Chapter 49: Unification of the World
Song Jiu was a local of Xuchang, having lived on this land for over thirty years, and was quite familiar with the four major families: Li, Chen, Song, and Zhou. The Li family mainly dealt in tea leaves, the Chen family in rice, the Song family in silk, and the Zhou family operated wine shops. In this business war, although the four families joined forces to suppress prices, their main attack was focused on the Zhou family. Now that Kaiyuan Wine Shop has broken the deadlock and reversed the situation, the most anxious is naturally the Zhou family. The head of the Zhou family, Zhou Tianhai, is a man in his fifties with sinister means. In recent years, many merchants have come to Xuchang to open wine shops, but some have mysteriously died or had their stores burned down by fires at night. Due to the recent relocation of the capital, military patrols were strict, and Zhou Tianhai was restricted from taking action, so he ordered someone to release croton oil, even replacing the prepared arsenic at the last minute.
Song Jiu thought for a moment, then bowed and said: "In my humble opinion, these four big families will not give up, especially the master of the Zhou family, Zhou Tianhai. In Xuchang, no one has ever made him suffer such a great loss before. I'm afraid he will stop at nothing!"
"Are you saying that Zhou Tianhai will make a move?" Liu Xie saw Song Jiu nodding, and couldn't help but frown, saying: "In that case..." He paused for a moment before instructing: "Li Chen, have Xiao Da and Xiao Er quickly leave the palace and guard Liu Yuan day and night, no mistakes allowed!"
Li Chen took orders and left, Liu Xie muttered to himself: "This Liu Yuan can't go wrong, I'm still counting on him!"
Hongye Wine House, located in the center of Xuchang City, has stood for over a hundred years. Just a month ago, it was the most famous wine house in Xuchang City, but now its gate is desolate and cannot compare to the thriving Kaoyuan Wine House. Only a few regular customers sit in the empty hall drinking tea, listlessly listening to a young woman singing "Guan Guan Ju Jiu" from the Book of Songs. They leave after a short while, tossing down a few coins as they depart.
Suddenly, a cup came crashing down from the second floor of the wing room with a loud bang. The little woman who was singing was frightened into silence. The few customers who were left couldn't sit still any longer and hastily paid their bills, pulling their companions away with them. The shop assistant blinked his eyes as he looked up at the floor above, knowing that the old master was in a rage again.
Zhou Tianhai was a shriveled old man, and for the past month he had not been in a good mood. At this moment, looking at his two sons with their heads hung low, he became even more angry. If they had half of his ability, they would not be indulging in pleasures every day in such circumstances. Thinking about it, he felt a pang of sadness. After he passed away, how could he rest assured to leave the family business to them? Wouldn't they ruin everything? The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and without caring if there were guests downstairs, he grabbed his cup and smashed it down.
