Chapter 45: The Fake Young Master

  Zhū Yǔn Wēi!

  Upon hearing this name, Xiao Fan's first reaction was to subconsciously pull his legs and run.

  The son-in-law of a merchant's family scolded Zhu Yuanzhang's own grandson, the current Crown Prince, the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, with a face full of tea water...

  This crime is enough to be guilty of a capital offense, at the very least it's a crime of disrespect, no matter which article, it's enough to warrant ten beheadings with plenty to spare.

  Cast aside everything and become a fugitive wanted by the imperial court in a distant land.

  This thought flashed through Xiao Fan's mind.

  He even considered the problem of living expenses after escaping, and if all else fails, he would simply kidnap this crown prince, anyway, he had already offended him, so it didn't matter if he offended him again.

  Fortunately, Xiao Fan had a relatively calm mind. After the initial panic, he immediately calmed down.

  Is he really Zhu Yunwen? How did he end up in my Drunken Immortal Building? As the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne of the Great Ming Dynasty, his travels should be accompanied by a large retinue, right? But this prince in front of me didn't even bring a single attendant, wearing a common long shirt made of ordinary fabric, hemp shoes on his feet, and a coarse cloth bag slung over his shoulder, looking like a poor scholar who has been studying for many years and come to the capital to take the imperial examination. Even if he was traveling incognito, did he have to make himself look so shabby?

  Xiao Fan summed it up, after all, this guy is a fake, and he's a reckless fake, even daring to impersonate the current crown prince, that's not enough, but also impersonating so unprofessionally, does he think everyone in the world is an idiot?

  As for his purpose in impersonating the Crown Prince...

  What other purpose can deception serve? Bai Juyi's poem wrote, "Hand-held documents mouthed as imperial edicts, the carriage driver yelled at the oxen to head north." Of course, deceiving people is for silver.

  Xiao Fan's frightened expression gradually subsided, and a few cold smiles even floated onto his face.

  Deceive me? You've got the wrong person! My nerves have long been duped by that old swindler Tai Yu, how can revolutionary vigilance be maintained? Suspect everything, deny everything!

  The fake Zhu Yunwen of course did not know that in this short period of time, Xiao Fan's inner heart had gone through a complicated and bumpy road.

  The fake Zhu Yunjun leaned on the counter, blinking his eyes and smiling lightly: "Do you know my identity? Why don't you kneel down to welcome me?"

  Xiao Fang really wanted to spit another mouthful of saliva on his face.

  "Are you really Zhu Yunwen?"

  "Of course."

  "If you are Zhu Yunwen, then I am..." Xiao Fan said halfway and suddenly stopped. He had originally planned to say that he was Zhu Yuanzhang, but later very wisely braked - this statement was too taboo, he could risk his life, but I couldn't."

  Xiao Fan glanced around, and after making sure no one was paying attention to them, he put on a sincere expression and advised earnestly: "This brother is extraordinary, why must you pretend to be such an important person of high difficulty? If the government finds out, not only will your own life be in danger, but also lightly, nine clans will be executed, heavily, ten clans will be executed. Do you have such a great feud with your family and friends that they must be harmed to death?"

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng's eyes widened in shock, pointing at his own nose in disbelief: "You suspect that I'm an imposter?"

  Xiao Fan's eyes widened: "Don't tell me you think you're real?"

  The fake Zhu Yunwen was anxious and angry, stomping his feet on the spot: "I am really Zhu Yunwen!"

  Xiao Fan gradually lost his patience, waved his hand and said: "Okay okay, you can pretend I believe you, if there's nothing else, go swindle somewhere else, our store doesn't serve officials above the seventh rank..."

  "I am not an official, I am today's Crown Prince!"

  "This shop has a rule: no entry for princes and dogs..."

  "How dare you scold me? How audacious! What a big nerve!"

  "Keep your voice down! Are you trying to invite the authorities over? Don't you want to live?" Xiao Fan coldly shouted.

  The fake Zhu Yunwen was so angry that his whole body was trembling, and he opened his mouth for half a day, but didn't know how to prove that he wasn't an impostor.

  After being angry for a while, the fake Zhu Yunwen stomped his foot and slapped the counter with a loud slap.

  "I... I want to eat!"

  Xiao Fan smiled with relief: "The child can be taught, our store has always adhered to the service concept of 'customers are jade emperors', warm and enthusiastic, treating guests like family is our service tenet, you should have spoken up earlier, I wouldn't have treated you this way..."

  Fake Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth, feeling an urge to cry: “…………”

  He pointed to a corner of the main hall and said slowly, "Do you see that empty table? You go sit there, I'll have someone bring you food."

  "...I don't like this noisy place, is there a quiet and elegant room upstairs?"

  "Bang!"

  Xiao Fan's palm landed on the fake Zhu Yunwen's forehead with a moderate force, this move was inspired by Baoqin's Force Splitting Huashan.

  The fake Zhu Yunwen was stunned for a moment, then started shouting: "You... you dare to hit me, come on..."

  "Shut up! You poor kid, dressed in such a shabby way, your family must not be well-off. Don't your parents work hard for their money? You dare to run around outside, cheating and deceiving people, and still have the nerve to show off while eating. You're wasting your parents' hard-earned money, and you think you're elegant? The food in prison is even cleaner, are you going or not?"

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng's eyes gradually rose with a thin mist, and the tears in his eye sockets rolled around, looking particularly wronged.

  Xiao Fangshan patted his back of the head and said in a warm tone, "You're about my age, how can you be so foolish? Impersonating the Crown Prince is a crime punishable by exterminating nine generations of your family. How many people have you deceived with this identity? If you want to deceive people, just do it quietly and save some energy..."

  He pointed to the empty table in the corner of the hall and said, "Sit there and eat and drink quietly. Don't shout about being a crown prince again. You don't want to die, and my employees and customers here don't want to die with you..."

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng blinked twice, and the crystal tears finally flowed down. He didn't say a word, turned around and walked towards the empty table. Today's experience was something he had never experienced in his life, feeling both humiliated and somewhat curious at the same time, which was also why he didn't turn back and leave.

  Xiao Fan smiled contentedly: "That's right, honest children are good children..."

  The fake Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but turn his head and emphasize again: "I am really Zhu Yunwen..."

  "Bang!" Another powerful blow struck Mount Hua.

  "Shut up! You still dare to speak? You unlucky kid, if you continue to spout nonsense, I'll really have the authorities come and arrest you!" Xiao Fan's voice was stern.

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng wiped away his grievances and sat down in the position specified by Xiao Fan with a pout.

  It was already past mealtime, and there were not many guests in the hall. Xiao Fan thought for a moment, then picked up a jug of bamboo leaf green tea and walked to Zhu Yunwen's table.

  He decided to advise the young man well, for some reason, he had a good impression of this young man and couldn't bear to see him pretend to be the crown prince and end up with his head separated from his body. Xiao Fan decided that he must advise him to return to the right path.

  "Do you drink?"

  The fake Zhu Yunhong snorted and said with a puffed up face: "Of course I will!"

  "I'll treat you to a drink, but you're still paying for your own food." Xiao Fan sat down at the table with one stride.

  Then the two of them sat down and started drinking together.

  After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Xiao Fan put on a bitter and nagging expression, saying: "You said you're fine, why do you have to do this crazy thing? You dare to impersonate the current crown prince, even if you want to swindle some silver to spend, you should impersonate a smaller official in the imperial court..."

  The fake Zhu Yunwen slammed his fist on the table and shouted: "I am really Zhu Yunwen!"

  "Bang!" Xiao Fan struck again, splitting Mount Hua in two. The fake Zhu Yunwen was completely disheartened and tears fell from his eyes like a string of broken pearls.

  "Unlucky kid, no matter how I advise you, you still won't listen. You want to lose your head so badly, I'm too lazy to care about you anymore. Finish eating and hurry up and leave, don't drag down this tavern with you..."

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng wiped away tears and sighed heavily, lowering his head to drink glass after glass.

  Xiao Fan saw that he didn't say a word, and there was nothing good to talk about with him. The two had just met, having a good impression is one thing, but if others took their own kindness for granted, Xiao Fan didn't want to bother with him anymore. After all, Xiao Fan was still far from the realm of Lei Feng.

  The atmosphere between the two people suddenly fell into a low ebb.

  Xiao Fan also started drinking the strong liquor mouthful by mouthful, but his mind wandered.

  Xiao Zhanggui also has Xiao Zhanggui's worries.

  The days of crossing over have not been short, and he feels that he has now fully integrated into this strange ancient world.

  Now that he has blended in, he should make a plan for his own future. In his heart, he is not very satisfied with the two identities of Chen Jia's maternal grandfather and the owner of Zui Xian Lou. He feels that his achievements are not limited to this.

  What should I do?

  Of course, it's being an official. Is there anything better than being an official in this world? With great power comes a sense of satisfaction that is far more fulfilling than being a shopkeeper or a son-in-law. The purpose of human life is to realize one's own value, and Comrade Xiao Fan's value lies in becoming a legendary official, only then will his transmigration not be in vain.

  The problem now is how to become an official?

  Following the normal imperial examination procedure, ten years of hard study in a cold window, competing with thousands of students to squeeze onto that single wooden bridge? Xiao Fan immediately vetoed this unrealistic idea. To be honest, he hadn't even recognized all the complex characters from ancient times yet, so how could he possibly pass the exam?

  But apart from the imperial examination, is there any other way? Nowadays, Zhu Yuanzhang is in power, and his appointment and assessment of officials are extremely strict. It's not even worth thinking about using backdoors, pulling relationships, or buying official positions with money. More importantly, Zhu Yuanzhang has made a rather inhumane rule. Perhaps Comrade Zhu was oppressed by too many wealthy people before he rebelled, or perhaps he bought too many fake and inferior goods when he was young. Throughout his life, Zhu had a deep grudge against merchants, which can be said to be the most discriminatory among all emperors throughout history. He decreed: All merchants are not allowed to wear silk, merchant sons are not allowed to enter official schools, and they are not allowed to take the imperial examination.

  In other words, as a merchant's son-in-law, Xiao Fan didn't even have the qualifications to take the imperial examination, let alone become an official.

  This cruel fact made Xiao Fan somewhat disheartened. He had truly wanted to contribute to the imperial court of the Great Ming Dynasty, to shine with glory and passion...

  Is it really just his fate in this life to be a shopkeeper and someone else's son-in-law?

  Xiao Fan let out a deep sigh and took sip after sip of wine.

  Two men sat silently in the grand hall of Zui Xian Lou, drinking their wine. Xiao Fan was deep in thought, while fake Zhu Yunwen was filled with grievances.

  Xiao Fan's drinking capacity was not good, it can be said to be very poor, a person who could get drunk on two small bottles of Erguotou in his previous life, really couldn't expect him to suddenly become able to drink like an ox after crossing over.

  The result was obvious, Xiao Fan was drunk.

  Two cups of bamboo leaf green tea went down his throat, Xiao Fan's face was flushed with excitement, his eyes were wide and unfocused, and he seemed a bit disoriented.

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng looked at Xiao Fan with curiosity, after all, he was a young boy. Originally very angry and resentful, he had forgotten the unpleasantness of just now in an instant. He seemed to be interested in everything around him, as if he had never seen anything before, and felt novelty about everything.

  Turning his head to take a look at the layout of the main hall, the fake Zhu Yunwen pushed Xiao Fan's arm and said: "Hey, what are you doing setting up a stage on this east wall?"

  Xiao Fan raised his heavy head and scanned the table on the east side with a drunken gaze, saying casually: "That's for the performance program."

  "What is a performing arts program?"

  "Just ask Mr. Shu to tell stories, ask the Qing Lou girl to play the pipa and sing a little tune, or invite a theater troupe or an acrobatic performance... In short, it's all about attracting customers' attention, so that when they're eating, their eyes and ears are not idle, and to attract repeat customers to the greatest extent possible."

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "So that's it. I've been to many wine houses in the capital, but this is the first time I've found out that setting up a stage in a wine house has such a wonderful use. Is this your idea?"

  Although he was drunk, someone flattered him and Xiao Fan heard it very clearly. He couldn't help but smile when he heard the words. No matter how old a man is, he's still like a child, always hoping to get recognition and praise from others. Xiao Fan was no exception.

  Xiao Fan felt that this young man was really pleasing to the eye, and the more he looked at him, the more pleasing he became.

  "It's just a small trick, nothing to brag about, hehe..." Xiao Fang still modestly said with a hint of pride, then burped loudly again.

  Wine can dispel worries and make people quickly forget unpleasant experiences. If men are not too careful, they can quickly establish a good relationship through drinking. Xiao Fan and fake Zhu Yunwen were not careful people, and the earlier unpleasantness disappeared with a few crisp clinking sounds.

  The two of them opened their mouths and talked about everything from daily life to customs, from interesting stories to trivial matters, covering all aspects of life. After about the time it takes to burn two incense sticks, the relationship between the two became so close that they were almost like sworn brothers who had gone through a ritual of cutting a chicken's head and burning yellow paper.

  The fake Zhu Yunfeng also got a bit drunk, and the wine was obviously not very good. When he got drunk, he talked a lot, and Xiao Fang had always despised this kind of person.

  The fake Zhu Yunwen downed several cups, then hugged Xiao Fan's arm, hiccuping and crying with a thick tongue: "Brother Xiao, I'm telling you the truth, you must believe me... I, I am really the Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen!"

  "Bang!" A ruthless force split Mount Hua in two.

  "Ugh... why do you always hit me?"

  "No need to explain, you understand..."

  "Woe is me... I'm so unfairly treated!"