Chapter Thirteen: The Wine of Grapes

  The teammates around Liú Yún instinctively wanted to protect him, but he stopped them with a raised hand.

  Iverson walked up to Liú Yún, with his sword propped against the ground, bowed his head, and knelt on one knee. He said respectfully: "I, Primary Sword Master Iverson, wish to follow Lord Flowing Cloud, Viscount Kaid. I hope you will accept my allegiance!"

  This sudden scene stunned everyone present.

  On the mainland, all nobles can accept the allegiance of warriors, but those who own swordsmen are usually high-ranking nobles.

  A warrior suddenly appeared, swearing allegiance to Liú Yún, which was already surprising enough. But what shocked everyone even more was that this top-notch swordsman chose to swear allegiance to a mere viscount.

  Everyone's eyes fell on Liú Yún, waiting for his response. In the face of a warrior's oath of allegiance, no noble would refuse, let alone this warrior being a swordsman.

  Liu Yun quietly sized up Iverson.

  "I refuse your allegiance, Lord Everson." The soft words of Liuyun caused an outbreak of gasps and murmurs among the crowd, with some expressing incomprehension and others disappointment.

  Iverson's body also trembled when he heard this. For a warrior, being refused to pledge allegiance meant great shame.

  "But I won't refuse you joining our little group, becoming my partner, hehe." Looking at the eyeballs that had fallen all over the ground, Liú Yún's heart was very pleased: "Damn it, this is what I call leadership art, and they don't even understand! Loyalty is useless, buying people's hearts is the key! Swordmaster, I also have a swordmaster under me!"

  Huā jiàng lèi looked at the scene in front of her and said softly: "Uncle, do you think we should pay our respects to the master of this place?"

  After everyone started drinking and chatting again, Hua Qian and Lei Luo walked towards Liu Yun.

  "Lord Viscount Liúyún, would you mind if I disturb you for a moment?" Huā Jiě asked with a smile, her cherry lips lightly parted.

  Clouds floated by, and suddenly there was a gleam in front of her eyes.

  A woman who combines elegance, beauty and intelligence, this is Liu Yun's evaluation of Hua Xianglian.

  "It's an invitation from a beautiful lady, how could I refuse!" Liú Yún smiled and replied, then picked up his wine cup and walked with Huā Jiè to a quiet corner.

  "Hua Qianlei thanked the host for his hospitality and bowed to Liuxing."

  "Miss, you're too kind. Liú Yún Kǎi Dé, I'm deeply honored by your arrival."

  Liu Yun bowed his head and returned the courtesy. The so-called etiquette among these nobles made him feel quite tired. In his words, don't look at how polite they are when speaking, who knows who is thinking of harming whom in their hearts.

  "Oh, I'm just the Wind Slasher, the Emperor's Capital Evil Young Master, the tumor of the Kayde family. I believe you've heard of me." Liuyun suddenly said as he looked up at the beautiful girl beside him.

  He knew about Huā Qiè's tears, and he also knew about the business miracle she had created. For this girl who could come up with brilliant marketing strategies and shoulder the heavy burden of her family on her own, he had great respect in his heart.

  Facing this clever girl, he inexplicably wanted to play some pranks.

  "What kind of reaction will she have after hearing my introduction?" Liu Yun thought.

  "I've heard of your notorious reputation, but I believe more in what my own eyes see."

  Hua Qian's tears fell as she smiled.

  "Hehe, as long as you're not afraid, Miss." Liuyun said with a smile.

  "Hasn't your curse been lifted yet? Why must you say such things to scare people?" Huā Jiàng Lèi thought, she couldn't understand this man at all. With a reputation as bad as his, having gone through the blow of being jilted by the princess and then being kicked out by the imperial capital's nobles, why was he still so calm and collected?

  "Everything in the past is now over, so you don't have to worry about it anymore, right?" Thinking of his self-introduction earlier, Hua Qian added another sentence.

  "Can past events really be bid farewell and no longer worried about?" Thinking of Yue'er, thinking of Shuiling'er, a bitter feeling arose in Liuyun's heart.

  "Your servants seem quite special?" Huā Jiǎo Lèi felt the oppressive atmosphere and threw out the question in her mind, changing the subject.

  "They're not servants, they're all my brothers." Yun Feng replied calmly.

  "I don't know much about Viscount-sama, but I have to say, you're a very unusual noble." Hanakurenai said, recalling the events that occurred after Kumo appeared at night.

  "I'm just a freak among the nobles, haha." Liuyun said with a smile.

  "Ah, Miss Huā Qiàn Lèi, I'd like to propose a business deal with you." Liú Yún thought of the vast commercial network of the Luó Mǎn family and brought up the matter that had been on his mind for a long time.

  "Oh, please go ahead." As soon as business was mentioned, Hua Xianglian felt her good mood suddenly dissipate.

  "It turns out that all the beauty in the world is just a fleeting fragrance." She sighed softly to herself.

  "Hmm... My private guard is about to be formed and it requires a large sum of money. That's why I'm being presumptuous in making this request, hoping Miss can help."

  Liú yún didn't notice Huā jiàng's change in expression, and just kept saying what was on his mind.

  "How much money does the adult need? Please specify. I'll do my best to help you out." Huā Jiè Lèi said coldly, starting to regret taking the initiative to see Liú Yún.

  In all these years of doing business, she had seen too many nobles and was disgusted to the extreme by their greedy faces.

  "What a cooperation, it's just about asking for money. Who can believe that the high and mighty nobles would also stoop to hustle and bustle? Why is it that the young man who looks decent in front of me could have such thoughts in his head, perhaps he's still that wicked young master after all?" Although she thought this way, as a merchant, she valued harmony and making money, so she didn't want to offend the young master of the Cade family.

  "I don't know either. Maybe 100,000 can last for a while! Who knows how much will be needed in the future." Liuyun thought to himself and casually said it out loud.

  "One hundred thousand gold coins? Who knows how much more will be needed in the future?" Huā Jiàng's face turned iron-green, and he asked through gritted teeth.

  "My goodness, you really are a devil! You open your mouth and it's 100,000 gold coins, and in the future it'll be even more. You really do think of the Roman family as sheep waiting to be slaughtered by your knife!" As she thought about this, Hua Qian's tears fell.

  She decided that even if it meant offending the Cade family, she would not agree to Liuyun's request, because he was simply an insatiable guy.

  "I apologize, Viscount, but the amount is too large and I'm afraid I don't have the strength to cooperate with you."

  "Huh? I haven't even said how we're going to cooperate, how do you know it's impossible?" Liú Yún asked in surprise, still thinking about how to cooperate with Huā Jiè Lì.

  "One hundred thousand gold coins is too much, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it. If you only want three to five thousand, I'll have someone deliver it." After saying that, Huā Jiè Lèi turned around and left.

  "Damn it, does this stupid woman think I'm going to ask her for money? Has her clever brain gone rotten?"

  Watching Huajing's back, Liuyun was stunned for half a day before finally understanding the situation, and waves of anger rose in his heart.

  "Halt!" Liu Yun shouted, "Listen clearly, I want to partner with you in a business deal, not ask for money from you."

  "That grown-up is actually telling me about your business." Huajian heard the voice and turned around to ask coldly.

  "I want you to help me sell wine." With that, Liú Yún turned around and had Adams fetch the fruit wine.

  Adams brought over a bottle of fruit wine, holding a glass, and walked quickly. Liuyun took it over, poured a glass of wine and handed it to Huajie's face.

  "Miss, please try some of this. It's called grape wine, made from a wild fruit called grapes. When tasting this wine, first observe its color, then smell its aroma, and finally savor its flavor."

  She took the wine glass, gently swirled it, brought it to her nose for a sniff, and then took a small sip. The fragrance of the wine suddenly evoked an unusual feeling in Huajing's heart: this wine had an enticing color, with a sweet fruity flavor, leaving a fragrant aftertaste on her lips, slightly sour but rich and mellow. With a merchant's intuition, she knew that this wine would be a bestseller.

  But Huajing had already made up her mind and did not want to cooperate with the noble in front of her.

  "With this kind of fruit wine, can you be sure it will sell well? And besides, a bottle of this fruit wine wouldn't be worth much money, would it?"

  Liú Yún didn't say a word, as if he already knew what was on the girl's mind.

  Liú Yún took the wine cup from Huā Jiè's hand, raised it high, and then let the crimson wine flow slowly down from the rim of the cup.

  "The battle is about to begin! Tonight, we gather together, raise our cups, and fill them with the crimson wine, to toast our own departure. Is that a splash of red in my cup the enemy's blood or mine? The distant sound of war drums urges me to march onto the battlefield, farewell to my loved ones and friends! If I fall on the battlefield tonight and do not return, don't laugh at me, for I am just drunk from this beautiful wine!"

  With a low and mournful voice, Hua Qian's tears felt that the red color she saw was no longer wine, but the blood of warriors. Suddenly, a group of soldiers appeared in her mind, surrounding the bonfire and drinking the crimson wine with gusto, and it seemed as if she also saw these soldiers falling on the battlefield a moment later, lying motionless like they were asleep, their bodies covered in red, unable to distinguish whether it was wine or blood.

  "This wine is called General's Tears, it belongs to warriors' wine, men's wine!" The sound of Liu Yun woke up Hua Xiang.

  "You once created the myth of 'Dream Luo Lan', can't you create another myth of 'General's Tears'?"

  Liú Yún paused for a moment, then spoke softly again: "This matter, consider it me asking you for help, this is the first time I've asked someone for help in this world."

  After finishing speaking, she turned around and left, leaving behind a flower kerchief with tears.

  When the cloud drifted past the bonfire, Huajing saw the lonely figure of a young man in white clothes under the sunset.