Chapter 232: Revenge

Midnight, the third watch.

A black cat slipped out of the Bai Mansion without a sound, and in its mouth, it was actually carrying a paper bag.

It walked carefully along the way.

Soon, it arrived at the Laishi Winery on Qilin Street.

It circled from the alley to the very back of the winery, then jumped onto a large tree to observe the situation in the courtyard.

The lights in the side room were dim and yellow, and the sounds of drinking and finger-guessing games drifted out.

Under the corridor, a large black dog was lying there, dozing off.

The black cat observed carefully for a while, then suddenly a phantom image flew out from its body, lifted the paper bag, and drifted silently over the courtyard wall.

The paper bag landed in a pile of trash in the corner of the backyard.

The phantom gently opened the paper bag, wrapped a pinch of white powder and a silver needle with its Divine Sense, and then, taking advantage of the pitch-black night, flew to the wine warehouse in the very center of the courtyard, slipping through the crack in the door without a sound.

The room was filled with wine barrels, and the fragrance of wine overflowed.

The first few rows of wine barrels already had labels on them, indicating which restaurant or mansion they belonged to.

Clearly, they were to be delivered in these next few days.

The phantom began to work on these wine barrels.

He first came to the first wine barrel, then drove the silver needle to fly to the mouth of the barrel, and began to carefully drill a hole in the sealing wax.

The sharp, pointed silver needle soon opened a small hole in the wax.

Next, the white powder on the ground flew up, and under the wrapping of the Divine Sense, it easily entered the wine barrel through the small hole.

Then, the phantom drove the silver needle again and flew to the second wine barrel.

After the powder was used up, the phantom went out through the wooden door again, took more powder from the corner of the small courtyard, and then returned to the room to continue poisoning.

From beginning to end, that large black dog did not react at all.

It took nearly two hours.

More than half of the wine barrels in the wine warehouse had been poisoned.

Only then did the phantom pass through the wall and exit, search by the river for a while, find the little black cat that was looking around in a daze, and then, with his Soul Out-of-Body, return to the Bai Mansion.

The next day.

Before the sky was even bright, the people at Laishi Winery began to get busy.

The door of the wine warehouse opened, and barrel after barrel of pre-labeled wine was moved out.

Outside the winery, the street was filled with carriages heading to various places.

The big boss of the winery, Lai Qinglai, also arrived with his men to personally supervise everyone moving the wine barrels.

It was not until noon that all the labeled wine barrels were transported away.

Lai Qinglai rode in one of the carriages, bringing a carriage full of newly brewed wine out of the city, heading personally to the suburbs south of the city to deliver the wine.

The labels on those wine barrels bore the large characters "Jile Villa".

This night.

In a certain restaurant in the Inner City, a wealthy merchant was hosting a banquet.

Just as everyone was happily offering toasts, a wealthy merchant suddenly had a stomachache and went to the latrine.

Following that, more people began to have stomachaches.

Some people started vomiting and having diarrhea right in the main hall.

At a certain official's residence, a family had just finished their meal and were preparing to rest when they also suddenly started vomiting and having diarrhea.

"Mother, is there something wrong with this wine?"

In a certain Brothel, several guests had not arrived long ago and had only drunk a few cups of wine when they suddenly started vomiting and having diarrhea.

The procuress hurriedly said, "Did you eat something bad for your stomach at noon? This wine of ours was only delivered by Laishi Winery this morning; it's impossible for there to be a problem."

At this moment, more guests began to clutch their stomachs and cry out.

At the same time.

In the Jia Family's Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, many people were also clutching their stomachs, scrambling to get to the latrines.

On this day, in both the Inner City and the Outer City, everyone who had drunk wine from Laishi Winery was vomiting and having diarrhea, in extreme pain.

This night, Luo Zijun again performed Soul Out-of-Body, quietly brought some moldy, spoiled grain, and threw it into the granary.

The second day.

While Lai Qinglai was eating breakfast at Laishi Winery and supervising the servants at work, Wang Jushan, the manager of Xiangman Restaurant in the Inner City, arrived with his men, pulling three barrels of wine with a face full of anger.

"Manager Lai, the wine you delivered this time has problems!"

Upon hearing this, Lai Qinglai immediately stood up to welcome him, smiling all over his face: "Manager Wang is joking. We have been making wine at Laishi Winery for so many years and have never had a problem. Is there some misunderstanding, Manager Wang?"

Wang Jushan walked angrily to the carriage behind, pointing at the three barrels of wine: "Yesterday our restaurant held a banquet, and all the guests who drank this wine ended up vomiting and having diarrhea. I finally tried a cup myself, and I also went to the latrine several times last night..."

Lai Qinglai walked over, looked at the three wine barrels, and smiled: "Manager Wang, could it be that there was a problem with the food at your restaurant?"

Wang Jushan said angrily: "How is that possible? Many guests only drank this wine and hadn't even had time to eat the food before they started having stomachaches."

Lai Qinglai frowned, and just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the procuress from Chunxiang Pavilion walking over with a group of people, looking furious, and she shouted: "Manager Lai! We have cooperated for so many years, and I have always trusted your Laishi Winery. You actually delivered unclean wine this time, causing the guests at our Chunxiang Pavilion to vomit and have diarrhea all night! You must take responsibility for this!"

Just as she finished speaking, another group of people came from the street on the right; they were from another restaurant.

"Manager Lai, you have ruined me! Last night, Magistrate Chen's family held a banquet, and the guests all vomited and had diarrhea after drinking the wine you sent. Magistrate Chen drank the most, fainted directly in the latrine, and fell into the latrine! You... you..."

Lai Qinglai's expression changed instantly.

At this time, several more groups of people arrived in a rage, and upon seeing so many people there to question him, they immediately began to curse loudly.

"Lai Qinglai, what kind of wine did you haul over yesterday? Was it brewed from spoiled grain? Damn you! Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?"

"You dog! You caused our restaurant to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver in compensation yesterday! Several guests even burned down our restaurant! F*** your ancestors for eighteen generations! Pay up!"

Soon, the streets on both sides were blocked with people who had come to settle accounts.

There were even people from the Marquis's Mansion, the Jiangjun Fu, and other government offices; some cursed loudly, while others could not help but step forward to smash things directly.

Lai Qinglai was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he hurriedly apologized: "Everyone, please calm your anger, please calm your anger; I will certainly give everyone an explanation..."

Having said that, he hurriedly ordered people to go into the winery to inspect the other liquor.

This matter soon alerted the government.

The government sent people personally to the winery to inspect the liquor one by one, but they found nothing unusual until they checked the grain in the granary and discovered that some moldy grain had been mixed in.

Upon hearing this, the crowd became even more furious and gathered at the entrance of the Laishi Winery to demand compensation.

Lai Qinglai was both shocked and furious; he gave his cousin, who was responsible for purchasing grain, a sound beating, and then, under the supervision of government officials, signed the compensation contract with a mournful face.

Those victimized restaurants, Brothels, and various mansions then dispersed to return and tally their losses; most demanded very high compensation.

After all, for those in business, damage to reputation is extremely serious.

Lai Qinglai was on the verge of tears; he hurriedly gathered all his silver and prepared to pay the compensation.

Upon learning the news, Lai Da also hurriedly rushed over, gave him a sound scolding, slapped him a few times, and raged: "No wonder I had diarrhea all night last night, and the First Master and Second Master also had it all night; the whole mansion has been looking for the cause all day today—it turns out your brat's liquor was the problem! I told you long ago, when it comes to the liquor we drink, you must never be greedy for cheap, low-quality grain..."

Lai Qinglai knelt on the ground and begged: "Uncle, I am afraid my silver is not enough for the compensation; I ask that you help me get through this hurdle..."

Lai Da scolded and beat him some more before gradually calming down.

This matter involved various restaurants and Brothels in the Inner City with backgrounds, and even the mansions of some nobles; naturally, his Lai family dared not default on the debt.

If this matter was not compensated properly, not only would Lai Qinglai be thrown in jail, but he himself would likely not escape being implicated.

Therefore, he had to help with this matter no matter what.

After all, the true big boss behind this Laishi Winery was him, Lai Da.

He decided to take out money first to appease those buyers, and then go one by one to apologize and explain.

The New Year was approaching; if they were appeased, plus the guarantee of the Jia Family's reputation, they could still recover quite a few losses.

"Destroy all the grain in the granary, pour out all the liquor in the liquor cellar, and clean all the utensils thoroughly. This time, you must personally supervise the purchasing of grain and the brewing of liquor; you must personally watch every process. You must hurry and have all the goods for the New Year prepared properly; if there is another mistake, bring me your head!"

"I will go to the bank to withdraw money, then go to apologize one by one, hoping to recover some reputation and reduce some losses."

After Lai Da finished giving his stern instructions, he left in a hurry.

Lai Qinglai dared not be careless again; he hurriedly ordered everyone to destroy the remaining grain and liquor in the winery, and then clean all the brewing tools thoroughly.

After doing this, he personally led people to buy grain.

Then he personally supervised the brewing.

By the time all this was done, five days had passed.

This compensation almost cost the Laishi Winery half its life, but it also recovered quite a few losses.

Out of respect for Lai Da's personal apology and the Jia Family, everyone said they would continue to buy liquor from the Laishi Winery.

To recover his losses, Lai Qinglai not only asked Lai Da for a lot of silver but also mortgaged the winery to borrow some money from the bank, then bought a lot of good grain, preparing to go all out.

This time, Lai Da sent people to his son in Lin County to bring back some martial artists, all of whom stood guard at the winery to supervise.

Over half a month later, all the liquor had been successfully brewed.

Lai Da personally tasted some, and seeing there were no problems, he finally felt at ease.

During these half a month, Luo Zijun practiced every day and went to the Ghost Realm to practice every night; his Object Manipulation Technique became increasingly proficient, his power grew greater, and the distance he could control extended further.

He handed over the Jade Pendant and the hair of Bai Daxiaojie that the Moon Palace fairy had asked for; she did not seem to notice anything unusual and even praised him for handling the matter well.

As for the matter of refining the Flying Sword, she said she was still looking for materials.

That night, seeing that the time was right, Luo Zijun made preparations, performed Soul Out-of-Body, and once again headed to the Laishi Winery with the medicine.

This time, he would make the Laishi Winery go completely bankrupt!

(End of this chapter)