books44 Chapter 202: Departure
Chapter 202: Departure
Chapter 202: Departure
Seeing their little actions, the prefect could only swallow his anger, even though he had a thousand words he wanted to say. The two of them returned to their seats with forced smiles.
The prefect, having been given the cold shoulder, could only return to his seat. The Ji family members also came over, and upon seeing the two of them, they walked towards Ji Meiqing and the others without saying a word.
"I heard that Lu Yu was imprisoned some time ago. Is he alright?" Ji Yangshan asked, feigning concern.
Lu Yu joined them in the act, humbly smiling and saying, "It's just that I was framed, it's not that serious."
"That's good, that's good." He said it several times in a row, while Ji Meiqing stood quietly to the side.
Ji Yangshan looked at Ji Meiqing, adopting a loving father's expression, and said, "You've been away from the Ji family for so long, when will you come back to visit? Your aunt misses you too."
"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Ji," she said distantly. Her nonchalant address of him as "Mr. Ji" without feigning a father-daughter bond immediately darkened his expression.
Only Ji Meiqing could pull off such a blatant act of humiliation.
Ji Yangshan, however, pretended not to know and said with a sigh, "It's true what they say, a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. It hasn't been long and she already doesn't recognize me as her father."
"Father?" She sneered. "Has Master Ji forgotten that document? I've already been expelled from the Ji family. How can I still call you father?"
"Document? What document?" Ji Yangshan continued to play dumb, and more and more people gathered around to watch the show.
Looking at his appearance, Ji Meiqing couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Then she took out the yellowed paper from her sleeve and slowly opened it.
"My daughter has preserved this document very well." She took it out, shook it, and showed it to the people around her before putting it away amidst his extremely unpleasant expression.
Looking at his expression, which looked like he had just eaten poop, Ji Meiqing felt a surge of relief.
“After all, you are still a member of the Ji family. It was your father who made a mistake.” He suddenly lowered his head, which surprised and puzzled Ji Meiqing. She didn’t understand what was wrong with him.
Suddenly, everyone around her turned their attention to Ji Meiqing, their reproachful gazes making her seem like the most heinous criminal.
Ji Meiqing understood that he was trying to embarrass her. Her face darkened, and she was about to make a move when Lu Yu pulled her back.
"Master Ji," he said with a slight smirk, "Back then, for a piece of pastry, you crippled Meiqing and threw her into the Broken Head Cliff behind the mountain to fend for herself. If I hadn't happened to be passing by and rescued her, I don't know if I would still be standing here now. They say even tigers don't eat their cubs. Last time, Meiqing thought you were still her father and brought you some medicine, but you beat her up and left her a letter of severance, not letting her see her family again. Do you know that because of your rudeness, she was almost in danger that time?"
Ji Yangshan opened his eyes wide, somewhat incredulous. Fearing that the people around him would think it was true, he hurriedly and angrily refuted him.
Lu Yu remained calm and said, "Do you know that her three-month-old baby was almost lost in your hands? In a worse situation, it could have been a double tragedy. Even so, you still asked her to forgive you in public, creating the impression that she was unfilial. As a father, how could you put your own child to death several times? Do you even deserve to be a father?"
"This isn't true, and you, an outsider, shouldn't interfere." He immediately became furious, which made people even more suspicious of whether what he said was true.
"Why is it so noisy?" Shangguan Yuzhe finally came out of the door, and the people around him immediately split to the sides, leaving a path in the middle.
Ji Meiqing stood with Lu Yu. He looked at her first, but after exchanging a few words with the prefect, he walked over.
"Where's the stuff? I'm really looking forward to it." His playful tone made one want to slap him.
Lu Yu took out the wine jar and placed it in front of him. "The wine you ordered needs to be aged for half a month. The longer it is aged, the more mellow and fragrant it will become."
"I understand." He took it and examined it carefully, but couldn't smell anything. He then looked at Lu Yu and asked, "Does this wine have a name?"
"No. Please have Your Highness come and fetch it."
After thinking carefully for a while, Shangguan Yuzhe excitedly said, "How about we call it 'Seeking Pleasure,' or 'Seeking Pleasure Among the Crowd'?"
"This name is far too frivolous..." Ji Meiqing said with a look of disgust. "Just from this name, I can tell you're an improper prince."
"You've got some nerve. But for the sake of this jar of fine wine, I'll let it go."
He held the wine, in an exceptionally good mood. Seeing this, Ji Yangshan, who was standing to the side, also brought over a jar of wine and said, "Ji Yangshan greets Your Highness."
Shangguan Yuzhe looked him over, then at the jar in his hand, and then remembered who he was.
The wine was accepted without any hesitation. "Um, is there something you need?"
He took a sniff, and the aroma was indeed quite pleasant. It was definitely good wine inside, and his expression softened.
Ji Yangshan smiled and said, "I have only heard that Your Highness is a lover of wine, so I specially brought some fine wine to present to Your Highness. After all, fine wine deserves a connoisseur."
"What you said makes sense." He smiled, picked up the wine, and tossed it to the servant behind him.
Ji Meiqing stood aside, listening to their pleasantries. The two talked for a long time, like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time.
Finally, the person who came urged him to stop, and he reluctantly stopped.
"I will definitely come to you another day to learn your brewing techniques. I hope you won't be stingy with your knowledge then." He shook his head and gave Ji Meiqing and the others a sneer before leaving.
A large group of people saw him off, and the whole town fell silent again. Ji Yangshan, who had just been humiliated, walked over triumphantly, glanced at them, snorted, and left.
Ji Meiqing only glanced at it indifferently, and then went back with Lu Yu.
"The annual meeting is coming soon. The prince once told me that the annual meeting selects the best people from each city to participate, and it is held once every five years. The most recent one happens to be on the eighth day of the second lunar month after the new year. In previous years, the Ji family went, but if we want to participate in the annual meeting this year, we can only do so from other places."
Ji Meiqing looked at Lu Yu with worry, fearing that they would not be able to attend the annual meeting. If they couldn't attend, they would never be able to turn their lives around.