Struggling to open his heavy eyelids, Jiang Yichen was not surprised that he could still wake up. If the opponent had wanted to kill him, they would not have knocked him out; since he could wake up, it meant the opponent had no intention of killing him.
His whole body felt weak, but there was not a hint of pain; on the contrary, his muscles and bones felt quite comfortable.
Why was this?
Looking around, the wooden house with its door closed contained a table, two stools, and the bed he was currently lying on.
Where was this?
Jiang Yichen gave a bitter smile. After being tricked by Sha Qing last time, this was the second time he had woken up in a daze; he was truly beyond saving.
Creak! The wooden door was pushed open, and the light from outside suddenly flooded in. Jiang Yichen reflexively covered his eyes with his hand and struggled to sit up.
"Yo! You've finally woken up!" came the voice of an unfamiliar man.
Jiang Yichen had not yet adjusted to the light. Through the gaps between his fingers, he could vaguely see the figures of two people. The owner of the voice did not give him a chance to speak before continuing to chatter on and on!
"Hey! Big Brother! My good Big Brother! Can I call you Big Brother?"
"You can't just go around making people worry like this! You got dead drunk after just that tiny bit of Bamboo Wine!?"
"I'm asking you, have you never had alcohol before? Besides, is it worth getting this drunk over a little bit of wine? Ah!? You made me carry you on my back from that side of the mountain to this side! Tell me, do you have any conscience at all?"
"I'm saying, now that you're awake, look at me properly! Can you take a good look at the great benefactor who carried you back? Don't look at me through your fingers. Show me some respect, can you?"
"Aiyo, I'm so angry! Brother Liu, come and judge this for me. Is there anyone more shameless than this, right?"
The owner of the voice spoke quickly, but every word was clear and unambiguous. Jiang Yichen heard every word he said clearly, but his head was still a bit fuzzy, so he didn't really take much of it in.
The barrage of chattering finally ceased for a moment. Jiang Yichen let out a sigh of relief; this chatterbox was on par with Sister Ruolan. However, regardless of anything else, it seemed this person had helped him, so he had to thank him.
Finally adjusting to the light, he sat up and lowered his raised arm.
The person in front of him seemed to be so angry that he was baring his teeth and waving his claws, pacing back and forth, impatient.
However, he saw that the person before him had his hair tied up in a shiny black ponytail. His facial features were as distinct as if carved, and his angular face was exceptionally handsome. It was none other than the Brocade-Clad Young Master!
Standing by the door was a middle-aged man with sword eyebrows and tiger eyes, who was undoubtedly the "Brother Liu" the Brocade-Clad Young Master had mentioned. He stood to the side and had not spoken a word yet.
"Hey! Brother! You can't be like this. What's with that expression? A face full of shock and fear? Tell me, do you even remember what happened?"
"Aiyo, drunk, you were drunk, totally drunk!"
The Brocade-Clad Young Master seemed driven mad by Jiang Yichen's reaction, scratching his head and unable to stop. He unconsciously unfolded the Fan tucked at his waist to fan himself and vent his frustration!
Jiang Yichen, whose head was still a mess of paste, continued to block out the Brocade-Clad Young Master's various exclamations. The Brocade-Clad Young Master fanned himself rapidly, but the face of the fan was pointed directly at Jiang Yichen's gaze, allowing him to see the poem written on it.
"Moon shadows shatter, star traces pair, the dawn wind tires the spring water. Willow banks, scattered flowers. Chasing waves in a light dance, feelings like lingering attachment. Many, many, many." Jiang Yichen inexplicably recited the poem, feeling as if he had seen it somewhere before.
"Yo ho! You know this poem? Oh, wait, this poem is right here on my fan. Do you know that this is only half of the whole poem? Do you know the other half? How about I recite it for you?"
The Brocade-Clad Young Master stopped being angry in an instant and instead became interested in reciting poetry, self-indulgently and passionately reciting it.
"Moon shadows shatter, star traces pair, the dawn wind tires the spring water. Willow banks, scattered flowers. Chasing waves in a light dance, feelings like lingering attachment. Many, many, many. Red maple tears, butterfly dance in sorrow, the waning moon over the western mountains, the wild goose cannot return. By the Gusu bank, the departing person is dim. Sword Light and Blade Shadows, but it is blood-stained. Hard, hard, hard."
"Do you know, this poem was also written for a poignant love story..."
After the Brocade-Clad Young Master recited the second half of the poem, Jiang Yichen's soul was completely pulled back. As for the long string of chatter that followed, Jiang Yichen activated his automatic shielding mode.
He had seen this poem on the silk scarf of the Boss Lady at Yunbo Inn the night before he departed for Jiangning Commandery!
"In that case, does brother also know the Boss Lady of Yunbo Inn?" Jiang Yichen could not determine the relationship between this person and Boss Lady Shen based on a single poem, so he kept his guard up and did not directly ask if this Brocade-Clad Young Master was also one of Old Man's people.
The Brocade-Clad Young Master was not as slow-witted as Jiang Yichen. Hearing this, he stumbled as if someone had kicked him, nearly losing his footing.
"Cough, cough, I'm telling you, Big Brother, I'll kneel to you, okay? You're only just now guessing my identity!" The Brocade-Clad Young Master was so angry he didn't know what to say, and could only dance around in a frenzy.
"Also, you blockhead! When you asked me for wine, you even gave me Silver." The Brocade-Clad Young Master finally recalled this key point. He had seen Jiang Yichen put down the Silver at the time, which had shocked him into raising his eyebrows. Who knew that what would leave him even more dumbfounded was that after Jiang Yichen drank that Bamboo Wine, he collapsed to the ground almost instantly.
Thinking of this, the Brocade-Clad Young Master could barely suppress the prehistoric power in his mouth, and it erupted instantly!
"I'm telling you, Big Brother! You see a dashing young master like me setting up a wine stall in the wilderness; any normal person would see that something's wrong. Didn't you have even a shred of suspicion?"
Jiang Yichen shook his head.
"Hey! What if I were an accomplice of that gang from the Thousand Bamboo Forest, waiting for you on the road specifically to drug or poison you? Wouldn't you have been captured without a fight, or even worse, lost your Life?!"
Jiang Yichen nodded.
"Let me ask you a question: did you not drink, or is your alcohol tolerance just that poor?"
"My body has been weak since I was a child, so my family wouldn't let me drink. People who know me know my condition and wouldn't let me drink. When I saw the bamboo tube you pointed to, I naturally assumed that what was inside was spring water. How would I know it was also wine? As for my alcohol tolerance, I don't know if it's good or not." Jiang Yichen was quite cooperative this time. Having determined that the Brocade-Clad Young Master was not an enemy, he answered everything truthfully.
Who knew that this would cause the overly excited Brocade-Clad Young Master to nearly fall over again.
"I, I really give up on you, Big Brother! My dear Big Brother, your alcohol tolerance isn't just bad, it's extremely bad! You slept for a whole day and night after just that cup of wine!"
Jiang Yichen nodded tactfully, as if admitting his mistake. You saved me, so whatever you say is right.
"Sister Shen sent a message by pigeon the day before you came to Jiangning Commandery, telling me your general situation and asking me to reinforce you. I estimated the time and waited for you on the only road that leads down from the Thousand Bamboo Forest. Who knew you'd be so straightforward, collapsing after just one cup of wine, making me laboriously carry you over here."
Although the Brocade-Clad Young Master spoke quickly, his train of thought was quite clear. He wouldn't mention that Sister Shen's letter only said, "Jiang Yichen, a tender chick from the island. He will arrive in about a day to investigate the winery situation in the Thousand Bamboo Forest. Take good care of him and ensure his safety!"
Concise and to the point!
The Brocade-Clad Young Master did more than just that after receiving the letter. He had indeed calculated the time Jiang Yichen would arrive at Majia Posthouse, but from Majia Posthouse onwards, he had followed Jiang Yichen all the way, watching every move he made clearly. It was just that with Jiang Yichen's ability, he didn't know someone was following him.
Later, after he saw the route Jiang Yichen took to escape, he went to that essential path and set up the wine to wait. He thought Jiang Yichen's performance earlier was passable, but the lack of vigilance in getting drunk at the end was truly unexpected and had left him going crazy ever since.
If he hadn't followed him all the way, he would have been able to guess Jiang Yichen's panicked route from the start. Wouldn't that have made him a charlatan?
The Brocade-Clad Young Master would swear that even if he were beaten to death, he would rather let these facts rot in his stomach than ever say them out loud. Firstly, it was embarrassing; he, a dignified Young Master, was so obediently listening to a woman's words and even doing the legwork himself! Secondly, he didn't want to hurt the confidence of such a young Jianghu chick; this was also Sister Shen's intention.
Fortunately, Jiang Yichen's train of thought was not yet online. Once he was fully certain that the Brocade-Clad Young Master was on his side, everything he said was correct, and he didn't hear a single Flaw in his words.
"Alright, back to the main topic. Did you discover anything while investigating the winery?" Finally hearing the Brocade-Clad Young Master bring up the main business, the strong man who had been standing to the side, called Brother Liu, finally stepped forward. It was obvious he also wanted to understand the specific situation, and it finally made people realize that there were three people in this room.
Jiang Yichen did not hide anything. He organized his thoughts and told the two of them about the situation that day. Because based on his own discoveries, he hadn't detected any anomalies, and the two in front of him should be Jianghu veterans who could analyze the situation.
"You just said that when Yu Tao was in a perilous situation, he still roared at the employees not to throw the large wine vats, and the large wine vats were empty?" The Brocade-Clad Young Master seemed to have grasped the point.
"Yes, I felt something was wrong at the time, so I specifically took a look at the surrounding wine vats. Indeed, quite a few of them were empty." Jiang Yichen was certain.
"That is indeed wrong! It stands to reason that they have been transporting large quantities of wine these days, and they are all large wine vats. What should be placed outside are wine vats filled to the brim, waiting to be loaded. How could they be empty?" The Brocade-Clad Young Master was full of questions.
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