Chapter 43: The Pavilion of the Fallen Immortal
Page 1 of 3
After giving Tianyi his instructions, Zhao Yi left everything in his hands.
He was now, in all seriousness, a Vice Minister of Works. A man in his position ought to carry himself with a little dignity.
But he had barely managed to maintain that dignity for two days before he began to fidget.
Who knew how far that bastard Tianyi had exaggerated things?
With his hands tucked into his sleeves, Zhao Yi changed into an inconspicuous set of civilian clothes and wandered out into the streets.
He had just turned a corner and taken a few steps when he heard several idlers at a nearby tea stall boasting at the tops of their lungs.
“Have you heard? Our city of Luoyang is about to produce divine wine!”
A wiry man was speaking with such animation that his eyebrows seemed ready to fly off his face.
Zhao Yi stopped and pricked up his ears.
“I’m telling you, this wine isn’t something of the mortal world! It’s heavenly nectar from the Celestial Palace. A single drop accidentally spilled into the human realm, where an enlightened master caught it and brewed it into wine!”
Zhao Yi nearly tripped and fell flat on his face.
What the hell?
Heavenly nectar?
I only told Tianyi to exaggerate a little, and that bastard blew it all the way to the Celestial Palace?
Before he could recover from his shock, a fat man beside him interrupted with open disdain.
“That story of yours is outdated! The version I heard is much more reliable!”
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
“This wine wasn’t brewed at all!” The fat man lowered his voice, his face full of mystery. “It was formed from the breath of a true dragon, gathering the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth and condensing into sweet dew on a stormy night! One sip extends your life; one jug cures every illness!”
“Hiss…”
A chorus of sharp inhalations rose from the crowd.
Zhao Yi’s face turned green.
The breath of a true dragon? I’ll breathe a faceful of thick phlegm on you!
Who the hell taught them all this? That bastard Tianyi really is a genius!
With a dark expression, he continued walking.
The farther he went, the more outrageous the stories became.
“I heard it from my maternal great-uncle’s wife’s sister-in-law’s cousin that this wine is a secret imperial recipe, used by His Majesty to concoct elixirs! For an ordinary person to taste it is a blessing from Heaven itself!”
“That’s nothing! I heard that before Chancellor Wang Defa was brought down, he tried to steal the recipe. The heavenly lightning struck him dead!”
“Really? Is it that ominous?”
“Of course! The pockmarked Li Er from next door went outside the city yesterday looking for that divine dew. He fell into a cesspit and is still lying there!”
Zhao Yi’s scalp prickled as he listened. He was beginning to suspect that the bowl he had ladled from the wine vat back then had not been wine at all, but radioactive waste.
For the sake of a drink, these people had more imagination than novelists!
…
After being bombarded by every absurd rumor imaginable, Zhao Yi finally found the establishment Tianyi had mentioned.
Luoyang City, Vermilion Bird Avenue—the most prosperous district in the capital.
A three-story tavern had been completely renovated. On its signboard, three grand characters had been written in sweeping strokes:
The Exiled Immortal Pavilion.
Good heavens. Even the name was flamboyant.
At that moment, the entrance to the Exiled Immortal Pavilion was already packed with people. The crowd stretched three layers deep inside and out, blocking the street so thoroughly that not even a drop of water could pass through.
Tianyi stood on the steps, shouting at the top of his lungs as he directed more than a dozen workers in maintaining order.
“Everyone, don’t push! Stop pushing!”
“Divine wine for everyone! Our master is in a generous mood today and has specially brought out ten jin of Dragon-Saliva Brew for everyone to taste free of charge!”
“One sip clears the mind! Two sips make you feel like you’ve ascended to Heaven!”
The crowd erupted instantly.
Zhao Yi squeezed his way inside. In the center of the tavern’s main hall stood three enormous wine vats, each bearing a red paper label.
“Mortal Grade: Drunkenness of the Human World”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
“Immortal Grade: Jade Blossom Dew”
“Divine Grade: Sacred Flow Nectar”
The corner of Zhao Yi’s eye twitched violently.
Who the hell had come up with these names?
He grabbed one of the workers, who had been fanning the flames in the crowd, and dragged him into a corner.
The worker took one look at Zhao Yi and nearly collapsed from fright.
“M-My lord, it was Big Brother Tianyi’s arrangement. He said we had to make those wealthy fools feel that what they were drinking wasn’t wine, but immortal energy!”
That made far too much sense.
Zhao Yi was rendered speechless.
He looked around and, sure enough, saw plenty of richly dressed stewards and servants packed at the very front, pointing at the Sacred Flow Nectar with expressions of absolute determination.
Minister of Works Sun Decai and Chen Ziang, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review who had only just escaped the Wang Defa scandal, had both sent their household servants.
Those two old fellows certainly had keen ears.
Just then, a familiar figure forced his way through the crowd and arrived at the counter.
It was Zhao Zhao.
His father.
Zhao Zhao stood with his hands behind his back, eyeing the three vats suspiciously from every angle.
“Is this wine really that miraculous?”
He glanced at the worker and curled his lip. His voice was neither loud nor soft, just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
“I say it’s nothing but a scam! Breath of a true dragon, my foot. Why not claim it came from the Jade Emperor’s privy?”
The area fell noticeably quieter.
The worker’s face went pale, and he hurriedly bowed with a smile.
“Good sir, you’ll know once you’ve tasted it. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay!”
Zhao Zhao snorted and pointed at the cheapest vat, the Drunkenness of the Human World.
“Give me a jug.”
After paying, he hugged the wine jar to his chest and continued muttering.
“All flash and no substance. It certainly can’t be as good as the wine I’ve got hidden away.”
From his corner, Zhao Yi listened with helpless amusement.
You old fool. In a moment, you’re going to be conquered by your son’s “cheap scam.”
…
Only after the crowd had finally thinned out did Zhao Yi summon Tianyi to the rear courtyard.
“Not bad, kid.” Zhao Yi patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve learned to draw inferences.”
Tianyi gave a sly grin, unable to hide his pride.
“It’s all thanks to your guidance, my lord.”
“However…” Zhao Yi changed his tone. “Your sales method is still too immature.”
Tianyi froze.
“The wealthy aren’t drinking wine. They’re drinking prestige and status.” Zhao Yi nodded toward the Sacred Flow Nectar. “They don’t mind paying a high price. What they can’t stand is drinking the same thing as everyone else.”
“So our wine must be divided into different grades. The names must grow more mysterious with each level, and the prices must become more outrageous!”
“The wine itself is all more or less the same, right?” Tianyi’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.
“My lord is brilliant!”
“And that’s not all.” A shrewd merchant’s smile spread across Zhao Yi’s face. “Tell me—what is the best thing in the world?”
“The thing you can’t obtain is the best!”
“Exactly. That’s called scarcity marketing! From now on, we’ll sell only a fixed amount of wine each day. Once it’s gone, we close the doors. Want to buy some? Come early tomorrow!”
“We have to make them fight for it! Make them compete! Make them feel that being able to buy even one bottle of our wine is an honor granted by Heaven itself—and something worth boasting about in front of their friends!”
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Tianyi felt as if enlightenment had struck him like a thunderbolt. He gazed at Zhao Yi as though he were looking at a deity.
“My lord, I understand!”
“From now on, the Exiled Immortal Pavilion will sell only one thousand jin of Drunkenness of the Human World each day, and one hundred jin of Jade Blossom Dew. As for the Sacred Flow Nectar…”
A lecherous grin identical to Zhao Yi’s appeared on Tianyi’s face.
“Only ten jin a day!”
“Excellent. You’re teachable after all.” Zhao Yi nodded in satisfaction.
…
At dusk, the tavern closed for the day.
Tianyi ran up to Zhao Yi with a thick account book clutched in his arms, his face flushed with excitement.
“My lord! We’ve struck it rich! We’ve struck it rich!”
He spread open the ledger.
“Today alone, we sold that thousand jin of wine for… nearly thirty thousand taels!”
Zhao Yi stared at the long string of zeroes in the account book and was stunned as well.
Holy hell.
Thirty thousand taels? In a single day?
This was faster than robbing a treasury!
He remembered how, after receiving his promotion, he had practically begged that wretched empress for money while she haggled over every coin.
Who needed her rewards?
I am a gold mine unto myself!
He took the ledger and looked at the staggering figures, unable to stop himself from sighing.
“Knowledge truly is power.”
Tianyi was still immersed in his excitement.
“My lord, those ten jin of Sacred Flow Nectar were snapped up today by stewards from several ministers’ residences. Each jin sold for a thousand taels!”
Zhao Yi nodded and summoned the brothers Li Jin and Li Yin as well.
“From now on, the two of you will be responsible for brewing the wine. Once it’s ready, report directly to Tianyi. He’ll handle the sales.”
“Yes, Young General!”
The brothers’ faces flushed with excitement.
Once everything had been arranged, Tianyi came over, rubbing his hands.
“My lord, there’s one more person you should meet.”
“Who?”
“Liu Ruyan.” Tianyi gave a sly chuckle. “I once promised her that I would help her make a fortune. Now that the Exiled Immortal Pavilion needs a capable and well-connected manager, I think she’s the perfect choice.”
Zhao Yi raised an eyebrow. Tianyi was surprisingly true to his word.
Liu Ruyan was brought over soon afterward.
She had changed out of her former courtesan’s dress and into a crisp blue robe. The new attire made her look less alluring and more shrewd.
“This humble woman, Liu Ruyan, pays her respects to Lord Zhao.”
She bowed to Zhao Yi without either servility or arrogance.
Zhao Yi looked her over and got straight to the point.
“I want to place the Exiled Immortal Pavilion in your hands.”
“From now on, it won’t merely sell wine. It will sell colored glass, mirrors, and anything else capable of making money.”
“I want you to turn the Exiled Immortal Pavilion into the most profitable den of luxury in all of Great Zhou.”
He fixed his gaze on Liu Ruyan.
“Do you dare take on the challenge?”
Liu Ruyan lifted her head. There was not the slightest trace of timidity in her beautiful eyes. Instead, they glittered with excitement.
“Why wouldn’t I dare?”
The corners of her lips curved into a confident smile.
“If my lord trusts me, then I, Ruyan, will make the Exiled Immortal Pavilion’s daily turnover greater than the waters of the Luo River.”
Page 3 of 3