Love Lock

Chapter 102 Strategic Partners
Wei Chengchao stared blankly at the slowly spreading crimson in the wine glass, as if time itself had frozen at that moment.

The aroma of the Drunken Immortal Wine remained strong, but it was inexplicably overshadowed by the sudden stench of blood.

"Blood? Why am I having a nosebleed?"

Wei Chengchao muttered to himself, his voice filled with confusion and panic.

He looked around and saw that his friends at the table were enjoying their wine with smiles on their faces, seemingly without any problems.

But his sudden nosebleed made him uneasy.

Upon seeing this, the young man sitting opposite Wei Chengchao quickly put down his wine glass and asked with concern, "Chengchao, you have a nosebleed. Are you alright?"

Upon hearing that their master had a nosebleed, the servants and maids standing behind him rushed forward in a panic to attend to him.

"Young master, young master, what's wrong?"

"Young master, quickly wipe it with a handkerchief."

Everyone looked up at him, and the atmosphere at the table suddenly became tense and chaotic.

Wei Chengchao took the handkerchief handed to him by the maid, shook his head, and tried to clear his mind.

"I don't know either. I just suddenly felt something warm in my nose, and when I touched it, I found it was blood."

Wei Chengchao stepped back and wiped his face with a handkerchief. But the wiping only made him smear blood everywhere. His face was flushed red, looking rather eerie.

The blood was still dripping from my nose, showing no signs of stopping.

Wei Chengchao's clothes were soon stained with blood from his nose; the bright green robe was dotted with scarlet spots, like peach blossoms blooming on the street outside.

The maid changed two more handkerchiefs, but they were soon stained red with the gushing blood from her nose.

"Raise your head, don't look down." A young man stepped forward, lifted Wei Chengchao's chin, and made him look up at the ceiling.

Then, he shouted in a panic, "This nosebleed is terrible! Quick, call a doctor!"

As soon as the young master finished speaking, a servant immediately went out to find a doctor. The other young masters were also flustered and quickly left their seats to surround Wei Chengchao, offering him words of comfort and concern.

Just then, the servant who went out to find a doctor alerted the manager of Tengyun Tower. The manager hurriedly ran upstairs carrying a plate of freshly cut fruit.

"Young Master Wei, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Come, come, have some fruit to cool down."

The shopkeeper spoke words of concern, but inwardly he was groaning.

Why is this young master so troublesome? Judging from the current situation, he's not going to have an easy time today.

Wei Chengchao also thought that he might just be experiencing some internal heat. He took the fruit and took a bite. The sweet juice spread in his mouth, temporarily making him forget the unease of his nosebleed.

He looked at the shopkeeper and forced a smile: "You're so sensible. I'm probably just a little feverish, it's nothing."

However, the shopkeeper seemed uneasy. He glanced at the wine cup on Wei Chengchao's table, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes: "Young Master Wei, this wine of yours..."

Wei Chengchao was taken aback, but then he understood what the shopkeeper meant.

He pinched his nose with one hand and picked up the wine glass with the other, carefully examining the few drops of thick blood that had become one with the Drunken Immortal Wine. An ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

"This wine... should be fine, right?"

Upon hearing this, a young nobleman also picked up his wine glass and took a careful sniff.

"The wine smells strong. I just drank some and felt nothing wrong. Cheng Chao, are you overthinking this?"

Think too much?
Wei Chengchao lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then put the wine glass back on the table. As soon as he let go of the hand that was pinching his nose, bright red blood flowed down his nose again.

Looking at the wine glass on the table, a thought flashed through his mind, and he finally seemed to connect it to something. Wei Chengchao's hand trembled as he reached into his pocket, where he usually kept the antidote.

He tried to take out the antidote and put it in his mouth, but it was now empty.

Only then did he realize that he had smashed the small porcelain bottle containing the antidote in his anger the day before. The antidote, which had rolled all over the ground, was also trampled to pieces by him.

I don't know if the two servants still have the antidote, but I sent them to Taoyuan County the day before yesterday.

"no, I can not."

Wei Chengchao muttered to himself, a hint of panic creeping into his heart.

No, no, no, it definitely wasn't because Han Lei poisoned me.

Han Lei said her poison caused him to bleed until he bled to death. He's only having a nosebleed now, which shouldn't have anything to do with that bitch Han Lei's poison.

As Wei Chengchao was thinking this, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him, causing his vision to go black. He staggered and almost knocked over the table.

"Quickly, take me back. Call a doctor."

With his nosebleed causing him dizziness, Wei Chengchao had no appetite for drinking. Not daring to be careless any longer, he quickly had his servants escort him home.

The servants and maids nearby were already quite frightened, and when they heard that their master wanted to go home, they quickly stepped forward to help him.

Before they could even touch Wei Chengchao, everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud…

Chaos erupted in the private room of Tengyun Tower because Young Master Wei suddenly fainted from a nosebleed.

Meanwhile, in Taoyuan County, Jingzhou, Han Lei, holding a piece of paper, walked out of the Jingzhou King's mansion with Yang Haibo and Tang Xiaotong, beaming with joy.

What Han Lei was holding was the agency contract she had just signed with the King of Jingzhou, which was stamped with the King of Jingzhou's seal.

Just as Han Lei had suspected, the King of Jingzhou was not favored by Emperor Jing.

Although he was granted the title of Prince of Jingzhou and had his own fiefdom, he always acted with extreme caution and dared not make any mistakes. He lived off the government's salary and the fiefdom itself.

Despite being a prince of noble birth, his entire family struggled to make ends meet.

Even so, the King of Jingzhou dared not openly use the shop for business, fearing that his suspicious emperor brother would overthink it if he found out.

In Jingzhou, thanks to the targeted promotion by Yang Haibo and Tang Xiaotong, Zui Xian Niang quickly gained fame. Even the King of Jingzhou managed to obtain a small pot by "chance," making it extremely difficult to find on the market.

At this time, Han Lei found the King of Jingzhou and told him that she was willing to hand over the agency rights of Jingzhou's Drunken Immortal Brew to him.

No need for a storefront; they can use the brewery's warehouse directly. However, all merchants in Jingzhou who want to sell Zuixian Brew must purchase their goods from the King of Jingzhou.

After the King of Jingzhou issues the invoice, the goods are picked up from the winery's warehouse using the invoice.

As soon as Han Lei explained her intentions, the King of Jingzhou was immediately interested.

The brewery is ostensibly owned by Tao Qing, so the King of Jingzhou doesn't need to set up a shop or show his face.

All he needed to do was send people to various places to purchase grain and deliver it to the distilleries, exchanging the amount of grain for sufficient wholesale quotas for liquor. All transactions could be conducted using receipts.

In this way, the King of Jingzhou not only received silver, but also gained control over the sales of the entire Jingzhou Drunken Immortal Brew.

The Drunken Immortal Brew produced by the brewery doesn't need to be sold door-to-door; it has a stable and simple sales channel.

Such a win-win cooperation was naturally welcomed by the King of Jingzhou. Therefore, after some discussion, Han Lei and the King of Jingzhou quickly reached an agreement.

With the King of Jingzhou as a strategic partner, Han Lei's trade route between Cangzhou and the capital was now open.

Thank you zfg88 and Lengqiao for the full subscription, and thank you everyone for the tips. I won't list all the names. Cheers to Zuixianniang!
(End of this chapter)