Chapter 16: A Busy Autumn

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 16: A Busy Autumn

Seeing Ding Ning casually tossing the bowl into the water basin, Zhangsun Qianxue, who was pouring new wine into small jars, frowned. She said displeasedly, “You're bothering with a gang conflict like this?”

Ding Ning naturally knew that Zhangsun Qianxue, with her keen senses, must have overheard the conversation between him and the man. He also frowned and said, “This isn't an ordinary gangster matter. Two Level Tower only possesses a small part of the rental business in the south of the city, but I heard in Changling, they have many secret alleys, pleasure and gambling houses. They've been in these business for decades, and their foundation is strong. I've never paid attention to Jinlintang before. On the surface, they seem to only be involved in some caravan and transportation businesses. They suddenly appeared to steal Two Level Tower's business. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes.”

“So what?” Zhangsun Qianxue glanced at him coldly and said, “Regardless of whether it is the Two Level Tower or Jinlintang, they're all lackeys of important figures in the court. It's just that some parties in the court are redistributing the profits.”

“That might be true elsewhere, but in the capitals of the dynasties, they are not that simple.” Ding Ning knew what she was thinking.

He shook his head slowly and explained patiently, “The capital of every dynasty is much larger than other major cities. Take Changling, for example. Even in the previous dynasty, it had a population of several hundred thousand. After the collapse of the Han, Zhao, and Wei dynasties, countless children and women were forced into Changling as slaves. Migration was also unrestricted. Today, the population has likely doubled, not even including travelers and merchant caravans from various countries. This is in just a few decades. The power of the wealthy and influential families of the previous dynasties has not collapsed. Even the current marquessate establishments will choose to ally with these influential families, taking their daughters as wives and concubines to gain more power. Changling is truly too complicated, its networks so interwoven that no one can fully control it, not even Minister Yan and Minister Li. Otherwise, given their abilities and way of thinking, Changling would not have so many gangster sects left. At most, only a few sects would be left to work for them.

“Time is limited, but the palace has too many matters to attend to. They also have to maintain their own reputation. Changling’s rivers and wells contain many serpents. If they want to fight with other dynasties, these serpents will make the effort. But if someone truly wants to make these serpents submit, they might end up cutting off their own arms and ultimately losing their place in the court.”

Pausing for a moment, Ding Ning then said, “The capitals of other dynasties are more or less the same. The dynasties have been established for a long time, and the emperors have too many sons. They cannot reclaim titled lands from the nobles. Influential families and marquesses even have the power to influence decisions within the imperial palace. Which emperor's son is capable of succeeding the throne, and which woman can become empress—all of this depends on which family has the upper hand at that time.”

Zhangsun Qianxue understood what Ding Ning meant. Furthermore, these words made her think of her own matters. Her face gradually turned cold.

At that moment, Ding Ning did not notice her expression. He was reminded of the hunchbacked old man with the black bamboo staff at the Fish Market. He remembered the price he had paid years ago to persuade the influential families and nobles to make concessions so that the Qin Dynasty would be different from every other dynasties. His mood grew even more somber, and he subconsciously lowered his head.

“Just like you said, if the city gangs were just lackeys of important figures, there would be fewer casualties. However, most of the sects in Changling only give benefits to important figures, exploiting each other. I'm afraid some important figures have ambitions and are trying to manipulate the situation behind the scenes to reorganize things in certain places. This will be bloody. I don't know how many people will die.

“I'm not afraid of killing, but I'm afraid of additional trouble. If things get too chaotic, I'll need to put in a lot of effort to understand it. Right now, we can't even reveal our status as cultivators. I haven't even reached realm three yet. If I get dragged into it, I don't know what the consequences will be.” As Ding Ning said this with his head lowered, he was worried whether the hunchbacked old man with the black bamboo staff and the person behind him would be dragged into this storm.

Zhangsun Qianxue’s eyes were cold. She was no longer interested in what Ding Ning had to say, because to her, it was all Ding Ning's business: whether his plans were disrupted, his cultivation too weak, or if he was unable to achieve his goals.

She had only one matter to do in Changling: surpass all the cultivators ahead of her.

She only needed to consider her sword, and her cultivation. She could even not leave this wine shop at all. She was the simplest.

She had always been the simplest.

 

That yellow-robed advisor, Xu Nian, had spoken correctly. While they were not interested in making wine, Zhangsun Qianxue and Ding Ning’s wine shop was the shop with the best business in Falling Parasol.

By noon, the chairs and tables in the wine shop were almost full. Most people came with food and dishes to pair with the wine.

Ding Ning dozed off by the counter as his ears carefully caught every word in the air.

A light carriage entered Falling Parasol Alley and stopped under the blue flag of the wine shop. The passenger in the carriage nimbly jumped off and walked into the doors of the wine shop.

It was a young man dressed in a purple satin robe. His clean, shiny black hair was tied in a bun on top of his head with two blue ribbons.

Only foreigners in Changling would do this.

The Qin people in Changling would let their hair loose or tie their hair behind their heads. Even the nobility would simply use jade hoops to hold back loose hair or use jade hairpins to curl their hair.

This foreigner chose an empty table to sit at and called out to Ding Ning, whose chin was resting on the counter, "Waiter, wine.”

All the other guests in the shop glanced at him and smiled maliciously.

Ding Ning raised his head and lazily shouted, “If you want wine, just help yourself. It's the shop rules.”

So arrogant?

Even with such arrogant, business was so good. Was the wine in this small wine shop really this good?

The young man in the purple satin robe was speechless. Then he realized why all the customers around him were looking at him as if they were looking at a piece of wood.

He stood up, slightly angry, and walked in front of Ding Ning.

“A jug of wine costs twenty copper coins. A plate of salted peanuts costs five copper coins.” Before he could speak, Ding Ning pointed to the jug of wine and the plate of peanuts on the table and motioned for him to help himself.

The young man's brow furrowed slightly. He was speechless. He threw down twenty copper coins and only took one jug of wine.

When he returned to his own table, the young man seemed very eager to drink the wine. He did not sip slowly like a regular customer. He took off the lid, and poured directly into his mouth.

In the next moment, the young man's expression turned extremely ugly. His throat felt like someone was strangling him. Phew, he spat out the wine that had reached his throat.

“It's so sour, like you just mixed water with rotten glutinous rice. Can this even be called wine!”

He looked towards the cups of the surrounding customers and then into his own jug. He was so angry that his fingers began to tremble. He could not help but shout, “You didn't even filter out the distillers grains. Can this still be called wine? And it's so famous?”

Looking at his indignation, the surrounding customers exchanged glances. They knew this person must be a wine enthusiast. Simultaneously, expressions of disgust appeared on their faces.

Could it be that you came to this wine shop to taste the wine?

Are you stupid?

As this foreigner shouted, Ding Ning’s expression remained calm. He nodded seriously and answered, “The wine in this shop always tastes like this.”

Snap. A shattering sound was heard.

The young man slammed the wine jug to the ground. He was clearly furious and shouted again, “Can this be called wine!”

“If it's not wine, then what?”

“The wine of the Qin is all like this. If you can drink it, drink it; if you can't, that's your problem.”

“You're from the Chu, and you dare to run amok in Changling?”

The people of Changling did not have a good feelings towards foreigners, and this foreigner clearly had a Chu accent. He should not be a Qin person. Accompanied by a loud bang on the table, more than half of the people in the shop stood up.

“So what if I am from the Chu?”

The young man looked at the people around him, a disdainful yet proud expression appearing on his face. “Hasn’t your Yang Mountain Commandery been given to my dynasty?”

As he said this, the shop fell silent. The eyes of all the customers turned red.

This was not just a verbal argument.

In the third year of Yuanwu, the Qin Dynasty, which had destroyed the Zhao, Wei and Han dynasties, fought a major war against the Chu Dynasty. In that war, two hundred thousand of the Qin soldiers were killed. They lost many chariots, and suffered such heavy losses that they had to cede land for peace.

To this day, they had still not been able to recapture the Yang Mountain Commandery.

The Chu Dynasty only sent an unfavored prince to be left behind in Changling as a hostage, according to the agreement at that time.

A unfavored son with only six hundred square miles of land in exchange for six hundred square miles of fertile land and tens of thousands of Qin people. This matter was a humiliation for all of Qin people.

Just as drunkenness was starting to turn into murderous intent, and blood was about to start dripping onto the floor, a cold voice suddenly sounded inside the wine shop. “Marching and fighting are the business of soldiers and cultivators. If you don't drink wine properly and want to discuss matters with others, then leave, and don't make a scene at my place.”

The curtain to the inner courtyard opened, and Zhangsun Qianxue emerged, her expression hostile and cold.

All the fire and murderous intent in the customers' eyes turned into heat.

The first few people to stand up smiled awkwardly and sat down.

The disdainful young man also turned into stone.

He never expected to meet such a beautiful person in a wine shop like this.

Looking at Zhangsun Qianxue’s enchanting features, his breathing became erratic. He finally understood why so many customers would come to this wine shop to drink.

Wine had to warm people’s hearts.

Wine that could warm people’s heart was good wine.

Although the wine in this wine shop was so sour and unpleasant to drink, when one looked at her, it was not just their hearts that warmed. These ordinary people would feel a burning sensation all over their bodies for a long time.

“This is a beauty that rivals a commandery…”

At this moment, the young foreigner was in a daze. Filled with heat, he wanted to ask the name of this woman.

“Hey, you have to pay for the broken wine jug.”

However, at this moment, Ding Ning raised his head and said lazily at him, “Also, before you leave, clean up the fragments scattered on the ground so that others don’t get hurt.”

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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