Chapter 109: Shared hopes (1/2)
Chapter 109: Shared hopes Original and most updated translations are from volare. If read elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
After seeing Mu Qingwu and Han Yunxi both fall silent, the tea servant long figured that something wasn’t right. But the things that the young general had asked about were all recorded in the teashop receipt ledgers, so she didn’t dare to lie.
Not long ago, Second Young Miss Han had left behind a canister of first-class spring tea here. Many influential officials who drank tea here would forget their tea leaves and never come back to find them. As a result, she’d grown a wicked heart and hid that particular tin for herself. Unexpectedly, the Han Family actually sent over people the next day to look for the tin. It was awkward for her to bring it out again, so she could only pretend that she’d never saw it. All of Second Young Miss Han’s gifted teas were first-rate leaves that exceeded the quality of some of the teashop’s own blends. If it could be sold on the tea market, it’d definitely fetch a good price.
The tea servant had originally planned to find time and secretly take the tin out to sell, but who knew she’d run into this situation today? Her heart was trembling with fear. How could she dare sell those tea leaves now? She only hoped that they wouldn’t trace things back to her. If the manager found out that she’d stolen a guest’s tea, she’d be dead meat.
Seeing Mu Qingwu’s reticence, Han Yunxi lightly sighed and spoke. “Young General, you set my mind at rest, so of course I’ll set yours at rest too, don’t worry!”
The tea servant didn’t understand these words, but Mu Qingwu did. When they were investigating Mu Liuyue, he’d promised that he wouldn’t act wrongly out of personal considerations. Today, the most likely suspect had shown up in the Han Family, and esteemed wangfei was giving him the same pledge. He never expected that a woman like esteemed wangfei could have such an inspiring sense of righteousness. Mu Qingwu cupped his fist in his hand before his chest, face filled with trust and deep respect.
It was exactly this trust that increased the pressure on Han Yunxi and bolstered her determination. No matter who the culprit was, as long as it was the real one, she’d definitely uncover them.
“When Second Young Miss Han gives her tea leaves, does she ever steep them here?” she finally asked.
The tea servant shook her head. “Second Young Miss Han steeps the tea from her own leaves and leaves the tins here for us, but the tins she give to Eldest Young Miss Mu are always sealed.”
“Are they all the same tea leaves?” Han Yunxi asked again.
“Sometimes. Sometimes they’re not, so it’s not set,” the servant answered truthfully.
“Do you still have some left over?” Han Yunxi continued.
Immediately, the servant stood up and brought back two tins of tea leaves. “These were left behind recently by Second Young Miss Han.”
Han Yunxi examined the tea leaves but found no traces of poison. Everything was normal. Mu Qingwu hesitated before steeping the leaves to take a sip. As soon as he smelled the scent of tea, his face grew intoxicated.
“What is it?” Han Yunxi asked curiously.
For Mu Liuyue to keep accepting Han Ruoxue’s teas meant that their quality wasn’t ordinary.
“This flavor…this tea is the first batch of spring tea grown by the southern borders, one of the highest-grade green teas,” Mu Qingwu was very certain.
The extra same tea tree, when planted in different locations, yielded differences in their leaves as well. Climate, earth, and watering all determined the minute differences within the tea leaves, creating different flavors of tea. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to tell, but senior level tea fanatics could find out with a single whiff.
“This really is spring tea from the southern borders. Only the red earth at the borders can cultivate this flavor of green tea. Young General is very formidable!” the tea servant was all praise.
Actually, she wanted to say that the sealed tin left behind by Second Young Miss Han was even better, but she didn’t dare.
“Is this tea rare?” Han Yunxi asked, not understanding.
“Esteemed wangfei, teas from the southern border are in the greatest demand, especially spring teas. They’re produced in minute quantities so orders are sold out before they’re even harvested,” the tea servant replied.
If he hadn’t drank the tea himself and heard the servant’s explanation, Mu Qingwu wouldn’t have realized his frequently drunk green tea came from such a particular place. He looked significantly at Han Yunxi and said, “Over the past two or three years, I’ve grown obsessed with this flavor of tea. Many of the leaves Liuyue sent over was green tea from the southern borders.
Southern border green teas?
Han Yunxi crinkled her eyebrows. While Mu Qingwu and the servant weren’t paying attention, she silently took a few tea leaves and placed them in her medical pouch, then grabbed an acupuncture needle to sample some of the tea water before placing that in the pouch as well. In actuality, she was borrowing the action to send both items into her detoxification system dimension for analysis.
The results showed a marked difference: these tea leaves and tea water contained a high level of iron! Before, her analysis on two batches of tea leaves had resulted in failures when she tried to combine them with Ten-Thousand Snake Poison. First she’d analyzed them according to types of tea, then seasons of tea. She’d never tested them based on place of production.
Souther border green tea, could this be it?
Han Yunxi couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as she finished analyzing the composition of these tea leaves, she started mixing them with the poison in her detox system. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, expression serious as she focused entirely on producing results. By her side, Mu Qingwu and the tea servant watched and waited, wondering what was the matter.
“Esteemed wangfei, are you all right?” Mu Qingwu asked in concern.
It was only a second before Han Yunxi recovered with a sigh. “I’m fine.”