This was an extremely critical situation! As the seven brothers' gaze finally rested upon what Jun Mo Xie was pointing at, they suddenly couldn't look away!
All of them silently cursed at him. You still consider this a shortage in supply? There are eight large jugs filled to the brim; even with a conservative estimate, there were at least 50 jins of wine in each jug for a grand total of several hundred jins of wine! And we pitiful brothers could only smell and did not even have the opportunity of tasting a single drop.
A thousand jins of gold for a drop? That's daylight robbery… but, it might worth it based just on this fragrance!
"Brothers, are we not going to leave? I thought I was supposed to meet with Senior Dugu?"
Jun Mo Xie took a few steps forward before looking back, only to see the seven individuals still rooted to their original position and staring at the several earthen jugs.
Was there glue sticking their legs to the floor?!
No, rather than glue, it was the magical power of this exquisite wine!
"Oh, so that's it! Your little brother appreciates seven brother's silent reminder."
Jun Mo Xie swayed to and fro as he walked back and shouted out.
"Attend to me."
Several middle-aged servants immediately appeared at his side. "Young Master, what are your instructions?"
"This Young Master may have been careless but how could you be so thoughtless? Hurry up and seal these jugs of wine. If it weren't for the reminder of my elder brothers, the wine would have turned to vinegar! Afterwards, help me move them…"
Jun Mo Xie paused for a moment.
A happy expression spread across the faces of the seven manly brothers from the Dugu Family. They had put two and two together and thought that Jun Mo Xie wanted to bring the wine as a gift for their grandfather. Once they thought of how they will be able to drink to their heart's content, their faces could not help but light up with delight.
"… move them to my private warehouse. When I return tonight, I need to hold a family feast with Grandpa and Third Uncle!" Jun Mo Xie unflinchingly continued. "I might as well invite a few guests, but I fear that there wouldn't be enough wine to go around… Yes, you will prepare some other wine and reserve it for our esteemed guests."
The servants bowed all together before walking in front of the jars and were just about to seal the jars.
"Stop!" Dugu Ying's movement was incomparably quick as he took a sudden stride forward and shot in front of the earthen jugs of wine, thrusting his arms out at his sides and directly blocked the servants from getting any closer.
His voice was as deep as the ocean and as steady as a mountain. People who were unaware might think that the owner of this voice was a peak level expert!
The middle-aged servants were somewhat dumbfounded. Was the Young Master confused? Hadn't you just instructed us to seal up the jugs? Are you trying to give us a hard time?!
The rest of the brothers were startled awake and immediately surrounded the earthen jugs like a wall of iron towers, standing shoulder to shoulder as if awaiting the arrival of their mortal enemies!
So this wine was prepared for the Jun Family's feast later tonight, but there still might not be enough… doesn't this mean that after this evening, the wine would be gone? It never occurred to them that Jun Mo Xie's words had glaring inconsistencies; he said earlier that he wanted to save the wine for himself, but now he said that he planned to finish all the wine during the feast tonight.
They had become unable to think properly once hearing the wine would be gone soon.
"Elder Brothers, what's the meaning of this?" Jun Mo Xie frowned and asked, puzzled. "My grandpa will be waiting tonight so let us be on our way so that I can hurry back."
This one sentence instantly dispelled any ideas to steal the wine. The Grand Duke Jun knows about this wine.
"Haha, uh, hehe…" Dugu Ying wasn't laughing anymore but babbling incoherent noises before suddenly giving the signal with his eyes.
The remaining six people immediately pounced like crouching tigers, first to subdue Jun Mo Xie, and then using misdirection and attacks from all directions to knock out the four servants in a flash. Dugu Ying repeated shouted. "Gently! You must not injure anyone!"
Dugu Qian stormed into a room like a gust of wind but came out empty-handed a long time later. Dugu Xiong vehemently lambasted. "Dumbass! Go to the kitchen to get some bowls!" Dugu Chong and Dugu Shang rushed out without hesitation. It didn't take long before they came back laughing heartily with several large bowls in their arms.
"Be careful not to spill the wine." Dugu Ying warned with a solemn expression on his face.
"Carefully pour a little bit of the wine from each of the jugs. Do not drink too much and just quickly drink a few bowls to satisfy your craving. After we are done, we will take Jun Mo Xie away without delay. Don't get drunk. I'm talking to you Old Six, you always binge when you drink. Remember to drink in moderation."
It seemed that they have a lot of experience drinking secretly when they were at home.
"That's obvious." The rest of them had long reached the limits of their patience and had rushed to the earthen jugs like a swarm to ladle out the wine; following which they had cautiously brought it back and formed a loose circle around the stone table like a group of migrant workers.
With the bowl of wine in Dugu Ying's hands, he fondly smelt the aroma before he opened his mouth wide and took a large gulp, only to feel an ice-cold sensation flowing down his throat. As the wine made its way into his stomach, a burning sensation like a blazing fire exploded out. His body instantly heated up from head to toe as an enraptured expression appeared on his face like he had ascended to heaven.
He then exclaimed in a loud voice. "Flawless wine! This is the taste of perfection! Even the wine produced for the imperial family is utter trash in comparison! I must ask that little brat Jun if the wine is for sale!"
The remaining six effortlessly took a swig at the same time, and then let out a sigh of satisfaction; eyes wide open with their heads thrown back, clutching their bellies, swaying their heads back and forth, and moaned comfortably at the same time. "Ah~~~Ah~~~~~~"
Seven principled and usually forthright men were moaning and groaning as if they were patrons of a brothel, and then moved out at the same time like a mighty flood… Jun Mo Xie quivered as a chill ran down his back. He felt the sweat pores throughout his body open up and his hair stood up on end as if he were taking a midnight stroll through an unmarked graveyard.
Shortly after that, the seven people rushed to ladle out more wine in rapid succession. Sounds of dispute echoed out from time to time.
"Eldest Brother, you already had two bowls, and I've only had one!"
"Go to hell Old Seven, trying to steal from me!"
"So delicious… W-Why are you pushing me?"
"Careful! Old Three had sneaked in his third bowl! This guy is shameless!"
"Brothers… let's take a break."
It never even crossed the seven brothers' mind that none of the Grand Duke's household guards have come to investigate from the time they had kicked down the main gate until now! This was extremely unusual! Such unbridled, devil-may-care carouses caused even Jun Mo Xie to be was somewhat stupefied…
This was like a gang of robbers had brazenly broken into someone's home and to not just drink, but drink to the point of being completely wasted, all the while completely disregarding the fact that the owner had sounded the alarm a long time ago…
Appearing without a sound, Jun Wu Yi smiled and winked at Jun Mo Xie before silently disappearing. Outside the courtyard, several hundred Jun Family guards quietly dispersed…
This was just unprocessed wine; it hadn't even been blended nor has the flavor been adjusted! The wine would have at least seventy to eighty percent alcohol content using the measuring methods from his previous life. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that this was pure alcohol!
One large bowl was at the very least, half a jin of wine! Jun Mo Xie had actually taken pity on these brothers.
Jun Mo Xie appeared to have been thrown on the floor with his Xuan Qi suppressed, and the brothers never bothered with him from the start for fear that the others would take advantage of their absence to drink more wine. Naturally, the restraint was useless against Jun Mo Xie.
In the beginning, he had remained motionless for fear of being discovered by these clowns but afterward, had sat straight up to stare blankly at the seven brother's fierce competition. Finally, he no longer pretended to care as he stood up to stretch his limbs, folding his arms across his chest and continue to watch from the side, without anyone the wiser.
Only after a moment, a really long moment…
"Thud!" Dugu Qian was the youngest, had the lowest tolerance, and lost control the earliest; unable to prop himself up any longer, he fell headfirst into the ground. The sound of even breathing revealed that he had fallen into deep sleep.
Dugu Hao got annoyed by him and let lose an angry kick, sending Dugu Qian flying into the air; after that, he quickly proceeded to ladle out more wine.
"Thud!" Dugu Chong stumbled and fell on his way to the wine jug.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
The seven brothers had all fallen on the floor, laying this way and that.
There's nothing to be done. The alcohol content was way too high! Even knock-out drops would not be this effective!
Although there were differences in alcohol tolerance, there were also differences in alcohol; these guys were so wasted they can't even tell which foots was forwards and backwards!
The wine Young Master Jun had fermented this time was simply too strong, and the foreshot had an even higher alcohol content as compared to the wine itself.
Although these seven individual's capacity for liquor were not shallow, they had still never drunk wine this frighteningly strong before. It was as if a person who had drunk nothing but beer being introduced to sorghum wine.
It wouldn't seem that strong at first, and one might be able to drink several bowls. But when the alcohol finally kicks in, it might take several days to wake up from this intoxicated dream, and even then one would not be completely sober, not even saying about these seven younglings of the Dugu Family who had drunk close to four king-sized bowls of wine.
For the moment, thunderous snoring echoed out from Jun Mo Xie's small courtyard. Even though he had smoothly de-escalated the situation, Jun Mo Xie's body was still twitching unceasingly because of these seven brothers.
If you're going to sleep, then go to sleep, but you have to snore! Alright, I can let that go, but some of them aren't just snoring: grinding their teeth, whistling, farting with everything they've got… to an actual rhythm!
'Whoot whoot'
Just as Jun Mo Xie was getting vexed, Dugu Ying had started whistling again.
Letting lose a flying kick right up his ass, Jun Mo Xie fumed as he cursed. "I dare you to let out a single fart again!"
The whistling stopped, but Dugu Ying was flipped over by the kick. Facing the sky, he mumbled to himself. "Great wine…"
High up on the walls of a neighboring courtyard, Guan Qing Han was hidden among the foliage of a nearby tree like a sentinel in a brilliant snow white dress. An incredulous expression across her ice-cold eyes!
She had received a note from a capable servant warning her not to come!
But yet, she still came!
Ever since the seven brothers from the Dugu Family stormed the main gates, Guan Qing Han had already readied her sword and hid here. So long as Dugu Ying and his brothers show any indication of attacking Jun Mo Xie or try to take him away, Guan Qing Han would immediately take action. Even though she was fully aware that she was not their opponent, she would still spare no effort to fight!
Although she had never looked favorably upon Jun Mo Xie, he was still Jun Family's only descendant of the third generation. He was still her nephew-in-law. No matter what, she couldn't sit idly by and watch him fall into danger. Especially since this brat had started looking more like an actual human recently…
But as time passed, Guan Qing Han's eyes gradually grew wider and wider at every new scene, and even started to develop a begrudging admiration.
Jun Mo Xie had remained calm and collected since the very beginning. This caused Guan Qing Han no small amount of shock. The Jun Mo Xie from her memories would have already turned into a sorry mess; it wouldn't even surprise her if he'd pissed his pants. But he was vastly different today; slowly but surely, he gave the Dugu Family's seven brothers courtesy at first in order to completely ensnare them in his trap. Not only had they been willing to cooperate, they had even impatiently drunk themselves into a deep sleep.
Although these seven individuals were so thick-headed they could not be any more thick-headed, this kind of outcome still made Guan Qing Han endlessly amazed—is this still the same utterly gutless nephew-in-law, Jun Mo Xie?
Sighing lightly, Guan Qing Han silently slipped away.