Chapter Forty-Nine: A Fortunate Opportunity
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Zhu Xiongying was selecting craftsmen at the Directorate of Imperial Works, when Zhu Yunwen hurriedly rushed back to the Eastern Palace to find Lady Lü and report the matter.
Upon hearing this, Lady Lü immediately sent someone to bring her father to the Eastern Palace, where she recounted everything Zhu Yunwen had witnessed.
“Are you sure this is true?”
“Absolutely! Yunwen and the young eunuch with him saw that brat swaggering into the Directorate of Imperial Works together with Shunzi!”
Lady Lü nodded with certainty.
“The Eastern Palace is quite far from the Directorate. Why would the Crown Prince go there…?”
Lü Ben was puzzled. “The Emperor had expressly forbidden princes and grandsons from going to the Directorate of Imperial Works. Isn’t this a direct violation of His Majesty’s decree?”
“Exactly! That’s why I quickly sent for you, Father…”
Lady Lü’s eyes gleamed as if she had seized a golden opportunity. “A few days ago, didn’t your second uncle start contacting people to impeach that brat but couldn’t find a suitable excuse? This is the perfect pretext!”
Lü Ben pondered for a moment and nodded. “Indeed! That brat recently accused the Ministry of Revenue of using forged seals, and your cousin was implicated and imprisoned! Your second uncle’s attempt to impeach him has been difficult, but he just connected with a censor who’s been looking for a reason!”
The Lü family, once immensely wealthy, was now left with only a thousand jin of salt.
At one hundred wen per jin.
Selling it all would only fetch about a hundred taels.
A devastating loss.
Lü Mo had been ill for quite a while.
As soon as he was able to get out of bed and walk, he immediately went out to make connections.
Even if it meant losing everything, he had to file a complaint against this Crown Prince!
“Father! Not only can we accuse Zhu Xiongying of going to the Directorate and consorting with commoners, but we can also accuse him of driving away his enlightened teacher!”
Lady Lü smiled slyly, staring at her father.
Lü Ben’s eyes lit up. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“The censor’s duty is to supervise the virtues of the emperor and officials. Filing a complaint against a mere Crown Prince is a piece of cake.”
“Exactly! I’ll go back and inform your second uncle to seek out that censor!”
Lü Mo nodded repeatedly, then rose and left the palace, heading toward the Lü family residence.
...
The next morning, all the craftsmen gathered at the address given by Zhu Xiongying.
“This is a tavern, isn’t it? Why would His Highness the Crown Prince spend three taels of silver monthly to have us come to a tavern?”
“Could it be that the tavern is old and in need of renovation?”
“That can’t be…”
The craftsmen exchanged glances, puzzled.
Shortly after, a carriage pulled up in front of the tavern.
The little fellow nimbly jumped down and greeted the craftsmen, “Hey? Everyone’s here?”
“Greetings…”
“Hey! From now on, just call me Young Master outside!”
Last time, when his identity was exposed, Zhu Biao had chased him around with a shoe sole.
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This time, he had to be more careful!
Otherwise, Old Zhu might forbid him from going out again, and that would be bad!
“Yes, sir!”
The craftsmen cupped their hands in response.
“Let’s go! Everyone, come inside!”
The little fellow led the way, passing through the main hall toward the backyard.
At this moment, the woodshed to the side was already piled high with grain.
Many of the newly recruited craftsmen gathered together, chatting.
They didn’t understand why they were summoned but not assigned any work.
This uncertainty left them uneasy!
Xu Huizu, upon seeing the group, hurriedly whispered the situation to the little fellow.
“Oh? Everyone’s here?”
“Most of them!”
“Young Master, I’m completely convinced now! No wonder you insisted on doubling the pay for experienced workers! The craftsmen from Lin’s Tavern saw our recruitment and quit their jobs the next day to join us!”
Xu Yingxu cupped his hands, his face full of admiration.
Such a cunning ploy—most people wouldn’t think of it!
“Good!”
The little fellow nodded; this was exactly the effect he wanted.
Lin’s Tavern had done some unscrupulous things; they deserved a lesson!
With his hands behind his back, he approached the group of craftsmen who had recently changed jobs. “Among you, who’s the most skilled?”
“It’s Uncle Li…”
A dozen or so eyes turned to an elderly man with hazy eyes and a slightly drunken demeanor.
The old man stepped forward from the crowd, cupping his hands. “This old man is Li Tian, formerly the brewmaster at Lin’s Tavern!”
“Young Master, Uncle Li is the eighteenth-generation descendant of the wine immortal Li Bai, and his brewing skills are superb—far beyond us!”
One of the younger craftsmen helped with the introduction.
“Oh? So all that ‘horse urine’ sent to the palace was brewed by you?”
The little fellow scrutinized Li Tian, asking with a hint of disdain.
“H-horse urine?”
Everyone was stunned.
The wine sent to the palace was surely tribute wine, how could it be horse urine?
“Young Master, you mean the tribute wine, right?”
“Yes! That stuff tastes like horse urine!”
Mentioning tribute wine, Zhu Xiongying’s face twisted with disgust.
“Tribute wine is brewed by the master brewer Du Kang’s heir. This old man’s skills don’t reach that level yet!”
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Li Tian looked somewhat displeased.
If tribute wine was called horse urine, what did that make his own brew?
“Young Master, my skills may not match my ancestors’, but in the Great Ming, I can still make a living! Even if you don’t want me, there’s no need to insult me like this! I’ll just leave!”
Li Tian shook his coarse cloth sleeve and angrily prepared to walk away.
“Uncle Li, don’t go…”
A fellow craftsman tried to persuade him to stay.
“Let him go if he wants! Then he’ll never get to taste true, pure strong wine!”
Zhu Xiongying crossed his arms and smiled teasingly.
“Hmph! This old man has some skill in brewing! Whether it’s sweet wine from the Western Regions or strong liquor from Mongolia, I’ve tasted them all! Except for tribute wine, there’s no other that can compare to what I brew!”
“Oh? You don’t agree?”
“No!”
“Then how about a bet?”
Zhu Xiongying leisurely asked.
“A bet?” Li Tian was surprised by the suggestion.
“Exactly…”
Zhu Xiongying grinned slyly. “If you lose, you stay quietly at my tavern. If I lose, I’ll give you this tavern!”
“What…?”
Li Tian was dumbfounded.
Is there such a bet?
Wouldn’t that be like giving him the tavern outright?
“Isn’t the Young Master crazy? What’s the difference from giving it away for free?”
“Compared to Uncle Li? No one but tribute wine can win!”
“Yes! If this tavern belongs to Uncle Li, then shouldn’t we just follow him and work here?”
“Of course!”
The craftsmen who had jumped ship believed they knew the old man’s skills well and had already begun contemplating what would happen after his inevitable victory!