Chapter 52: A Capital Offense

Qin Hao said with great confidence, "Doing it this way is the only way it will work."

"Of course, you can choose not to believe me."

"But you cannot doubt the one hundred thousand taels you provided."

"I don't feel like issuing a refund just yet."

With that, Qin Hao turned and left to direct the next phase of the publicity campaign.

Under his guidance, not only were the patrons' emotions swiftly pacified, but the renowned wine, "Hero's Blood," successfully captured the public's attention.

Hero's Blood—as the name implied, it was a liquor meant only for true heroes. Ordinary mortals simply could not withstand such fiery spirits; whoever could drain a pot without falling was worthy of being called a hero.

This instantly provoked the competitive spirit of countless individuals.

Everyone wanted to know just how fierce this Hero's Blood truly was.

Furthermore, the accompanying verses tailored for the liquor caught the eye of numerous scholars and literati, who eagerly anticipated whether these new compositions would match the caliber of *Cherishing the Empty Goblet*.

Consequently, regardless of their original intentions, everyone grew immensely eager for the "Warming Wine and Discussing Heroes" event scheduled for the next two days.

……

For the next seven consecutive days, the entire capital was immersed in the baptism of this celebrated wine.

The moment the poem *Immortal by the River*, which debuted alongside Hero's Blood, was revealed, it sent another shockwave through the capital.

"The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, washing away the heroes of yesteryear."

"Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing in a flash."

"The green mountains remain as they are, yet how many times has the sunset glowed red?"

"The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter on the river islet calmly watch the autumn moon and spring breeze."

"A jug of turbid wine brings a joyful reunion."

"How many affairs of past and present are all tossed into casual laughter."

In a mere sixty characters, it encapsulated all forms of human life and the vicissitudes of history.

Countless scholars and men of letters were profoundly shaken.

No wonder the second renowned wine was named Hero's Blood.

What did it matter if one were a legendary hero or a dashing figure? Everything would turn to dust after death.

Better to drink oneself into complete oblivion.

At that moment, an untold number of people went wild for Hero's Blood, yearning for its release so they could taste it for themselves.

Thus, on the day Hero's Blood made its formal debut, the grandeur of the Wind and Moon Pavilion was unprecedented.

Not only scholars and literati, but even the descendants of military generals arrived in droves.

That night, not a single person at the Wind and Moon Pavilion could manage to finish an entire pot of the wine—not even the bravest heroes and gallants.

Consequently, Hero's Blood became inextricably branded as a symbol for heroes and legendary figures.

This successful round of sales netted Qin Hao another thirty-and-some-odd thousand taels of silver.

Yet the real windfall remained the newly acquired franchise fees.

Witnessing the soaring sales of Hero's Blood and comparing it to their own dismal business, two pleasure houses and four taverns approached Bai Chenxi a second time to discuss a partnership.

This time, they finally compromised and paid the franchise fees.

Fifty thousand taels per establishment; across all six, that amounted to three hundred thousand taels, of which Qin Hao's share was one hundred and fifty thousand taels.

In other words, Qin Hao netted a cool one hundred and eighty thousand taels overnight.

Combined with the one hundred and twenty thousand taels he had earned previously, his total wealth reached a staggering three hundred thousand taels.

A graceful arc formed at the corner of Qin Hao's lips.

These should be more than enough.

As for the remaining days of the wager, he knew very well there was no opportunity to earn any more money.

Currently, all seven distributors were lining up to place orders with him.

Relying solely on himself, Ma Yingzi, and Zhao Guangnian, it was impossible to fulfill such a massive volume of liquor in a short period of time.

By the time the wine was delivered and the silver collected, Li Qingyao's wager deadline would likely have already passed.

Therefore, Qin Hao instructed these distributors to sell the wine in limited quantities.

Each sale had to be tied to certain conditions, such as a minimum spending amount or specific qualifying criteria, before customers could purchase the celebrated liquor.

The distributors understood completely, eagerly joining in to ride the wave of massive profits.

Consequently, Qin Hao spent the past few days constantly busy—when he wasn't distilling wine as usual, he was fully engrossed in developing new blends.

Along the way, a suitable site for the new distillery had also been secured.

Qin Hao had all fifty large vats of recently distilled liquor transported to the distillery, while the raw materials for the remaining one hundred large vats were delivered in a steady stream.

This had been pre-arranged between Qin Hao and Li Qingyao.

The day of the wager was tomorrow.

Once Li Qingyao produced the three hundred thousand taels of silver, the distillery would inevitably be exposed.

Besides, there was no longer any need for concealment.

Qin Hao was well aware that among his franchise partners, four originated from the four great aristocratic clans.

As families with deep-rooted heritage and extensive businesses throughout the capital, how could they possibly fail to see the enormous profits generated by the famous wine? Naturally, they had obediently chosen to buy in.

And those members of the four great clans, having failed to uncover the identity of the wine supplier at the Wind and Moon Pavilion, had specifically assigned people to keep watch there, waiting for a hare to crash into the stump.

How could they willingly let the Wind and Moon Pavilion keep a thirty percent profit on such a lucrative business?

Sure enough, they managed to uncover a few clues.

On this very day, Ma Yingzi was meticulously delivering the wine, strictly following Qin Hao's advice that in just two more days, sneaking around would no longer be necessary.

Yet, whatever one fears the most tends to happen.

He was spotted by agents of the aristocratic clans.

And the ones who laid eyes on Ma Yingzi, coincidentally, were none other than Qin Kaizhi and Zhang Yi.

The pair had originally intended to go and make trouble for Qin Hao.

Hearing that their households had instructed them to keep an eye on the Wind and Moon Pavilion, they had headed straight over.

Never did they expect such an unexpected harvest.

"Kaizhi, who is this fellow? Why are you so excited?" Zhang Yi asked in puzzlement.

"It's Ma Yingzi, the grandson of Duke Zheng. Last time, he and Qin Hao beat me up. I never expected him to be the one delivering the wine."

"He has a very close relationship with Qin Hao. Now that I think about it, both famous wines came with legacy-grade poems."

"Perhaps both celebrated liquors are genuinely connected to Qin Hao," Qin Kaizhi said, his eyes gleaming.

Zhang Yi similarly broke into a smile. "If it's truly as you say, then illicit private brewing is a capital offense in the Great Jing Dynasty."

"The Great Jing Dynasty has a strict prohibition on alcohol; not even the grandson of Duke Zheng can openly defy it."

"Furthermore, brewing on such a massive scale is a crime punishable by decapitation."

Hearing this, Qin Kaizhi burst into laughter on the spot.

He wished nothing more than for Qin Hao to be tied to the recent craze of famous wines.

Moreover, having learned his lesson from the previous beating, Qin Kaizhi had grown smarter.

The moment he caught a hint of a clue, he first sent someone back home to report that they might have found the source of the famous wine.

Immediately afterward, the two men gathered a large group of thugs and stealthily trailed Ma Yingzi.

Ma Yingzi remained immersed in the joy of making money and paid no attention to the people following behind him.

Even Qin Kaizhi and Zhang Yi failed to notice that yet another group of people was keeping a close eye on them.

Upon seeing the two men tailing Ma Yingzi, this separate group silently withdrew.

Meanwhile, at the Manor of the Earl of Kaiyang,

Yang Suxin was sitting at her embroidery frame.

Upon receiving the report, a smile she could no longer suppress spread across her face.

She had known several days in advance that Qin Hao was brewing wine.

The reason she hadn't reported him to the authorities earlier was to let Qin Hao brew a larger quantity first—after all, reporting a crime required evidence.

Moreover, the scandalous affair between her and Qin Hao had caused an uproar in the capital, making it inconvenient for her to step forward personally.

Therefore, she had attempted to leverage any outside force she could harness to expose Qin Hao.

To her surprise, the one attempting to expose Qin Hao turned out to be her own son.

Now, this was wonderful; her son was about to score a massive achievement.

To crush Qin Hao while simultaneously bringing glory to her son—it was truly killing two birds with one stone.

How could she not be overjoyed?

At the thought of this, Yang Suxin muttered to herself, "Qin Hao, didn't you want to make a fortune? Since the famous wine has brought you so much wealth, let's see if you have the life left to spend it."

Elsewhere,

at a location slightly removed from the center of the capital,

occupying an area as vast as a four-compound courtyard, Qin Hao, accompanied by Zhao Guangnian and Xiaoyu, was bustling with activity.

Having recovered over the past several days, Xiaoyu not only had a rosy complexion but had also returned to her usual physical health.

"Young Master, let me handle this," Xiaoyu said, skipping over to help Qin Hao carry things.

Qin Hao nodded. Just as he turned to attend to other matters, Xiaoyu had already finished moving the item and hurried back, saying, "Young Master, let me do it."

Qin Hao nodded again.

Just as Qin Hao prepared to busy himself with something else, Xiaoyu suddenly materialized once more: "Young Master, I..."

Qin Hao finally stopped her. "Xiaoyu, you are allowed to rest periodically."

Xiaoyu replied cheerfully, "Young Master, I've rested for a long time. Right now, I just want to help you."

Qin Hao shook his head with a smile and simply left her to her own devices.

At that moment, Ma Yingzi returned pushing a wooden flatbed cart.

Zhao Guangnian laughed heartily. "Old Ma, the way you look right now really makes you resemble a farming laborer."

Unfazed by Zhao Guangnian's teasing, Ma Yingzi smiled and replied, "To quote Old Qin: doing honest work and making money is nothing to be ashamed of."

Qin Hao chimed in, "Every single grain comes through bitter toil; laborers are the greatest of all. Clothing, food, housing, and travel—none of these can do without the working people."

"You two should put aside that notion of 'scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants' in your heads. That isn't a hierarchy of worth; it simply denotes that the world requires all these different roles to flourish."

Ma Yingzi chuckled. "Look at that, Old Qin is at it again. Clearly, he's a scholar himself, yet he refuses to endorse the traditional ranking of the four occupations."

Zhao Guangnian looked thoughtful, though he still couldn't fully comprehend the sentiment.

Just as the men were chatting merrily, the heavy gates of the distillery were suddenly kicked open.

The commotion at the entrance immediately drew the attention of the three men.

"Hahahaha! Excellent! Qin Hao, I've finally caught you in the act!"

"Brewing wine in secret, and on such a massive scale—you're finished! Just wait to lose your head!"

The speaker was Qin Kaizhi.

His laughter at that moment was as unbridled and arrogant as could possibly be!