Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Just as a major upheaval was about to erupt in the rice market of Sichuan, Shen Lang, who had been strategizing behind the scenes, once again took action.

Fa Xiaozhi delivered the news that, as Shen Lang had predicted, Cao Meng, after receiving the jade tablet with the photographic record, personally escorted a new batch of grain and rushed towards Qidao.

The one currently guarding the Dongzhou camp is Cao Meng's deputy general, Lin Xuan'an.

Like Cao Meng, Lin Xuan'an was a roughneck from the martial arts world. He served Jiang Chong in his early years and possessed the cultivation level of the early stage of the Innate Realm.

However, Lin Xuan'an has a fatal weakness.

He was addicted to alcohol.

He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't drink for a day, and he must have alcohol with every meal.

Although Cao Meng was just an ordinary man, he at least knew how to consider the overall situation and was very conscientious in his official duties, never daring to be negligent in the slightest.

But Lin Xuan'an is different; he becomes a completely different person after drinking.

In layman's terms, Lin Xuan'an has three faces in a day: in the morning he's Bao Gong, at noon he's Guan Gong, and at night he's that damn Ji Gong.

Don't ask, it's all because of the alcohol.

Cao Meng was actually quite uneasy about having such a guy guard the military camp, especially the important granary.

But there was nothing he could do. Cao Meng was too arrogant, which offended too many colleagues. The only person he could trust and rely on was Lin Xuan'an.

So before leaving, he repeatedly warned him that he must not drink a drop of alcohol while on duty, otherwise he would be subject to military law when he returned.

To ensure the safety of the Dongzhou camp, he sent Leng Bao and Guan Jing to supervise its daily life before the grain and fodder were transported on the road.

Upon hearing this news, Shen Lang almost clapped his hands in delight.

"It's truly heaven's help! Cao Meng actually sent such a useless piece of trash to guard the Dongzhou military camp. Is he afraid that something won't happen to the camp?"

So he immediately called out to Ma Guocheng, who was guarding outside the door, "Guocheng, go and fetch twenty jars of the imperial wine that His Majesty ordered me to bring. We'll send them to General Lin tonight to satisfy his craving."

……

That evening, the weather was extremely hot and humid. Lin Xuan'an, who had just finished dining in the restaurant, was sitting under the large tent lamp reading military books.

This was his fourth day on duty, and it was unusual that he hadn't had a drop of alcohol for several days in a row, which was quite remarkable and showed he was in control.

However, the hot and dry weather made him extremely irritable, and he would often pick up the water jar and drink it in large gulps.

"Ugh, this is so tasteless. It leaves my stomach feeling cold after drinking it. If only I could have a sip of wine."

He put down the water vat, opened his clothes, fanned himself a few times, and continued reading military books.

However, the sweltering heat made it difficult for him to concentrate on reading.

So he got up and walked around inside the tent for a while, occasionally lifting the curtain to look at the dark night. He could hear the incessant chirping of cicadas, but the large flag outside the tent was drooping and showed no sign of wind.

"It's so hot, it's uncomfortable."

He turned around and went back into the tent, picked up a basin of water for washing his face and poured it directly over his head.

The momentary coolness temporarily dispelled the sweltering heat of summer.

But afterwards, he became unable to extricate himself from the intense heat.

Now, Lin Xuan'an only hopes that Cao Meng will return soon so that he can go back to the barracks and have a good drink.

"Report~"

A report came from outside the tent.

"Reporting to the General, the Duke of Zhenguo has sent a cartload of imperial wine, saying that the weather is hot and he specially sent it to General Hei to quench his thirst."

"liquor?"

Upon hearing that someone had sent wine, and that it was imperial wine sent by Shen Lang, Lin Xuan'an's eyes instantly lit up.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down and asked in a deep voice, "I have no dealings with the Duke of Zhenguo, so why is he sending me wine?"

"This subordinate does not know, but I heard from the messenger that the Duke of Zhenguo, out of consideration for General Lin's hard work on night watch, has specially bestowed several jars of imperial wine upon the general so that he may enjoy them when he is off duty."

"The Duke of Zhenguo is truly considerate of us."

Lin Xuan'an couldn't help but sigh.

"Since it's the Duke's wine, it's not right to refuse it. Let's accept it for now."

"Yes."

The servant immediately responded and left.

Before long, twenty soldiers, each carrying an unopened jar of wine, strode into the tent.

After all the wine was put down, Lin Xuan'an counted them and found that there were exactly twenty jars of wine, each weighing ten catties.

"General, the goods have been delivered. Is there anything else you require?"

"No need, everyone, please leave."

"Yes."

After the soldiers left, Lin Xuan'an could no longer hold back. He ran to a jar of imperial wine and, without saying a word, slapped open the seal.

Instantly, a rich, refreshing fragrance wafted over.

"Good wine, it smells delicious."

"I will test whether there is any poison in this wine. If there is no poison, I will distribute the wine to the soldiers tomorrow."

At this moment, he could no longer care about anything else, throwing all of Cao Meng's instructions before he left to the back of his mind, and immediately reached out and scooped up a handful of wine and put it in his mouth.

"Ah, this is indeed fine wine! Hahahaha—"

"I don't know what kind of poison is in this wine. I'll take another sip to make sure it's safe before I feel at ease."

After the wine entered his mouth, Lin Xuan'an felt his hair all over his body relax, and he completely disregarded everything else, immediately picked up a jar of wine and drank it down in large gulps.

The imperial wine has a low alcohol content, only around 25 degrees, but it has a wonderfully fragrant aroma.

Shen Lang once brewed a 54° strong liquor.

However, the strong liquor was not as popular as expected in the capital. Instead, his improved wines, fruit wines, and even low-alcohol beverages such as sugarcane wine and ale were loved by all social classes.

This imperial wine is brewed from fruits and some medicinal herbs, making it perfect for cooling off in the summer.

But no matter how good the wine is, it should not be consumed in excess; once it is overdone, it becomes alcoholism.

In the blink of an eye, half a jar of wine had been downed into Lin Xuan'an's stomach.

His face turned red the instant he put the jar down.

"Excellent wine, truly excellent wine! Someone, come here!"

He hiccuped as he called for the guards.

"Go, cut me three catties of mutton. I want to have a good drink."

The guard frowned upon seeing this, but dared not say anything, and immediately obeyed the order...

"Good wine... really good wine... drink... drink... hiccup..."

That night, Lin Xuan'an drank three jars of imperial wine, becoming completely drunk and unsteady on his feet.

He seemed to remember that he was still on duty, so he picked up the half-empty jar of wine and stumbled toward the granary.

"Meet the general."

The guards at the gate could smell the alcohol from afar and immediately greeted Lin Xuan'an.

"Hmm... alright... you all... go back and rest... come on, let's drink... this is... good wine..."

His words were all jumbled up, and he couldn't make out a single sentence clearly for a long time.

Seeing his state, the two soldiers guarding the granary kindly advised him, "General, you're drunk. Why don't you go back to your barracks and rest? Let General Leng Bao and General Guan Jing take your place tonight."

"No need, I'm not drunk. It's just a small granary, do you think it'll grow legs and run away? Why do we need so many people watching over it?"

*Hiccup...* Save it... I can manage, don't bother those two, otherwise... *hiccup*, they'll give me another lecture, which is really annoying.

After saying that, he staggered into the main hall of the granary, collapsed onto the table, and lost consciousness...

"Oh no! The grain warehouse is flooded!"

"Fire! Help!"

In a daze, Lin Xuan'an seemed to hear someone shouting in the camp and the sound of footsteps running.

"What's all this noise... disturbing my peaceful sleep..."

Lin Xuan'an got up and walked outside the tent. Seeing the flames filling the sky, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Good, good fire! Burn it even brighter, cheers!"

After taking a big gulp of wine, he grinned at the raging fire burning in the granary, urging it to burn even more fiercely, completely unaware that what was burning was Jiang Chong's dream!