"Oh, what a luxury!"
Ji Yuan wandered around Chunhui Prefecture with the precious pot of Qianrichun. There were forty-two large districts in the entire Chunhui Prefecture, and each district was much larger than the twelve small districts in Ning'an County. The total population was about 200,000, and the streets were interconnected with a constant flow of carriages and horses.
Ji Yuan has always been somewhat confident in his sense of direction, but in a place like this he still felt a bit lost as to where to go.
In the end, it was my stomach that made the final decision, so I found a cheap place to eat.
Fortunately, although Chunhui Mansion is large, the consumption is not high everywhere, and you can still find a stall where you can have a meal for a few cents.
. . .
At this moment, in the upper-class house of an inn in Guiyuefang near the south of Chunhui Mansion, Wei Wuwei was frowning and writing or drawing something in the room.
In order to meet the needs of guests, some good inns have single-family houses like the one where Wei Wuwei lives, in addition to the large building on the surface. The prices will naturally be more expensive.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
There was a knock on the door, and Wei Wuwei raised his head and looked at the open door.
"Come in!"
A middle-aged man who looked like a butler entered the room.
"Master, the Zui Jin Xiao and Du Kang wines purchased from Ding Yuan Prefecture and Du Ming Prefecture have already arrived. Jin Zhou Hong Fen Tou should be on the way. We should be able to catch up in due time. As for the Jin Yu wine from Jing Ji Prefecture, I'm afraid we won't be able to catch up even if we gallop."
"Well, it doesn't matter if we can't make it in time. This amount of wine is enough. Have Uncle and Third Uncle tried the wine? Which one is the best?"
The butler thought for a moment before answering:
"As far as I know, among all the wines, the Qianrichun produced in Chunhui Prefecture is slightly better!"
"Okay, go down."
"Yes, I'll take my leave!"
After Old Guan Gong walked out of the room silently, Wei Wuwei picked up the brush and crossed out the words "Drunk Tonight" and "Du Kang Wine" on the paper.
In preparation for the May 15th event, the Wei family has prepared more than 30 kinds of fine wines, including some that are as famous as Qianrichun. Some were brought from Desheng Prefecture, some were purchased directly from Chunhui Prefecture, and some were shipped in from other places at full speed.
"Humph, Zheng Qianqiu only prepares two or three kinds of good wine every year, and the highlight is still Qianrichun. My Wei family is ten times better than you. I don't believe that old turtle won't come!"
Muttering to himself, Wei Wuwei once again pulled out the blue jade from his chest and played with it in his chubby hands. He looked closely against the light from the window, but could not make out the four small words he had seen before.
'If I go to the fairy mountain, will the money there be useful? If it is not useful, how will I solve the problem of food, clothing and expenses? What about the concubines at home? Can't I go down the mountain and go home during the New Year? Or I can give the opportunity to others, but I don't have a son yet...'
Wei Wuwei's thoughts began to wander again.
. . .
On May 15th, the sky was getting dark.
Ji Yuan, who had been waiting outside the South City, finally heard Wei Wuwei's voice again.
Starting from the afternoon, the Wei family was divided into seven or eight batches, using carts to transport the collected wine out of the South City Gate. In the evening, Wei Wuwei and a man who looked like an old butler slowly walked out of the South City Gate, holding a jar of Qianrichun in his hand and tasting it as he walked.
“Tsk tsk tsk… This Chunhui Mansion is really a great place with good rivers, good water, and good location. It can actually brew such delicious wine!”
After hearing Wei Wuwei's comments, the old butler beside him also laughed.
"I heard that there was only a small wine shop in Yuanzipu back then, and Qianrichun was just a homemade wine that tasted good but was not famous. The prefect at the time accidentally drank it and was amazed, so he offered it to the capital. After tasting it, the emperor was very pleased and specially gave it the name of Qianrichun."
"Oh I got it!"
Ji Yuan, who was sitting on a tree outside the city, also nodded secretly, but he heard the shaking sound of most of the wine in Wei Wuwei's wine jar in the distance. He looked at the small wine jug in his hand, which had only two sips left, and could only sigh.
The sun approached the western horizon, the sky quickly darkened, and the four gates of Chunhui City gradually closed.
At this time, the number of people outside Chunhui Prefecture had suddenly decreased. Apart from some boats on the river, there might be some people at the east pier. In the south, the only people left were the Wei family members who had already left the city and were hiding secretly.
Wei Wuwei and the old butler walked southwest along the river bank. There were willow trees along the way. After about five miles, they saw several particularly sturdy willow trees growing horizontally into the river.
At this time, there was a full moon hanging high in the sky, and the evening breeze was blowing gently on the river. Except for a ship hundreds of feet away in the distance, there was no one around.
“Pah pah pah…”
The old butler raised his palms, and the wind from his palms whistled and collided, making three clear and loud clapping sounds.
Not long after the voice fell, some people came out from behind some of the nearby small groups, pushing carts. There were about twenty people in total, with a total of eight carts. Some of the carts were filled with five-jin wine jars, and some of the carts simply had two large wine jars half a person's height.
"Master!" "Master!"
"Meet the master of the house!"
Quiet greetings were heard one after another. Wei Wuwei could remain silent to the others, but he did not dare to be arrogant to the two elders.
"Uncle, Third Uncle, you have watched me grow up since I was a child. It hurts my teeth to hear you call me the head of the family!"
"Hehe, the rules cannot be crossed."
"That's right, Master. Everything has been prepared for tonight. Can we open the jar and pour the wine into the river?"
Wei Wuwei looked at the sky and then at the wide river.
"Okay, let's go to the river and get a jar of Qianrichun and Du Kang first!"
"yes!"
Two elders of Wei Wuwei personally grabbed a jar of wine from two of the carts, and gently fanned the seal with their palms, so that the sealing mud was knocked away. Then they stood by the river with the wine and poured the wine down.
Ji Yuan hid on a willow tree about thirty feet away from the downwind side, smelling the aroma of wine wafting over, feeling a sense of regret that it was a waste of resources given by nature.
Although it seemed not far away, Ji Yuan was not afraid of being discovered by the old turtle and the Wei family. Needless to say, the latter, even if the former had some Taoism skills, they had not yet transformed. If they were soaking in the water, some aquatic creatures with special talents might be able to discover Ji Yuan, but they would not be so magical on the shore.
After a while had passed since the two jars of wine were poured out, the surface of the river finally changed.
“Clatter… clatter…”
The waves on the river surface in the distance gradually rose, causing the Wei family masters to feel a chill in their hearts. Ji Yuan also looked intently towards the river surface near the shore.
I saw a ripple of water approaching. Others could only see the ripples with their naked eyes but could not see into the darkness underwater. However, in Ji Yuan's eyes, the old turtle underwater was clearly visible, paddling towards them.
"Hua La La..."
The giant turtle stuck half of its body out of the shore, frightening the Wei family members so much that they retreated in panic.
In the moonlight, half of the old turtle's back was more than ten feet wide, as big as a small boat.
"Oh? The kid named Zheng didn't come? It seems that the calamity in his life has not yet passed..."
The old turtle's half body was still in the water. He lay on the shore with his two claws, pressing down a layer of mud and grass on the shore. He looked at the wine around him before continuing.
"From this it seems that he has fallen into your hands, but it has no impact on me. Maybe it is a good thing."
Crash...
Twisting columns of water rose from the surface of the river near the shore and flew towards the carts on the shore. After wrapping up the carts, they suddenly dispersed, forming a tiny wave that pushed the carts towards the river surface.
“Plop~” “Plop~” “Plop~”…
Eight cars fell into the water one after another. During this time, no one in the Wei family spoke a word. They all stared at it in horror. This was the first time they had seen a monster and water-controlling techniques.
"What? No request? Just sending wine? Hehehe... Tell me!"
The old turtle rolled the wine into the river and did not leave immediately, but waited on the shore.
Wei Wuwei was startled then and bowed solemnly to the old turtle.
"My lord, I am Wei Wuwei, the head of the Wei family in Desheng Prefecture. I carry the ancestral jade pendant in my family. I only know that the jade pendant comes from Yuhuai Mountain in the Immortal Prefecture, but I don't know how to enter the Immortal Gate. Please teach me, lord!"
The old turtle turned around and looked at Wei Wuwei in surprise.
"You actually know that the jade pendant comes from Yuhuai Mountain? Come closer, let me see you!"
Even though Wei Wuwei felt scared, he gritted his teeth and moved closer to the old turtle. He stopped only when he was about a foot away from the old turtle. His heart was beating like a drum.
"Huh!? Why is your destiny so unclear? Impossible, this is impossible... You are clearly just a mortal!"
Ordinary people can change their fate with perseverance, but how can they blur their destiny!
The old turtle suddenly looked up again in surprise and thought, staring at Wei Wuwei.
"Since you know Yu Huaishan, have you ever met any expert?"
Wei Wuwei's breathing became much steadier. When he heard the old turtle's astonishment, he immediately thought of An Ran playing chess in the small courtyard in Ning'an County.
But he didn't know whether Mr. Ji would allow him to reveal his information, so he was hesitant at the moment.
But the old turtle in the river seemed to see through this and spoke in a hurried tone.
"You must have seen it, right? You must have seen it! Wei Wuwei~~!"
The remaining half of the old turtle actually crawled out of the river, and its voice changed from its previous calm voice to an excited and loud one.
"Can you introduce me, the old turtle, to the masters? Or you can ask a few words for me, Wei Wuwei~~~! Did you hear me~~~?"