The Lucky Heiress

On the fifth day of the first month, the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature had risen slightly. The accumulated snow had finally begun to melt, as if predicting that the gloom enveloping Taizhou Prefecture was beginning to fade.

Many households still kept their doors tightly shut, as did the Military Prefecture.

However, the Wei Family also received good news. Wei Mingting sent a message back home.

In his letter, he informed his family that he was safe and sound, and there was no sickness in the army, reassuring his wife and children.

In addition, the Japanese pirates had been quiet for the past few days, which was a piece of good news among the many bad ones in Taizhou Prefecture.

Upon receiving the news that her husband was safe and unharmed, Madam Yun let out a big sigh of relief, and her heart, which had been hanging in the balance, temporarily settled down.

“Heaven bless us, your father is fine, everything is well.” After dinner, Madam Yun joyfully relayed the news to Wei Yichen and Wei Qingwan.

Wei Yichen was delighted, then inquired about Wei Ruo: “Mother, is there any news from my eldest sister?”

Madam Yun’s expression fell slightly, her joy fading: “No news. She is probably too happy to think about us in the Yuan Residence. People who don’t know might even think she’s part of their family.”

Her tone was tinged with annoyance and bitterness.

After all, Wei Ruo was her own daughter, a piece of her flesh and blood. How could her actions during the festival not break a mother’s heart?

Sensing Madam Yun’s anger, Wei Yichen wasn’t sure how to comfort her.

From New Year’s Eve to the fifth day of the New Year, staying away from home indeed seemed concerning.

Even their busy father had written a letter home, but their big sister residing in the Yuan Residence didn’t even send a word.

“Mother, I plan to go to the prefecture’s office later to bring big sister home,” Wei Yichen said.

Upon hearing this, Wei Qingwan hurriedly expressed her concern: “Elder brother, I heard that the plague outside is still very severe. It’s dangerous for you to leave the house rashly.”

Madam Yun also disapproved of Wei Yichen’s action: “Your sister is right. If anything needs to be done, let the servants of the residence handle it. You should stay at home and study for this year’s examination.”

Wei Yichen said, “The situation under the control of the magistrate’s office is quite manageable. I don’t think it’s that severe. Besides, I won’t linger on the streets when I leave the house. I’ll go directly to the magistrate’s office, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“If elder brother insists on going, then let me go on your behalf,” Wei Qingwan volunteered bravely, “Even if I get sick, it doesn’t matter. But it’s different for elder brother. You’re attending the examination this year. There can’t be any mistakes.”

Seeing the worried look in Wei Qingwan’s eyes, Wei Yichen hesitated.

Although he thought it was not a big deal, it was indeed unpleasant to cause his mother and sister such worry.

After some thought, Wei Yichen gave up the idea of going to fetch Wei Ruo: “Okay, I won’t go for now. I suppose big sister is safe staying at the prefecture’s office.”

And so, the matter was set aside for the time being.

###

In the small courtyard, having finished her work, Wei Ruo found Wei Jinyi.

“Second Brother, I need a favor. Could you go back to the Military Prefecture and get some wine for me?” Wei Ruo asked Wei Jinyi.

“What do you need the wine for?” Wei Jinyi asked.

“Using strong alcohol for cleaning is a way to prevent infections. I left six jars of baijiu in the storage room in the residence. It’s high-proof and works especially well,” explained Wei Ruo.

Although the alcohol percentage of the wine was not as high as 75%, it was still between 40 to 50%. Using it is certainly better than not using any at all.

Lady Xiumei knew where the wine was stored, but as a maid, it would be troublesome for her to leave and return to the residence, and she might be stopped.

Therefore, Wei Ruo had to ask Wei Jinyi a favor.

“Alright,” Wei Jinyi agreed.

Then Wei Ruo handed him the key to her small storage room: “This is the key. The wine is in the corner on the right after you enter. The jars with red paper on them are the ones. Plus, try to avoid contact with anyone on your way home.”

Wei Jinyi stared at the key in his hand for a couple of seconds, then nodded: “I understand.”

With the key in hand, Wei Jinyi set off to fetch the wine for Wei Ruo.

When he left the residence, he scaled the wall so as not to alert anyone, and he did the same when he returned, without disturbing the residence’s guards.

Seeing Wei Jinyi return, Xiaobei greeted him enthusiastically, “Young Master, you are finally back. I was worried that our cover would be blown without you here these past few days.”

Luckily, their mistress didn’t care much for the young master and the lord hadn’t returned. As a result, no one specifically sought out the young master during the New Year, allowing them to keep up appearances.

However, Wei Jinyi avoided him, maintaining a distance of six or seven feet.

“I’m leaving once I’ve fetched what I need. You stay at the residence, cover for me if you can. If you can’t and we’re exposed, that’s alright too,” Wei Jinyi was not worried that his secret departure from the residence would be discovered.

It would save trouble if it wasn’t discovered, and if it was, it wouldn’t pose much of a problem for him either.

After he finished speaking, Wei Jinyi climbed over three walls and went to Tingsong Garden.

“Young Master…” Xiaobei only managed to call out “Young Master,” before the man was out of sight.

Xiaobei sighed helplessly: “Ah, I was going to say, since we’re not afraid of being discovered, why not take me with you? I could also help out Lady Xiumei.”

Wei Jinyi fetched all six jars of Wei Ruo’s wine from the storage room.

It was impossible to carry all six jars by hand. Wei Jinyi found some straw ropes, and after some weaving, he tied all the jars together. This way, he could lift all six jars at once.

Even with the added weight of six jars of wine, Wei Jinyi was still able to leave without making a sound and without being discovered by the guards in the residence.

Wei Jinyi successfully delivered the wine to the small courtyard where Wei Ruo and others were living and working. Wei Ruo then instructed Doctor Cheng and others to wash their hands with this wine and spray it all over their bodies every day after work.

Disinfecting with wine was a time-honored method that all the doctors understood.

However, the wine they usually used was murky rice wine. Seeing that the wine Wei Ruo brought was not only clear but also had a strong fragrance, it was evidently expensive baijiu.

“Mr. Xu, this wine of yours could sell for quite a bit of money. It’s not appropriate for us to use it to wash our hands, is it?” Doctor Cheng couldn’t help but say.

“The stronger the wine, the better it works. Although this wine is valuable, our lives are far more valuable,” Wei Ruo responded.

Regardless of how much Wei Ruo loved money, she would never equate money with life.

She knew very well what was more valuable.

“That’s true. The best disinfectant is strong alcohol. But your generosity truly makes us admire you,” Doctor Cheng said with emotion.

“Never mind all that. As long as we can all survive, silver or wine, we’ll have them again in the future,” said Wei Ruo.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Over the past few days, they had been amazed by Wei Ruo’s words and actions more than once.

There was not much else to say. They just kept their feelings of gratitude and admiration in their hearts, hoping to express their thanks when the opportunity arose..