Leaving the horse gang, Zhao Yi’an walked briskly, humming a little tune as he headed toward the town.
This time, he deliberately avoided the tavern on the east side of town where he usually ran errands. Instead, he chose the one Liu Yao had taken him to the first time she treated him.
Based on what he observed during their last drinking session, Liu Yao seemed to quite like that place’s specialty wine. Perhaps, for her, that wine was more…
But for Zhao Yi’an, the impression the wine left on him wasn’t so great.
Still, to make the girl happy, Zhao Yi’an chose to head straight for that seemingly small tavern.
Before he even got close, the sight of the tavern came into view.
Several long tables outside were packed. A few bare-chested men were gulping down wine from bowls. A group nearby was huddled together, talking about something and laughing so hard they nearly fell over.
Pushing aside the cloth curtain to enter, a waitstaff weaved through the gaps between tables with a tray, constantly shouting, “Excuse me! Coming through!” without a moment’s pause.
His feet, however, were steady.
The stuffy air was a mix of alcohol fumes, the aroma of braised meat, and the sweaty smell from who-knows-whose body, all hitting one’s face with a warm, heavy feeling.
Zhao Yi’an scanned the surroundings, spotted an empty table in the corner, walked over, sat down, and raised his voice to call out:
“Waitstaff! I’d like to order!”
“Coming—”
A somewhat familiar figure squeezed through the crowd.
The waitstaff hurried over with his tray, about to greet him, but his gaze fell on Zhao Yi’an’s face and suddenly stopped.
He blinked, leaned in for a closer look, and a meaningful smile slowly spread across his face.
“Hey! Isn’t this the guest from that day!”
Zhao Yi’an recognized him too—it was the same guy from last time, the one who smiled while pushing the “specialty wine,” patting his chest and claiming it “had no alcohol content.”
“…It’s you,” Zhao Yi’an’s mouth twitched.
“Of course it’s me!” The waitstaff tucked the tray under his arm, looking Zhao Yi’an up and down with a grin. “You’re looking much better today, sir. Much more… uh… sober than last time.”
“So, was the wine good?”
The waitstaff raised an eyebrow, looking utterly punchable.
“Cut it out. That wine of yours knocks people over with a single gust of wind, and you have the nerve to say it has no alcohol content. Just wait until someone gets hurt from drinking it, you’ll see.”
“Ah, sir, you wrong me.” The waitstaff waved his hands with a feigned look of grievance. “That young lady warrior who came with you that day, she drank several pots and walked out perfectly steady!”
Then, his expression turned mischievous again. He leaned in, eyebrows raised, and said:
“Besides, isn’t that a good thing, hmm?”
“Get lost, get lost! Don’t talk nonsense! Hurry up, bring me a few pots of your shop’s specialty wine and some sliced braised meat. Pack it up; I’m taking it to go.”
Zhao Yi’an couldn’t be bothered to banter with him. He waved his hand, shooing away this unserious waiter.
“Right away!” The waitstaff responded, turned to leave, then suddenly twisted back to wink at him. “Just a moment, sir, it’ll be ready soon!”
Sitting there, watching the waiter disappear into the crowd, Zhao Yi’an finally let out a sigh of relief.
Really, this waiter is too much.
Better come here less often from now on…
But if Master likes the wine here, making a few extra trips wouldn’t be so bad…
While waiting, he idly looked around. The nearby tables were still lively—people playing finger-guessing games, bragging, slapping tables—all blending into a buzzing hum of everyday noise.
Just then, a somewhat childish voice came from a nearby wine table—
“You don’t know squat! My news came straight from the mouth of a servant from Wealthy Wang’s household!”
Zhao Yi’an followed the sound and saw a half-grown boy standing on a bench, his face flushed red, looking indignant. He clutched a few sheets of paper in his hand, looking like a newspaper boy.
A few diners nearby were laughing and teasing him.
“Come off it, you’re still wet behind the ears, and you heard it ‘straight from the mouth’?”
“Exactly, you kid are always spouting nonsense. The Wang family wedding was so lively, how could it be fake?”
Hearing the customers’ sarcastic remarks, the newspaper boy got flustered and slammed the table.
“Lively? Lively my foot!”
This shout drew the attention of people at several nearby tables.
He cleared his throat, lowered his voice, but deliberately made sure those around could hear:
“I’m telling you, that night, the new groom never showed up!”
“Impossible, right? Didn’t they perform the ceremony?”
“The one who performed the ceremony was someone else!” The newspaper boy mysteriously scanned the crowd, a smirk curling his lips.
“It was a pretty, fair-skinned young man. He went up wearing the groom’s clothes. Old Man Wang’s face turned red with anger on the spot!”
“And then? And then?” someone couldn’t help but ask.
“And then Miss Wang rushed out, stood in front of her father, and protected that pretty boy.”
The newspaper boy paused, grabbed a nearby teapot to pour himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then lowered his voice even further.
“Old Man Wang was trembling with rage, pointing at that pretty boy and ordering the servants to beat him. I heard his expression was… hiss—”
The listeners around looked at each other. Someone couldn’t resist urging him on:
“What happened exactly? Spit it out!”
The newspaper boy put down his tea bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then continued in a hushed voice.
“Old Man Wang pointed at that pretty boy, told the servants to beat him to death, but before they could finish, he himself couldn’t catch his breath and fainted right then and there!”
“Ah?”
Another wave of astonished murmurs swept through the crowd.
“What happened after that? Where did the original groom go?”
“Who knows? Maybe he ran off in anger? Anyway, from what I heard from those servants, aside from greeting guests at the beginning, no one saw him again after that.”
After finishing, he smugly looked around at the dumbfounded diners, jumped down from the bench, and dusted off his hands.
“So? Is my news worth a few coppers?”
Zhao Yi’an sat there frozen, not knowing where to put his hands.
The new groom didn’t show up…
Someone else wore the groom’s clothes…
Miss Wang protected that pretty boy…
These thoughts flooded his mind like a tide, buzzing and crowding his head. He opened his mouth but found he had no idea what to say.
Lost in his daze, a voice suddenly came from beside him:
“Sir, your wine and meat are all packed!”
Zhao Yi’an snapped back to reality. The waitstaff was standing before him, holding several oil-paper packages, looking at him with a smile.
Zhao Yi’an took the packages, paused for a moment, and suddenly asked, “What that kid said just now… is it true?”
The waitstaff glanced at the nearby table, then shrugged.
“Maybe. But with a big wealthy family like the Wangs, nothing is strange. They play all sorts of games; it’s normal. It might very well be true.”
Zhao Yi’an opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but didn’t know what to ask.
In the end, he just nodded, furrowed his brow, hugged the oil-paper packages, and walked out.
Outside the tavern, the street was bustling with people coming and going. Hawkers’ cries and shouts blended together, but Zhao Yi’an’s ears were buzzing; he couldn’t hear any of it.
He looked down at the wine and meat in his arms, then remembered what the newspaper boy had said.
Miss Wang…
What in the world is going on? What exactly happened that night?
These questions swarmed in his mind like flies, impossible to shoo away, impossible to sort out, with no answers in sight.
Zhao Yi’an’s steps faltered. Finally, he started running back toward the horse gang.
At that moment, a person walked past him, a cloth-wrapped arm brushing against his sleeve.
“Mm… sorry.”
Zhao Yi’an instinctively glanced back. The person had their head down, face unclear.
He paused, wanting to take another look, but the person had already turned into an alleyway.
Zhao Yi’an shook his head and continued running toward the horse gang.
Huff—
Master is still waiting.
What the young man didn’t know was that the man who had turned into the alleyway was now standing before an inconspicuous back door, raising his hand to knock three times.