Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter Nine: Biological Parents

Just then, Master Ji and his wife were enjoying flowers and tea in the courtyard when they suddenly heard a noise outside. A servant rushed in, flustered. Madam Ji's good mood was completely ruined, and she was furious. Before the servant could even approach, she bared her white teeth and angrily said, "Are you out of your mind? Aren't you afraid of offending the master in such a panic!"

Upon hearing this, the servant's legs went weak, and he dared not utter the words he had been holding in his mouth. He simply stood there trembling.

The Ji family is a prominent family in the county, and the head of the Ji family is also a local figure in Qinghe County. He is honest and law-abiding, relying on his ancestors' legacy. However, his wife is known far and wide for her fiery temper and quick temper.

Seeing the servant trembling with fear, Master Ji felt a pang of sympathy for him. He got up from his chair and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Madam, please don't be angry. Let him finish speaking!"

After saying this, she gave the servant a wink, and the servant nodded and reported, "A country girl has come... saying she knows the whereabouts of the Second Miss!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was surprised.

Everyone in the Ji household knew that Ji Meiqing had fallen off a cliff after being wronged by the mistress of the house. The cliff was several meters high, and there was no chance of survival after such a fall. However, due to the saying that family scandals should not be aired in public, they claimed that she had gotten lost while visiting the lantern festival.

The mistress, Liu, didn't take it seriously. She secretly thought that it must be some country woman from some remote and impoverished area who came to the mansion to curry favor because she saw that there was a reward. She simply waved her hand, ordered her servants to send her away, and instructed them, "If you see someone like this again, just kick them out." Then she swayed her slender waist and went back to her room to rest.

Lu Cuiwei was waiting anxiously outside. She saw that the servant had been inside for a long time but there was still no movement. She was getting anxious and was about to ask him when she saw the gatekeeper with a dark face and a fierce look standing at the door. So she had no choice but to suppress her resentment and shut her mouth timidly.

After waiting for a while, the red-lacquered wooden door was finally pulled open a crack. The servant boy who had been there earlier emerged from the crack, his fair face now showing anger. Lu Cuiwei was surprised and glanced into the doorway again, but saw no one else following behind. She frowned and said with dissatisfaction, "Where did you announce my arrival? Why aren't Master and Madam here?"

The servant, still fuming from his scolding, had initially thought that the village girl, though plainly dressed, was quite pretty and didn't seem like a con artist. He had complied with her request to announce her arrival, but instead of being scolded, he was docked a month's wages. Growing angrier, he glared at her with wide eyes and roared, "You're a pretty girl, but you lie without batting an eye! Get out! Get out! Don't let me see you again!"

Lu Cuiwei was quite surprised and said, "Everything I said is true. How could I have lied to you, young man? If you don't believe me, have your wife come and let me see for myself!"

After saying that, she lunged forward, trying to force her way inside. The servant was surprised and quickly reached out to stop her, gritting his yellow teeth and saying fiercely, "Let me tell you the truth! Ji Meiqing has long since severed ties with our Ji family. Whether she lives or dies is none of our business! If you dare to cause any more trouble, even if you are a woman, I will still beat you without hesitation!"

After saying that, he clenched his fist, which was as hard as iron, and raised it imposingly at Lu Cuiwei. Seeing that he was serious, Lu Cuiwei, no matter how unwilling she was, did not dare to say anything and could only hurriedly run away.

She ran all the way to the town market, and when she turned around, she could no longer see the Ji family mansion. Only then did Lu Cuiwei catch her breath and stop, clutching her chest.

"Damn it! Everyone in the Ji family deserves to die! Especially Ji Meiqing!"

She was terrified by the Ji family's situation and came to hate everyone in the family. She walked along, cursing viciously and kicking pebbles at her feet from time to time, not even bothering to look at the colorful market she usually loved.

What Lu Cuiwei didn't expect was that her depressed state of mind happened to fall into the eyes of some people.

That day, Zhao, a resident of the town, was idly strolling through the market with her husband and youngest son, intending to buy some discounted dog meat to improve their lives. She gave her good-for-nothing husband a disapproving look when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a slender, verdant figure swaying from the street corner.

Although Lu Cuiwei had her head slightly lowered and her expression was unpleasant, her striking features still caught Tian's eye.

This face is almost a carbon copy of that timid little girl from six years ago!

As if struck by lightning, Madam Tian abruptly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in astonishment. She stared at the green-clad woman's face, which bore a striking resemblance to her own, as if she had seen a ghost. She tugged at the sleeve of the burly man beside her and whispered, "Who does that woman look like?"

As she spoke, she cautiously glanced at Lu Cuiwei's eyebrows and eyes, and her heart skipped a beat, as if a thunderbolt had struck.

Tian Dahan was happily puffing on his opium, when his wife reached out to snatch it. He quickly clutched it to his chest like a precious treasure, glanced at her casually with little interest, and said indifferently, "Who does she look like?"

Zhao replied, "My second daughter, Cuiwei!"

Tian Dahan was so shocked he almost jumped up, then his eyes widened. "What? Cuiwei? Where?!"

Zhao hurriedly pulled him forward a couple more steps, carefully pointing out Lu Cuiwei's back to him, "Look, isn't that figure like mine when I was young?"

Tian Dahan looked her over carefully, nodded, then shook his head, and said in a pretentious manner, "This young lady is much more charming than you... But are you sure it's Cuiwei?"

"I'm sure of it, it really is her." Zhao playfully slapped the man, then said with distress, "I abandoned her in the mountains six years ago, I never imagined she would have such a lucky life! It seems she was adopted by the Lu family in Yuxi Village?"

Tian Dahan, of course, didn't understand the deeper meaning behind her words. He simply raised an eyebrow and said coldly, "What? Back then, you were the one who said you'd lose her and be left without a mouth to feed because your family was too poor to raise her. Now you want to bring her back? Humph, I won't agree! Can't you see we're starving? Where would we get the spare money to raise her!"

Zhao waved her hand, "How could I really want to bring her over? But now I have no choice!"

Tian Dahan was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Zhao was overjoyed, having already calculated her options countless times in her mind. Her eyes deepened as she said, "You didn't see her face clearly just now, so you don't know how beautiful she is! Didn't they say the other day that the Ji family had a纨绔子弟 (a spoiled, dissolute young man) seeking a wife? Why not…"

Tian Dahan understood, and his previously worried eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light.

Seeing that he understood, Zhao nodded with satisfaction, a relaxed smile appearing on her lips. She gave her thirteen or fourteen-year-old son a push on the back and gave him a mysterious instruction.

"Good boy, Abao, follow that lady in the green dress. If we find her, we'll have meat to eat from now on!"

Abao, without suspecting anything, readily agreed and quickly ran after Lu Cuiwei.