Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter Sixty: Misunderstanding

Lu Yu looked at the person in front of him with a headache, unsure of what to do. Seeing her tearful face touched him, but he still couldn't find a solution.

"So, your father is alright?" He tried to sort things out, but no matter how he thought about it, he was still a little angry. "Even if you want to see me, you can come directly to the Lu family. Why did you have to use your father? Don't you know that's unfilial?"

"Brother Lu." She sobbed, her face covered in snot and tears, and could only choke out, "I didn't mean to, please forgive me. I'm afraid to go back to the Lu family, I'm afraid Sister Meiqing will beat me."

Hearing the last sentence, Lu Yu was a little confused, "Why did she hit you? You didn't do anything wrong."

“I…I accidentally ruined your wine. I read in an ancient book that adding salt to wine makes it taste better, so I tried it.”

"Did you do this?" He took a step back, seemingly in disbelief. Tian Cuiwei, afraid he would misunderstand again, quickly explained, "I really didn't mean to. I just saw the method in an ancient book. I really... really didn't expect it to turn out like this."

Looking at the person in front of him, Lu Yu felt a slight disappointment for some reason, though to be fair, it was his fault.

"That's all, I'll be going now. If you need anything in the future, just come to the Lu family." At this point, he didn't know what else to say.

Tian Cuiwei watched him leave, unsure how to stop him. She could only watch helplessly as he departed, and suddenly felt a pang of regret. If she hadn't left in a fit of pique, things wouldn't be like this now.

Ji Meiqing returned home alone. She tied up her horse and went back to the main hall. Qiu Shi had been arrested, and the village chief was dead. The villagers looked at her with a strange expression. She didn't want things to be this way, but she had no choice.

As she walked through the village, people on both sides would immediately back away and run away upon seeing her. However, Li, who was returning from washing clothes by the river, was not particularly frightened when she saw her.

"Madam Ji is finally back. My daughter and I wanted to go to your house, but the door was locked, so we had to come back."

"I'm discussing with Brother Lu about getting two extra copies of the key made." She forced a smile and continued walking. Noticing something was wrong, Madam Li circled around and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." She shook her head. "I'm just too tired. I want to take a nap. You can take the brewing home and work on it. Just let me know when it's ready to pick it up."

After she finished speaking, she continued walking back. Mrs. Li watched her retreating figure, quite puzzled. But she didn't know how to explain.

Ji Meiqing took a stroll and then went back home, but before she could fall asleep, she heard several muffled thuds outside. Thinking something had happened again, she quickly went outside.

There weren't many people outside, but there were quite a few as well. They were pushing a cart full of wood over.

The logs, still unpeeled, were simply pushed over and piled up in front of her. Ji Meiqing stared blankly at the logs, which were taller than a person.

“Miss Ji, as you instructed. These are freshly cut trees, and they will be sold at fifty taels each. There are twenty trees in total.”

She took a step forward, then realized, "Should I pay now or after it's done?"

"Now, is this alright with you?"

Ji Meiqing didn't have anything to say, and went straight back to her room. After a while, she came out with three gold coins.

She placed the gold in a cloth bag and gave it to him, carefully instructing him: "These three pieces of gold are for the initial labor costs and some other expenses. As for the later stages of the project, I will pay you after I have inspected the goods."

"Yes." He glanced at it, then took one out and took a bite. When he found it was real, his eyes lit up with excitement.

Ji Meiqing smiled and said nothing more, instead watching from the side with her arms crossed. After a while, the man returned and asked respectfully, "Miss Ji, have you had a place to stay these past few days?"

“I will move out.” She knew what he meant, and then directly asked him what he wanted to know: “I will move out before construction begins.”

"Okay." Seeing that she was cooperating, he went to give instructions to the others on the remaining tasks.

Ji Meiqing found a few people from the village to help her move her things. She then asked around the village and found a suitable house to move into.

With her current status and the princess acting as her double, even the new village chief has to give her some face.

Ji Meiqing looked at the house in front of her and stood there for a while. The new village chief was also a little nervous, afraid that she would not like it here.

Seeing her go inside, the words that were stuck in her throat almost came out. Ji Meiqing looked around inside, then called for people to bring her things in.

She had no objections. Similarly, having a place to live was already better than anything. Before, she was homeless, but now she had Brother Lu. She had no regrets, nor would she care.

Everything was piled up in the hall, in a small room with two bedrooms. The kitchen was at the back, and that was all.

Ji Meiqing spent the entire afternoon arranging the furniture. Lying in bed, she felt like her bones were aching.

She lay there for a while and then got up. Her bones were so soft; she didn't know what would happen if she lay there any longer.

It was already dark outside. Carrying a lantern, she went directly to the Lu family's residence. Preparations there were almost complete; all that was left was to begin work tomorrow. After checking everything thoroughly, she returned home reassured.

Lu Yu returned the next day. Ji Meiqing happened to be supervising the construction there and went to greet him when she saw him return.

"The house is under renovation, so I'll probably have to stay on the other side for a while," she explained, then hurriedly added, afraid he'd be annoyed that she hadn't informed him beforehand, "I didn't know where you'd been these past few days, so we started the work ahead of schedule. If you find it troublesome, I'll have them all removed."

"It's nothing. Where is the new house?" He then asked about this. Ji Meiqing was taken aback, but then realized what he meant and hurriedly led her there.

The room had just been tidied up and was fairly clean. Ji Meiqing opened the door. "I've cleaned the room. If it's not too complicated, it should be habitable."

“Take me to see,” he said. Ji Meiqing immediately led him to her room.

Lu Yu, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "Regarding what happened a few days ago, I apologize to you on behalf of Tian Cuiwei, and by the way..."

He paused, not saying the rest of his words. Ji Meiqing realized what was happening and quickly said, "It's alright, I already said there's no need to apologize."