Chapter Fifty-One: Brewing Success

  Returning to the back house, Qin Yu sat on a chair made of purple sandalwood and just picked up his brush when he suddenly remembered that the tea leaves were drinkable but hadn't been sent to Cheng Yaojin yet. Since they had already been given to Li Shimin, Cheng Yaojin naturally couldn't be left out either. He hastily instructed Xiao Tao, who was waiting on him at the side, "Prepare some tea leaves to be sent to Lu Guogong's residence."

  "Young master, how much should I pack?" Although Xiaotao didn't know where the Lu Guogong Mansion was, delivering tea didn't require her to go in person, just prepare it.

  "Just send it according to the amount sent to Your Majesty, this cannot be exceeded." Qin Yu thought for a moment and said.

  "Master, shouldn't you also give some to General Wing?" Little Peach was focused on Qin Yu and saw that he only gave some to Cheng Yaojin but not to Qin Qiong, so she quickly spoke up to remind him.

  Qin Yu smiled and said, "Father needs to nourish his qi and blood. Although drinking tea won't have a big impact, it's still best not to drink it. Never mind, I'll send some over, but you must note that the amount of tea leaves used each day must be controlled, can't be too much or too strong."

  "Yes, young master." Xiaotao nodded and went to prepare tea for the Wing State Duke Lu Guogong, instructing the servant to send it over.

  Xiao Tao's status in Qin Yu's household is well understood by the servants and maids of Qingfeng Residence. From Qin Yu's tone and attitude, it can be seen that Xiao Tao has become the leader of all the servants and maids in Qingfeng Residence, and no one dares to disobey her words.

  Qin Yu picked up the book and had just annotated a punctuation mark, when he suddenly slapped his forehead, saying somewhat regretfully, "How could I have forgotten this?"

  However, I remembered that when sending rocking chairs and recliners before, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin discussed which day to fix the bed. Although Qin Yu didn't understand the rules here, he knew that fixing a bed required a bed, and it was best to have a new one.

  Qin Yu finished thinking, and immediately took out a piece of paper, drew a wooden bed on it, and also explained the size. When Xiaotao returned, he hurriedly opened his mouth to instruct, "Xiaotao, go tell the carpenters to stop their current work for now, and first make the bed with purple sandalwood."

  "Yes, young master." Xiaotao took over the drawings, slightly stunned for a moment, and then said in a low voice.

  Xiao Tao naturally knew Qin Yu's purpose for making the bed, but she was just a slave and didn't dare to have any extravagant hopes. She only wished that Qin Yu wouldn't drive her away and could serve him for the rest of her life, which would be enough for her. Of course, deep down inside, there was still a tiny bit of expectation.

  Suspended production of rocking chairs, Qin Yu is not worried that Cheng Yaoguang will come to blame, this is used to put the bed, if Cheng Yaoguang blames, there must be a ghost, besides, getting married, how can you not have a new bed? Qin Yu attaches great importance to this matter, which shows that he values Cheng Lingyun. Cheng Yaoguang is happy and has no time to blame.

  The carpenters learned that the bed Qin Yu ordered was for a peaceful rest, so they were very careful and spent three whole days making a large purple sandalwood bed, and even intricately carved dragons and phoenixes on it, with lifelike shapes and extraordinary momentum, symbolizing good fortune.

  Of course, the woodcarvers carved dragons and phoenixes after asking Qin Yu in advance, otherwise they would not have taken the liberty.

  Qin Yu was very satisfied with the new bed, and being stingy wasn't Qin Yu's style. Moreover, the wooden dragon and phoenix bed made by the carpenter was indeed exquisite and sturdy. He immediately rewarded each of them with 200 coins.

  How to set up a bed and what steps are needed, Qin Yu didn't know, he could only wait for Qin Qiong to come and take care of these things.

  As the wedding day approaches, Qin Yu still doesn't have any free time. Most of her time is spent adding punctuation to books. When she has a bit of spare time, she's either teaching children or instructing Big Cow on how to cook. In short, Qin Yu is busy every day.

  On this day, Sun Erniang came to report, "Young master, the wine has been brewed."

  Qin Yu, who was marking books, heard this and immediately became happy, hastily getting up and saying, "Good, let's go take a look."

  Winning the wine-making contest is a big deal, it's related to making money, buying ginseng for Qin Qiang, and even more so to Qin Yu's future days, so Qin Yu naturally attaches great importance to it.

  Upon arriving at the winery, a strong aroma of wine wafted through the air as soon as they entered. The servants and maids saw Qin Yu and hastily came forward to pay their respects, "Greetings, young master."

  Qin Yu nodded and hurried into the house, where a warm air greeted him. He looked at the jar of white wine that had been brewed to perfection and suddenly felt delighted, "It's finally a success." He immediately picked up the wine ladle and scooped out a spoonful, putting it to his lips to taste, which was much better than the distilled liquor before.

  "Not bad, it seems that Second Lady Sun's craftsmanship is quite extraordinary." Qin Yu looked at Sun Erniang and said with a smile.

  "It's all thanks to the young master's credit, I don't dare take any credit for myself, it was just a matter of lifting a hand." Sun Erniang said with great admiration, her words full of excitement.

  After Qin Yu added a few steps, the wine not only had a high degree but also smelled much better. As a descendant of a winemaking family, Sun Erniang naturally knew her stuff and was overjoyed to have learned such an excellent technique for free.

  Qin Yu smiled slightly and said, "This wine still needs to be brewed for a while. The wedding day is approaching, and when the time comes, we will use this wine to entertain guests, which can also make a name for this wine. As for selling wine, it's better for Erniang to take charge."

  Sun Erniang naturally understood Qin Yu's meaning, this was a business deal, and Qin Yu didn't want to show his face, so she nodded and replied, "Don't worry, young master, my family will do our best when the time comes."

  "Alright, then I'll trouble you, Second Young Mistress." Qin Yu said as he looked at her for a while longer before returning to the rear residence to continue annotating books with punctuation marks.

  Qin Yu spoke in a gentle and humble manner, winning over Sun Erniang's favor. After all, Qin Yu's status was evident, yet he could lower himself to speak in an equal tone, how could Sun Erniang not have a good impression? It was precisely because of this that when Qin Yu brought up the matter of selling wine, Sun Erniang agreed without hesitation.

  To know, this wasn't written in the contract, Sun Erniang isn't Qin Yu's slave, and she can completely refuse Qin Yu's request.

  Qin Yu actually also had a sudden idea, because for the time being, no suitable candidate could be found, after all, selling wine requires others to come forward, Qin Yu couldn't operate in person, this is the Great Tang, still need to avoid suspicion, even if everyone knows the truth, superficial things still have to be done.

  Qin Yu left first, and Cheng Huailiang and Cheng Huaimo arrived at the winery courtyard with their hind legs. The two of them sneaked a peek for a while, found that the stone often guarding here was not there, and both let out a sigh of relief. They rushed into the courtyard, and only heard Cheng Huaimo shouting in a low voice, "Second lady, hurry up and get some wine."

  Sun Erniang was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "If Mr. Cheng wants to drink wine, I won't object." After finishing speaking, she turned her head and ordered the maid assigned here, "Quickly, bring some wine for the master."

  "Second daughter, hit a few more." Cheng Huailiang hastily added.

  Sun Erniang smiled slyly and nodded her head, saying "Did you hear that? Hit him some more."

  Cheng Huai Mo and Cheng Huai Liang were savoring the aroma of wine while swallowing their saliva, exchanging a smile. Before long, a maid carrying a jar of wine walked over. Just as Cheng Huai Mo was about to say it's too little, Cheng Huai Liang hastily took the wine jar and pulled Cheng Huai Mo along, having heard Shi Tou's unique footsteps.

  As for these two drinking with Qin Yu, it's not difficult at all. The two of them were eager to drink and couldn't find Qin Yu, so they came here. Sun Erniang naturally knew the relationship between these two and Qin Yu, who dared to refuse? So she didn't ask for Qin Yu's opinion and gave the two a jar of wine.

  Cheng Huai thought it was not enough, but didn't know that the wine had a high alcohol content. Cheng Hualiang had drunk some and naturally knew its strength. One jar of wine with Qin Yu together couldn't be finished, so it was enough. Next time he wanted to drink, he would ask Qin Yu again.

  Cheng Huai and Cheng Huali slipped away, the stone from the outhouse returned to the winery, then stood like a door god at the entrance, continuing to carry out Qin Yu's orders, not allowing any idle people to approach.

  But little did they know, two people had just taken a jar of wine and left. The family's servants and maids were all stifling their smiles as they returned to the house to continue brewing wine. Qin Yu's wedding didn't require too much wine, but the 5,000 taels of silver worth of wine that Cui Wen had was no small amount, so their task was a heavy one.

  Just as Qin Yu was about to pick up his pen, he suddenly remembered that when they got married, there were also female relatives who came to attend the wedding. He slapped his head and quickly wrote down the method of brewing fruit wine, then handed it over to Sun Erniang and asked her to send someone to buy some fruit back and brew some fruit wine to entertain those female relatives.

  Getting married is always a lively and festive occasion, especially when it's Qin Yu's own wedding. Qin Yu naturally attaches great importance to it, whether in modern times or in the Tang Dynasty, this is his first time after all. Qin Yu will definitely make it a grand affair, unparalleled in history. Even if he can't do that, at least he can still lead the way in food and drink.

  These days, Qin Yu has been busy cultivating the big cows and those kitchen girls, all in preparation for the wedding. Unfortunately, the vegetables from Yongnian County are not yet ripe, otherwise this menu would be even more sumptuous.

  Two days later, the carpenters made five sets of rocking chairs and some stools. Even if Cheng Yaojin wanted a rocking chair, Qingfeng Residence couldn't be without stools and chairs, could it?

  Qin Yu gave two sets of rocking chairs to Qin Qiong, no choice, who let the set given to Qin Qiong be given to Li Shimin by him.

  Of course, Qin Qiong only needs one set, and the other set is to be given to Empress Changsun. Li Shimin has only one set, which is obviously not enough. Qin Yu has an imperial edict to enter the palace but doesn't like going to the imperial palace, so he can only ask Qin Qiong to deliver it.

  Another three sets were sent to Cheng Yaojin, who definitely didn't need that many. Qin Yu guessed that these were prepared by Cheng Yaojin to be given away as gifts. As for who they would be given to, Qin Yu naturally wouldn't bother to ask. Whoever received them would still make Old Man Cheng happy, so why bother asking?

  Qin Yu was still not steady enough, thinking this and that, and actually forgot about Princess Chang Le. Fortunately, Qin Qiong remembered, and the two sets of rocking chairs sent to Qin Qiong's place were all delivered to the imperial palace by Qin Qiong, one set was given to Empress Longsun, and one set was naturally given to Princess Chang Le.

  As for giving to Li Shimin's sons, neither Qin Qiong nor Cheng Yaojin did it. This involves the throne, and giving things represents making friends and taking a stand. Both are old rivers and lakes, how can they take a stand on this matter?

  As for the two men's actions, Li Shimin was quite pleased. It is said that since Li Shimin was not yet old and unable to move, he naturally disliked his ministers forming close relationships with the imperial princes.