161 I'm not late, you just got here early

Jun Wu Yi faintly knitted his brows: "Mo Xie, you and I must clearly understand that Qing Han's future lies with her own family and not the Jun Family. Although Qing Han lives with us in the capacity of our daughter-in-law, she's just so in-name and not by law since there was no wedding ceremony to indict her into our family. Whether we look at this aspect from a social or moral perspective, she really cannot be considered a Jun. Her emotions took control of her at the time of your Brother's death, and she was unable to make a radical decision under the influence of her grief."

"But Qing Han is still young, and she may still have a shot at living a happy married-life ahead in her future. Both the families have been very clear on this subject, and in fact, both the sides made sure that this could be made possible in the future. In fact, at the time when your brother died, your grandfather made it very clear that Qing Han will only live with the Jun Family till the time she decides to. We decided that as long as she chooses to live with us as a part of our family, we will use all our power to make sure that she doesn't get any flak from the society about it!"

"But if Qing Han decides to go, then we must do everything to make her happy. If it's for her good, then the Jun Family must even use its influence and try to get her married into a good and powerful family. Keeping her here and unmarried all her life isn't fair to her. Do you understand my point?" Jun Wu Yi looked up at setting moon of the morning sky; the regrets that his eyes were trying to conceal were clearly visible in the light coming from the heavens above. "Qing Han would have made a very good bride for this family, but unfortunately your brother wasn't lucky enough."

"Third Uncle, if a good match can be found for sister-in-law, then I would surely be very happy for her, but I've always thought... strangely of her family's intentions!" Jun Mo Xie frowned as he suddenly felt a little strange within his heart.

"If her family is thinking of her and their interests alone, then we must also be able to think of our family's interest, and we must make sure that they don't exploit our family!" Jun Wu Yi stated this frame of sentence in the most imposing of demeanors, as would be expected of a Sky Xuan expert!

"Now that's the spirit Uncle! Spoken like a true Sky Xuan war general!" Jun Mo Xie praised.

"Beat it!" Jun Wu Yi kicked his nephew in the buttocks and sent the young master Jun flying. A Sky Xuan expert's kick is no trivial matter, and the hitman Jun was sent volleying into the air with his arms wide open, clutching the escaping air for support.

"That's what you should get!" Jun Wu Yi chuckled. It was rare for him to find an opportunity to play around with his nephew.

The young master Jun splendidly rolled in the air, and then safely landed on his buttocks. He slid forward for a while before he was able to get up again. Being a Sky Xuan expert, Jun Wu Yi was skilled and powerful enough to apply his force in the right spot which sent him flying with actually hurting him in the process...

Jun Mo Xie smiled evilly as he landed on the ground, almost as if he had just obtained a level six Xuan Core!

As the afternoon hours approached, Jun Mo Xie started making preparations to depart for the contest's venue.

Jun Mo Xie took out two jars of wine, and boarded his most reluctant choice of ride - the red palanquin, which started wobbling its way to the Old Song's tavern soon after.

Old Song was already waiting anxiously in his wine shop.

Old Song had initially decided to close his shop after half-a-days' business today, but then changed his mind later, and decided to keep his shop shut for the entire day instead. Therefore, he directly listed his shop as 'closed' for the entire day since half-a-days' business didn't mean much to him anyway. Naturally, he decided to use the time to make his preparations for the contest.

A wine contest was one of the rare and great joys of his life! It ignited the same kind of excitement and nervousness in his heart that a martial expert would feel before a duel with another.

Although he was sure that the kid wouldn't be able to come up with a wine which would be a hundred times better than his own, but his heart was still full of expectations. [No one can ferment a better wine than me, but since the kid had boasted so much about his skills, I'm hoping that the kid would be able to come up with something worth looking forward to…]

The usually dirty pub was now spotlessly clean.

There was a green carpet on the ground. The tables and chairs which lacked an arm or a leg, had been replaced with good-quality tables and freshly crafted rose-wood chairs, which had been neatly arranged in files.

The twenty four tables with two chairs each made for a seating arrangement which was enough to seat about forty-eight people.

The corners of each wall were adorned with large pearl-shaped pigeon eggs which were hanging down from the wall, exuding a soft and lustrous white light which was brilliantly reflecting the white wine glasses set on the tables. The magnificently decorated pub would give any customer a feeling similar to that of a heavenly reverie…..

The middle-aged man excitedly stepped into the pub, and cried out in alarm and surprise, while his feet retreated a couple of steps as some doubts sprung up in his mind: [Ah yes, this is the Old Song's pub, but how did this small pub suddenly become even cleaner and more luxurious than my palace?]

[This usually dirty pub has now suddenly transformed into a heavenly paradise….. I'm not inside a dream right now, am I?]

Old Song hurried over to greet the confused and amazed middle-aged man: "Old Song, you're an odd character. You're taking this contest so seriously that even the Emperor would think twice before coming here."

Old Song obviously knew his real identity; therefore he didn't really feel the need to hide much from the man.

"I can't comment on that, but even if wine is just another drink to most people, it's everything to me! I have a hunch that this contest is something that I've been waiting for a long time now! This might turn into one of the most precious moments of this Song Shang's life." Old Song stated solemnly.

"Song Shang? So you're Song Shang?! The Song Shang, 'Send a wine before the kill' Song Shang?!" the prince was completely taken aback for a moment, and then immediately smiled: "But why have you been hiding that from me all this time?"

"Hiding or revealing… what difference does it make?" Song Shang smiled bitterly. [What's left to conceal after that black-clothed man exposed my Xuan Qi? ]There was no way to hide here anymore, and if it wasn't for this wine contest today, then Old Song would have closed his shop a long time ago, and would've set out in search for a new place of refuge.

"According to the legend, Song Shang was quite the romantic, sophisticated, but also a bit weird. It is said that he used to send a jar of wine to his future victims before he came to murder them. Allegedly a gentleman, people say that he used to say 'You must gift a man a jar of wine before you visit him'... but I don't know why someone like that would change?" The surprised prince asked with a smile.

Song Shang shook his head faintly as a thread of bitterness flashed across his eyes, but didn't say anything in reply.

The Prince naturally realized that Old Song wasn't interested in talking about his past. Therefore, the prince gestured to the cute ten year old boy who was standing next to him, with the intention of introducing the boy to Old Shang. Even though the boy seemed very graceful and fearless in front of complete strangers, his hands were secretly clutching onto the Prince's clothes.

"This is my boy." The prince stroked the boy's head affectionately.

"Good ambience." A faint voice sounded behind them. The Royal Highnesses and Song Shang turned around at the same time, only to realize that the man in black had appeared out of nowhere and was casually sitting on the chair behind them with a calm look on his face; even though he had complemented the new look of the pub, it seemed obvious that he didn't really care about it.

Having the vision of a prince, the middle-aged man could clearly tell that this man in black was something extraordinary; [he has to be some sort of a legend from some folklore, else there would be no reason why an assassin of Song Shang's class would be so scared of this man.]

Now that some of the secrets had come to life, the tavern went completely silent.

[We are all present here to witness a wine making contest…. The judges are here…. But the opposing party hasn't arrived yet.]

[Is it because of stage fear?]

The Hitman Jun was never the one to worry about stage fright. He was always more likely to worry himself with winning the match rather than worry about silly things like stage fright. However, even the young master Jun had never anticipated that a small wine making contest, which he had just jokingly made a bet on would be dragging influential characters like a world renowned expert, a Sky Xuan expert and some members of the royalty including a prince to witness the proceedings!

And now all these influential characters were stamping their feet as they sat and waited…. For him to arrive...

Half an hour went by…. He didn't arrive; another half an hour passed by…. No sign of him....

[What does he think of himself!]

The men seemed a bit angry; even the man in black was no exception. Wherever these three men went, people waited for their arrival. These three weren't accustomed to waiting for anyone.

A long while later, the man in black raised his eyebrows, while Old Song also moved his gaze in the entrances' direction almost simultaneously. However, the prince didn't realize why they did so until he heard a commotion on the other side of the alley's entrance.

Jun Mo Xie's palanquin was slowly swaying its way through the alley, while an extra two men were leisurely walking in front of his palanquin with a jar of wine in their hands.

The alley leading up to the Old Song's tavern was so narrow that Jun Mo Xie's procession barely left any space for the other pedestrians in the alley; hence they all squeezed to one side to allow the palanquin to pass through.

Although the palanquin was already quite wobbly, the hitman Jun had asked his bearers to make it sway just a bit more than the usual.

He felt that this deliberate movement would add some more flair to his arrival, and well….. he had been missing the roller coaster rides from his previous life for a while now.

As Jun Mo Xie parted the newly setup curtained entrance to the tavern, and stepped in, he found the prince staring at him with wide-open and round eyes: "Boy, are you preparing to get married to someone today?"

Old Song continued to stare at his competitor while the prince broke into laughter.

Jun Mo Xie looked around the room, only to realize that everyone seemed a bit dissatisfied by his actions: "Didn't we say 'evening'? Why did you guys get here so early?"

This remark earned him the angry glances of the three men! In fact, even the usually expressionless man in black narrowed his eyes.

[Forget about blaming himself for arriving late, he's actually blaming us for coming early? This guy is a piece of work!]