Nan Zhi was listening raptly and couldn’t help asking, “And then what happened?”
“What happened then?”
A haze drifted into Wanniang’s eyes, as if she were sinking deep into her memories:
“The year I turned sixteen, a disaster struck the south, bringing many refugees into the city. My father took in an apprentice slightly older than me and adopted him as a foster son.
My father thought that since the apprentice’s roots were not in Dingyuan and he had no parents, his sole reliance would be our Qu family.
That way, even after my father passed away in the future, I would be able to keep him in check and never suffer any disadvantage.”
“My father had good judgment. That apprentice was hardworking and willing, capable of enduring any hardship, and utterly obedient to me.
Once, I fell ill and coughed blood all day without getting any better. He somehow found a folk remedy claiming that wild loquat leaves could cure it.
Under the blazing summer sun, he ran into the mountains to pick a full basket of wild loquat leaves for me, nearly getting eaten by the tiger on Wenshan.”
Wanniang lowered her head, gazing into the deep well and staring blankly at the moon reflected in the well water:
“Originally, I was reluctant about this marriage, but how could matters between men and women in this world be so simple...
Spending so much time together, seeing and talking to each other every day, combined with his kindness toward me—naturally, over time, I began to care for him.
It wasn’t that I loved him passionately...
It was just that I thought women in this world must eventually marry, and I also needed a child—boy or girl, so long as they bore the Qu surname.
Since that was the case, I figured it would be better to do as my father suggested and marry someone easily manageable, sparing myself future hardship.
So from then on, I accepted him, intending to wait a few more years before taking him into the family as a matrilocal son-in-law.
When the time came, I would handle external affairs while he managed the household. Though unusual compared to normal families, it would be easy and stress-free.
I would also have my hands free to deal with those uncles who coveted my Qu family’s estate.”
Nan Zhi had guessed this person’s identity, but she didn’t interrupt. She merely watched Wanniang quietly, waiting for her to continue.
A cloud drifted across the horizon, veiling half the moon, while countless stars twinkled in the murky night sky.
“The fame of ‘Immortal Brew’ grew greater and greater, and more and more people drank it. Everyone called me ‘Lady Wanniang,’ knowing the Qu family had fine wine.
Yet brewing wine is not something accomplished overnight, making fine wine scarce in the city. Many dignitaries and nobles in Dongjing took pride in being able to taste the Immortal Brew from my Qu Family Distillery.
Qu Family Distilleries sprouted everywhere, opening one shop after another. Yet I still remember the year a strange Taoist came to our distillery.”
Wanniang fell silent for a long time before speaking again:
“That Taoist was filthy and scruffy, like a beggar, and by his side was a four- or five-year-old Daoist boy. They looked like master and disciple.
The pair ate a meal in our distillery but had no money to pay the bill.
Originally, a meal and a pot of wine wouldn’t have mattered, but I suspected the Taoist was a human trafficker who had kidnapped someone’s child, so I made an excuse to report it to the authorities. Yet who would have thought...”
Wanniang’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she seemed to come alive, a trace of vitality returning to her pale, ghostly face:
“Who would have thought that upon seeing me about to report him, the scruffy Taoist wasn’t anxious at all, but instead laughed, claiming that while my ‘Immortal Brew’ was fine, it did not live up to its name.
Being young and seeing him slander my life’s work, I couldn’t help arguing with him.
The Taoist smiled faintly, drew a white-skinned gourd from his waist, and told me that only by brewing wine with what was inside could one produce true Immortal Brew.
After saying this, the Taoist became like a cloud, threw a rope into the sky, and soared aloft with the little Daoist boy, vanishing without a trace.
Only then did I realize I had encountered a true immortal.”
Wait, this story...
Why did it sound so familiar?
Nan Zhi held her cheek and sucked in a breath of cold air.
Yet Wanniang gave her no chance to interrupt and continued recounting the rest of the story:
“Having received the immortal’s guidance, I studied painstakingly for a long time and revised the recipe for ‘Immortal Brew’ once more. Finally, I managed to brew a vat of peerless, exquisite wine.”
She stood up abruptly, spreading her arms wide as she stumbled toward the moonlight, seemingly longing to embrace the moon:
“That vat of wine—that vat of wine was the true ‘Immortal Brew’!
Just one sip, a single sip was enough to intoxicate anyone, letting them hazily behold Chang'e dancing in the Moon Palace, stars falling from the Heavenly River, and faintly hearing the Immortal Poet chanting verses while celestial music played in immortal palaces!
That was true ‘Immortal Brew’! The immortal did not deceive me! In the end, I truly succeeded in brewing it!
From then on, the Qu family’s fame soared sky-high, and even people from the imperial palace came, specifically demanding Qu family wine—”
Nan Zhi could imagine the Qu family’s wealth and prestige in those days.
Yet she couldn’t imagine just how delicious the “Immortal Brew” was after Wanniang refined the secret recipe countless times and brewed it with an immortal’s guidance.
“However! That wretched scoundrel, that filthy bastard Wang Fugui! How dare he?!”
Wanniang stopped abruptly and suddenly turned around, two streaks of crimson blood-tears dripping below her eyes:
“He was a lethal venomous viper! That year during the imperial selection, ‘Immortal Brew’ was renowned far and wide, so naturally it was chosen.
I poured all my heart and soul into brewing a vat of top-grade ‘Immortal Brew’ two years in advance, delivering it with immense joy.
Yet unexpectedly, once that vat of wine was presented, what I waited for was not good news, but an imperial decree condemning my entire family!”
Wanniang’s eyes flared with boundless fury, the blood on her face blurring the line between tears and materialized resentment.
Ghostly energy soared wildly around her, and her long hair billowed through the air like frenzied black serpents:
“That batch of wine was poisoned with mineral poison! Within moments of drinking it, the palace eunuch testing the wine bled from his seven orifices and died!
Furthermore, thirteen customers who drank this batch of freshly brewed wine all died unnatural deaths!
This wine was originally meant for the imperial palace. Thus, it was deemed that not only had my Qu family deliberately poisoned and murdered people, but we had also attempted to assassinate the noble royalty in the palace!”
“That batch of wine was brewed with my own hands, and the mud seals on the vats were personally applied by Wang Fugui!
Our Qu family treated him with nothing but kindness, raising him like our own son, yet what did we get in return? What did we get in return?!
Extermination of our entire clan! Extermination of the entire clan! Hahahaha! My former betrothed turned out to be a death warrant! A heart full of sincerity, completely and cruelly misplaced!”
Wanniang broke into wails, shrill ghostly weeping intermingled with cackles of “ge-ge-ge” laughter, sending chills down one’s spine:
“Had past patrons not pleaded on the Qu family’s behalf to spare a single bloodline, our Qu family would have been wiped out completely—
Learning of this while imprisoned, I felt too ashamed to face my parents.
I had intended to end the remainder of my life with a strip of white silk, yet unexpectedly, that beast Wang Fugui!
Who knows what methods he used to sever his ties with our Qu family, but he used his connections to come see me.
Yet he didn’t come to explain himself—he came to demand the secret recipe for ‘Immortal Brew’!”
Huge drops of crimson blood-tears rolled down Wanniang’s eyes. As if every bone had been stripped from her body, her entire ghostly form slumped to the ground:
“Only then did I realize that he had placed the mineral poison in the wine out of greed for the immortal’s treasure and the secret recipe in my possession.
His visit that day was solely to interrogate me about the whereabouts of the immortal’s treasure. How could I let him have his way?!
The thirty-seven lives of my Qu family—my father, my mother, my uncles and aunts—were all imprisoned and wrongfully executed! The innocent patrons who drank that poisoned wine died gruesome deaths, yet he, the true culprit, remained unscathed—
Just for a bit of greed, just for glory and wealth, he treated me this way! How could you expect me not to hate him? How could I not hate him?!”
Wanniang wept and lamented, every word dripping with blood and tears.
In the absolute silence, a misty drizzle began to fall from the sky, as if even the moon tonight wept for Wanniang’s tragic fate.
Rate on N.U.
