Chapter Eighty-Four: Fermenting Again

When Zhang Zhongheng barked out, Xu Ruojin finally tore her gaze away from Liang Xiao.

Jiang Biwu led Liang Xiao to the outermost seat, and the maidservants promptly poured tea.

The octagonal pavilion, which had been noisy a moment before, fell silent save for the gurgling of the copper kettle boiling the tea.

Realizing the situation before him had slipped from his grasp, Zhang Zhongheng flung his teacup aside. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? I want wine!”

Yuan Huiling had been stunned speechless a moment ago; now, hearing Zhang Zhongheng repeat himself, her eyes rolled and she immediately stepped forward with a smile. “Brother Zhongheng, the banquet in the manor hasn’t even begun yet. Why are you already asking for drink?”

Looking at Xu Ruojin, Yuan Huiling cast her a few pointed glances. “I think it’s not the wine that intoxicates a person, but the person who intoxicates himself. You may as well treat tea as wine!”

Xu Ruojin remained calm, as though Yuan Huiling had been commenting on the weather and had nothing to do with her.

Zhang Zhongheng had by then also steadied himself. “Since I have met Brother Liang, how could I not drink a few cups? I’m afraid there may never be such a chance again...”

“Hm?”

Before Liang Xiao could speak, Yuan Huiling immediately brought up Xu Ruojin’s wine.

“Today Sister Xu even brought my mother two jars of wine. Why don’t I go ask for one jar, and let Brother Zhongheng and Young Master Liang have a taste? We can all share in the joy.”

Zhang Zhongheng glanced at Xu Ruojin with a mocking, ambiguous smile. “That would depend on the one who gave the wine.”

“I don’t mind. Since the wine has already been given away, it belongs to the County Magistrate’s wife; it has nothing to do with me.”

Xu Ruojin did not dodge the issue, nor did she speak in veiled terms. “But I should say this in advance: the wine brewed for the County Magistrate’s wife does have the effect of relaxing sinews and activating the blood, easing dizziness and joint pain. However, I also added two medicinal ingredients intended for women. If you insist on drinking it and something goes wrong, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Zhang Zhongheng felt a lump of air stuck in his throat, nearly choking him with rage.

This woman—why was she opposed to him at every turn?

Just when matters were about to turn awkward, Yuan Huiling stepped in at once. “That’s not hard at all. We can ask for a jar and let the sisters drink it. Sister Xu is a master brewer; who in Zhonglin County doesn’t know that? Since the brothers want to drink, why not brew a jar right here on the spot? Wouldn’t that be even better?”

Seeing Xu Ruojin frown, Yuan Huiling immediately covered her mouth in mock astonishment. “Oh dear, it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean to make things difficult for Sister Xu. I only heard people praising you to the heavens and thought you could do it effortlessly, and forgot that you seem to need a great deal of preparation!”

With a sly, taunting look at Zhao Cuiling and Mo Rong and the others, Yuan Huiling added, “Or perhaps... you’ll need to prepare two more brewers as well? Ha ha ha...”

“Sister Yuan is such a kind soul, immediately thinking of Sister Xu’s difficulty.”

Zhao Cuiling wore a false expression as she looked at Xu Ruojin in a soothing manner. “Sister Xu mustn’t misunderstand Sister Yuan; she truly means well.”

“So, are we drinking this wine or not?”

Mo Rong’s apparently casual remark brought the whole scene to a standstill.

The one who had shattered this harmony was indeed Yuan Huiling, yet the one now under everyone’s gaze was Xu Ruojin.

Xu Ruojin’s heart was full of caution.

She had just made an excuse to avoid using the wine she had brewed herself, wanting no trouble.

But Yuan Huiling pressed harder and harder, leading the others to suspect that her wine had been bought elsewhere rather than brewed by her own hand.

If she refused again, not only would she lose face, but that basin of filthy water would be firmly dumped on her head, and she would never wash it clean!

Originally she had planned to get through the day in peace, asking for no credit, only for no mistakes.

But heaven always had to send a swarm of irritating pests to disgust her.

Retreat?

Impossible.

Xu Ruojin was not the sort to be timid and fearful of trouble.

Casting aside her inner irritation, Xu Ruojin’s expression became perfectly natural. “Brewing wine is no problem. I will need a few implements, though. I just wonder whether Miss Yuan’s household can provide them?”

“Just say what you need!”

Yuan Huiling lifted her chin proudly, the smile on her face clearly mocking Xu Ruojin for making excuses.

“For the ladies to drink the County Magistrate’s wife’s wine, of course there is no issue. But you mentioned brewing some on the spot for the young gentlemen... Everyone knows medicinal wine must be sealed for days after the ingredients are added before it can be opened and drunk. You ask me to make it on the spot and have it drunk on the spot—not impossible, but I need time, and I also need certain special tools. If I name them and you cannot produce them, then I can only beg your pardon for being unable to help.”

“Sister Xu, don’t forget this is the County Magistrate’s residence. There is nothing you can think of that the manor cannot produce!”

Yuan Huiling was full of arrogance, unaware that she had already stepped into the pit Xu Ruojin had dug.

Zhang Zhongheng, Liang Xiao, and the others all understood it, though none of them said a word, as if waiting to enjoy the spectacle.

“All right.”

Xu Ruojin agreed at once, then said, “For wine brewed for the young gentlemen, one naturally needs a variety of medicinal ingredients. But surely we cannot summon a physician to feel the young gentlemen’s pulses again. So I will simply use a few straightforward herbs, to dispel cold and damp and warm and unseal the channels. I wonder whether the young gentlemen have any objection?”

Zhang Zhongheng spread his hands. “I’m only waiting to drink.”

Liang Xiao gave a slight nod and said nothing further.

In the end, it was only the two of them who would drink; as long as they gave their assent, who else could come forward to nitpick?

“All right then, Miss Yuan, please have a servant bring paper, ink, brush, and inkstone. I shall begin listing the materials.”

Xu Ruojin’s words were met with indifference by Yuan Huiling. “Just say what you want to use. Why do you need paper, ink, brush, and inkstone?”

“I’m afraid the servants won’t remember it.”

“Then say it.”

“Cinnamon bark, coptis, myrrh, costus root, rhododendron mollis, notopterygium root, Sichuan lovage, Corydalis, cercis bark, eleutherococcus bark, tree peony bark, turmeric, root of Chinese angelica, polygala seed, Daoist head, white atractylodes, almond, typhonium root, costus root, cassia bark, clove, ginseng, pepper, licorice, mulberry leaves, rehmannia root, mung beans, burdock, millet wine!”

Xu Ruojin rattled off twenty-eight medicinal ingredients in one breath, then continued, “And also one large, roaring furnace; one stove; one pot; the wine jar must be the thickest kind, no thin porcelain jars need be brought. One jar of wax oil, one small scale, and some jasmine, roses, bamboo leaves, and rock sugar.”

When she had finished, Xu Ruojin looked at Yuan Huiling. “That is all.”

Yuan Huiling’s eyes had gone blank as she listened; she had not remembered a single item.

She looked at the maid beside her and gritted her teeth. “Did you remember them?”

“N-no...” The maid hunched her neck. “Miss Xu said so many things so quickly, this servant truly could not remember.”

“Useless! All of you are useless!”

Yuan Huiling slapped her hard. “Then why are you still standing there? Go fetch paper and brush! What are you waiting for?”

The maid hurried off, and a servant was also sent to summon the steward in charge of purchases and the storehouse.

Only then did Yuan Huiling begin to suspect that she might have fallen for Xu Ruojin’s trick.

Meanwhile, Xu Ruojin leisurely moistened her brush and unhurriedly wrote down the names of the ingredients.

Zhang Zhongheng narrowed his sly eyes, unable to tell whether he should curse Xu Ruojin for trickery or Yuan Huiling for stupidity.

As for Liang Xiao, curiosity rose within him as he watched the woman before him.

Where did her confidence come from?

He rather looked forward to seeing how she would brew, on the spot, a wine that should have been sealed for ten days, and present it for everyone’s tasting...