The First Military God of the Border

The two constables laughed disdainfully.

Qiu Mingyuan was even more disdainful.

In his view, what could a peasant possibly offer?

But when he held the token with the missing corner in his hand, his gaze sharpened.

Qiu Mingyuan stared at the token for a long time, refusing to believe it, his fingers tracing the character "horse" on it. When he looked at Lin Hui again, his gaze had softened considerably.

"How...how did you get Lord Ma's private token?"

His voice wasn't loud, but the two constables heard it very clearly.

"Naturally, it was personally handed over to me by Lord Ma."

Qiu Mingyuan's lips twitched slightly, because he was very clear about the significance of this token in Linjiang County.

At this moment, Qiu Mingyuan dared not show the slightest arrogance. He was merely a registrar; how could he dare to challenge the magistrate's distinguished guest? "Young brother, I'm sorry, they were blind. I will punish them severely. May I ask your name?"

"You're too kind, Lord Qiu. My name is Lin Hui."

"So it's Brother Lin. I'm sorry for the neglect."

Qiu Mingyuan clasped his hands in a bow, then turned and shouted at the two guards at the gate, "You two, are you blind? Making the magistrate's distinguished guest wait outside, you idiots! Hurry up and apologize!"

The two constables were dumbfounded. What was going on?

"Master Qiu..."

Qiu Mingyuan, thoroughly enraged by the clueless gatekeeper, kicked him, yelling, "Are you deaf? Brother Lin holds the magistrate's personal token! Who gave you the audacity to be so disrespectful?"

Upon hearing this, the two constables were dumbfounded; they had never seen the magistrate's personal token before.

In an instant, his knees buckled, and he knelt down: "I was blind, I was blind..."

Lin Hui had no intention of arguing with the guards at the gate. People in these government offices were always like that, never giving ordinary people a friendly look.

He took the token back from Qiu Mingyuan and then entered the county government office without saying a word.

As they approached the entrance to the second hall, they bumped into Wang Ping.

Wang Ping, dressed in armor, had just finished training the garrison of Linjiang County. Linjiang County had two hundred garrison soldiers, all of whom were now under Wang Ping's command.

When he saw that the person who came was Lin Hui, he laughed loudly: "Brother, what brings you here? You didn't even have someone announce your arrival so I could have come to pick you up."

At the same time, Qiu Mingyuan also came in.

When the two faced off, Wang Pingli ignored Qiu Mingyuan and instead looked at Lin Hui to ask what was going on.

Lin Hui didn't intend to make a big deal out of it; he casually mentioned that the yamen runners at the gate didn't recognize the magistrate's token.

Qiu Mingyuan replied with a forced smile, "Sir, it's a misunderstanding, purely a misunderstanding."

"These two are newcomers and have never seen the magistrate's personal token before. Don't worry, sir, these two are my subordinates, and I will punish them severely."

"Your people?"

Wang Ping looked toward the entrance, where two guards were still kneeling on the ground.

He looked at Qiu Mingyuan with hostility: "Lord Qiu, is this your relative?"

Qiu Mingyuan's lips twitched, and he said with a dry laugh, "The county government is short of people, and the county magistrate just happened to entrust this matter to me. One of them is my nephew. He has practiced martial arts since childhood and is down-to-earth and hardworking. I thought I would select talents for the county magistrate, so I brought him here."

It sounded grand and righteous, but it was actually nepotism. Wang Ping saw through it but didn't say anything. He patted Lin Hui on the shoulder and said, "Come on, brother, let's go find the boss for a drink."

Qiu Mingyuan breathed a sigh of relief after watching Lin Hui and Wang Ping leave.

Turning around, he arrived at the entrance of the county government office. Looking at the two people still kneeling on the ground, especially An Shirong, he became angrier and angrier. Without saying a word, he kicked them repeatedly.

"Bastard..."

"What kind of situation is this? You still dare to act so arrogantly here? I'm going to beat you to death today..."

Inside the second hall, Wang Ping and Lin Hui walked side by side. When Wang Ping saw Lin Hui's wine jar, he laughed and said, "What, does the county government need your wine?"

Lin Hui laughed and said, "Brother, my wine is different. I'll give you a bowl later."

Wang Ping frowned: "Are you being so stingy? You only give me a bowl of wine?"

Lin Hui remained expressionless: "Just one bowl, not a bit more."

Wang Ping cursed, "You stingy bastard!"

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at the door of the study.

The door was open, and Ma Dayuan paced back and forth in the room, seemingly preoccupied with something.

"Sir, Brother Lin has arrived."

Ma Dayuan snapped out of his daze, turned to look at Lin Hui, and smiled.

"Brother Lin, what brings you here? What happened?"

"Come, sit down..."

Ma Dayuan helped Lin Hui sit down.

Lin Hui put down the wine jar, pointed at it and said, "Lord Ma, I didn't know what to bring you. Yunzhou is bitterly cold, so I brought a jar of wine for you to try."

Ma Dayuan stared at the wine jar for a long time, wondering what kind of medicine Lin Hui had swallowed.

"Brother Lin, what do you mean by this?"

Lin Hui explained with a smile, "Lord Ma, please don't misunderstand. This is a wine I brewed called Thirty Mile Red."

"Thirty Miles of Red?"

"Brother Lin, your name is a bit too ambitious. As far as I know, the best wine in the entire Linjiang County is Shuangji's Shili Hong. You've named your wine something like that, are you planning to open a restaurant?"

"Sir, please don't misunderstand, I'm not cut out for business."

Wang Ping asked in surprise, "You can brew wine?"

"Open it quickly, I want to try your wine."

Lin Hui stopped dawdling and gestured to a maid beside him, "Could you please bring three bowls, young lady?"

The maid did not immediately go to do it, but looked at Ma Dayuan with an inquiring gaze.

Ma Dayuan gave the maid a look before she acted, and soon three bowls were placed on the table.

Lin Hui poured in 30,000 bottles of wine. The wine was clear and transparent, without any impurities, and its aroma could be smelled from afar.

Lin Hui picked up a bowl and said casually, "Gentlemen, cheers..."

Ma Dayuan didn't just pick up the bowl and drink it down; instead, he took a very careful sip. But as soon as it entered his mouth, his eyes widened in surprise.

As for Wang Ping, he was still coughing at this time.

He thought it was just ordinary wine, so he picked up the bowl and started pouring it down his throat. Before he knew it, someone had snatched it from him.

After finishing carving, he took a small sip and remained silent for a long time.

"This wine?"

Unconvinced, Ma Dayuan took another sip and savored the taste.

"Excellent, excellent. In all my years, this is the strongest liquor I've ever drunk."

Wang Ping was far more shocked than Ma Dayuan: "Sir, this is no ordinary wine. When you drink it, it makes your tongue hurt, but after a while, your mouth is filled with a sweet aftertaste. This kind of wine is unique in the entire Yunzhou."

"Brother Lin, I don't believe you really brewed this wine."

Wang Ping asked again, "Which restaurant supplied it? Tell me quickly, I want to go and have a good drink with them when things calm down."

Seeing that his plan was half successful, Lin Hui had successfully attracted the attention of Ma Dayuan and Wang Ping.

"To be honest, gentlemen, this wine of mine comes from Shiweitian."

Wang Ping's face was filled with disbelief.

"Brother Lin, stop trying to fool me and the master. We've had our share of Shiweitian's wine before."

Lin Hui chuckled: "That's right. I'm currently cooperating with Shiweitian, and since I happen to know a bit about brewing techniques, I've improved their equipment."

At this point, even if Ma Dayuan was stupid, he would understand what Lin Hui meant.

He knew a little about the importance of food; not long ago, Song Qingyan had come to the county government to accuse Hu Ning of bullying and monopolizing the market.

He looked at Lin Hui and slowly asked, "Did you come here for food?"

Lin Hui nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, Lord Ma. First of all, Shiweitian is also my restaurant. I want you to be the backer of Shiweitian Restaurant."

Ma Dayuan fell into deep thought, and Lin Hui didn't disturb him, drinking and waiting by himself. After a long time, Ma Dayuan spoke up: "Don't worry, I won't be your backup, but I can guarantee you that as long as I, Ma Dayuan, am in Linjiang, I will ensure that nothing happens to Shiweitian."

"Of course, this is under the condition that Shiweitian is operating normally. If Shiweitian is colluding with the enemy or doing other things, then I can't help you."

Lin Hui nodded in satisfaction, stood up, and bowed to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, Lord Ma..."