With the crown prince of Yu already gone, the man with the hooked nose naturally didn't want to stay.
However, he did not walk with the Crown Prince of Yu, fearing that others would notice they were together. He could only wait until the Crown Prince of Yu had been gone for a while before preparing to leave.
However, before he could go out, he was called back.
"stop."
The man with the hooked nose turned his head, looking puzzled.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? I am a second-rank official bestowed by His Majesty. You speak to me with such arrogance and disrespect, you are suspected of looking down on me! Arrest him!"
"yes!"
At Yu Li's command, the soldiers he had brought to maintain order rushed forward and immediately arrested Hooknose.
"You...I...President Jing, you clearly said just now that you wouldn't speak to me in your official capacity as the president of Da'an Newspaper, but rather as the owner of Wenxiangju Restaurant, that's why I said that! So many people were there and saw it, you can't do that!"
"Oh, I see. I had forgotten."
"..."
Jing Zhe patted his head. "Then I'll find another reason to arrest you."
Then his eyes sharpened and he said, "You repeatedly questioned the quality of the liquor, were you questioning His Majesty? Moreover, you deliberately exaggerated the liquor from the Western Frontier, were you a spy sent from the Western Frontier? Therefore, I suspect that there is something very wrong with you. Take you back and interrogate you thoroughly!"
"Yes, take them away!"
"..."
The hook-nosed man was so stunned by Jing Zhe's amazing maneuver that he didn't utter another word until he was dragged away by the soldiers.
Jing Zhe did this intentionally, as a kind of warning to the people of Ruzhou: this is his territory, and no one should try to take it over, otherwise, he would find a reason to arrest them all…
...
After the hook-nosed man was taken away, the Fragrance Pavilion began to bustle with activity.
Initially, people were skeptical about spirits, but after this little incident, they began to have complete faith in their quality and even had high expectations for them.
Being able to drink the strong liquor that Emperor An often drinks is enough!
However, because it was so early, and everyone had just finished breakfast, starting the meal at this time was indeed a bit too early.
Jing Zhe smiled and said, "Those who have found seats, please be seated. Since it's still early, the kitchen needs to prepare a little more, so how about we watch a show first?"
"Watch a play? What kind of play?"
"Could it be that you don't want to send strong liquor, so you're deliberately stalling for time?"
"I don't care if they're stalling for time, I'm going to drink free spirits today. Even if it drags on until tonight, I'm not leaving!"
"Yes, I'm not leaving either, I'll just stay put!"
"..."
Perhaps because Jing Zhe had just arrested someone, the crowd was somewhat wary, and even though they were dissatisfied, they spoke very softly.
Jing Zhe didn't mind and laughed, "Everyone can look to the side, that's the Da'an Newspaper Office!"
Because the original Juxianlou was a three-story building, with the upper floors divided into a restaurant, inn, and brothel, after Jing Zhe took over, it was transformed into the current Wenxiangju, winery, and newspaper office.
The halls of the three pavilions are connected, but usually they are separated by huge screens. Now, Jing Zhe has had the screens between Wenxiangju and the newspaper office removed.
Looking over, everyone noticed that the adjacent hall was densely packed with tables and chairs, with only the first two rows having tables and the rest being chairs. In comparison, the Da'an Newspaper Office hall could accommodate more people than the Wenxiangju hall.
Many people in the hall had been to brothels before and naturally noticed the changes in the hall's layout, especially the raised platform that had been specially built in front of the tables and chairs, though they didn't know what it was for.
Seeing that everyone was looking around, Jing Zhe said at the right moment, "This is our Da'an Newspaper Office's theater."
"theater?"
As the name suggests, this is a place for performances.
Jing Zhe added, "Our show will be performed by the girls from the brothels. Those who are standing can find a good spot to sit. The show is about to begin!"
"Whoosh!"
A commotion suddenly broke out in the hall.
Because many people in the main hall of Wenxiangju hadn't been able to get seats and were just standing at the back eating melons, they all rushed to the next room to grab a good spot after hearing Jing Zhe's words.
And hearing that the girls in the brothel would be making their grand entrance soon, the view from the next seat was undoubtedly better than that from the Fragrance Pavilion.
At this moment, someone asked, "President Jing, you said that Wenxiangju would be giving away 100 catties of strong liquor today. We didn't get a turn, so can we buy some ourselves to try?"
Jing Zhe smiled and said, "Of course."
"Oh~"
Upon hearing this, everyone cheered and rushed to sit down next door. Although it wasn't free, it was still strong liquor that Emperor An had praised. Being able to buy it and drink it was a supreme honor!
...
Before long, almost everyone in the hall had found their place. Just like in Jingzhou, those without a place were asked to leave.
In fact, Zhang Xiaoyu had previously suggested that since it was the first day of business and the purpose of the performance was to create a sensation, they should let everyone come in and listen, but Jing Zhe rejected the idea.
The more unattainable something is, the better it is. Jing Zhe wanted to make it unavailable to most people so that after the first group left, he could create a buzz and increase the curiosity of others.
This is called scarcity marketing.
After the doors closed, Chen Jiannan walked onto the stage.
"Hello everyone, I am Chen Jiannan, editor-in-chief of Da'an Daily..."
Chen Jiannan went up and introduced himself, but everyone wasn't very enthusiastic—we're here to see the girl, who's here to see you?
But Chen Jiannan didn't care at all; he wanted to complete the process.
"Today is the opening day of our Da'an Newspaper Office. To begin, we present a play entitled 'Havoc in the Dragon Palace,' which is an excerpt from the first three chapters of the Monkey King's Story. This Monkey King's Story will be serialized in our Da'an Newspaper. If you enjoy today's play, you can buy a copy of our newspaper after it is published to read it more carefully."
Everyone had already heard that the main job of the Da'an Newspaper Office was to publish something similar to a book called a "newspaper".
"Let me introduce the performers for today's show: Fragrant Maiden, Spring Water Maiden..."
Many of the men present were familiar with the next name, only now it was being played by a different "actor".
After finishing his reading, Chen Jiannan said again, "Before the play begins, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Zhou Family Cloth Shop, as all the costumes for this performance were provided by Zhou Family Cloth Shop!"
"..."
This was also Jing Zhe's idea. Business at Zhou's Cloth Shop wasn't doing well, so Jing Zhe planned to advertise.
————
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