Chapter 77 “Ye Ling Yue, You Country Bumpkin”
There were still a few days before the smelting conference after they arrived at the city. Since she already had the monkey wine ready, Ling Yue decides to pay a visit to the governor’s residence to seek out Lan Caier.
Yet who would’ve guessed that she would come out empty handed. After an inquiry, she was informed by several of the guards that Lan Caier wasn’t home that day and was entertaining some guests at the Drunken Immortal.
Not wanting to waste the day, she directly went to the Drunken Immortal to find the girl.
Once there, the shopkeeper immediately told her Lan Caier and several of her guests were inside a room on the second floor. Without delay, Ling Yue went up the stairs and walked towards the designated location to be welcomed by a familiar voice.
“Lady An, are you implying that my century monkey wine isn’t worthy of being sold in the Drunken Immortal?”
“Lady Lan, don’t be angry, I’m talking about the wine, not you. The Drunken Immortal is a high-class restaurant in Da Xia, not some place where a country bumpkin can just waltz in and sell their wine.” While the voice carried an unruly pride, it was also quite bratty.
“An Ming Xia, calling you a lady is only because I’m giving face to Marquise An and your brother Sir An. You really think you are that noble? You say Ling Yue is a rural and vulgar girl, then what are you? Don’t forget your mother is only a concubine of common birth.” Lan Caier was no pushover either. If she’s going to take Ling Yue as her friend then she will use her heart to defend this friend from various insults.
Lady An’s full name was An Ming Xia, she’s the daughter of Marquise An and a concubine the marquise picked up during a visit to his fief. Normally An Ming Xia wouldn’t receive the title of lady due to her mother’s background – a restaurant owner’s daughter – but because the marquise favored this concubine so much, he broke the rule and named An Ming Xia a lady of the house.
But regardless of her title, An Ming Xia simply can’t be compared to Lan Caier whose born of the main wife in her family.
(Note: children born of a concubine in ancient china are considered bastards and are usually considered not part of the family lineage unless the father names them so. Even then, their status can’t be considered as good as the children from the main wife.)
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For this reason, An Ming Xia’s been secretly jealous of Lan Caier because they are both born of common background, yet the other girl can get the favor of the Dowager Queen and be titled a princess.
An Ming Xia and Lan Caier may be partners in business, but they can hardly be called close friends. If not for her friendship with Sir An – An Ming Xia’s brother – Lan Caier would never have worked with the girl.
“Lan Caier, do you think you are that big huh? Who doesn’t know by now that you offended Lady Yu of the Hong House in the capital and had to hide here in Glass City.”
Back when An Ming Xia first met with Lan Caier she was constantly trying to please this princess, but once An Ming Xia mingled with the other children of the old aristocratic families, mainly the ladies of the Hong House and the other chancellors, she began to look down upon Lan Caier.
A common birth princess is still a commoner at her core, even her friends are all rabbles from the bottom.
It wasn’t even that long when Governor Lan was demoted to Glass City and this Lan Caier actually degenerated herself to the point of mingling with a farmer’s girl? Unbelievable!
The disdain coming off of An Ming Xia’s gaze was especially unpleasant.
Hong House?
When hearing this name that has been seared into her mind, Ling Yue who was still outside the doorway suddenly skipped a beat.
Immediately thereafter, a series of loud banging and smashing sound of cups falling to the ground drifted out.
Seems a fight was imminent inside and it was all because of her monkey wine.
“An Ming Xia, watch me rip out that tongue of yours.” Lan Caier couldn’t care less about her manners at this point and wanted to do nothing else but to teach this girl a lesson.
“Come and try then. I’d like see for myself what ability the number ten of the royal competition can do.” As soon as she says this, An Ming Xia’s hand strikes against the table in front of her.
Under the powerful blow, the table started to spin uncontrollably in midair as it flew towards Lan Caier’s direction. Fortunately Lan Caier herself was no weakling. In a sidestep, she bypasses the table and watched the spinning disk fly out the door where a waiter was just passing by.
Seeing the screaming waiter that’s about to seriously injured, Lan Caier’s complexion instantly took on an ugly tone as she wanted to call out.
Exactly at this moment, a person suddenly stepped in between the table and the waiter.
Then in the next second, the flying table abruptly halted in stagnation due to a single hand. Gently and firmly, this willow table weighing dozens of pounds was carefully placed back on the ground without a scratch.
“Little brother, are you okay?” Coming into the eyes of this frightened waiter was a beautiful young girl smiling at him.
Likewise, the occupants inside the room were also stunned by the scene.
Like Lan Caier, Lady An was also a peak lower celestial martialist so her one palm strike shouldn’t be weak by any means. Yet, the newcomer can easily intercept it like nothing?
“Sister Lan.” The sudden appearance of Ling Yue caught everyone by surprise, especially Lan Caier who looked a little embarrassed over the current situation.
“Little sister Ling Yue, how come you are here?”
So what happened was that in order to let Ling Yue consign her wine for sale in the Drunken Immortal, Lan Caier had specifically contacted her partners in the capital. Of these people, all of them were either young lords or ladies of their house.
When these people heard there was good wine to be had, the group’s initial attitude was a cheerful one when arrived at Glass City.
But as soon as the part where the wine was brewed by a nameless village girl came out, An Ming Xia’s attitude took on an abrupt change.
She claimed the century monkey wine had poor flavor and would never allow it to be sold in the Drunken Immortal, thus sparking the fight just now.
Casting a sidelong glance inside the room, Ling Yue can see a maiden in a silken dress standing there.
The girl was two to three years younger than Lan Caier with an oval shaped face, a comparable match to the princess in terms of beauty.
It’s just that the girl’s arrogant attitude made it difficult for others to get a good impression of her.
In the same way, Lady An was also assessing Ling Yue.
An Ming Xia had always thought that a rural-born girl would be vulgar and ugly, but who would’ve guessed that the Ling Yue in front of her would be so different from her expectations.
Although the village girl didn’t apply any makeup powder and only wore a common white dress, but that creamy skin and blossom lip only made her crescent eyes more alluring like the gems in the nightly sky.
Against a beauty like this, the various noble young lords that came today were all awe-struck, unable to utter a word as they became mesmerized by that face.
What a bunch of ignorant fools.
Seeing how lovestruck her peers were, An Ming Xia became more irritated and hated how her glory’s been stolen by a village girl.
“So you are that country bumpkin wine brewer, Ye Ling Yue?”
“An Ming Xia, who are you calling a country bumpkin!” Lan Caier’s fierce glare and the faint glow of Yuan energy coating her body instantly shut An Ming Xia up.
Lan Caier had a nickname back in the capital known as “Violent Dragon Lan”, meaning she had the courage to beat up even the crown prince if she loses it. If not for the momentary loss of composure earlier, An Ming Xia would never dare go against this princess head on.
“Sister Lan, don’t get angry. This lady, you just said my century monkey wine tastes bad, I like to know which part are you referring to.” Ling Yue attempts to stop Lan Caier from losing it.