Chapter 234: The Winery is Burned, Lai Da is Beaten

"Tsk tsk, still lying in bed."

After Wang Shanbao's wife entered, she took the lead in stirring up trouble, continuing to fan the flames with a cold sneer: "Miss Qingwen, who are you trying to scare with this hunger strike and feigned illness? Dissatisfied with the Madam's reprimand that day, are you? If you're dissatisfied, just say it; why act so pretentious, acting like you're dying? Are you hoping this will reach the Old Matriarch, so she will stand up for you?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Wang grew even angrier, saying with sharp words and a stern face: "Don't say the Old Matriarch doesn't indulge you anymore; even if she still did, I would not spare you today!"

Qingwen said through tears: "Madam, this servant has done nothing wrong. You had people check my trunk, and inside..."

"No need to say more!"

Lady Wang interrupted her with a gloomy face and gave her an ultimatum: "With this temper of yours, my Jia Mansion can no longer tolerate you. If you want to go on a hunger strike and seek death, go outside to do it; don't dirty my son's courtyard! Tell me yourself: will you get up and leave today, or do you want me to order people to throw you out?"

Upon hearing this, Qingwen burst into tears. Her body grew even weaker, and her voice trembled, yet she remained stubborn: "Madam, this servant has done nothing wrong..."

Lady Wang lost all patience and immediately shouted: "Carry her up and throw her out!"

Wang Shanbao's wife agreed and immediately prepared to go over with a matron to carry her.

At this moment, Cuimo suddenly said from the window: "Madam, please calm your anger. Miss Qingtong just arrived at the mansion and said she would come to visit Qingwen in a while, so the young lady asked this servant to come and notify Qingwen first..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Shanbao's wife and the matron stopped immediately.

Lady Wang's expression shifted several times. She looked at the bed and said coldly: "If you don't want to lose face, leave on your own after the Bai family's young lady comes to visit you. I will send people over again at dusk; if you haven't left by then, don't blame me for not showing you mercy!"

Having said this, she said to a maid beside her: "Return her deed of sale to her. From now on, she is no longer a maid of my Jia Mansion."

"Yes, Madam."

The maid took a contract and went over to place it at the head of the bed.

Lady Wang said nothing more and turned to leave.

Wang Shanbao's wife and the matrons exchanged glances and immediately followed behind her.

The room returned to silence.

Qingwen lay on the bed, her face pale and covered in tears.

After everyone outside had left, Cuimo whispered from outside the window: "Young Master Luo, hurry and leave, be careful that someone might come back."

Hearing this, Luo Zijun crawled out from under the bed, glanced at the young girl on the bed, and reached out to pick up the deed of sale. Just as he was about to speak, Cuimo urged him anxiously from outside the window: "Young Master Luo! Xiren and the others will be here in a moment! If they see you here..."

Luo Zijun did not dare to linger and immediately left the room.

Cuimo was nervous outside; she hurriedly walked in front to scout the path. After reaching the courtyard gate and looking around, she urged: "Young Master Luo, no one is here, hurry!"

Luo Zijun exited the gate and, led by her, went to the garden in the back courtyard.

In the garden's covered walkway, there were several pavilions where Jia Tanchun, Bai Qingtong, and others were chatting and laughing.

Lin Meimei was also wearing a red dress and a fox-fur cloak, sitting prettily to the side and talking.

At this moment, someone spotted him and hurriedly pointed him out.

The eyes of the young ladies and maids in the pavilion immediately turned to look at him in unison.

Shi Xiangyun whispered something in Lin Meimei's ear that she didn't know; Lin Meimei immediately turned red and chased after her to tickle her.

Luo Zijun did not go over; he stopped not far away and bowed to everyone as a greeting, then said to the maid beside him: "Cuimo, go and call Miss Qingtong over. I have matters to attend to, so I won't go over; I will come back later to apologize to the young ladies."

Cuimo agreed and walked over.

Bai Qingtong immediately walked over from the pavilion and asked: "Brother-in-law, what is so urgent? Tanchun and the others were preparing to wait for you to come over and chat."

Luo Zijun said: "Next time, Third Miss. Accompany me to the Laishi Winery."

He naturally wanted to see this scene of revenge with his own eyes.

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingtong knew something important was happening. She hurriedly waved to everyone in the pavilion and said: "Tanchun, you all play; Brother-in-law and I have matters to attend to, we'll come back next time."

Shi Xiangyun suddenly laughed and shouted: "Sister Qingtong, Pin'er has been looking forward to this for a long time, Luo... ah!"

Before she could finish, Lin Daiyu, whose face was flushed with shame, hurriedly covered her mouth.

Bai Qingtong smiled, waved again, and then walked away quickly with Luo Zijun.

The two left the mansion, boarded a carriage, and hurried toward Dongcheng.

Before long, the carriage arrived at Qilin Jiedao.

The entire length of Qilin Street, as well as some small alleys, were actually blocked off completely.

The area around Laishi Winery was packed with people.

All sorts of cursing and sounds of beating were incessant.

Seeing this scene, Bai Qingtong was stunned for a moment before she immediately realized: "Is there trouble with the wine at Laishi Winery again?"

There had been an incident last time that caused a huge stir, but it was eventually quelled with the intervention of the authorities; to think it happened again this time.

At this moment, she understood everything and looked at the youth beside her: "Brother-in-law..."

Luo Zijun jumped off the carriage and walked toward the winery.

Bai Qingtong immediately followed, her expression shifting; she could not understand how he had managed this.

Luo Zijun squeezed to the front of the Laishi Winery gate and saw the chaos inside.

The people in the winery were all being pinned to the ground and beaten; Lai Qinglai had been beaten until his head was broken and bleeding, lying on the ground motionless. Upon closer inspection, his chest had caved in and his skull had collapsed—he had actually been beaten to death!

Lai Da, under the cover of several guards, was constantly apologizing and even kneeling on the ground kowtowing. His head was also bloodied, his clothes were torn, and he looked utterly disheveled and terrified.

The angry crowd had already stormed into the winery, smashing and breaking everything.

"Pay up! Pay up!"

Many people shouted angrily.

Luo Zijun picked up a stick from the ground, squeezed through the crowd, and walked toward the kneeling Lai Da.

Seeing this, Bai Qingtong immediately followed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Luo Zijun took advantage of the chaos to strike Lai Da several times with the stick. The guards could only use their bodies to block, not daring to retaliate.

Lai Da kept his head down, apologizing, unable to see who was striking him.

Because everyone was joining in, and those beating him were people of status, he, a mere servant, could not afford to provoke them.

"Bang!"

Luo Zijun took the opportunity to strike his nose hard again, instantly causing his nosebleed to flow profusely.

When others hit him, they still held back and did not strike his face; after all, he was the head steward of the Jia Mansion, and he still had to be responsible for the compensation.

Lai Da let out a muffled groan of pain, covered his nose, and looked up. At a glance, he clearly saw the young man who had hit his nose. Upon seeing this, he was both shocked and furious, and his martial artist aura immediately erupted from his body.

Luo Zijun raised his stick and said angrily, "You swindler, how dare you glare at me? Our Bai Family bought dozens of barrels of wine from you. My father-in-law, mother-in-law, and second uncle all drank the fake wine from your Laishi Winery last night and had diarrhea all night; they almost died from it! You beast are bold enough to defy the heavens, harming people from the Duke's mansion and even daring to harm a Junwang, and now you still want to fight back?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the martial artist aura on Lai Da's body instantly extinguished.

The people nearby were even more furious and began to beat him again one after another.

Luo Zijun naturally would not show mercy and took the opportunity to give him a few more strikes with the stick. While hitting him, he scolded, "Let you glare at me! Let you glare at me! You did something wrong and still dare to glare at me! I'll beat you to death!"

Bai Qingtong, who was following behind and preparing to protect him: "..."

Lai Da covered his head and lay on the ground, not daring to look up again.

He was a martial artist, so such a beating would naturally not kill him, but skin and flesh wounds were inevitable.

Just as Luo Zijun was hitting with great enthusiasm, Jia She finally arrived in a hurry with the government officials.

Seeing this, the crowd stopped, but they all gathered around one after another to complain about their respective grievances.

"Lord Jia, it was precisely because we trusted your Jia Mansion that we came here to buy again after buying wine last time. As a result, last night we almost sent our whole family to the grave..."

"Lord Jia, this head steward of yours is simply bold enough to defy the heavens. If you don't manage him, this old man will go to the palace to file an imperial complaint today! This is trying to poison us to death!"

Upon hearing this, Jia She felt his head spinning. He hurriedly apologized and pleaded for mercy, then rushed over and began punching and kicking Lai Da, who was kneeling on the ground. While hitting him, he cursed, "You dog slave, look at the good deed you've done! You've caused my Jia Family to be implicated; I'll beat you to death today!"

Lai Da cried and begged for mercy, "Master, this is all Lai Qinglai's responsibility; it has nothing to do with this slave."

Upon hearing this, the crowd said angrily, "This is your Laishi Winery, how can it have nothing to do with you? If you didn't use the name of the Jia Mansion, who would buy your wine?"

Jia She punched and kicked Lai Da again, his eyes red as he cursed, "Damn slave, you still dare to quibble!"

Luo Zijun glanced at the winery, immediately squeezed over, and while the government soldiers had not yet surrounded the area, he secretly took out a fire starter, opened it, and threw it into the spilled wine all over the floor.

"Everyone, be quiet! Everyone, be quiet!"

Lord Wang of the Prefectural Office had an even worse headache, because the people who came here to seek justice were all people he could not afford to offend.

Luo Zijun left the crowd, pulled up Bai Qingtong, and said, "Let's go."

As soon as the two walked out of the winery gate, they saw flames rising inside. When those people saw it, not only did they not put out the fire, but they actually deliberately grabbed wine barrels and threw them into it.

The entire warehouse and wine cellar of the winery were also smashed to pieces.

The fire quickly spread throughout the entire winery.

Lord Wang hurriedly shouted, "Put out the fire! Put out the fire!"

However, the ground and rooms were full of wine, and the crowd was pushing and shoving, deliberately setting fires; how could it be saved?

Lai Da raised his head and took a look, his face instantly filled with despair.

Only when Luo Zijun saw the fire rising into the sky and swallowing the entire building did he walk toward the carriage with Bai Third Miss.

At this time, Bai Ming, supported by several people and bringing the Bai Family guards, arrived in a rage. He was stunned after seeing the two and said, "Qingtong, Zijun, why are you here?"

Luo Zijun hurriedly said, "Father-in-law, I heard that fake wine is being sold here and everyone had vomiting and diarrhea after drinking it yesterday. Our Bai Mansion didn't buy any here, did we?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Bai Qingtong, who was beside him, gave him a resentful look.

Bai Ming clutched his stomach and said angrily, "How could we not have bought any! Qingtong bought dozens of barrels and even gave them to the Junwang Fu and the Jiangjun Fu... I drank several pots with your second uncle and the others last night; it was truly life-threatening. We had diarrhea from last night until this morning and couldn't even leave the latrine. I heard your second uncle fell into the latrine and almost drowned... Damn thing! This old man is going to beat that Lai Qinglai to death!"

Luo Zijun: "..."

Bai Qingtong: "..."

"Father-in-law, you arrived a step too late; that Manager Lai has already been beaten to death by others. However, Lai Da is not dead yet. I heard that this Laishi Winery is his. Father-in-law, hurry over, lest the other party be beaten to death by someone else first."

Luo Zijun urged him hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ming immediately took a stick and, with his guards, walked over with a pale face and unsteady steps.

"Pfft..."

Bai Qingtong suddenly laughed out loud behind him, then hurriedly covered her mouth, looked at the person beside her, and said, "Brother-in-law, you are too wicked..."

Luo Zijun hurriedly got into the carriage.

Bai Qingtong followed him up, laughed for a while longer, and complained, "Why didn't you tell me in advance so I could have warned Father and Second Uncle and the others? Brother-in-law, you went a bit too far; how could you harm your own people?"

Luo Zijun said, "Third Miss, don't talk nonsense; this matter has nothing to do with me."

Bai Qingtong rolled her eyes at him and said, "Does Brother-in-law not even trust me now?"

Luo Zijun lifted the curtain, glanced outside, and only after seeing the carriage gradually moving away did he whisper, "This matter is of great importance; I dare not speak of it lightly, and I hope Third Miss will not spread it either. Since Father-in-law and the others drank fake wine this time, let them seek as much compensation as possible from Lai Da; do not be soft-hearted."

Bai Qingtong smiled and said, "I know, this time I will definitely make him lose everything. With such a thing happening and Lai Qinglai already beaten to death, the spearhead will definitely be pointed at Lai Da. He will definitely be thrown in jail. Even if he is bailed out by the Jia Mansion, the compensation will definitely not be small. At that time, no matter how much we ask for, he will have to give it, otherwise, it will be impossible for him to get out."

Luo Zijun said, "I heard that he built a Xiaoguanyuan in his mansion, which is magnificent and full of treasures..."

Bai Qingtong smiled and said, "I will tell Father and Second Uncle to ensure he doesn't have a single thing left."

Then she blinked and asked with a face full of curiosity, "Brother-in-law, how exactly did you do it? As far as I know, this winery is heavily guarded and has martial artists on watch. How did Brother-in-law make so much wine go bad? And it went bad twice."

Luo Zijun said, "Secret."

Bai Qingtong snorted, "Can't you even tell your sister-in-law?"

Luo Zijun said, "No."

"Hmph."

"Stop the carriage, I'm going down to buy something!"

Luo Zijun hurriedly lifted the curtain and walked out.

The carriage stopped immediately.

Luo Zijun got off the carriage, walked to the side of the street, and looked at the lifelike sugar figurines.

Today I'm in a pretty good mood, so I'll do a good deed and satisfy that girl Bai Bai.

Bai Qingtong poked her head out of the carriage window and said, "Is Brother-in-law trying to coax me with a sugar figurine?"

Luo Zijun said, "Is that so? Does Third Miss want me to coax her?"

Bai Qingtong suddenly smiled and said, "Yes!"

Luo Zijun took out silver and bought ten sugar figurines all at once.

At the same time.

In the Jia Mansion, Jia Tanchun came to Qingwen's room, offered some persuasion, and then went to the Old Matriarch's place to plead on Qingwen's behalf.

The Old Matriarch sighed and said, "I heard that girl is not doing well. Although I am fond of her, I cannot let her soil the mansion. Tanchun, I am old now, and I cannot manage such matters anymore. You should go find Baoyu and have him beg his mother; perhaps if his mother's anger has subsided, she will find a room for her to stay in."

Jia Tanchun frowned and said, "Baoyu is timid and afraid of his mother; how would he dare to go and persuade her?"

The Old Matriarch sighed again, closed her eyes, and drifted into a doze, saying nothing more.

Yuanyang, who was nearby, hurriedly said, "Third Miss, it is time for the Old Matriarch to take her afternoon nap."

Jia Tanchun did not dare to say anything more, stood up, and left in low spirits.

(End of chapter)