Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

Liu Ming frowned, thought for a moment, and then said to Shen Chen, "How about this, you all make your wine in the yard, and we'll all go inside. Just let us know when the wine is ready."

Shen Chen replied calmly, "Okay."

The group then set up the steamer and firewood, getting ready to distill the liquor.

Just then, a young man in a tight-fitting outfit suddenly entered through the door. He looked around the courtyard and immediately frowned: "Who are you people?"

Liu Ming hurriedly stepped forward: "Officer Zheng, I'm having a drinking problem. These people are the ones I hired to make the wine."

"Making wine?" Zheng Yu raised an eyebrow, glancing at Shen Chen and the others, and immediately became wary.

He strode forward and immediately demanded in a stern voice, "Speak, who are you?"

The rebuke was delivered with an upright and unyielding tone, easily making one feel ashamed of their own insignificance. In that instant, Shen Chen felt as if he wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy, sincerely revealing his true identity.

"Sound wave technique?" Shen Chen's mind focused, and he quickly calmed himself down.

But others might not share his temperament. Zhao Qian's legs went weak, and he immediately knelt down: "My lord, spare our lives! We are..."

"We are wine merchants from the Great Qin Dynasty," Shen Chen said calmly, picking up where Zhao Qian left off. "We come from Miluo City in the Great Qin Dynasty."

Zhao Qian's expression immediately returned to normal, and he hurriedly got up from the ground: "Yes, we are from the Great Qin."

"A wine merchant from the Qin Dynasty?" Zheng Yu scrutinized Shen Chen and his group. "Do you have trade documents?"

Shen Chen took out the trade document that he had already forged: "Sir, please take a look."

Zheng Yu looked at Shen Chen suspiciously. He took the document, glanced at it, and suddenly said sharply, "This document is completely fake! It doesn't even have the official seal of the Great Yan Dynasty. Tell me, who exactly are you people?"

Faced with Zheng Yu's questioning, what is your choice?

[Good fortune: Denying the document is false and insisting that one is indeed a wine merchant from the Great Qin Dynasty.]

[Bad omen: Scatter and flee immediately. Zheng Yu successfully catches Wang Wu and Zhao Qian. (Ominous)]

[Bad Luck: If you immediately attempt to kill Zheng Yu and Liu Ming by force, your entire army will be wiped out. Extremely unlucky]

Upon hearing Zheng Yu reveal that the trade document was a forgery, Zhang Xiaolong and the others turned pale instantly. They all looked at Shen Chen, waiting for him to give them orders to escape or fight.

"Hahaha."

At this moment, Shen Chen smiled dismissively and said mockingly, "Have you even seen a trade document? This document was issued directly by the Eastern Trade Office of my Great Qin. How could it bear the official seal of Great Yan?"

"Furthermore, during the Northern Desert Alliance, the Great Yan scholar Lu Hongzhang personally signed the treaty, stipulating that when our Qin merchants come to Great Yan to trade, Great Yan's passes should act expediently. Didn't you receive this information? Just now, you dared to secretly use martial arts to question us!"

Shen Chen pressed on aggressively, "What's your name? Who's your boss? You've ruined our friendship with Qin Yan, I'm going to report you to the authorities!"

Upon hearing Shen Chen's barrage of questions, Zheng Yu's imposing manner immediately diminished: "I truly had no intention of offending the merchants of the Great Qin, please forgive me. It's just that there have been frequent thefts lately, and a while ago someone even attacked the brother next to me at night. I was just being cautious..."

Since the great defeat in the northern desert, the Great Yan and the Great Qin signed an unfair treaty. When facing the Qin people, the Yan people always unconsciously felt inferior, and Zheng Yu was no exception.

Zheng Yu then turned to Liu Ming and said, "Liu Ming, the steed you ordered has arrived. It's right outside the door. Why don't you hurry up and get going?"

Liu Ming, however, kept his eyes on Shen Chen and the others: "I'll be on my way after I finish this drink."

Zheng Yu retorted angrily, "You damn drunkard, you just want to drink! Do you think you'll ever lack alcohol in the future? Don't stall for time!"

Liu Ming persisted, "I won't leave until I drink this wine, Officer Zheng. The wine made by the Qin people is truly exceptional!"

Liu Ming insisted on drinking, and Zheng Yu had no choice but to agree. Everyone retreated back into the house, but Zheng Yu still stood there staring at Shen Chen and the others.

"Don't you know the rules, you fiery person? My method of making wine is a top secret. How could you possibly see it?" Shen Chen asked Zheng Yu with displeasure.

Zheng Yu took out a black cloth and wrapped it around her eyes: "That way, I won't be able to see how you make the wine, is that alright?"

Shen Chen nodded reluctantly: "Alright, brothers, let's get started and brew some liquor!"

The group then started brewing wine.

Although Zheng Yu is blind, her ears are always listening for any sounds.

He was trying to make sure there was a sound of powder being poured into the wine. This trick of using sleeping potions was the most common and hardest to guard against among bandits.

An hour later, he heard Shen Chen shout: "The wine is ready."

Liu Ming was the first to rush out of the room. He smelled the aroma of wine filling the courtyard and wished he could plunge headfirst into the wine vat.

Zheng Yu immediately reached out to stop him. He looked at Shen Chen and the others, and smiled, "The first sip of wine should naturally be drunk by the brewer first, please."

He glanced at Shen Chen and the others' expressions, only to see them smile and say, "This is a good rule. Let's have a few drinks first."

As he spoke, Shen Chen took the initiative to pick up the bamboo ladle, scoop up some wine, and drink it.

The others also started drinking in front of Zheng Yu.

Zheng Yu carefully observed the faces of the group and found that their complexions were rosy and their limbs moved freely, showing no signs of being drugged.

He waited cautiously for another fifteen minutes, while Liu Ming, who was sitting next to him, was drooling with envy and anxiously called out, "Alright, it's our turn to drink!"

"Okay, you drink it." Zheng Yu waved his hand, gesturing for Liu Ming to go up and drink, while he himself just stood there holding the knife.

"Hey buddy, aren't you going to have a drink?" Shen Chen asked Zheng Yu.

Zheng Yu simply refused: "No, I don't drink alcohol."

"Officer Zheng, it would be a great regret in life if you didn't drink such fine wine," Liu Ming exclaimed as he drank heartily.

Zheng Yu simply held his sword with both hands. He felt that the current atmosphere was somewhat eerie, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

The stove for distilling the liquor was still burning, and the bamboo inside crackled and popped.

Zheng Yu suddenly felt drowsy, his eyelids heavy. Alarm bells rang in his mind, and he tried to open his eyes, only to see people lying haphazardly on the ground around him, with Liu Ming even falling headfirst into a wine vat.

"Oh no!" Zheng Yu exclaimed in alarm. He tried desperately to draw the knife from its sheath at his waist, but his arms felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn't muster any strength at all.

A burst of laughter immediately reached his ears:

"Three, two, one! Down they come!"

Zheng Yu struggled to open his eyes, only to see that the Qin merchants had all removed their disguises, revealing the familiar faces on the wanted posters.

"【Wild Bear】Zhuang Man, 【One-Eyed Dragon】Zhang Xiaolong..." Zheng Yu's heart sank to the bottom. He tried to look at the handsome young man leading the group, but the man's face was completely unfamiliar to him.

He finally passed out completely, but before he collapsed, one question lingered in his mind—how did they administer the drug?