standard one-liang silver ingots from his arms and placed them on the counter.
"One sip of this wine is not enough. Even if I skip a few meals, I have to buy a pound."
The shopkeeper was smiling from ear to ear, which was the best compliment.
"Sir, please wait a moment!"
After taking the silver and weighing it, the shopkeeper took a small wine bottle from the shelf behind him and handed it to Ji Yuan.
"One pound of Qianrichun."
Ji Yuan took the wine and looked at the situation inside the store, thinking that this wine would most likely be supplied to major restaurants and inns, and that there would definitely be merchants transporting it all over the place, so the garden shop should be a place to display its signboard.
"Hey, shopkeeper, your wine is so expensive that even gods can't afford it! Let's go, let's go..."
Ji Yuan smiled and sighed, with some self-encouragement and yearning, comparing himself to a god, then walked out of the store with the bottle of wine in his hand. Naturally, these words became a joke in the ears of outsiders.
The shop owner smiled and shook his head, because Ji Yuan seemed to be in a good mood because of his actions of tasting the wine and then gritting his teeth to buy it.
Just as he was about to put away the small porcelain cup, his outstretched right hand paused.
Qianrichun is well-known not only for its good taste, but also for its characteristic that the wine sticks to the cup. Even if you use the smoothest ceramic cup, there will definitely be some wine stuck to it, and it will take several licks to get it clean.
But the porcelain cup in front of him was completely white and clean without a trace of wine left inside. The shopkeeper stretched out his finger and touched the cup, his expression was even more stunned.
'What?'
Perhaps a skilled martial artist
But when he thought back to the man's slow drinking movements and what he said before he left, the shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat.
He immediately looked up and said “Sir…”, but Ji Yuan was nowhere to be seen.