Chapter 1004: Final Chapter Serving Wine

In a small town, perhaps due to its remote location, it had escaped the tumult of war in earlier times, and now, by some twist of fate, it had again avoided the conflict raging in the Central Plains. From beginning to end, there was no sign of the thundering cavalry described in legends, or the clanging armor recounted by storytellers.

As the dust settled in Tai'an City, the atmosphere of chaos abruptly vanished, replaced by the grandeur of a new era of prosperity.

For this small town, the most evident change was the increasing number of patrons flocking to the "Brothers' Inn" to drink and listen to stories. Eventually, the inn became so crowded that some frugal customers, taking advantage of the situation, would tell the innkeeper and waiters that they didn't care about getting a table and would simply drink by the threshold, as it didn't prevent them from hearing the storyteller's tales.

The inn's reputation was known for a hundred miles around, not for rare fine wines, nor for alluring women selling drinks, but for the elderly storyteller who sat alone in the center of the main hall, surrounded by tables.

The old man sat on a small stool, with a small table beside him. On the table lay a storyteller's gavel, two or three pots of wine, a large white bowl, and a plate of peanuts. That was all.

One afternoon, after the dining guests had cleared their plates and dishes, making way for wine pots, jars, and bowls of all sizes, the storyteller slowly emerged from the back room. The old man was still over twenty paces from his table, yet before he even uttered a word, the entire inn, both upstairs and down, erupted in thunderous applause.

The old man raised his tightly clasped fists high, acknowledging the four directions, and the loud cheers inside the inn rose and fell, creating a lively and boisterous atmosphere.

The storyteller, clearly enjoying the attention, swayed his wide sleeves and sat on his small stool with an air of dignity. He deliberately adjusted his attire and sat upright before reaching for the gavel, bringing it down heavily on the table. He announced loudly, "Last time, we concluded with the imminent second Liang-Mang War, and the arrival of eighteen Grandmasters from the Central Plains!"

The old man picked up and set down the gavel again, striking the table fiercely once more. With a strong voice, he declared, "The rise and fall of empires, matters of state, require the most contemplation! The most contemplation!"

Just then, a listener shouted with a laugh, "Last time, you old man, you left us with a cliffhanger! You said that Zhang Feilong, Master Zhang, known as the Hermit of Bianjing in the jianghu, asked our King of Northern Liang for advice on how to interact with immortal maidens and female knights. What exactly did the King of Northern Liang say?! We're all waiting! Everyone, isn't that right?"

Throughout the inn, dozens of tables of guests roared in agreement. Many jianghu veterans, who had placed their swords and blades on the tables, began to boo, and many young wandering knights blew whistles vigorously.

The storyteller was clearly accustomed to such scenes. He calmly poured himself a bowl of wine and slurped it with relish. In fact, leaving cliffhangers and suspense at the end of each storytelling session was a secret technique the innkeeper had personally taught him, a guaranteed way to keep the audience coming back.

After leisurely setting down his wine bowl, the old man smiled, "If you hadn't mentioned it, this old man would have truly forgotten it! No rush, no rush, allow this old man to explain slowly! Dealing with people, you see, is an art, and for young knights fresh out of the jianghu meeting those lofty and beautiful immortal maidens, it's an even greater art. There are two kinds of immortal maidens and female knights in this world. One kind are like the Purple-clad from Huishan Daxiaoping, and Tong Shanqian, the master of Jincuo Dao Villa. They are ultimately rare, few and far between. Even if you travel across the land and roam the entire jianghu, they are still hard to come by. This old man won't talk about how to deal with them. And then there's another kind, hmm..."

"This is how the King of Northern Liang once taught Master Zhang Feilong. His Royal Highness, the elder King of Northern Liang, said this, and you all must listen carefully! These are golden words of wisdom; once this opportunity passes, you won't find it again..."

Ah, seeing the old man's familiar pose as he turned to pick up his wine bowl, everyone knew it was time to pay up again.

Sure enough, two delicate and pretty young women selling wine slowly approached between the tables. They didn't ask for money directly but carried a wooden board with over a dozen expensive pots of good wine. They didn't urge anyone to buy; whoever wanted to drink simply took a pot.

When the inn first started this trick, no one was willing to bite. But they couldn't stand it when the old storyteller shamelessly dragged on and refused to tell stories if no one took the wine!

Nowadays, the inn's guests were used to it and too lazy to haggle over a few bits of silver. They just paid up; what else could they do? Anyway, the patrons who came here weren't short on money. Besides, if you took wine today, someone else would pay tomorrow, and the day after, another would swell their face to play the generous patron. In the end, both sellers and buyers were quite satisfied.

Still, one had to admit, this innkeeper was truly unscrupulous to come up with such a subtle and harmful trick!

Fortunately, the inn was also clever enough to gauge people's minds accurately. They understood the principle of 'no more than three times'; generally, it only happened once at the beginning and once at the end, so it didn't annoy people. Over time, it became an unwritten rule of the inn, and even one of its unique features.

The two young women's twenty-odd small pots of wine were quickly taken by the guests.

The storyteller then continued, "That King of the Northwest told our Master Zhang that sparring with those pretentious fake female knights and pseudo-immortal maidens is actually quite fun. According to that vassal king, first and foremost, remember, you absolutely must not surrender before fighting!