Tianliangyuan

Chapter 57 Emergency Situation

Zhu Zi ordered several jars of brewed fruit wine to be delivered to Zi Yuan. Xu Zhaozhao casually opened one jar and became slightly drunk just from the aroma.

"Is this Peach Blossom Wine?"

"My master is indeed wise; he could guess the name without even tasting it."

Xu Zhaozhao smiled. There were words written on the jar; she wasn't blind!

Xu Zhaozhao poured out three cups of wine with a ladle, then gestured for Dingxiang and Zhuzi to taste them as well. She herself simply held the cup to her nose and sniffed it lightly before putting it back.

It does indeed have the aroma of peaches. Although this wine is called Peach Blossom Wine, it actually contains peaches; otherwise, it wouldn't be called fruit wine.

Zhu Zi never expected to drink wine personally prepared for him by his master. He carefully picked it up and drank it with great satisfaction and caution.

Dingxiang took a small sip and said, "Miss, this wine is truly delicious, and it's something I've never tasted before. I've never even heard of peaches being added to wine in the market."

"There's a specific ratio involved. We have a lot of raw materials; otherwise, we wouldn't be able to brew such a fine wine."

"Master, this Peach Blossom Wine is truly exceptional, I am truly impressed!"

“Zhu Zi, you often travel around. Let me ask you, if you were selling wine in a distillery, how much would you price it?”

Zhu Zi calculated for a moment: "My lord, in my humble opinion, this wine should be classified as one of the ten thousand wines."

The term "ten thousand wine" is actually another name for high-end wine.

Ordinary people mostly drank loose liquor, which could be bought for a dozen or several dozen coins per dou (a unit of volume).

High-end liquor is relatively expensive and is generally only consumed by wealthy people; it is also commonly served at banquets.

Ten thousand taels of wine, which is equivalent to ten taels of silver, is not something that ordinary people can afford!

In the liquor market, there are generally two types of containers: a large container weighs about a pound, while a small container weighs less than half a pound.

The "ten thousand wines" that Zhu Zi mentioned meant ten taels of silver per dou, which is about one jin.

This price is quite expensive.

Some heavy drinkers can drink endlessly, easily spending a hundred or eighty taels of silver on food and drinks in one night.

Of course, those who can afford to drink this 10,000-yuan wine must be wealthy people who are not short of money.

"How much peach blossom wine did you get in total?"

"Reporting to Miss, we have a total of sixty-two jars of Peach Blossom Wine and fifty-six jars of Hundred Flowers Fragrance."

“That’s right. I think these grapes are almost ripe. We’ll buy a lot of grapes then, including those from our own estate, and preserve them well so we can make wine in batches.”

"Yes, as you instructed, we have already hired several winemakers. The fruit wine is alright, since our production is limited, but the production of the wine will definitely increase significantly later. Two of the winemakers have not signed contracts with us. What do you think?"

Why not sign?

"One of them was originally a winemaker, but something went wrong, so he had to sell the winery. Another younger one, I heard, doesn't plan to continue in the winemaking business and is currently hesitating."

"The one who hesitates can be dismissed immediately. As for the one you mentioned who sold the distillery, we can consider him, but if he can't sign a contract with us, he won't be allowed into the core work area. Make that clear to him. If we discover he has any spying intentions, immediately hand him over to the authorities!"

"Yes, little one understands."

"Keep the Peach Blossom Wine and Hundred Flowers Fragrance safe for me. I have a great use for them, so don't sell them."

"Yes."

Xu Zhaozhao gave Xu Han and Wang Ruolan two jars of Peach Blossom Wine and two jars of Hundred Flowers Fragrance, respectively.

As for the old lady, she didn't send anything.

It's not that she's unfilial, but rather that the old lady's current health makes it unsuitable for her to drink alcohol.

Moreover, as people get older, they are more prone to endocrine problems, so Xu Zhaozhao dared not let her drink alcohol rashly.

When Xu Han learned that it was fruit wine, he was somewhat surprised, but he didn't think that a grown man like him should drink such wine, so he didn't take it to heart and just left it untouched in the study.

When Wang Ruolan entertained her friends, she brought out a jar of peach blossom wine to share, which made them very envious.

Wang Ruolan had no choice but to say that very little wine had been brewed, and that it was something her daughter had made for fun when she had nothing else to do. There were only a few jars in total, and she herself didn't even have enough to drink, so why would she want to share it with anyone else?

In this way, Wang Ruolan managed to save the remaining jar of peach blossom wine.

Wang Ruolan thought of the other two jars of Hundred Flowers Fragrance and hesitated to open them.

What if it tastes even better? Wouldn't that make people crave it?

Xu Zhaozhao personally delivered a jar to Princess Leyang, and also specially made a sample in a small jar for her to taste. Only then did Princess Leyang realize that it was a good product.

Xu Zhaozhao was just a young girl. She was on good terms with Princess Leyang, so it was only natural for women to exchange small gifts.

Unexpectedly, the Princess Consort of Qi smelled the wine and drank several cups. She praised it as a fine wine and insisted that her daughter give her the rest of the wine.

Princess Leyang refused, and in the end, she had to coax and push her to get Princess Qi to leave.

Xu Zhaozhao and Wang Ruolan made preparations early in the morning to pay their respects at their maternal grandfather's house, and naturally ordered someone to bring them the newly brewed fruit wine.

Xu Zhaozhao was very generous to her maternal grandfather's family. Considering that there were many women in the Wang family, she brought three jars each of Peach Blossom Wine and Hundred Flowers Fragrance and gave them all to her maternal grandmother to distribute as she saw fit.

After learning of her daughter's thoughts, Wang Ruolan poked her forehead and said, "You silly girl, can't you be a little more generous to your maternal grandmother? There are only six jars of wine in total, not even enough for one jar per person?"

Xu Zhaozhao took her arm and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. We only got that much. I also invested money in it, as well as people and various raw materials. I didn't earn a single penny. It all went to doing favors."

Wang Ruolan chuckled repeatedly: "You silly child, when did you become so greedy? It's just a few jars of wine, and you're already so stingy with it! When have you ever come back from the Wang family empty-handed?"

Xu Zhaozhao pouted and started acting like a rascal: "That's different! After all, I personally oversaw the setup, and this is my hard work."

The mother and daughter were chatting and laughing inside the carriage when it suddenly stopped.

Wang Ruolan frowned, and Dingxiang, ever perceptive, first lifted the curtain and slipped out: "What's going on?"

"Madam and Miss, please forgive me. A carriage has hit someone ahead. This street is the only way to the Prince's Mansion, so we can only wait."

Did you hit someone?

Xu Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling with curiosity: "How serious was the collision? Let's send someone over to check. If someone is really injured, then we can wait. But if someone is deliberately causing trouble, then we don't need to show any mercy."

Dingxiang understood, and with a wave of her hand, two guards went to check the situation.