Chapter 155: The High Expert from the Southern Frontier Turns Out to Be Myself

Things seemed to be getting interesting.

The appearance of Shen Yinglong made Jiang Chen's trip worthwhile. He had witnessed firsthand the demeanor of this young master of the Shen family; although somewhat unruly and untamed, he had ultimately done some good deeds. What was even more commendable was that this scion of a powerful aristocratic family was not as incompetent as other idle playboys.

Generally speaking, young masters born into wealthy households were mostly mediocre talents. If they could manage to live out their lives peacefully while clinging to the mountains of gold and silver amassed by their ancestors, they would already be considered qualified. To expect them to surpass the glorious achievements of their fathers was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

This was intimately tied to the environment in which they grew up from childhood. Excessive comfort and a lack of real-world trials meant that whatever they desired was far easier to obtain than for ordinary people, which naturally bred laziness. Human nature was the same everywhere.

Clearly, Shen Yinglong was not content with mediocrity. From the martial arts he had casually displayed, it was not difficult to discern the traces of guidance from renowned masters. The fact that he could defeat a heavyweight opponent like the Northern Frontier Bear with a single move was something that fewer than three people among all those Jiang Chen knew could effortlessly accomplish.

From this, it could be seen that to cultivate such an outstanding young successor, the Shen family must have exerted a tremendous amount of painstaking effort. If they wished to maintain the status and glory of a great noble family, what would happen if all their younger generations turned out to be good-for-nothing wine sacks and rice bags?

Through Shen Yinglong, Jiang Chen gained an entirely new understanding of the Shen family, who wielded the power of life and death over the Northern Frontier.

Pondering in his heart how he should approach this prominent figure of the Shen family, Jiang Chen unconsciously walked a certain distance. At that moment, a young man dressed like a restaurant server came running toward him from not far ahead, calling out Jiang Chen's name the moment he opened his mouth.

"Are you Young Master Jiang Chen? The young master of the Shen family has prepared a banquet at the restaurant ahead, saying he wishes to welcome and host you!"

Jiang Chen's gaze paused slightly. He thought to himself that this Shen Yinglong had evidently known long ago that he was in Wangchuan City, and furthermore, was able to accurately pick him out from the crowd. It seemed this young man was truly no simple character.

Since the other party had issued such a warm invitation, there was no reason to refuse. On the contrary, this actually saved Jiang Chen quite a bit of trouble.

Even though he was unclear what Shen Yinglong's purpose was in doing this, Jiang Chen, who had always been flexible and adept at adapting to changing circumstances, followed the server without the slightest hesitation.

Walking all the way up to the third floor, he found a scene entirely different from the bustling, noisy, and wine-cup-clinking atmosphere downstairs. Aside from a table near the window laden with fine wine and delicacies, the surrounding area was completely empty.

The server led Jiang Chen to this spot and then hurried back down the stairs.

Jiang Chen stood on no ceremony. He walked straight to the table and seated himself quite naturally. Regardless of what kind of banquet had been set up today, he had the courage to eat and drink his fill to his heart's content. Come to think of life in the Northern Frontier, he hadn't yet had the chance to properly taste authentic local delicacies.

To think that the very first person to treat him to such a meal would actually be Shen Yinglong, the young master of the Shen family. He would have to be somewhat polite to the fellow later.

After waiting for a short while without seeing the host make an appearance, Jiang Chen began to pour and drink by himself. Yet this pot of wine was truly rather interesting, causing him to recall a long-lost taste.

"Forgive me for keeping Your Excellency Jiang waiting. I had to temporarily handle some administrative matters just now, and was helplessly forced to step away for a moment."

Shen Yinglong approached with a face full of smiles. Seeing that Jiang Chen had already unceremoniously drunk several cups without a trace of displeasure on his face, he simply offered repeated apologies, his etiquette thorough and considerate in every aspect.

"You are too courteous, Young Master Shen. I am merely a man of the common grass; how could I be any kind of official dignitary?"

"You are a court envoy personally appointed by the Emperor, a genuine imperial commissioner sent by Heaven. Naturally, Yinglong would not dare to show any negligence. Hearing that you were entering the city today, I reserved this table of fine dishes yesterday. I hope Your Excellency Jiang will not stand on ceremony. Whatever matters you might have here in my Wangchuan City, just speak the word."

From Shen Yinglong's phrasing, it was not difficult to hear that the other party viewed Wangchuan as his own territory, meaning the entire Northern Frontier was naturally regarded as the backyard of the Shen family. To speak so casually and grandly in front of an imperial court envoy—whether it was a matter of habit or intentionally spoken for him to hear—was hard to say.

Furthermore, Shen Yinglong had booked this table of food yesterday, and by the looks of it, had completely reserved the entire third floor of the restaurant. This made Jiang Chen feel slightly uneasy.

His decision to come to Wangchuan City had been a spur-of-the-moment idea, and very few people in the military camp knew his itinerary. Shen Yinglong must have possessed heaven-shaking capabilities to have obtained this information in advance.

Jiang Chen thought to himself quietly: *Since ancient times, there has never been a banquet without an ulterior motive. Is Shen Yinglong bottling up his energy to take this opportunity to give me a warning?*

*Could this whole performance today be meant to showcase the Shen family's supreme control over the Northern Frontier, serving as a warning for the army outside the city not to act rashly?*

Pulling back his thoughts, Jiang Chen maintained his calm and composed expression. As his understanding of Shen Yinglong deepened, he gained an even more profound awareness of the position the Northern Frontier currently occupied within the entire Great Qian Empire.

After exchanging a few toasts of mutual respect, Shen Yinglong informed Jiang Chen that the pot of wine he had specially prepared could be considered the finest in the world, and in the Northern Frontier, it commanded an exorbitant price—worth a thousand pieces of gold yet hard to procure.

"Brother Jiang, when it comes to collecting famous wines from all under heaven, my Shen family is second to none. Many rare treasures that have long vanished from the marketplace can still be seen in their true form within my manor."

"However, when speaking of truly fine wine in recent years, it still has to be the one currently in our cups. I hear it was created by a reclusive master living amidst the famous mountains and great rivers of the Southern Frontier. Its fragrance is rich, its taste crystal clear and crisp, and with a single sip, it feels like a babbling mountain stream flowing gently down the throat."

"That sensation is simply flawless, leaving one unable to stop craving more."

As he spoke, Shen Yinglong drained his cup in one go, relaxing and contentedly savoring the entire process of the fine wine flowing from his throat into his stomach, looking thoroughly intoxicated.

Jiang Chen smiled, casually chiming in to praise the deliciousness of the wine, but inwardly he was struggling to hold back, nearly bursting into laughter right then and there.

The young master of the Shen family was expounding on the art of wine-tasting with an expression of lingering aftertaste, completely unaware that this very wine was actually "River Moon White," brewed by Jiang Chen's own hands. When Shen Yinglong brought up the trope of the reclusive master from the famous mountains and rivers of the Southern Frontier, Jiang Chen had almost failed to keep a straight face.

"I've seen many shops selling this River Moon White along the way. It shouldn't be too hard to find, right?" Jiang Chen asked knowingly, just to tease Shen Yinglong, who was inadvertently showing off his expertise right in front of the grandmaster himself.

True to form, the young man immediately corrected him: "Brother Jiang jokes. There is indeed plenty of River Moon White to be bought on the market, but those are not the batches personally brewed by the master of the Southern Frontier."

"The River Moon White of today is brewed by hired hands under a restaurant owner surnamed Lin, but the taste is thousands of miles apart and simply cannot be mentioned in the same breath."

That much was true. Ever since Jiang Chen left Shanguan Town, Lin Qingxuan had taken over the production of River Moon White. However, without Jiang Chen's personal guidance on the side, no matter how skilled the brewmasters he hired might be, they could never replicate the exact same flavor.

The best-tasting batch remained the one brewed by Jiang Chen's own hands; it was just that as time went on, those remaining supplies of River Moon White would only grow scarcer and scarcer!