Chapter 103: Chapter 95: Drink This Cup of Wine

Originally, in Du Chengfeng’s estimation, the course of this chaos should have been like this.

First, Ruan Shantao, the strongest in Yanzhou, would be pinpointed and eliminated, and then chaos would erupt in the city. It was obvious that this was a well-connected and long-standing plan—clearly, this was the handiwork of Xiang Rong. As Ruan Shantao’s former old friend, and also a person who could rival Ruan Shantao, this feat of seizing the city in a day was indeed awe-inspiring.

Moreover, unlike He Xiqing’s previous straightforward attacks that merely broke open a Ji Town fortress, this Xiang Rong did not use a single soldier, yet had already plunged the entire Yanzhou City into chaos.

"But, it’s not like there’s really not a single soldier, right..."

This was the most perplexing aspect for Du Chengfeng. If it were him doing this... never mind soldiers, with the previous state of chaos in Yanzhou City, even if he only brought a band of mountain bandits, he might have been able to take the city during the turmoil.

But now... nothing.

Nothing at all.

After just one chaos, the danger in Yanzhou City seemed to have passed just like that.

"We... won."

"We won!!!"

The soldiers cheered as if this could make them forget their injuries, and the capturers also breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that they had survived. The city dwellers, who were cleaning up the remains, though pained, still maintained the victorious atmosphere, as those who had just escaped death indeed needed the momentum of victory to dilute the previous despair and panic.

Meanwhile, in the Governor’s Mansion, Qi Jinshan, the commander of Yanzhou, had already set up a banquet, ready to entertain the heroes of this battle.

As for the hero, it was naturally Du Chengfeng, who had slain all the monsters.

"Come! Hero! Drink this cup dry!"

In the midst of the banquet, Qi Jinshan raised his cup of wine to Du Chengfeng.

This was Du Chengfeng’s first time seeing the commander of Yanzhou City. His handsome appearance was more like a scholar than a martial artist, but fortunately, he wore armor over his wide robe sleeves, adding some martial vigor. From his pose with his hand on his sword, he did have a bit of presence.

Still, compared to the commander of Jizhou, he was lacking.

Compared to Liu Yanran of Jibei, Qi Jinshan’s presence was more like that of a normal person.

Since he was a normal person, communication should still be possible.

"Come! Drink!"

Du Chengfeng did not hold back and gulped down the fine wine in his cup in one go.

Qi Jinshan was indeed someone to communicate with; at least his words sounded much better than Liu Yanran’s. After filtering out most of the needless flattery, Du Chengfeng learned that the person who had trapped Ruan Shantao in the mountains, Xiang Rong, Ruan Shantao’s former friend, had become the State Preceptor of the nomads and was leading troops southward.

"The safety of Yanzhou City still relies heavily on the hero."

Qi Jinshan offered another toast.

"With the hero here, Yanzhou will surely be safe and secure!"

Isn’t that overestimating me?

Though he drank the wine, Du Chengfeng didn’t promise anything because he knew that Xiang Rong was not someone he could deal with now—that man was a master on the same level as Ruan Shantao, and his martial prowess even surpassed the monster-formed Ruan Shantao. Moreover, Xiang Rong lacked neither strategy nor ruthlessness, as evidenced by the chaos in Yanzhou City. If there was any internal and external collaboration, Yanzhou would have fallen instantly.

Yet Xiang Rong did not bring troops.

Was something delayed? Or did a sudden situation disrupt the plan? Du Chengfeng didn’t know what had happened.

But he at least knew that even with this delay of a few days, Xiang Rong could still easily conquer Yanzhou.

So, he should leave.

On the way back, leading his horse, a full-of-alcohol Du Chengfeng pondered. Despite being drunk, his mind was much clearer than during the day.

Leaving immediately was the most rational decision. But clearly, his body had its own ideas.

In his complicated state of mind, he didn’t return to his mansion but instead went deep into the armory, under the large "Ren" character, in an attempt to use the writing left by that convenient teacher to calm himself.

However, just as Du Chengfeng pushed open the deep door of the armory, he found someone had already entered.

"Old Liu?"

Smelling the familiar alcohol scent, Du Chengfeng paused.

"When did you get here?"

"I... don’t remember."

A bleary-eyed Liu Bolun turned with a wine jar in his arms.

"Huh? You’re drinking too? Come, drink some more, keep me company."

"...Alright."

Despite having had a lot to drink, Du Chengfeng nodded.

After all, he’d noticed that Liu Bolun’s current mood seemed a bit off.

"I never told you before, but I’m actually not from the academy."

After a few gulps of wine, Liu Bolun lay on the ground, talking about his past.

"I was originally a student in the Imperial Academy of Jiankang Capital. It was thanks to the recommendation of the old man that I got an official position... I thought I could get a good vacancy and have a leisurely job so I could brew more wine in my spare time. But who’d have thought the old man would send me to this godforsaken place in Yanzhou, just a Jibei away from the nomads..."

Then Liu Bolun launched into a stream of curses, spewing all sorts of insults. Judging by his manner, he seemed intent on tearing Ruan Shantao to shreds.

But soon, Liu Bolun shook his head.

"Of course, saying this now is useless. After all, the old man himself was ousted; he came to Yanzhou himself. What else can I say?"

At this point, Liu Bolun’s voice paused.

"Brother Du, I need to tell you something; this is my fault."

"Hmm?"

Du Chengfeng frowned.

"What is it?"

"Some of the rusty weapons in the storeroom were actually corroded by wine."

After some hesitation, Liu Bolun finally opened up.

"When I first came to Yanzhou, I wanted to slack off a bit and used my wine brewing methods... But it was my first time using wine to dissolve Evil Qi, and some things went wrong, so..."

"And the old man took the blame for you?"

Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but glance at Liu Bolun.

He hadn’t expected that the weaponry problems he couldn’t pinpoint earlier stemmed from this drunkard.

"The old man has been covering for me all along."

Liu Bolun sighed.

"I only realized later that the old man had already made arrangements in the armory. If not for the old man’s words and sword suppressing the armory, things would have gone terribly wrong during my reckless attempts... which is why I wasn’t as upright as I claimed. I resigned in defiance not only because I clashed with the governor, but mainly because I did indeed commit a mistake."

At this point, Liu Bolun was stupefied.

"But the old man still let me go to the mountains."

Liu Bolun lowered his head, looking at the wine jar in his lap.

Ruan Shantao had still let him into the mountains, even though it involved collecting some money from him, which was nothing for someone like Liu Bolun who enjoyed private brewing. Moreover, the consequences of resigning were not without significance; without Ruan Shantao’s protection, he might have long since faced severe punishment.

The wine in the jar seemed to have increased.

"So, you see..."

Liu Bolun raised his head, looking at the "Ren" character on the wall.

"How can that old man, with all his capabilities, really be dead?"

Shaking his head, Liu Bolun simply lifted the wine jar and took a long draught, even sticking his entire head into the jar.

This led Du Chengfeng to spend some time pulling Liu Bolun’s head out of the jar; otherwise, he might have suffocated in there.

However, just as Du Chengfeng prepared to leave the armory and leave this place for Liu Bolun to contemplate in solitude, a somewhat sobered Liu Bolun stopped him.

"Wait, Brother Du."

Gesturing towards himself and then Du Chengfeng’s head, Liu Bolun seemed puzzled. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Have you gotten taller?"