Transmigration: of Mysteries and Songs

Chapter 38: Elder Brother

It was a moment of salvation for Feng Luodi and the workers of Autumnal Ombre, as they stood on helplessly in front of the shop. The crowd that had blocked off the shop parted automatically, and Jiang Moyin strolled in with two of his attendants behind him. A man looking to be in his forties was dragged in by his collar, held by one of the attendants.

Feng Luodi glanced at the burly man who was creating a ruckus just moments before. The man's eyes darted around when he saw the middle-aged man dragged in by his collar, as if unsure of what he was doing. There was a loud smash as he dropped the flask of wine he was holding, shattering on the floor. Feng Luodi quickly stepped away, but some of the wine had splashed onto her skirt.

Jiang Moyin's saunter turned into an urgent dash as he quickly went to Feng Luodi and grabbed her hand, checking her thoroughly for any injuries. "Are you alright? Did you get cut by any of the clay fragments?" He signalled to the other attendant, who quickly came forward and pinned the burly man down, ignoring his shouts and protests.

"I'm fine. But I think my skirt is a little dirty now." Feng Luodi shook her head, and gently withdrew her hand from Jiang Moyin's grip. "What brings you here?"

Jiang Moyin smiled and handed Feng Luodi a handkerchief. "Jianqiu and the rest are waiting for you at Manchun Tang. I'm just here to deliver the summons."

"Oh, I see." Feng Luodi did not think much about it and turned back to the burly man.

"Now it all makes sense. I believe that this is your employer?" Feng Luodi gestured to the middle-aged man. "Mmmmm, seems about right. I can smell alcohol coming off your clothes, and it doesn't have the fragrance of our wines. You don't look drunk, yet your clothes smell strongly of wine. You must work in a liquor store!"

"Bullshit!" The middle-aged man quickly shook his hand in denial, looking at the burly man pinned by Jiang Moyin's attendant. "Who'd want to hire someone like him?!"

The burly man's face flushed red, but he kept silent.

Jiang Moyin turned and smiled at the crowd. Someone in the crowd shouted. "I recognise this man! He's the owner of the liquor store in the West quadrant of Chang'an city!"

"I can confirm that! I went to his shop once, but his wines were so bland! They were diluted without any flavour!"

More and more voices chimed in and confirmed the identity of the middle-aged man, who was now slick with sweat, panic written all over his face. Li Tengfei calmly swept up the broken fragments strewn across the floor, and levelled his gaze at the middle-aged man.

"Young miss, Master Jiang, let's not waste our words on someone like that. Just send them both to the yamen and let the authorities handle it. Quarrelling with him will only bring bad luck to our shop."

The burly man quickly panicked when he heard the word "yamen" again. "Don't! Don't report me to the authorities, I'll tell you everything! This man gave me three taels of silver in exchange for causing a ruckus at your shop to disrupt the business! Don't bring me to the yamen!" He pointed a shaking finger at the middle-aged man.

Jiang Moyin smiled, and turned to the crowd. "Everyone, now that the truth has been revealed, please queue again to purchase our wines." Jostling ensued again, as the crowd scrambled to be at the head of the queue. Then, he turned to Li Tengfei and Scarlet, the latter whom stuck close to Feng Luodi.

"You two, go on ahead with your duties. It has been quite an eventful day. Just finish selling the wines to these people in the queue and close earlier for today."

"Yes, Master Jiang."

As for the two troublemakers, Jiang Moyin's attendants had thrown them out into the streets, and they quietly slinked away amidst insults hurled at them by the crowd.