"Master Yang, you've traveled a long way over the Tang family's affairs. You must be tired and hungry. Why don't we have lunch together?" Tang Wen said.
"Very well. Sorry for imposing," Yang Yun said with a nod.
"Let Dongwen know that we're to feed all the constables well today. Have a few extra dishes stir-fried-two meat dishes and three plates of fish," Tang Wen said.
Afterward, Tang Wen took Yang Yun into his private "dining room."
When the dishes arrived, Yang Yun couldn't help sniffing the air.
"Master Yang, let's have a few drinks," Tang Wen said.
"Then I'd better accept rather than stand on ceremony," Yang Yun said with a smile.
"Hanyan, bring out two bottles of Grape Wine from the back. Master Yang and I will have a bottle each today and drink to our hearts' content," Tang Wen said.
"Grape Wine?" Yang Yun was taken aback.
He saw Gu Hanyan approach with two dark-looking wine bottles on a silver tray.
Tang Wen picked up the Wine Opener, but Gu Hanyan said, "Master, let this servant do it."
"You know how to open it?" Tang Wen asked in surprise.
After all, Grape Wine had yet to appear in the Great Chu Kingdom. Most people drank spirits or homemade rice wine.
"I've seen someone open one before," Gu Hanyan said, picking up the Wine Opener and twisting it.
Soon, she pulled gently, drawing out the cork, then poured the wine into the Goblet.
"This thing really is amazing. Just a little twist, and it opens the bottle," Zhan Junru said, staring at the Wine Opener in wonder.
"If you know how to open it, you must have seen it before. Do you know where this Grape Wine comes from?" Yang Yun asked Gu Hanyan curiously.
"From the Western Lands. A bottle like this is worth a great deal," Gu Hanyan said.
"Anything from the Western Lands is expensive. Thank you for your generous hospitality, my lord," Yang Yun said.
"Worth a great deal? How much silver?" Tang Wen asked, looking at Gu Hanyan with interest.
"I once saw two bottles at a large wine merchant's. They were its crowning treasures and weren't for sale. Later, though, one of its honored guests traded a Superior Marrow-Washing Pill for them," Gu Hanyan said.
"Superior Marrow-Washing Pills are exceedingly rare. They're generally controlled by the major sects and the court's Six Fan Gate, and aren't sold to outsiders. They're the key that opens the door to cultivating gifted disciples. Both the major sects and the court treasure them," Yang Yun said.
Pills in the Chu Kingdom were divided into low, middle, and high grades, with high grade being the best.
High-grade pills were extremely difficult to refine, with an exceptionally low success rate. That was why they commanded a price but could scarcely be bought.
"That's why I said it was worth a great deal," Gu Hanyan said.
"Have a taste, Master Yang," Tang Wen said with a smile. Yang Yun raised his Goblet and took a small, gentle sip.
The next moment, he closed his eyes, seemingly savoring it.
After a long while, he let out a deep breath. "Excellent! A lingering richness and a flavor all its own. It's completely different from spirits."
"Master Yang, try this as well!" Tang Wen said, pointing at the plate of Tuna Can.
Great Chu had fishermen, but they mostly fished close to shore.
Moreover, their fishing gear was so primitive that they couldn't catch tuna at all.
Thus, even Great Chu's nobles and high-ranking dignitaries never got to eat tuna.
Yang Yun picked up a little. Once he tasted it, the corners of his mouth twitched. "What a distinctive flavor! Delicious. I've never tasted anything like it."
"Hahaha! Since you like it, Master Yang, take a bottle of Grape Wine and a can home later. Savor them properly, and give me some suggestions the next time you visit," Tang Wen said with a hearty laugh.
"How could I accept? They're far too expensive." Yang Yun clearly didn't quite mean what he said.
"Junru, pack them up and put them in Master Yang's carriage later," Tang Wen said with a smile.
"Then I'll take them home for a taste?" Yang Yun said, repeatedly cupping his hands in thanks.
Isn't it just an ordinary bottle of Changyu Cabernet? It only costs a hundred yuan or so. The can's only a hundred yuan or so, too.
Surely Yang Yun won't take it home and treat it as a family heirloom...
Tang Wen was laughing inwardly. Traveling through space and time-what a wonderful system. Great Landlord System, I love you, I love you.
In the end, after finishing two bottles, they opened a third, most of which went to Yang Yun.
After all, in Yang Yun's eyes, he had poured several hundred taels of silver into his belly today.
"Fine grape wine in a luminous jade cup; before we drink, the pipa urges us onward from horseback. Do not laugh if we lie drunk upon the battlefield-since ancient times, how many have returned from war?" In high spirits, Tang Wen casually played the literary plagiarist amid their cheerful conversation.
He failed to notice Gu Hanyan's sudden look of surprise, the glimmer in her eyes, or the furtive glance she cast at Tang Wen.
Does this woman understand poetry, too?
"A fine poem!" Yang Yun slapped the table and nodded. "Though I'm merely a warrior and know little of refined pursuits,
"Your poem has tremendous spirit, my lord.
"What a line, lying drunk upon the battlefield-and what a line, how many have returned from war..."
"The first line is bold and unrestrained, the next steeped in sorrow. Two styles blend within a single poem. Master truly lives up to his standing as a Juren from Ridge-Sea Academy. I heard Li Quan say that when you sat the Linghai provincial examination, you fell only one step short of being its top scholar," Gu Hanyan said softly.
Good grief, Wang Han wrote this. I'm just a literary plagiarist.
"Oh? Is that so?" Yang Yun stroked his beard and looked at Tang Wen.
"I was busy with family affairs. Before the examination, all the other candidates were studying poetry, the classics, and ritual learning, while I hadn't picked up a book in half a year," Tang Wen said.
"What a pity. Otherwise, the top scholar of Linghai that year would surely have been you, my lord," Yang Yun said, shaking his head with a sigh.
"You can't quite say that. Tie Wenjing truly is a learned man," Tang Wen said, shaking his head.
"Tie Wenjing? I believe he passed the metropolitan examination the year before last.
"And as soon as he became a Jinshi, he landed a lucrative post, being sent to Jiangzhou Prefecture as its assistant prefect.
"I believe he also came from Ridge-Sea Academy. Were the two of you fellow students, my lord?" Yang Yun asked, mildly surprised.
"We could be called schoolmates," Tang Wen said with a nod.
"What a shame. If you'd taken the imperial examinations with Tie Wenjing that year, you'd be an assistant prefect by now, too. At the very least, you could have been sent out as a county magistrate. As the father-and-mother official of an entire county, with a noble title on top of that, your prospects would be boundless," Yang Yun said, stroking his beard with a sigh.
Under Great Chu's system, noble titles could be inherited, but having a title did not mean one held an official post.
To become an official, one still had to pass through the imperial examination system. Of course, nobles also enjoyed special privileges.
For instance, if one rendered outstanding service, the imperial family could appoint one directly to office without requiring the examinations.
A lord without an official post possessed only an honor, a symbol-something hollow. Only a lord who also held office wielded real authority.
After seeing Yang Yun off, Li Quan came in and said, "Master, we've prepared three taels of silver and a peck of rice for each constable as a gratuity. Isn't that too much? When they investigate cases elsewhere, they're lucky to get half a tael."
"Heh, Li Quan, how does that saying go? Cast a long line to catch a big fish.
"Yang Yun is a Martial Jinshi. He must possess excellent martial skills. Can you say he'll never soar to glory one day?
"We'll have plenty of occasions to call on them in the future. Don't begrudge the money," Tang Wen said, shaking his head.
"If he's a Martial Jinshi, why is he only a chief constable? Isn't that burying his talent?" Li Quan asked in puzzlement.
After all, a commandery's chief constable was merely a minor eighth-rank official, lower even than a county magistrate.
"There must be all sorts of reasons behind it. Think about it-he's fallen on hard times now.
"If we help him, we'll benefit when he rises in the future.
"Tell Bu Feng to ask around about Yang Yun and find out why he was demoted.
"This man may prove very useful," Tang Wen said.
"Yes. A Martial Jinshi must at least be a seventh-rank expert," Li Quan said with a nod.
"Seventh rank? You underestimate our Great Chu's Martial Jinshi," Tang Wen said, shaking his head.
"Could he be higher than seventh rank?" Li Quan asked, scratching his head.
"Great Chu accepts only a few hundred Martial Jinshi in each round of imperial examinations. How many martial artists does Great Chu have?
"There must be several thousand Martial Juren taking the examinations each time.
"What's more, there's no age limit for candidates. You can keep taking them until you're eighty.
"Some martial artists fail year after year, but as they grow older, their cultivation grows deeper.
"Young candidates are naturally at a disadvantage. So just how difficult is it to become a Martial Jinshi?
"You need at least the strength of the sixth-rank realm to qualify," Tang Wen said.
"Sixth rank? That's much stronger than Qiao Xiao," Li Quan said in surprise.
"The head of the Six Fan Gate's Linghai Province branch is probably only at that level. Befriending an expert like him certainly won't hurt," Tang Wen said with a smile.
"Master, the diversion channel is finished. Can we begin work on our dam?" Zhan Dongwen came in and asked just then.
"Yes. Start this afternoon," Tang Wen said with a nod.
"I think we should choose an auspicious day first, and set off firecrackers to celebrate before breaking ground. That'll bring good fortune!" said Ge Ziyun, who had come in with him.
"No!" Tang Wen waved his hand.
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