FDNL CH 25

Chapter 25

Didn’t Come

On the way to the county town, Su Lianyi chatted happily with Old Man Ma. As he drove the donkey cart, Old Man Ma munched on the steamed buns Lianyi had given him, talking to her about all sorts of amusing anecdotes from all over the place, bragging endlessly.

Soon, they arrived at the county town.

“Uncle Ma, please stop the donkey cart here for a moment,” Lianyi said.

“Alright,” Old Man Ma stopped the cart. “Lianyi girl, what’s the matter?”

Lianyi jumped down at once, took her small bundle, and said, “Uncle Ma, I won’t be going to the Li residence. About how long will it take you to deliver the wine? I’ll stroll around the county market, then come back here to meet up with you.”

Old Man Ma immediately laughed, slapping his thigh. “Good girl, that’s how it should be. Marriage is about matching families—how could a second young master of the Li family be someone our village folk can aspire to? Even if you were forced to marry in, there wouldn’t be any good days ahead. Da Hu may not talk much, but he’s strong and can farm. If the two of you live properly together, life will get better.”

“…” Lianyi gave a wry smile. “Mm, yes, Uncle Ma is right. Haven’t I already come to see it that way now? I’ll buy a few things in the county town and then go back to the village with you.” What a huge injustice.

The two agreed on a time and went their separate ways. Lianyi headed off to browse the market with an excited heart, while Old Man Ma drove the donkey cart toward the Li residence.

At the entrance to the Li residence, Cui’er was guarding the back gate with a group of people. From afar, she saw the donkey cart delivering wine from the Su family enter the back courtyard gate, and her whole body tensed. Today, she would definitely take that fat person’s life!

Old Man Ma led the donkey cart inside. A junior steward came to receive him, and several servants stepped forward to unload three large wine barrels.

Why would such a large Li family insist on drinking wine from the Su family distillery? Naturally, there was a reason.

Beside Su Family Village was a large mountain the villagers called Immortal Water Mountain. At its peak was a spring that flowed down and gathered into a pool halfway up the mountain, without a single drop flowing down to the foot of the mountain. The water was clear and sweet—used for tea, it was fragrant and pleasant; used for wine, it produced a rich, mellow flavor. Someone had once tried to divert the spring downward, but after countless experiments, whenever the water reached the pool, it would inexplicably bore into the ground, refusing to flow further down the mountain.

With no other choice, the attempt was abandoned.

The Su family distillery was ancestral, using an old recipe, and all its water came from Immortal Water Mountain, carried down bucket by bucket by the villagers.

More than ten years ago, Li Fu’an, the head of the Li family, had accidentally tasted wine from the Su family distillery. From then on, he could not stop—when he drank, it had to be Su family wine.

Li Fu’an was a businessman, very shrewd. He once considered directly buying the Su family distillery or opening another distillery at the foot of Immortal Water Mountain. Thus, when inviting several major clients to drink, he let them taste the Su family wine. However, the clients showed no particular enthusiasm. Coupled with the difficulty of obtaining water from Immortal Water Mountain, Li Fu’an could only give up.

And so, the Li residence became the Su family distillery’s largest buyer.

“Huh, why didn’t that disgusting fat person come?” A little maid beside Cui’er spoke up curiously. These people were all brought by Cui’er to continue “dealing with” Su Lianyi.

Cui’er looked left and right. Apart from the old man delivering wine, she indeed did not see Su Lianyi. “You go and find a way to ask—be clever,” she ordered a sharp little maid.

“Yes, Sister Cui’er,” the maid answered and quickly walked over.

Looking for someone in Sukkur today

At the back courtyard gate, the steward accepted the wine and wrote a receipt for Old Man Ma. At this moment, the little maid walked over smiling. “Uncle, here to deliver wine? Why don’t I see Sister Lianyi?”

Seeing that it was an unfamiliar maid, Old Man Ma was puzzled—since when had Lianyi gotten close to a maid in the Li residence? “Lianyi went to the market today to buy things. She didn’t come to the Li residence.”

“What?” Not only the little maid, but even the junior steward and the servants nearby were secretly astonished. That Su Lianyi didn’t come to the Li residence—how strange!

“So that’s how it is. Will Sister Lianyi come later? I haven’t seen her for several days and miss her terribly,” the little maid said again.

Old Man Ma was a simple-minded old man and truly believed the maid was close to Lianyi. “Lianyi girl won’t be coming today. We just agreed to meet at the county gate—after she finishes buying things, we’ll go back to the village.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you, Uncle.” With that, she quickly left.

If this had happened a month ago, Old Man Ma would certainly have been puzzled for a long time. Maids in the Li residence had higher status than village girls—how could one like Su Lianyi? But after interacting these past few days, he found Lianyi to be quite a good girl. Perhaps this little maid had noticed it earlier than he had.

Behind a rockery of strange stones, a group of maids was hiding.

“Sister Cui’er, that dead fat person didn’t come to the Li residence. The old man said the fat person went to the market to buy things and won’t be coming today,” the little maid reported.

“What? She’s not coming?” the group of big and small maids exclaimed.

For a moment, Cui’er had no idea what to do. “You all watch here. I’ll go and come back.” This task concerned her life—she dared not be careless. She ran toward the second young master’s study.

Begonia Garden. Li Yutang was checking accounts with the steward, his expression calm, as if utterly unrelated to the impending murder in the back courtyard.

“Second Young Master, Second Young Master, requesting an audience with the Second Young Master!” Cui’er’s agitated voice rang outside the study.

The Li family’s chief steward followed the family head Li Fu’an, while the second steward followed Second Young Master Li Yutang. Cui’er’s unruly shouting made the second steward, who was serving nearby, frown deeply and prepare to go out and reprimand her, but Li Yutang spoke first.

“All of you, leave. Let her come in.” His voice was淡淡, betraying no emotion.

“Yes.” The second steward led the other stewards out. Cui’er entered and knelt with a thud. “Second Young Master, that dead fat person… no, Su Lianyi—she didn’t come.”

“Finish what you’re saying.” Dressed in white, Li Yutang casually flipped through the account book, while Cui’er broke out in a cold sweat.

She hurriedly steadied herself. “Reporting to Second Young Master, Su Lianyi did not come to the Li residence. The old man who delivered wine from the Su family said Su Lianyi went to the market to buy things and then returned directly to Su Family Village.”

Li Yutang’s slender fingers paused for a moment, then immediately returned to normal. “You may go.”

“Yes.” Only then did Cui’er’s heart settle—at least the second young master now knew.

“Mo Nong.” After Cui’er left, that calm, slightly distant voice sounded again in the study.

The attendant Mo Nong entered. “Yes, Second Young Master.”

A pale hand flipped another page. “Send someone to see what Su Lianyi is doing.”

“Yes.” Mo Nong left.

“Come in. Let’s continue.”

As the words fell, the second steward led the other stewards back in to continue checking the accounts. Li Yutang remained as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened at all.

You’ll never believe why I moved to… Sukkur

Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Lianyi was very busy.

She first went to the pharmacy to buy a small mortar specifically for grinding medicine, exchanged her silver notes for loose silver, then went to the blacksmith’s shop to buy several sharp small knives, weighed out a few liang of good tea, bought some needles and thread, and then returned to the county gate.

By the time Lianyi arrived, Old Man Ma had already been waiting for quite a while.

“Uncle Ma, sorry to keep you waiting,” Lianyi said, carrying the heavy mortar and quickening her steps. Old Man Ma stepped forward to help her take it and load it onto the donkey cart. “What did you buy this for?”

Lianyi smiled. “I didn’t buy it for myself—Da Hu told me to. I don’t know what he plans to do.” Poor Da Hu—he ended up taking the blame. This insignificant matter wasn’t worth explaining, and Old Man Ma would forget it soon enough anyway.

Old Man Ma urged the donkey cart forward, swaying along toward the outskirts of the county town.

“Uncle Ma, this is for you.” She handed over one package of the good tea.

Old Man Ma took it and smelled it through the paper wrapping. “Oh! This is good stuff—quite expensive. Uncle can’t accept it.” As he spoke, he stuffed it back into Lianyi’s hands.

“It’s not expensive—quite cheap. I have too many clothes at home and can’t finish wearing them. They’d go out of fashion anyway, so I pawned a few I didn’t like and exchanged them for money to buy some things. Uncle Ma, you mustn’t refuse—this is a junior’s token of gratitude.”

Old Man Ma was deeply moved. He was merely a long-term worker at the Su family distillery, yet the Su family’s young lady treated him with such respect. “Lianyi girl, Uncle misunderstood you before. You’re a good girl,” he said sincerely.

Lianyi smiled without speaking. Turning back to tidy her things, the smile faded from her face and was replaced by contemplation. If she wasn’t mistaken, someone had been following her just now—ever since she left the pharmacy, they had followed her all the way.

She had thought they were robbers and deliberately stayed among crowds, but thinking back now, those people were cleanly dressed, with fine fabrics—not like ordinary bandits, but more like servants of a wealthy household.

“Oh, right, Lianyi girl—when I was delivering the wine just now, a maid came to ask where you’d gone. She said she hadn’t seen you for days and missed you,” Old Man Ma suddenly added.

“A maid? Missed me?” Lianyi was startled. A strong premonition arose—those people today were from the Li residence. What exactly were they planning to do?