klisemfg Chapter 510 Snow Moon City Fireside Night, Warming the Wine Pot and Questioning the Nephew
Chapter 510 Snow Moon City Fireside Night, Warming the Wine Pot and Questioning the Nephew
Snow Moon City, Listening to the Rain Pavilion.
As dawn broke, the area in front of the collapsed gatehouse had been cleared. The unconscious martial arts master was carried away by Luo He and his men for treatment, leaving behind only a mess and a faint smell of blood in the air.
The second-floor hall, however, was warm and cozy.
The charcoal brazier was burning brightly, and seven or eight side dishes were laid out on the table—braised beef, braised duck feet, mixed shredded vegetables, and fried peanuts—all hearty dishes to accompany drinks.
The aroma of wine mingled with the fragrance of food, filling the hall with wafts of fragrance.
Wen Hujiu sat in the main seat with his arms outstretched, his gray robe open. He was stuffing a piece of braised beef into his mouth with one hand and holding a wine bowl with the other, but his eyes were fixed on the half-jar of wine in Baili Dongjun's arms.
"Hey Xiao Baili, that's not fair of you!" Wen Hujiu swallowed the beef, wiped his mouth, and...
"Uncle, I came all this way to save the day, and you're trying to fool me with this little bit of wine? What about that jar of Drunken Eight Immortals? Didn't you say there were a few ounces left?"
Baili Dongjun, both amused and exasperated, handed over the wine jar he was carrying:
"Uncle, this half jar is my 'Han Tan Shu' brewed last year. Although it can't compare to Zui Ba Xian, it is still a rare and fine wine."
"The Drunken Eight Immortals... Brother Hu really drank it all."
Hu Bufei, sitting at the lower end of the table, blushed upon hearing this and said awkwardly, "Senior Wen, please forgive me, I... I was a bit too fond of drinking and couldn't resist..."
Wen Hujiu glared at him, then suddenly grinned: "Alright, alright, anyone who can finish this jar of Drunken Eight Immortals wine is a true drunkard! Imperial Censor Hu, I'll toast you with a bowl!"
He picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Hu Bufei was flattered and quickly raised his bowl to accompany him.
Sikong Changfeng sat to the side, his complexion having regained some of its rosy hue.
He took a sip of wine, looked at the wine pot, and said solemnly, "Senior Wen, thank you for your help tonight. If you hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid..."
"Stop, stop!" Wen Hujiu waved his hand, grabbed a duck foot and started gnawing on it. "No need to thank me, we're all family. Besides, those bastards from the Dark River dared to lay a finger on my nephew, if I don't teach them a lesson, who else should I teach a lesson to?"
After finishing his duck foot, he smacked his lips and suddenly said seriously, "But speaking of which, Dark River's arrival this time is suspicious. Those ghosts from Dark River actually chased us all the way to Snow Moon City to kill people... Imperial Censor Hu, who exactly have you offended in the court?"
Hu Bufei put down his wine bowl and smiled bitterly: "In the years I've been in the Censorate, I've impeached at least eighty or a hundred corrupt officials. If I were to talk about enemies... they could probably stretch from Zhuque Street to Xuanwu Gate."
He paused, a look of pain flashing in his eyes: "But what will truly kill me is probably not those corrupt officials, but... the current emperor."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The charcoal crackled, and the aroma of wine filled the air.
Baili Dongjun slowly said, "Xiao Ruojin has just ascended the throne and needs to establish his authority. Brother Hu's late father, Grand Scholar Hu, once submitted a memorial to the throne to directly remonstrate against his mistreatment of my grandfather, and this matter is known throughout the court."
Now he's targeting Brother Hu, firstly to intimidate the court officials, and secondly to send a message to everyone in the court that anyone associated with the Baili family will be implicated!
Wen Hujiu sneered: "What a fine emperor! What a way to intimidate his ministers! It's just a pity he overlooked one thing—"
He looked at Baili Dongjun, his eyes full of approval: "My nephew is a man of great loyalty and righteousness, he would never stand idly by!"
Baili Dongjun was a little embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head, saying, "Uncle, you flatter me. Brother Hu is a descendant of loyal officials and has a history with my Baili family. It is only right and proper for me to save him!"
"Should be my ass!" Wen Hujiu suddenly cursed. "Do you think Xiao Ruojin is a pushover? This time the Dark River failed, next time it might be the Shadow Sect's elite, or even experts invited from other places!"
"You think you're all grown up now? Do you think you can stand against the entire Northern Li Dynasty on your own? What will you do when you lose the whole Snow Moon City?"
The question was so direct that the atmosphere in the hall immediately became heavy.
Sikong Changfeng gripped his wine glass tightly, while Hu Bufei lowered his head, his eyes filled with remorse.
Baili Dongjun laughed.
He picked up the wine bowl, looked at the warm wine pot, and said with clear and firm eyes, "Uncle, do you think it was worth it? Back then, when you helped my father snatch someone from under the Xu family's nose for my mother, did you ever ask yourself if it was worth it?"
Wenhu was taken aback.
Baili Dongjun continued, "When my father dared to declare at the Xu family mansion, 'I'm determined to marry Wen Luoyu,' for my mother's sake, did he ever ask if it was worth it?"
He tilted his head back and finished the wine in his bowl, then wiped his mouth: "Some things, you don't need to ask if they're worth it. If you have to do them, then do them!"
Wen Hu stared at him for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter!
"Good! Good lad! You've got the style your father had back in the day!"
He slapped the table, laughing until tears streamed down his face. "Alright, your uncle didn't spoil you for nothing! Come on, let's drink!"
The four men raised their bowls, clinked them together, and drank them down in one gulp.
After several rounds of drinks, the man was already seven-tenths drunk. He put his arm around Baili Dongjun's shoulder and slurred, "Little Baili, do you know why your uncle arrived so just in time?"
Baili Dongjun shook his head.
Wen Hujiu lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I was bored in Qian Dong City and originally wanted to come see you, but I received a message from your cousin on the way—he said that the Shadow Sect is making strange moves and the Dark River may be heading towards Snow Moon City, so he asked me to come and keep an eye on things!"
Baili Dongjun felt a warmth in his heart: "My cousin..."
“That kid, although he’s always tinkering with medicine figures and is quite cunning, he’s truly sincere towards you, his cousin,” Wen Hujiu sighed. “He said the war in the southwest is urgent, and neither he nor your uncle can spare the time, so he can only send me, an idle person, on this trip.”
The atmosphere in the hall sombered again when the topic of the war in the southwest was brought up.
Sikong Changfeng frowned: "Senior Wen, what's the situation in the southwest...?"
Wenhu put down his wine bowl, his drunkenness subsiding slightly: "A crushing defeat! The King of Langya's 200,000-strong army was surrounded by your grandfather's 50,000 Pofeng Army outside Juzhou City. After a bitter battle for half a day, he only managed to bring out 4,000 survivors."
"What?!" Hu Bufei exclaimed in shock.
Sikong Changfeng's expression changed drastically, while Baili Dongjun's expression remained natural, as if he had expected it all along.
Wen Hujiu continued, "Ye Xiaoying suffered even worse. He encountered the drug-using people at Tieji Ridge, and almost the entire 3,000-strong Double Blade Battalion was wiped out. He himself was seriously injured, and his left arm may not be salvageable."
Hearing this, Baili Dongjun asked curiously, "Cousin's drug-man... is he really that terrifying?"
Wen Hujiu was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "I have seen it with my own eyes. Those things... are neither human nor ghost, they are not afraid of death, and they do not know pain. Ye Xiaoying's Double Blade Battalion is the elite of the Northern Li, but in front of the Medicine Man, they are like paper."
He paused, looked at Baili Dongjun, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Your cousin only deployed thirty-odd medicine men to deal with Ye Xiaoying, just over thirty!"
Upon hearing this, the other three were shocked. No one had expected that the drug-using man would have such terrifying combat power!
“But Uncle,” Baili Dongjun raised his head, his eyes shining, “my cousin… in the end, did it all for the Baili family, for the people of the Southwest.”
The imperial court is pressing too hard. If he doesn't resort to drastic measures, how can the Pofeng Army withstand the 200,000-strong Northern Li army?
Wen Hu looked at his nephew and suddenly smiled.
That smile contained relief, emotion, and a deep sense of helplessness.
"Yes, it's all about survival," he murmured. "In this world, when people are driven to the brink, what won't they do?"
He grabbed the wine jar, poured himself a full bowl, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.
"Drink!" The wine pot slammed down the wine bowl. "Drink today, for tomorrow we may die! Who cares about right or wrong tomorrow!"
"drink!"
The four people raised their bowls again.
Outside the window, the sky was gradually brightening.
Snowmoon City welcomed a new day, but the flames of war in the southwest, the undercurrents in the imperial court, and the grudges in the martial world were far from over.
That night, some people passed out drunk at the table, while others couldn't sleep.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Qiandong City, Wen Yanzhao stood in the Iron Thorn Ridge Cave, gazing at the boiling venom in the cauldron, his eyes flashing with purple light.
……