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After the waiter left, Gao Zhenbo couldn’t help but bring up the topic of this Baiyuquan Wine.
“Baiyuquan Wine is a new wine that has come out in the past two or three months. It’s selling really well, but nobody knows who’s brewing it. It’s exclusively supplied to the Hongsheng Restaurant, and you can’t find it anywhere else. Today, I’m really lucky to have a taste of it, thanks to all of you, haha.”
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener took note. Lu Songli made a mental note of this and planned to have someone investigate the origin of Baiyuquan Wine later. The Hongsheng Restaurant had already caught her attention before, and now this Baiyuquan Wine, exclusively supplied to the restaurant, seemed like a deliberate move to boost its reputation.
Soon, the food and drinks were served.
Liu Erxi was the first to pick up a jar of wine. After pouring some for Qin Sheng and Lu Songli, he poured a cup for everyone else.
Lu Songli noticed the wine in the cup. The wine was clear, with a light yellow hue. She took a small sip and found it refreshing, with an alcohol content of about twelve percent. No wonder it was popular among people.
Afterward, Lu Songli sat leisurely next to Qin Sheng, enjoying the food, while Qin Sheng entertained Liu Erxi and the others.
After eating and drinking their fill, the four of them left, arms around each other’s shoulders.
Qin Sheng sat lazily in his chair. Although he had drunk a lot, his relaxed demeanor was apparent as Liu Erxi and the others occasionally toasted him.
Lu Songli came over, bent slightly, and asked him, “Ah Sheng, are you drunk? Are you still sober?”
Qin Sheng looked up at Lu Songli and slowly replied, “I’m not drunk.”
“Then can I tell you something?”
He nodded slowly, “Yes.”
Lu Songli took out a land deed for a hundred acre in Shangyang County from her chest and handed it to Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng took it, looked at it for a while, and then asked in confusion, “This is a land deed. Where did it come from?” The Lu family had few members and rarely left Chang’an City except for occasional visits to their hometown. It was unlikely that the Lu family would have gone so far as to buy land in Shangyang County.
Lu Songli didn’t hide it from him and directly explained that the land deed was compensation from the Xie family.
To be honest, she was quite satisfied with the compensation the Xie family offered. But she wasn’t grateful to the Xie family, she was grateful to herself. It was thanks to her own efforts that the Xie family had to bleed profusely.
If she had kept the consequences of saving Xie Zhan under wraps for the sake of her reputation, and not exposed them to the Empress Dowager and the imperial concubines, she estimated that the Xie family would have been willing to give at most 10,000 taels.
After all, the dowry of a fifth-rank official’s daughter would be between 5,000 and 8,000 taels, not to mention that she was only the second daughter. This was the dowry a wealthy official could afford. If it were a less prosperous fifth-rank official, the dowry would be even lower. Without knowing that she had lost her ability to bear children while saving Xie Zhan, the Xie family was willing to compensate with 10,000 taels, enough for their family to prepare two dowries. Anyone who heard this would think that the Xie family had done their duty. The Lu family would have to swallow this bitter pill.
Furthermore, as the saying goes, “A forced sale is no sale.” In fact, the Lu family had already considered breaking off the engagement, and the Xie family had the same idea. But the Lu family had remained silent, and she had suppressed the urge to immediately get rid of Xie Zhan. Because if it were the Lu family who went to the Xie family to request a broken engagement, it would not only play into the Xie family’s hands, but the Xie family would definitely not be willing to give a lot of compensation. At most, the compensation would only be enough to save face for both families.
It can be said that this compensation was mostly obtained through their own efforts.
Qin Sheng only heard that the Xie family had given Lu Songli 100 acres of land in Shangyang County and 10,000 taels of silver. At this moment, his brain was short-circuiting, and he didn’t realize that the land and silver were what Lu Songli specifically demanded. If he had been more clear-headed, he would have realized that Lu Songli was not the type to swallow a bitter pill. If she had been dissatisfied with the compensation, the Xie family would not have been able to easily get out of this marriage.
“So stingy,” Qin Sheng mumbled.
Lu Songli raised an eyebrow. She guessed that Qin Sheng was a little drunk. His speech and thinking were both a beat slower, but it wasn’t obvious on the surface, so it was hard to tell. So he must have misunderstood something.”
She didn’t explain, letting him misunderstand, and even nodded in agreement, saying, “Indeed, quite stingy. He’s not as generous as our Qin Sheng.”
Lu Songli joined in criticizing Xie Zhan, her former fiancé, without a hint of guilt.
Qin Sheng nodded, thinking to himself, he is generous.
Lu Songli poured him a glass of water and softly instructed him, “Take this land deed, transfer it a few times through trusted hands, and try not to have any obvious ties to the Qin family.”
This piece of land needed to be kept hidden. It was a contingency plan she left behind. If the Qin family could avoid exile, whether to use this plan or not was inconsequential.
Qin Sheng looked at the land deed in his hand, filled with question marks. Was this for him? Was he supposed to handle this?
Something seemed off. Wasn’t it usually the husband who worked outside while the wife managed the household affairs, with the spoils brought back from the husband’s endeavors shared with the wife for household management?
After drinking, he felt a bit dull, with slower reactions and even his hair standing on end.
It was only then that Lu Songli noticed that part of his hair was naturally curly, and natural curls were usually unruly!
Lu Songli felt a tingling sensation in her hand but suppressed it. It was really going to drive her OCD crazy!
After a while, he finally realized that something was amiss. How did the situation reverse?
Seeing his drunken yet struggling appearance to stay sober, Lu Songli said, “Stop thinking, stop making things difficult for yourself.”
Upon hearing her words, Qin Sheng indeed stopped struggling.
“Keep this safe.”
“Okay,” he absentmindedly tucked the land deed into his waistband, subconsciously trusting her.
“Here, have some soup.” Lu Songli had just instructed Mo Bing and the innkeeper outside to bring another sweet soup.
After drinking half a bowl of soup, Qin Sheng seemed a bit more sober. He then said, “I, I also have something to tell you.”
Lu Songli stopped scooping the soup for him and asked, “Go ahead.”
Qin Sheng solemnly said, “The Zhao family has been inquiring about healing and pain-relieving medicines at various pharmacies, and they’ve bought quite a lot.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Songli knew that the Zhao family was inquiring about the sedative she had sprinkled on Zhao Bin that day. “Don’t worry, they won’t find out anything.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Sheng indeed felt relieved.
Lu Songli noticed that he trusted her quite a bit. As the saying goes, “In wine, there is truth,” and his post-drinking attitude spoke volumes.
Qin Sheng, drunk and after drinking half a bowl of sweet soup, began to doze off slightly.
Lu Songli noticed that he was used to being alone and didn’t like having attendants or servants trailing after him.
Lu Songli didn’t feel at ease letting him go like this. Zhao Bin hated her, and his hatred towards Qin Sheng was probably not much less. If there was a chance to harm him, they wouldn’t let it slip by.
She didn’t plan to leave at this time, so she simply stayed with him at the Hongsheng Restaurant, waiting for him to sober up.
Since Qin Sheng unknowingly fell asleep, Lu Songli had someone bring her a spare cloak, which she draped over him. She then arranged for someone to keep watch over him, while she stepped out of the private room and onto the second-floor corridor, from where she could take in the lively scene in the main hall downstairs.