Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 158 Liu Jianjun's Wine

Liu Jianjun hesitated for a moment, then said, "This... I'm afraid it's not a good idea. I originally planned to get my cousin into the cotton mill..."

Liu Jianjun's acting was so realistic that Li Xian didn't know if he was genuinely hesitant.

"There's no conflict!" Wu Youji slapped his thigh and said, "It's perfectly normal for someone to work in the cotton mill and also receive a stipend from our Imperial Guard!"

Then he winked at Liu Jianjun and said, "There are plenty of people in the Imperial Guards who don't work, it won't make a difference if my cousin does! I'll put him under the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Army, where he'll have the highest pay!"

But Liu Jianjun hesitated, saying, "But my cousin has always longed for military life, dreaming of studying swordsmanship by lamplight while drunk. If you really let him eat without working... I don't think he'd be happy about it..."

As he said this, from Li Xian's angle, he could just see Liu Jianjun lightly kick Xue Zhongzhang.

Xue Zhongzhang cooperated by turning his head away in a haughty gesture, the cotton thread buried under his face trembling.

Li Xian tried to press his upper lip down to cover his lower lip.

Wu Youji was taken aback: "Then why don't you just let him come over directly! Our cousin looks just right now, all fierce and menacing. Who wouldn't be afraid of him?"

He paused, then added, "Oh, right, then my cousin definitely can't go to the Northern Office to serve. Even though the Empress Dowager is no longer in Chang'an, it's still not good-looking to guard the inner city, as it might frighten the nobles."

"What about my cotton factory..."

Wu Youji retorted angrily, "You just don't want to give me that wine, do you?!"

This time, Li Xian was delighted.

So Wu Youji had his eye on that wine all along.

This time, Liu Jianjun revealed his true intentions. He took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket and placed it in front of Wu Youji, saying, "It's not that I don't want to give you wine, but I'll leave this wine here for you even though it has nothing to do with our cousin!"

Wu Youji's face lit up with joy, and he was about to reach out when Liu Jianjun pressed his hand down on the porcelain bottle.

He continued, "How about this, my cousin, you can still go work in the Southern Court, as a member of the Left or Right Thousand Bull Guards or the Left or Right Golden Guards, you can just put him in whatever you want, I won't make things difficult for you!"

Wu Youji didn't speak, his eyes fixed on the porcelain bottle in Liu Jianjun's hand.

“Our cousin will be patrolling the Qinglongfang area... We’ve set up a security team, so let our cousin lead it! And we’re planning to build a cotton factory, which will be located in Qinglongfang near the Huangqu River, and our cousin will go there to guard it.”

"How about it if I can work at the cotton mill and not interfere with my duties with the Imperial Guard?" Liu Jianjun tentatively looked at Wu Youji.

This time, Wu Youji suddenly raised his head, staring straight at Liu Jianjun, then at Xue Zhongzhang, his brows furrowing tightly.

Li Xian's heart tightened instinctively.

Then, Wu Youji said, "Isn't our cousin at a disadvantage? He's doing two jobs at once?"

……

Xue Zhongzhang's matter has been settled.

Wu Youji rubbed his hands together, looking expectantly at Liu Jianjun, or more precisely, at the porcelain bottle in Liu Jianjun's hand.

The porcelain bottle was only three inches tall and about four fingers wide, with a large belly and a small neck. It was tightly sealed with a cork stopper, so it looked like it could only hold five or six ounces at most.

Instead of giving him the porcelain bottle right away, Liu Jianjun went back, took a ceramic bowl and a few porcelain cups, filled them with some cooled boiled water, and then opened the porcelain bottle and poured the water into the ceramic bowl.

The cork on the porcelain bottle had just been opened when Li Xian smelled a rich aroma of wine.

It's like having a strong liquor (like Sanlejiang) mixed with countless times the strength.

"Brother Liu! What are you doing!"

Wu Youji's eyes widened, and he stood up in a panic, trying to snatch the earthenware bowl away: "Why did you dilute such good wine with water!"

Liu Jianjun slapped his hand away and scolded lightly, "Don't move!"

As he spoke, Liu Jianjun poured out about half of the alcohol from the porcelain bottle, then carefully put the cork back in, pressing it down with his thumb as if afraid it wasn't sealed tightly enough.

Although Li Xian was curious, he didn't ask. Liu Jianjun had done far more strange things than just this.

On the contrary, Wu Youji looked regretful: "This fine wine... what a waste!"

Liu Jianjun didn't say anything, but took a small cup, poured some of the wine from the bowl into the cup, then moved it a little further away, took out a tinderbox from his pocket, and stirred it for a while.

The next moment, a bluish-green flame rose from the ceramic cup.

This scene left not only Wu Youji speechless, but even Li Xian's mouth agape.

Liu Jianjun's liquor... is it really that strong?
Li Xian just noticed that Liu Jianjun had added almost half the amount of water to the alcohol. If it could still be ignited with so much water, how strong must the original alcohol have been?

Immediately afterwards, Li Xian saw Wu Youji suddenly rush to Liu Jianjun's side, snatch the ceramic cup from his hand, tilt his head back, and without caring about the burning flames, pour it directly into his mouth.

Then his eyes widened, his face turned crimson, and flames spewed from his mouth as he cried out, "Good wine! Good wine!"

Liu Jianjun was startled and immediately stepped forward to cover Wu Youji's mouth and nose. After a while, seeing Wu Youji staring at him with wide eyes, his eyeballs constantly moving, he finally released Wu Youji's mouth and nose and then angrily shouted, "Are you crazy!"

Only then did Li Xian notice that in that brief moment, a significant portion of Wu Youji's mustache had been singed.

Wu Youji was not offended at all, and even didn't care. He looked at the bowl of wine with a red face, and then exclaimed, "Good wine!"

Li Xian also became interested, but Liu Jianjun had previously said that this alcohol was not for drinking, so Li Xian looked at Liu Jianjun for instructions.

Liu Jianjun shrugged and said, "Go ahead and drink it. This stuff is distilled from Sanlejiang. Adding water just makes it stronger. It won't kill you."

This time, Li Xian didn't hesitate. Holding the bowl, he hesitated for a moment, but still shared some with the others.

Liu Jianjun chimed in, "That's enough. This liquor is strong. Even half a jin would be enough to make the three of you struggle!"

Li Xian was unconvinced, and Wu Youji was even more unconvinced. Holding the small wine cup that Li Xian had poured out, Wu Youji tilted his head back and downed it in one gulp, then shouted, "It's this small..."

Before he could finish speaking, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Liu Jianjun wasn't surprised at all. He gestured towards Wu Youji with his lip and said, "Look, two cups, both downed in one gulp. No wonder they got drunk!"

Li Xian was stunned by how quickly Wu Youji got drunk.

He drank with Wu Youji yesterday and knew his alcohol tolerance, yet he got drunk after just two small cups. Is this wine really that strong?

Li Xian finally couldn't resist his curiosity and brought the wine glass to his lips.

A rich aroma of wine wafts through the air.

Li Xian tried taking a sip.

"hiss……"

so spicy!

This was Li Xian's only feeling; he could barely taste the unique mellow aroma of Sanlejiang anymore.

If Sanlejiang is the kind of mellow aroma that lingers on the lips and teeth, then this wine is like a raging fire, like a flood, rushing into your throat all at once, so that before you can even taste its flavor, you're already numb from the spiciness.

Finally, there is a faint lingering fragrance.

Li Xian's objective assessment: It doesn't taste good.

It smells like Sanlejiang, but the actual taste of Sanlejiang is limited and not very memorable.

However, its ferocity was something Li Xian had never witnessed before.

On the contrary, Xue Zhongzhang's eyes lit up after taking a sip, and he exclaimed, "Good wine!"

……

(End of this chapter)