Chapter 57

Chu Huan returned to Heshengquan, and the bearded man had not come back. Huang Fu and Niu Jin were still snoring loudly, and Chu Huan, lying on the bed, still felt the pain in his shoulder. He knew that the bearded man had held back some of his strength; otherwise, if he had used his full power, he would have shattered Chu Huan's shoulder blade.

Staring at the bearded man's bed, Chu Huan wondered if the bearded man would return after the events of the night. Perhaps... he would never come back.

However, by dawn, this doubt had dissipated. The bearded man unexpectedly returned, and Chu Huan did not get up. After the bearded man returned to the room, he went straight to bed, showing no signs of abnormality, wrapped himself in the blanket, and soon fell silent.

The next day, the bearded man was as usual, showing no signs of anything unusual. Chu Huan also appeared calm and composed, as if both had forgotten what happened the previous night, and everything was normal.

Although Huang Fu and Niu Jin shared the same room, they knew nothing about it. They could not imagine that the two people sharing the room with them were both extremely formidable.

...

Opening the inner cellar of Heshengquan was a major event for the winery, occurring only twice a year. During this time, the winery was the most bustling. Two days before the opening, merchants from all over would flock to Heshengquan to purchase some Zhqing wine as soon as the cellar was opened.

Zhqing wine was the most famous in all of Yunshan Prefecture, with a fragrant and smooth taste. More importantly, the annual production of Zhqing wine from Heshengquan was limited, with only a thousand jars produced each time the cellar was opened, and two thousand jars in total for the two openings a year. Although each jar was twenty pounds, this quantity was insufficient to meet the demand of the wine market in Yunshan Prefecture.

As the saying goes, rarity makes things precious, and Zhqing wine became a hot commodity in the wine market. The market price of one pound of Zhqing wine was almost one tael of silver, with extremely high profits. Seeing the huge profits, merchants flocked to Heshengquan whenever the cellar was opened.

Two days before the opening, many merchants from the remote counties of Yunshan Prefecture had already arrived at the inns in Qingliu City.

Liang Fangzhu was also very busy these two days because Heshengquan had many old customers. These customers came to the winery one after another before the opening, trying to build a good relationship with Liang Fangzhu so that they could purchase more jars of wine when the cellar was opened. For them, getting one more jar of wine meant earning a few more taels of silver.

The two days passed quickly, and on the day of the opening, the apprentices in the winery, following the usual rules, did not go to work but gathered outside the wine cellar, waiting for the opening to fetch the wine.

Normally, the merchants should have gathered at the gate of Heshengquan early in the morning, a scene that the old apprentices had seen many times. Each time the gate opened, the outside would be bustling with dozens of merchants rushing in.

However, surprisingly, when Heshengquan opened its gates, the outside was deserted, with no merchants waiting. This made Liang Fangzhu, who was standing with his hands behind his back, looking very pleased, very surprised. He asked the manager Yuan Guan, who was standing beside him, with a puzzled look, "Is it the day to open the cellar? Did we get the date wrong?"

Yuan Guan, seeing the deserted gate, also looked puzzled and said, "Fangzhu, it is today... right? When I saw Li Zhanggu off yesterday, didn't you tell them to come early? Li Zhanggu even agreed..."

Liang Fangzhu, stroking his greasy chin, still looked puzzled.

At this moment, the master craftsman Han Yuan, who was standing nearby, asked softly, "Fangzhu, could it be... something went wrong? Even if one or two people were late, it's impossible for everyone to be late. By now, some customers should have arrived..."

Liang Fangzhu thought for a moment and instructed Yuan Guan, "Take two people to the street corner and see what's going on."

Yuan Guan hurriedly agreed and led an apprentice away.

...

Chu Huan was among the crowd. There were about 120 people in the winery, all gathered in the main courtyard. When the gate opened, and no guests appeared, the apprentices whispered to each other, finding it very strange.

Niu Jin, at this moment, whispered to Chu Huan, "This is really rare... In the past, when the cellar was opened, everyone would rush in to find a place to sit. Today, the chairs are set up, but no one has come."

Indeed, dozens of chairs had been set up in the main courtyard, neatly divided into two rows, looking quite impressive in the early morning light.

Although Chu Huan was participating in the opening of Heshengquan for the first time and did not know the usual scene, he could tell from the discussions that today's situation was highly unusual.

Not long after, just as everyone was whispering and full of doubt, they saw Yuan Guan and the apprentice running back, looking disheveled. Everyone could see that Yuan Guan was holding his face, which was swollen and bleeding from the corner of his mouth.

Liang Fangzhu was shocked and stepped forward, asking, "What... what happened? Why do you look like this?"

Yuan Guan, holding his face, sobbed, "Fangzhu, it's not good... not good. The road is blocked, and the guests can't get in. They were all driven away... I went to ask, but... but they hit me, and I lost two teeth..." He looked very aggrieved, with fear in his eyes.

Liang Fangzhu, angry, said, "Who has the nerve to block the road?" He raised his hand and called, "Yuan Guan, take some people and go. If it comes to fighting, we have plenty of people here!"

Several apprentices immediately shouted, "This is outrageous! Blocking our Heshengquan's road! Brothers, get your weapons, let's see who has the nerve to do this!"

As they spoke, more than ten people were about to go back to get their weapons.

However, Yuan Guan quickly called out, "Wait, wait!"

Everyone was puzzled and stopped, looking at each other. They all knew that Yuan Guan was someone who would seek revenge for the slightest offense, but they did not expect him to stop them.

Han Yuan frowned, as if thinking of something, and asked, "Yuan Guan, who... blocked the road?"

Before Yuan Guan could answer, a loud gong sound came from the front. Everyone looked in that direction and saw a large group of people outside the archway.

Leading the group were three horses, each with a rider. Behind them were about twenty to thirty men in blue clothes and trousers, all with their sleeves rolled up, looking very aggressive.

Chu Huan, in the crowd, saw the group's attire and a faint smile appeared on his lips. This was truly a narrow encounter. Although the group had not yet approached, Chu Huan knew that these were the people from Baling Hall.

Not long ago, the people from Baling Hall had gone to Liu Family Village, and a fight had broken out. Chu Huan did not expect that the matter had just settled, and these ruffians were now targeting Heshengquan.

As the group approached, Chu Huan recognized at least two of the three riders leading them.

The one in the middle was a young man in fine clothes on a white horse, looking like a nobleman. On his left was a tall, thin man. Chu Huan had seen both of them before. The nobleman was Fan Ershao, whom Chu Huan had dealt with a few days ago, and the tall, thin man was one of the Eight Great Warriors who had gone to Liu Family Village. On that day, Bald Tiger and Shorty Li had been injured by Chu Huan, but this man had fled.

On the right of Fan Ershao was a large, muscular man, whose face was tinged with a greenish hue in the morning light, different from the usual skin color.

Chu Huan's eyes flickered, remembering the scene at Yipinxiang. Before dealing with Fan Ershao, this young master had argued with someone called "Green-faced Fourth" in the adjacent private room. Seeing the large, muscular man with the greenish face, it was likely that this person was Green-faced Fourth.

Han Yuan also saw Fan Ershao and was surprised, thinking, "Could it be that Fan Ershao is here to take revenge for what happened at Yipinxiang a few days ago?" He felt uneasy and turned to look for Chu Huan in the crowd, but with over a hundred people, he could not see him.

Liang Fangzhu's face turned pale, and cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Seeing that the group had stopped less than ten steps from the gate, he thought for a moment and then stepped forward, bowing and forcing a smile, "Isn't this Second Young Master? What a rare guest. Third Master, Fourth Master, you two have also come?"

Fan Ershao and the other two dismounted, and someone immediately led the horses away. Fan Ershao, looking very pleased, with his hands behind his back, asked loudly, "Liang Buquan, is the head of the house here?"

Liang Fangzhu, being cautious, replied, "Second Young Master, the head of the house will be here soon... Are you here to see him?"

"Of course, I'm here to see him!" Fan Ershao, with his hands behind his back, walked into Heshengquan, looking very domineering, and said, "Today, Third Master and Fourth Master are giving me face, accompanying me to handle a matter. Send someone to bring tea, and we'll wait for him in the courtyard of Heshengquan!"

He completely disregarded the people of Heshengquan and walked into the gate. The tall, thin man and Green-faced Fourth followed closely, and then the group of ruffians from Baling Hall entered the courtyard, looking very arrogant and aggressive.

In the courtyard, seeing many apprentices glaring at them, Green-faced Fourth laughed and pointed at the apprentices, saying, "Look at you, a bunch of cowards. What, do you want to fight with Fourth Master? Fourth Master is a man of principles. If anyone is不服 (unconvinced), come up and practice with Fourth Master. Fourth Master hasn't had a good fight in a while and is eager to move around!"

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