Chapter 21: Drunken Yinzhou

Zheng Yue Ru, who usually never changed her expression, was flustered at this moment. She pointed her finger at the carts of wine Liu Zheng had brought, and only after a moment did she ask, "Brother Liu, are you saying that you brewed this?"

Fortunately, Zheng Yue Ru had good upbringing and self-restraint.

"You're killing me with laughter..."

"Did you turn down the Zhou fine wine just to brew your own?"

Everyone present burst into laughter.

Huang Lao, who was nearby, saw the commotion and asked around to find out what was happening. Upon hearing about the bizarre antics of the County Marquis's son—the number one playboy of Liangzhou—he immediately struck his cane against the floor and said angrily, "Absurd, simply absurd! How can a restaurant be without wine? How can today's occasion be without wine? It's a waste of heaven's gifts!"

The people who had come to show their support this time also shook their heads and mocked him one by one.

The young masters and gentlemen of the other three Powerful Clans looked at Zheng Yue Ru with eyes full of ridicule and mockery. They were all thinking that the Zheng Family had chosen to cooperate with this unreliable kid, and now they had really done it—lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet. A perfectly good Wanhua Pavilion had been turned into this by that kid.

You wanted to curry favor with the County Marquis Mansion, so now you regret it, don't you?

Liu Zheng was stunned: "Miss Zheng, this wine is a top-quality brew!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone laughed and shook their heads again, refusing to believe him. The people of Yinzhou were accustomed to drinking the Sorghum Wine produced by the Zhou Family; it had a high alcohol content and a fiery taste. The Zhou Family's wine even sold very well throughout all of Liangzhou. In front of this Boss Zhou, who would dare call their own wine a fine brew?

Zhou Shixiong also sneered coldly: "You yellow-mouthed child, how dare you talk of fine wine in front of my Zhou family?"

The crowd echoed his sentiment.

Liu Zheng glanced sideways and immediately understood what was going on, then chuckled. This Zhou Shixiong had originally been in a long-term partnership with Wanhua Pavilion. Such a pleasure house was a major client, and consumables like wine allowed the Zhou Family to make a fortune. But as soon as Liu Zheng took over, he ended the cooperation with their Zhou Family; it would be strange if they weren't angry.

So...

They were here today to deliberately cause trouble.

"The Zhou Family?"

Liu Zheng gave a cold smile: "That Knife Wine, is the wine yours, Zhou family?"

"And what if it is?"

Zhou Shixiong looked arrogant.

The Zhou Family's Knife Wine was famous far and wide, and he had always felt that this Wanhua Pavilion couldn't even stay in business without his Knife Wine!

Liu Zheng said indifferently: "Knife Wine at two taels per jin, three times the price of ordinary Turbid Wine—the Zhou family truly knows how to do good business!"

Zhou Shixiong's expression changed, and he scolded angrily: "What would a yellow-mouthed child like you know?"

"Fine wine is naturally much more expensive!"

The bystanders also felt there was nothing wrong with that.

But Liu Zheng gave a cold smile.

In reality, he had long since looked at the bills for Wanhua Pavilion, and a large portion of the monthly expenditure went into this wine. The cost of the Zhou Family's Knife Wine was actually very low, and there were no transportation costs to speak of, so overall, the price they gave Wanhua Pavilion was actually on the high side.

And the distilled wine Liu Zheng had brought out now cost no more than fifty coins per jin; the gap was not just a little bit.

Zhou Shixiong laughed loudly: "Young master of the County Marquis, I'll stand right here today and see if you use my Knife Wine or not!"

"Only, today my Knife Wine won't be sold for two taels a jin!"

"It will be three taels!"

Boom!

Upon hearing this, the whole place was in an uproar.

Wasn't this just price gouging?

But as things stood, there really was no other Method.

"Brother Liu..."

Zheng Yue Ru said helplessly: "Our Fengming Tower is about to reopen, why don't we just take the loss..."

Her thought was that even if they took a loss, the opening today had to be a success; you have to buy it even at three taels of silver...

Liu Zheng was frustrated: "No, I already told you, I have wine here!"

"Tie Zhu, push it all in for me!"

"But..."

Zheng Yue Ru sighed: "Knife Wine has a very high alcohol content, which suits the tastes of the people of Yinzhou better."

"Alcohol content?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and smiled again. By this time, the three carts of wine had already been moved in by Wei Tiezhu and the others. Liu Zheng directly told them to place them in the very center of Fengming Tower and said loudly: "Today, Fengming Tower is reopening after renovations. To reward new and old customers, from now on, anyone in this Fengming Tower who can drink three big bowls of my Drunken Yinzhou in one go will have all their expenses for the night waived!"

"What?"

Everyone had been waiting to see Liu Zheng make a fool of himself, but they were instantly drawn in by his words.

Three big bowls?

In this day and age, there were quite a few people with high alcohol tolerance. After all, the alcohol content of wine in this era wasn't actually high, which was why there were legends of people downing three jin of wine without their faces turning red or their hearts racing. This was especially true in a place like Liangzhou, where the local customs were fierce.

Zhou Shixiong sneered repeatedly upon hearing this: "Is this grandstanding kid trying to bankrupt this Wanhua Pavilion?"

Zheng Yue Ru was also full of anxiety when she heard this.

"Young Master Liu, is this for real?"

A large man stood up and asked with a boisterous laugh; he looked like a guy with an astonishing capacity for alcohol.

"Good heavens, isn't that Instructor Luo?"

"Isn't it? I heard that this Instructor Luo from the Wang Family has a capacity of five jin of wine!"

"I heard he can drink a cow to death!"

People immediately exclaimed and discussed it, thinking that this Young Master Liu was about to be slapped in the face. Three bowls of wine added up to only about a jin; wouldn't that be easy for this Instructor Luo?

Liu Zheng smiled: "Naturally, it counts!"

"As long as you can drink three bowls in one go, all your expenses for tonight will be waived!"

"Good!"

"Generous!"

The people in the restaurant began to jeer one after another.

Zheng Yue Ru stood beside Liu Zheng, her heart worried to death; she even glared at Liu Zheng with a hint of reproach, thinking to herself, "You have so many tricks up your sleeve, why didn't you know to discuss it with me?"

Little did she know, this was also a spur-of-the-moment idea for Liu Zheng.

Since that Zhou Family's Knife Wine boasts about its high alcohol content, then let us compete on alcohol content first!

"Miss Zheng, get ready to waive the bill for them!"

Zhou Shixiong laughed very arrogantly.

Just kidding...

He, Zhou Shixiong, has been brewing wine for so many years and has never seen anyone who could brag so much.

"Come!"

"Pour it for me!"

Instructor Luo, with his burly appearance, walked over; his build was not much different from that of Wei Tiezhu beside Liu Zheng. Wei Tiezhu, however, glanced at him with disdain and gave a cold laugh. This Drunken Yinzhou was the fine wine brewed by his own young master; these past few days, let alone three bowls, when they drank it, one bowl was enough to go to their heads.

Bang!

With this sound, the lid of the wine vat was opened.

Instantly, a thick, rich aroma of wine began to permeate the entire restaurant—intense, crisp, and pure!

"What kind of wine is this?"

"My god, why is it so fragrant?"

"This..."

Many people were left dumbfounded and dizzy by this scent. Even Huang Lao, who had just been scolding Liu Zheng for being absurd, stood up with his cane and walked over unsteadily, sniffing the enchanting wine aroma with effort, and couldn't help but praise: "This aroma, why is it so mellow? I have only ever drunk such wine once in Jinghua!"

Zheng Yue Ru was also stunned; she ran a restaurant and naturally had a deep understanding of wine.

If just smelling the scent could make so many people intoxicated, how bad could this wine be? For a moment, everyone's gaze toward Liu Zheng changed.

Could it be that this young master really had brewed a fine wine?

"This..."

Zhou Shixiong was even more so at this moment.

And when Wei Tiezhu poured out this bowl of wine, he was even more devastated.

I saw that bowl of wine, clear as a spring, crystal clear and translucent, as if it were sweet dew fallen from heaven; even the finest nectar could not compare to it by a ten-thousandth. At this moment, it was contained in a bowl, so one could imagine that if this wine were placed in a more luxurious wine cup, it would certainly be beautiful to the extreme.

The entire restaurant fell silent.

A thought emerged in everyone's mind.

Is this water?

If it were not water, how could it be so clear and transparent?

But if it were water, why would the wine aroma be so intoxicating?

"This is a fine wine I just brewed, named 'Drunken Yinzhou'; it is extremely potent. Instructor Luo, you must be careful!" Liu Zheng introduced it.

Instructor Luo did not believe it and laughed loudly, lifting that bowl of wine.

The eyes of the entire room were instantly focused on him alone. Many people had already started swallowing their saliva; to be able to drink a cup of such fine wine would be a blessing in life!

Gulp, gulp!

Instructor Luo tilted his head to drink the wine, and after a few mouthfuls were already down his throat, a red flush immediately appeared on his face, his eyes showing surprise: "Good wine, haha, good wine!"

"Pour another!"

The second bowl was poured.

This time, Instructor Luo gulped it down again.

"Good!"

"Refreshing!"

"This is truly the good wine that burns the tongue and throat! Again, pour another... again!"

However, with a thud, this Instructor Luo had already collapsed to the ground and began to snore loudly.

The whole room was shocked.

This Instructor Luo, after only two bowls, was actually already drunk?

"Let me try!"

"And me!"

Wei Tiezhu, this time, did not let them pour it, but laughed coldly: "The rules remain the same; if you can drink three bowls, the bill is waived!"

"But if you cannot drink it, not a single cent of the wine money can be missing!"

Zheng Yue Ru looked pleasantly surprised: "Brother Liu, this wine, this wine... how will you price it?"

Liu Zheng smiled slightly: "Within Yinzhou, ten taels per jin."

Good heavens!

This price is not low!

But Zheng Yue Ru quickly caught the other layer of meaning in Liu Zheng's words.

Within Yinzhou, ten taels per jin...

Then what about outside Yinzhou?

She was a successful merchant and instantly seized this business opportunity!

"Good, ten taels is not expensive! I'll try!"

This person drank a bowl and a half...

"The Xifeng Wine from Jinghua costs twenty taels!"

"I think our Drunken Yinzhou is no worse than Xifeng!"

At this, the entire Fengming Tower could no longer hold back, and people swarmed in.

But the reality was that in one whole night, not a single person could truly drink down three bowls of Drunken Yinzhou!

"Th-this..."

Seeing this scene, Zhou Shixiong was so angry his lungs felt like they were exploding. He had originally come to slap someone in the face, but ended up being slapped in the face himself; how could he not be furious?

"Still not getting out?"

Zheng Yue Ru glared at him; if it were before, Zheng Yue Ru would not have wanted to offend this Zhou Shixiong. But today he had actually stood by watching her restaurant become a joke, even openly humiliating her and raising prices on the spot—how could the Zheng Family tolerate him?

"Hmph!"

Zhou Shixiong could only slink away.

Very quickly, the news that Fengming Tower had fine wine spread throughout all of Yinzhou in an instant.

Those who loved good wine came upon hearing the news, and the popularity of Fengming Tower's reopening was even greater than Zheng Yue Ru had imagined.

This was also the reason why Liu Zheng arrived late, because he knew that there would definitely not be enough wine today.

It was not just the consumption at Fengming Tower; people from outside would definitely come to buy wine as well, so he had prepared a bit more.

That night, people said that the entire Yinzhou was drifting with the fragrance of Drunken Yinzhou wine.

Zheng Yue Ru calculated the accounts.

On the day of the opening, from selling wine alone, she had already almost achieved profitability for this Fengming Tower.

This Liu Zheng, what kind of person is he exactly?