I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 202 Blood Book

"Princess, what is the name of this wine? How come it is so mellow and strong?"

"This wine is newly made in the workshop and doesn't have a name yet," Tang Zhao said, seemingly drunk but not quite. "I've heard that the Tibetans love wine very much, so why don't you suggest we name it for them?"

Dorjee excitedly agreed, saying that this wine was several times more mellow and potent than barley wine, and that it was no exaggeration to say that it was worth a thousand pieces of gold.

"How about calling it Nizhen Cuomu? In Chongqing dialect, it means precious and rare item."

Tang Zhao nodded in agreement.

Dorje rubbed his hands together and said, "Dorje is shameless. Would the princess be willing to sell me the wine recipe? I am willing to buy it for ten thousand gold pieces."

"It's not that I'm stingy, it's just that the climate in Tibet is unsuitable for growing sorghum."

"I can buy it!"

“Sorghum can be bought, but the brewing vessels are nowhere to be found,” Tang Zhao lied with her eyes closed. “The brewing vessels are made of glass, and the process is complicated and extremely precious. I only have two sets.”

Dorjee was extremely disappointed and downed several glasses of wine.

"The recipe for the wine cannot be sold, but the wine itself can," Tang Zhao said, offering a sweet treat. "How much does Lord Duoji want? This princess will supply it first. As for the price?" Tang Zhao held up two fingers.

"Thank you, Princess." Dorje's sorrow turned to joy. His face, flushed from the alcohol, was as red as a ripe persimmon on a branch. He lowered his eyes and counted his assets on his fingers. "I'll order five hundred jars first."

"no problem!"

In less than half a day, Tang Zhao exceeded his expected KPI, and was in a great mood. The host and guests had a very pleasant conversation, and the banquet did not end until nightfall.

Gu Ci personally escorted the drunken Duoji couple back to the Guli Mansion. By the time he returned to the Protector General's Mansion, it was already late at night. Worried about waking Tang Zhao, Gu Ci decided to spend the night in the study.

"Where did my husband go?"

Gu Ci paused and turned around, only to see Tang Zhao walking towards him alone, carrying a lantern. "Husband, why are you coming back so late? Why aren't you going back to your room to rest? Why are you still running around outside?"

"Why are you alone? Where are your personal attendants?" Gu Ci took off his cloak and draped it over Tang Zhao's shoulders. "The General's Mansion is well-guarded, but what if a thief breaks in?"

“Even if a thief sneaks into the general’s mansion to commit murder, arson, theft, or robbery, he should go to the backyard,” Tang Zhao teased, “unlike my husband, who eagerly runs to the front yard.”

Gu Ci explained helplessly, "I thought you were asleep and was worried about disturbing you, so I thought I'd spend the night in the study in the front yard."

Tang Zhao turned and walked back. "Oh, then I'll have someone dismantle the inner chamber in the main study tomorrow. We won't need it anyway."

“I was wrong,” Gu Ci followed closely behind, reaching for the lantern and carefully illuminating the path under Tang Zhao’s feet. “Next time, even if I come back late, I will sleep in the main courtyard.”

Tang Zhao pouted, "Who cares!"

“I like it,” Gu Ci said earnestly. “I want to live in the main courtyard.”

"It's not like you can stay anywhere you want," Tang Zhao rolled her eyes at him. "The front yard is full of guards, there aren't any empty rooms left."

Is it full? There are at least several dozen rooms in the front courtyard of the Protector General's Mansion.

Gu Ci asked, "You've recruited soldiers again?"

“That’s right! According to the law, a princess’s fief should have six hundred guards, but Wuwei City only has three hundred guards, which is naturally not enough.”

Gu Ci took a deep breath; there were more than five hundred people living in the front yard alone.

Tang Zhaoyi said righteously, "Those are my personal guards from the Protectorate General's Mansion, not the garrison of Wuwei."

Gu Ci warned, "Be careful, someone might accuse you of secretly keeping personal guards."

“Who is privately keeping personal guards? I am clearly keeping them openly and honestly!” King Xuan knew about this, and Lu Ying knew about it. How could it be considered privately keeping personal guards if it had passed the eyes of the master of the Northwest fiefdom and the officials sent by the court?
Besides, "The late emperor allowed the General of the State's residence to have personal guards. Anyone who dares to object is disobeying the late emperor's decree!"

Gu Ci found it amusing; this charge was extremely serious, enough to be unbearable even for the current emperor, let alone an ordinary official.

The two chatted idly along the way, and before they knew it, they were back in the main courtyard. Tang Zhao had already washed up and went straight to bed. Gu Ci went to the bathing room, where Dongmei brought in hot water that had already been boiled. Chunfeng and Qiuyu put away the washing utensils and the newly made nightgown before leaving.

Gu Ci felt a surge of bittersweet emotions, which were then overwhelmed by a wave of warmth.

After taking a bath, Gu Ci quietly lay down on the edge of the bed, moving so gently that she was afraid of waking Tang Zhao, who was already fast asleep.

Gu Ci lay on the soft pillows and blankets and slept soundly through the night.

The next day, as soon as the gates of Wuwei opened, the guards found a man covered in blood lying motionless on the ground.

The guard rushed forward to check, "He's still breathing, quick, take him to Renxintang."

Inside Renxin Hall, Dr. Zhong and Dr. Pei were arguing as usual. The guards, unfazed, said, "Doctors, please stop arguing. This person is about to die."

The two old men were shocked and quickly directed the person to be moved to a hospital bed for emergency treatment. They used a lot of precious medicines to barely save the person's life.

Dr. Zhong rubbed his aching back, saying, "It's just that this kid is lucky to have met me; otherwise, he would surely be dead."

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

Dr. Pei stared at the face of the person on the hospital bed. "I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Dr. Zhong quipped, "You really have a wide circle of friends."

Doctor Pei couldn't remember at all. "Never mind, let's go report to the authorities."

The officials arrived quickly. Shen Jiawen walked in and exclaimed, "Isn't this the young master of the Zhong family's winery?"

Why did he come to Ganzhou and suffer such a serious injury instead of brewing wine in Ningzhou?

Doctor Pei suddenly realized that he had seen this person before when he was at the Protector General's Mansion.

"Quickly!" Doctor Pei pulled over a young boy. "Go and inform the princess!"

The child went around to the backyard, slipped out through the back door, and ran off like a shot.

Inside the General of the Nation's mansion, Tang Zhao was awakened from his sleep by knocking on the door.

"Miss! Someone from Renxintang has come to report that something terrible has happened at the Zhong family's winery!"

Tang Zhao sat up groggily, "Who?"

Gu Ci got up, put on her clothes, and opened the door. Qiu Yu bowed in alarm and rushed to the bedside. "Miss, the eldest young master of the Zhong family winery is seriously injured and is being treated at Renxin Hall!"

Zhong Family Winery?!
Tang Zhao suddenly woke up, threw off the covers and let Qiu Yu help him wash up before rushing to Renxintang.

Upon seeing Tang Zhao, Shen Jiawen immediately understood why the young master of the Zhong family had come to Ganzhou, and he consciously stepped aside to become a background figure.

"how is he?"

"Princess, please rest assured, Young Master Zhong is out of danger. However, he has suffered multiple serious injuries and has lost a lot of blood. He will probably remain unconscious for quite some time before waking up."

"Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Pei. Please continue to take care of me. Use any precious medicinal herbs without any mistakes. I will make up the cost myself."

"Yes," Doctor Pei replied respectfully, pointing to the cloth bundle on the table, "This is the package that Young Master Zhong is carrying. Please take a look, Princess."

Shen Jiawen silently withdrew her foot.

Dongmei stepped forward, took the cloth bag, and searched it. Besides food and clothing, there was only a letter.

Tang Zhao opened it and saw that the rough paper was covered with densely written dark brown characters.

This is a letter written in blood.