Chapter 73: The Great Universe Within Wine

  An Yuan felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. The Liu family was holding a joyful event, and he couldn't not attend, but he was worried that he would run into Xia Zhen. He had originally been absolutely convinced that Xia Zhen wouldn't be the one who killed Thirteen Lang and Feng Zongqi, but what about Liu Xu's death? An Yuan could guess why Liu Xu had kidnapped Xiao Ding, but if Xia Zhen was able to kill Liu Xu without any qualms for this reason, did he also have the possibility of doing the same to Thirteen Lang and Feng Zongqi? If these three people were really all killed by Xia Zhen, then what about him... would Xia Zhen let him off?

  These days, An Yuan dared not go out of the outer gate, and he did not dare to step over the second gate. Originally, Xia Liu was not worth mentioning in his eyes, but now he had imagined him as a powerful and mysterious monster. He didn't know when Xia Liu would pop up, holding a knife in his hand, and even at night, he had to change places several times to sleep.

  Just now he saw Xia Xun, Xia Xun always wanted to get close to him, although he didn't believe that Xia Xun dared to harm him in public, but he was still afraid, with a chilling feeling. The guests at the table clinked their cups and chopsticks, laughing and chatting, but An Yuan's food had no flavor.

  "I mustn't stay here for long, I have to hurry and leave!"

  Just as he saw someone next to him get up and enter the toilet, An Weng immediately stood up, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to slip away. He got up, turned his head, and was startled to see Xia Zhen holding a cup in his left hand and a pot in his right hand, smiling and asking: "Old An, where are you going?"

  An Yan was shocked and jumped up, changing color as he stuttered: "I... I..."

  He had just thought of saying to go to the restroom, when Xia Jie had already squeezed into the seat and sat down in the position that the guest had just vacated next to him. Taking advantage of the opportunity to squeeze forward with his body, An Yuan Wai was also forced to sit back in his seat.

  Xia Fu laughed and said, "It's been a few days since we brothers met. The other day, An Lao Ge fell ill, and I was worried sick about him. Today, seeing An Lao Ge as healthy as ever, it's truly a joyous occasion. Come on, let's have a drink, us two brothers."

  "Ah, you've only got dregs left in your cup. Let me pour it out and I'll give you a refill of the finest bamboo leaf green tea." Xia Yu didn't hesitate, pouring out An Yuanwai's nearly full cup of wine onto the floor, then using his own wine jug to fill another cup for him. He raised his cup and said, "An brother, please!"

  An Yan's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he thought to himself: "This wine... surely it won't be a problem, will it?"

  Xia Yu looked at An Litong in surprise: "An brother, what's wrong?"

  The same table also knew him, and laughed: "An Yuanwai, sitting here didn't see you drink two mouthfuls, Yang Gongzi is your acquaintance, this cup of wine still doesn't want to drink?"

  The crowd cheered, An Pangzi reluctantly raised his wine glass, hesitated for a moment before bringing it to his lips. Xia Jun laughed loudly and downed the cup in one gulp, showing off the empty cup: "Brother has already finished, why isn't Brother An hurrying up?"

  Yang's face was gloomy, with a cup of wine in his hand that felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Just as he was hesitating, Geng walked over with a cup in one hand and a wine jug in the other, scolding him: "Brother Yang, I didn't know you were here! I've been toasting everyone at each table, but I didn't see you anywhere. You're not going to leave without saying goodbye, are you? We're close friends, after all! Come on, this cup of wine is for my daughter's wedding celebration - a toast to you! You must drink it!"

  He had been staring at Xia Xun, just waiting for the moment when his cup was empty. Xia Xun saw him wanting to pour wine and hastily snatched the wine pot, laughing: "Today, Brother Geng is both the old Tai Shan and the old public, double happiness arrives, so it's only right that little brother pours the wine."

  Xia Liu thought that even if Geng Xin had hostile intentions, he wouldn't dare to poison him at this time. Still, he was cautious and had heard of an ancient type of mandarin duck wine jug that could switch the liquid inside with a press of a mechanism. To be on the safe side, he grabbed the jug and first poured a full cup for Geng Xin before pouring one for himself.

  Geng Xin showed no different expression, and laughed loudly: "Congratulations, congratulations! As your elder brother, I'll drink first to show respect."

  Geng Xin took a big gulp, drinking the wine until not a drop was left. Only then did Xia Jiu put his mind at ease. He turned his head to see that An Yuanwai had taken advantage of the opportunity to put down his cup, and smiled: "Brother An is too cunning, how can this cup of wine be exempt? Come on, come on, Geng Xin brother's cup of wine, I'll borrow flowers to offer Buddha. No matter what, you have to drink it."

  An attendant outside was muttering to himself, yet couldn't quite put his finger on whether there was a problem with the wine. He steeled himself and raised his cup, hesitating as he deliberated, when suddenly someone loudly sang out: "The Magistrate of Qingzhou Prefecture, Zhao Xizong, wishes you joy..."

  The whole living room was suddenly in an uproar. The bailiff was a seventh-grade official, not low in rank, and held real power. The Sun family was a merchant family, even if it was a ninth-grade official from the regular path, the Sun family couldn't afford to marry him, but now a bailiff came to their door to offer congratulations, which was indeed an honor.

  Magistrate Zhao visited the door to congratulate him for a reason, because his old mother was originally born with a sudden illness, fortunately, Shengchuntang diagnosed correctly and used medicine in time, which saved his mother's life. Filial piety is the most important of all virtues, so Shengchuntang has done a great favor to the Zhao family, and Magistrate Zhao congratulated him for being filial, which does not count as socializing with merchants, but rather shows his clear reputation.

  Sun Xuelian was both surprised and delighted, and hastily called her husband to come forward together to welcome them. Xia Bian and Zhao Pushan were also familiar with each other, for the sake of Yang's family affairs, this Zhao Pushan had been troubled enough, hearing that he came, Xia Bian did not dare to neglect, and quickly put down his wine cup to welcome him.

  An Wenwai was overjoyed, taking advantage of the opportunity when everyone was looking out the door to quickly swap his cup with Xia Chuo's, then turned around and made a gesture of greeting.

  Magistrate Zhao has been in a terrible mood lately. As the official directly responsible for maintaining law and order in Qingzhou, he's been having a rough time with all the recent incidents. After the Prefect returned from Jinan, he scolded him so severely that Magistrate Zhao didn't dare go home, instead spending his days stuck in the Qingzhou government office, fearing that if another major case occurred, he'd lose his official position.

  Today, the Sun Mansion is celebrating a happy event. It was his wife who heard about it and told her mother-in-law, who sent someone to deliver a message to him at the government office. He only remembered to come over and offer some gifts to express his good intentions. As soon as he saw everyone coming out to greet him, Zhao Pushan forced a smile on his face and handed two boxes of festive cakes he had bought along the way to the Sun Mansion's steward. He bowed to Sun Xuelian and her husband, saying: "Congratulations, congratulations! I, Zhao, offer my belated congratulations. Please forgive me, please forgive me."

  Sun Xuelian and her husband happily returned the courtesy, and Xia Bian and others who knew Zhao Tui Guan hastily bowed to bid farewell. After a round of noisy greetings, Sun Xuelian and her husband led Zhao Tui Guan to take his seat in the main position, one on either side of him.

  Xia Liu returned to the table where An Yuan was sitting, picked up his wine cup and said: "An brother, this cup of wine is really a good thing that has been delayed for a long time. Can't you give me some face, little brother?"

  An Litong still hesitated, hesitating for a moment, before raising his cup and saying: "Alright, brother really can't win against wine power, drinking this cup of wine from little brother is really the limit."

  Xia Yu was overjoyed and repeatedly said: "Good, good, Brother An, please."

  Two men simultaneously tilted their heads back, downing the wine in their cups. Geng Xiao, who was busily urging Judge Zhao to drink more, watched with a secretly delighted heart: "The great plan is unfolding, everything is going according to schedule, from now on, there will be no more mistakes!"

  A cup of wine down, Xia Jian's expression was calm and collected, without any unusual signs. An Pangzi put his heart back in his stomach: "It's okay, it's okay, I said so, how could he use poison to kill someone in public?"

  When Zhao the bailiff arrived, the wine party had already passed more than half of its time. Zhao sat for a while, ate a few dishes, drank three cups of wine, and seeing that it was already dark, he worried about something happening at night and still had to rush back to the government office on duty, so he got up and bid farewell to the host. As soon as he left, many people also stood up one after another. Xia Bian swayed and followed suit.

  He had been waiting for An to faint, but strangely, An was very spirited, while he himself looked listless and kept yawning. He thought it was because of the disturbance last night that he hadn't slept well and the wine had induced drowsiness. However, as the sleepiness deepened, he knew something was wrong. At his age and with his physical strength, even if he stayed up for three days and nights without sleep, he wouldn't be so exhausted. Could it be...

  Xia Xun immediately thought of when he had gotten up to welcome Zhao Pushan, and wondered if it was at that moment that An Baozi had switched their wine. The more Xia Xun thought about it, the more he felt certain, and couldn't help but secretly curse: "I finally got the chance to have a good chat with him, but unexpectedly I ended up being the one who got drugged instead! This dead fatty is really too cautious. No way, I have to hurry and leave, or else when the drug takes effect, I'll be sleeping right here, wouldn't that be humiliating?"

  Just then, Zhao Pushan stood up to leave, and Xia Xian and some of the more dignified scholars also got up one after another to bid farewell to their host. As soon as Li Da Yin saw this, he immediately retreated from the main hall and quickly slipped into a storage room where a mask and short clothes were already prepared, and began to change his clothes. There was still enough time, when guests are leaving, the host will always try to persuade them to stay for a while, both sides will thank each other and bid farewell, it will take at least a little while, enough for him to dress up properly, without leaving any flaws.

  Peng Ziqi sat at another table, and had already seen Xia Xun's listless appearance just now. She also thought that Xia Xun was not spirited due to lack of sleep and drinking too much wine, so she didn't take it to heart. When Zhao Pushan and Xia Xun and others declined the host's invitation to stay longer and walked out accompanied by the host, she also stood up and followed them out.

  The crowd walked to the gate, and Xia Yu and Zhao Pushan stopped at the same time, turned back, smiled and asked the host to stay. At this moment, a figure flashed in the courtyard, like a fierce tiger, with a shining narrow-edged single knife in his hand, breaking through the crowd and rushing towards Xia Yu!

  "Ah!"

  The blade cut through the wind, and the man in black swung his sword straight at Xia Xun's back. Xia Xun was just turning around to politely ask the host to stay, but he didn't notice anything. Li Da Yin had missed twice before, and this time he didn't want to miss again. So this knife did not leave any room for mercy, using all his strength, with an air of having no enemies or self!

  Peng Ziqi was so shocked that his soul flew away, and he wanted to rush forward to rescue him. However, Sun Xuelian, Geng Xin, and other relatives of the Sun family were blocking the way in front of him. He pushed them aside and rushed forward again, but it was too late to block this knife. Peng Ziqi was so frightened that he lost seven souls and three spirits. While rushing forward, he desperately shouted: "Yang Xu, be careful behind you!"

  ||