CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 17: UNDERCURRENTS

"Since it’s supposed to be Lu’s Brewing, what is this then?" Zhu Yu spoke up from the side, pointing at the unopened jar of wine on the table, "The two over there just got drunk, if it’s not wine, could it be vinegar?"

"Ah, this..." The young attendant scratched his head, his expression showing some confusion as he looked at the wine jar on the table, then suddenly realized, "Oh! The shopkeeper actually brought this out! I almost forgot all about it!

This was bought by the old shopkeeper from someone selling wine with a shoulder pole, probably someone who moved to the area near Qingshui County later and didn’t know our rules, and came to our shop to peddle.

The old shopkeeper saw him, probably with the intention of helping him, quickly pulled him to the back, presumably told him the rules, bought the wine, then sent him away.

After that, I haven’t seen that person come to sell wine again!"

"How much wine did the old shopkeeper buy from that person? Were there incidents of people getting drunk before?" Zhu Yu glanced toward the doctor.

The young attendant grinned: "When that wine was initially bought, there were two baskets, I remember glancing at them, there were about seven or eight jars, bought and taken back by the old shopkeeper.

Previously, the old shopkeeper didn’t dare to sell this wine, no one expected the wine’s potency to be this strong!

However, these two aren’t entirely losing out, after all, Lu’s side suddenly had such a big upheaval, who knows when Qingshui County will be able to buy wine in the future, so they really had their fill!"

While chatting with the young attendant for a few moments, the doctor had already checked the two drinkers, confirming they were simply drunk, and he sat at the table helplessly writing a prescription for sobering soup for the shopkeeper.

"This is really strange!" The doctor twisted his beard with one hand while writing the prescription with the other, glancing at the two unconscious drunkards, "Lu’s wine has always been bland, never seen anyone get drunk like this!

Looking at them now, it’s like they’ve taken aged brews as new wine!"

Hearing this, the shopkeeper discreetly stepped back half a step, blocking the wine jar on the table behind him, not intending for the doctor to see it.

The doctor didn’t pay much attention, he finished writing the prescription, collected the consultation fee, and left.

After all this fuss, Lu Qing and the others didn’t intend to continue eating, they got up to leave, as soon as they sent off the doctor, the shopkeeper hurriedly asked the young attendant to bring out the packaged rabbit skin, seeing Lu Qing was about to take the wine jar, he quickly found a piece of coarse cloth and helped him wrap it up.

"Sir, better to avoid trouble..." He handed the wrapped jar to Lu Qing, looking at him in the light of the previous small silver coin, he whispered a warning, "In the territory of Qingshui County, Lu’s is someone you can’t afford to provoke, and neither can we."

Lu Qing nodded, taking the jar and handed it back to Fu Lu, leaving the eatery with Zhu Yu.

The three of them wandered around the county town for a bit, found an inn in a lively area to rest, Fu Lu put down the rabbit skin and wine jar and hurriedly left again, not sure what he went to do.

Zhu Yu sat at the table, scrutinizing the small wine jar on the table, still able to smell that faint fragrance lingering in her nostrils, but from the time at the eatery until now, it had been long enough, and she felt no dizziness or drowsiness, which confirmed her previous suspicion—the seductive fragrance lasted long, but the sedative dispersed quickly.

After a while, she looked up at Lu Qing, who was sitting across from her with his eyes closed, "Have you often been to Qingshui County before?"

Lu Qing opened his eyes and looked at Zhu Yu, "I’ve never been before."

"Then how did you know the shopkeeper of that eatery was new and the old shopkeeper was no longer there?" This answer surprised Zhu Yu.

Lu Qing’s mouth curled with amusement, "The wine flag outside the eatery is old, even the threshold has been worn shiny; it must be an old establishment.

When we entered, the shopkeeper was calculating accounts behind the counter but had to repeatedly check to find the money box key.

The shopkeeper couldn’t be too young, since this shopkeeper wasn’t quite familiar with everything in the store, naturally the old shopkeeper had some situation, this was a temporary replacement.

As the saying goes, deception is useful, without trying to deceive a bit, how can you figure out what’s really going on."

Zhu Yu hadn’t expected that from the moment they entered the eatery, faced with the enthusiastic greeting from the young attendant, Lu Qing quietly took note of so many details: "And if you guessed wrong?"

"Then I’d say I remembered wrong, that I mistook it for another place." Lu Qing played with the small wine jar on the table, his expression carefree.

Zhu Yu didn’t speak further, feeling the happenings around Qingshui County were far removed from her initial assumptions.

Originally, she thought Lu Qing brought her here because someone in this area was doing acts of deceit in the name of "Ghost Immortal temple," with the guise of killing and harming others under the pretense.

After all, such matters can be big or small.

On a small scale, it would disturb the people, leaving them anxious day and night.

On a large scale, throughout history, those who wanted to stir up trouble often liked to dabble in tales of spirits and divine mandate.

However, up till now, combining various threads, Zhu Yu’s intuition told her that the "waters" of Qingshui County were far deeper than she initially thought.

And what Lu Qing wanted to investigate was far more complex than just one "Ghost Immortal."

The corpse in "Ghost Immortal Temple" had been drained of blood, the seductive fragrance mingled with a bloody smell.

In Qingshui County, there’s an untouchable Lu’s Winery, whose housekeeper is neither seen alive nor dead, seemingly involved with the old shopkeeper who seems to have visited the "Ghost Immortal Temple."

Despite nobody daring to sell private brewing other than Lu’s Winery, the old shopkeeper bought seven or eight jars of wine from a stranger "unaware of the rules."

The eatery never sold the private brewing the old shopkeeper acquired, yet it turned out seven or eight jars transformed into just two remaining.

And the privately brewed wine jars of unknown origin were similarly imbued with the peculiar fragrance lingering after the seductive scent faded in the Ghost Immortal Temple.

Everything seems connected by an invisible thread, becoming a ring.

And within that ring, mysteries abound.

Though Qingshui County isn’t a critical stronghold, it’s still under the Imperial City’s shadow just a hundred or so miles from the Capital, and despite Zhu Yu’s limited worldly exposure, she understood that one Lu’s housekeeper alone, regardless of capabilities, couldn’t monopolize this region’s wine market.

So naturally, what’s implicated behind the scenes is the government.

Whether it’s Qingshui County Government or Jingzhao Mansion, it’s unclear.

Zhu Yu recalled the night of the wedding banquet when Lu Qing requested Jingzhao Mansion to lend coroner and push officials for poisoning guard investigation, and the Capital Governor’s expression was exceptionally troubled, his first instinct was to look at Duke Yan.

If it weren’t for this, she wouldn’t have boldly stood up to speak.

Rubbing her aching forehead, Zhu Yu realized what Lu Qing said to her before was indeed correct, under the Imperial City’s shadow, currents surged, and Prince Xiao Yao’s household was enveloped within these turbulent tides.

As the saying goes, under a collapsed nest, how can there be whole eggs, for her to lead an untroubled and leisurely life, she must ensure the Prince Xiao Yao Mansion’s safety first.

Once an imperial edict tied her to one end of the rope, as long as the circumstances at Lu Qing’s end are complex, her days aren’t destined to be simple.