Chapter 53: Smash Harder

Qin Kaizhi?

Seeing the person who had arrived, Qin Hao’s gaze narrowed slightly.

Immediately afterward, more people filed into the distillery.

These were precisely the thugs brought by Zhang Yi and Qin Kaizhi.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangnian immediately looked at Ma Yingze: "You were followed! Didn't I tell you to be extremely careful these past two days?"

Ma Yingze replied angrily, "I never expected that I'd be tailed by such a scoundrel."

Qin Kaizhi sneered, "Go ahead and curse all you want, Ma Yingze. Brewing wine on such a massive scale, completely defying the prohibition, and in such huge quantities—just wait until your heads roll."

Hearing the words "liquor ban" once more, a flash of light crossed Qin Hao's eyes. He whispered to Xiaoyu, who was standing by and looking terrified, "Go to the Grand Princess's Manor and tell them that Qin Kaizhi brought a mob to smash the distillery."

"What about you, Young Master?" Xiaoyu grabbed Qin Hao’s hand, trembling, and refused to leave.

"If you go right now, your young master will be fine. Remember, tell Li Qingyao to use the brocade pouch," Qin Hao instructed.

Nodding heavily, Xiaoyu immediately sprinted toward the back door.

"Don't let her get away! Not a single person here is allowed to leave!" Seeing Xiaoyu make a break for it, Qin Kaizhi barked orders at his men to chase after her.

Qin Hao sneered, "Old Ma, Old Zhao, it's time to work. Three against fifteen—do you dare to fight?"

"Let's do it!" Ma Yingze snatched up a thick wooden club from the floor the size of a forearm and charged forward.

Coming from a lineage of military generals, how could they possibly fear such a minor scuffle?

"They still dare to resist! Arrest them all and report this to the authorities!" Zhang Yi commanded.

Qin Kaizhi was practically ecstatic. "Qin Hao, you never saw this coming, did you? I found out about your illicit brewing, and with the liquor ban in place, let's see how the Grand Princess is going to protect you!"

Zhao Guangnian was about to charge forward as well, but Qin Hao pulled him back, saying, "When the fight starts, take a hoe and smash the wine vats. Smash a few vats of finished liquor, but smash every single raw material that's left."

"Remember, do not smash those two special vats of mine; they'll be useful!"

Perplexed, Zhao Guangnian asked, "Why?"

"Just smash them as I said. I'm going to help Old Ma."

"Remember, smash them hard, and smash plenty of them," Qin Hao said, picking up a club himself and rushing into the fray.

Zhao Guangnian chose to trust Qin Hao.

Facing the thugs closing in on him, he ducked behind the rows of wine vats.

Seeing a thug rush toward him, Zhao Guangnian swung his hoe as if accidentally missing his target, bringing it down squarely on a wine vat.

Instantly, fragrant, premium wine spilled all across the floor.

As for Qin Hao, he completely ignored the thugs and bolted straight for Qin Kaizhi and Zhang Yi.

To catch the bandits, one must first capture their leader.

Although he did not recognize Zhang Yi, he had seen him issuing orders to the thugs, which meant his status was definitely extraordinary.

"Qin Kaizhi, you still tried to frame me! Today I'm going to break your legs, and no one can stop me!" Moving at lightning speed, Qin Hao covered the distance to Qin Kaizhi in a dozen steps.

Qin Kaizhi turned pale with fright.

Seeing the thick club in Qin Hao's hand swinging down at him, his face drained of color as he scrambled backward in terror.

Two of Qin Kaizhi's bodyguards immediately stepped forward to block Qin Hao's path.

Yet Qin Hao moved as if aided by the gods, single-handedly holding his ground against the two robust thugs.

He swept his wooden club horizontally, forcing the pair back several heavy steps.

Qin Hao felt a surge of reassurance; his physical strength had grown even greater.

"Hit him! Beat him down!" A terrified Qin Kaizhi shrieked at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Duke Yang Estate:

Grand Duke Yang was sipping tea and chatting with the heads of the other three great noble families.

The heads of these three families were:
Zhang Zhihe of the Qinghe Zhang clan;
Wei Zheng of the Fanyang Wei clan;
Xue Qiren of the Gongyang Xue clan;
And Grand Duke Yang of the Boling Yang clan.

This was already the third time the group had met.

They had already reached a consensus, instructing their respective family enterprises in the capital not to purchase any treasures flowing out of the Grand Princess's Manor.

This exact move had resulted in the Grand Princess's Manor finding no buyers daring enough to acquire their treasures.

Ultimately, the four of them had deduced that the Grand Princess could at most raise five thousand taels, and likely not even ten thousand.

Which suited them best.

Just as the group was conversing amiably, a servant suddenly rushed in to report that the source of the famous premium wine had been located.

The expressions of the four men brightened with delight. Exchanging glances, they all burst out laughing.

Zhang Zhihe was the first to speak. "This is truly a double blessing. Since our younger kin have invited us over, why don't the four of us go out for a stroll?"

Grand Duke Yang nodded in agreement. "It is indeed worth a look. If we can master the method of brewing this renowned wine, it will become a tremendously profitable business from now on."

"Within a year, we could easily pull in two or three hundred thousand taels."

As they spoke, the men smiled even more broadly.

How could they ever allow the Wind and Moon Pavilion to ride roughshod over them?

Elsewhere, at the Grand Princess's Manor:

Xiaoyu ran with every ounce of her strength.

Clearing paths through the crowds while tears streamed down her face, she knew that only by reaching the Grand Princess's Manor as quickly as possible could she save the young master.

After about a quarter of an hour, Xiaoyu burst into the Grand Princess's Manor.

The guards all recognized Xiaoyu, knowing her to be a kind-hearted girl.

"Xiaoyu, what on earth has happened to you?" Seeing her disheveled and weeping, they asked anxiously.

"I need to see the Princess! The young master is in trouble!" Xiaoyu cried out emotionally.

The young master?

Young Master Qin Hao was in trouble!

The guards instantly snapped to attention and hurriedly escorted Xiaoyu to see the Princess.

"What is the matter?" Seeing Xiaoyu in such a state of distress, Li Qingyao demanded immediately.

"Your Highness, the young master is in trouble! The Second Young Master of the Qin family... Qin Kaizhi brought people to smash the distillery!" Xiaoyu gasped for breath between sobs.

"Qin Kaizhi has a lot of nerve!"
"Wu Tong, take the guards and come with me!"

Hearing that the distillery had been vandalized, Li Qingyao was beyond furious.

As for Qin Hao's safety, she was not particularly worried. The two hidden guards would ensure his life remained secure.

However, the distillery partly belonged to her, and even held a share belonging to her imperial father. She intended to see just who dared to make a move.

"Your Highness, the young master said to use the brocade pouch," Xiaoyu called out, staggering slightly as she trailed behind.

Li Qingyao nodded. "Rest here. Don't worry, with me protecting your young master, no harm will come to him."

With those words, Li Qingyao strode swiftly away.

Simultaneously, she retrieved a brocade pouch from within her robes.

Qin Hao had given it to her two days prior, telling her that if any trouble ever struck the distillery, she should open the pouch.

Li Qingyao scanned its contents quickly, and a smile spread across her face.

It had to be Qin Hao; he anticipated everything in advance.

No wonder he dared to brave the liquor ban to sell wine—he had figured out his countermeasure the very day he decided to sell it.

Still, what was this substance Qin Hao called "alcohol"?

Could it truly be as magical as he claimed, capable of raising wounded soldiers' survival rates by thirty percent?

If so, that was nothing short of a divine medicine.

If such a thing truly existed, Qin Hao wouldn't just be safe from punishment for selling wine; even if he were selling salt and iron, he would likely be deemed innocent.

Back at the distillery:

"Help! Someone save me!" Qin Kaizhi wailed as Qin Hao chased him around, thrashing him with the club.

"Stay back! I am a member of the Zhang family! If you hit me, my family will never let you go!" Zhang Yi shrieked as Ma Yingze pursued him.

All of their thugs had already been knocked flat.

They simply couldn't withstand the relentless pursuit and beating from Qin Hao and Ma Yingze.

The reason Qin Hao and Ma Yingze managed to take down the thugs so quickly was largely due to playing dirty.

Both men had shouted their identities, causing the thugs to hold back and avoid delivering fatal blows.

Conversely, neither Qin Hao nor Ma Yingze held back a single punch.

Naturally, they paid a price for it; both were covered in bruises, their faces swollen and bodies marked with red and purple welts.

On the other side, Zhao Guangnian was keeping two thugs occupied while continuing his frantic destruction of the wine vats.

Suddenly, the heavy sound of marching footsteps echoed from outside.

The representatives of the four great families had arrived first.

Taking in the wretched state of the distillery, Grand Duke Yang roared with fury, "Cease this at once!"

The person being beaten was his own grandson; how could he not be anxious?

Before his voice had even faded, the thunder of hooves and the thud of running feet approached.

Li Qingyao arrived on horseback, followed by a large contingent of soldiers who completely surrounded the distillery.

Grand Duke Yang and the heads of the other three families furrowed their brows slightly.

Why was the Grand Princess here?

However, the Grand Princess ignored the four of them entirely, riding straight up to Qin Hao and asking, "Qin Hao, are you alright?"

Grand Duke Yang and the other three fixed their gazes on Qin Hao, who was still in the middle of pummeling Qin Kaizhi.

This man was Qin Hao!

Why was Qin Hao at the distillery?

Could it be...

A terrifying hypothesis formed in their minds.

Qin Hao delivered yet another whack with his club onto Qin Kaizhi's leg, and upon seeing Li Qingyao, he wailed dramatically, "Your Highness, you've finally arrived! Some people are beating the dog without caring who the master is!"

Li Qingyao’s forehead thundered with dark lines.

*Beat the dog without caring who the master is?! What kind of logic is that?!*

Ma Yingze chimed in loudly, "Your Highness! They're beating the dog without caring about the master!"

Zhao Guangnian immediately echoed him, "Beating the dog without caring about the master!"

Unable to endure their shouting any longer, Li Qingyao gave her orders: "Since you lot have so much energy left, you must be fine. Arrest the lot of them and throw them into the dungeon."

Qin Hao's head filled with question marks.

*Damn it, aren't you supposed to be backing us up?*

Leaning down from her horse, Li Qingyao whispered to Qin Hao, "I believe what you told me about alcohol. You need to trust me in return."

"If what you say is true, I will have the Earl of Kaiyang beg you to spare Qin Kaizhi. How about that?"

Qin Hao's eyes lit up. "Add Yang Suxin to the deal."

The corners of Li Qingyao’s lips curved upward. "Deal. Go into the cell first, and leave the rest to me."

Qin Hao immediately surrendered willingly, putting on a thoroughly guilty expression.

Yet, inwardly, he gave Li Qingyao a mental thumbs-up.

*This woman truly understands me!*

Instantly, the soldiers moved to escort everyone away toward the dungeon.

"Grandfather, save me! Save me!" screamed a battered and unrecognizable Qin Kaizhi.

"Grandfather, save me!" Zhang Yi cried out to Zhang Zhihe as well.

"Hold on." Grand Duke Yang and Zhang Zhihe spoke simultaneously with dark, gloomy expressions.

Seeing their respective grandsons beaten to such a state, their fury had long since boiled over.

Facing the enraged Grand Duke Yang, Li Qingyao said indifferently, "Grand Duke Yang, this Princess is apprehending criminals. Whatever matters you have can wait until later."

Grand Duke Yang said coldly, "Your Highness, it was clearly Qin Hao and his companions who illicitly brewed wine and violated the liquor ban, making them the worst of criminals. How is it that my grandson is the one accused of smashing a distillery and committing malicious assault?"

Li Qingyao smiled lightly. "Grand Duke Yang, are you suggesting that the men lying injured on the ground were hired by Qin Hao himself to smash his own distillery?"

Grand Duke Yang frowned. "Are you saying the Grand Princess intends to shield Qin Hao?"

Li Qingyao's expression remained unchanged as she replied, "Grand Duke Yang, I will report this matter to my Imperial Father. Whether Qin Hao is guilty will be decided by him."

"On the other hand, your grandson leading men to smash up a distillery is something this Princess witnessed with her own eyes. Or perhaps you mean to absolve him of his crimes?"

Staring intently at Li Qingyao, Grand Duke Yang remained silent, his inner anger growing by the second.

A moment later, he grated out through clenched teeth, "Fine! Then let us seek the Emperor's sacred judgment. Let's see how you manage to protect Qin Hao today!"