Liu Residence
Three days after the convening of the emergency session of court. A public announcement was made. In the announcement, the names of the Four Martial Families that were accused of treason approximately eight years ago was cleared. It was pronounced that the families were proven to be innocent. The announcement explained how the families fell victim to the schemes of Elder Chen, former Prime Minister Peng, the former Minister of Personal and the former Minister of Justice.
The announcement went on to inform everyone that the nine familial exterminations of the Lan and Chen family had already begun. In three days, Elder Chen and Minister Lan would be executed by death of a thousand cuts. Elder Wang is supervising the nine familial exterminations and will also supervise the executions of Elder Chen and Minister Lan. Following the executions of Elder Chen and Minister Lan, a memorial for the four families would be held in the square of the Imperial City later on in the evening.
The public was outraged. The four families were known as heroes and pillars of the country. They were greatly admired and respected by the population. There were tears in the eyes of many people who heard the news. The tears of happiness that the names of the four families were cleared were plentiful. So were there tears of sorrow that the four families fell victim to the schemes of the wicked Ministers and Elder Chen.
Liu Tián Qǔ heart hurt so much for her new Commander. The Jiang family was one of the four families. The announcement was made that morning, and she saw the changes in her Commander since he heard the announcement. The commander and his wife were even absent from the daily sign language class that Liu Tián Qǔ taught every evening.
Liu Tián Qǔ sat on the step of the open doorway of the lounge door leading to her inner courtyard. Liu Tián Qǔ relaxed under the night sky and enjoyed the scent of blossoms in the air as she drank the strengthen potion that Hòu Dao sent over. The day had been a hectic day for Liu Tián Qǔ. It was only now that she had the time to drink her daily strengthen potion.
Liu Tián Qǔ spent most of the morning in her vineyard, and with a potter. Liu Tián Qǔ had toured the Vineyard with Manager Kuo that morning. She was extremely pleased with the changes she saw in the vineyard. The weeds were all gone, and the vines were in excellent condition.
Liu Tián Qǔ still couldn't tell what kind of grapes grew in her vineyard. However, she could tell that there was more than one variety of grapevines growing in the vineyard. Liu Tián Qǔ was not an ampelographer, however during her time working in the vineyard of her father's friend in her past life. She had learned much about grapes and wine. The most important clue to identify the grape variety is the leaf, secondly were the grapes.
Sadly the leaves on her vines were unlike any leaves she ever saw, and the clusters had yet to mature. Liu Tián Qǔ was starting to think that maybe these grapes in her vineyard were indigenous to the Tolling Lands.
Liu Tián Qǔ had drew a series of sketches of a particular egg-shaped clay vessel she wanted the potter to make for her called a Qvevri. It was what she would be using to brew wine in.
In her past life, Liu Tián Qǔ had attended a wine workshop in the country Georgia with her father's friend, where they studied the 8,000 thousand-year-old history of Qvevri winemaking. That's is also what gave Liu Tián Qǔ the idea to try Qvevri winemaking. It's was the easiest way she knew of to make good wine from grapes. No yeast or sulfur or anything else has to be added. It was a simple, natural process that yielded very good wine.
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However, she was not happy with the quality of the clay the potter wanted to use. She spent all of the late morning and the early afternoon as well as 29,000 silver coins in bribes to secure information on where a better quality of clay could be located. The potter himself only knew of five locations. However, Liu Tián Qǔ was not satisfied with the quality of the clay in either of the locations.
The silver was well spent, both the potter and Liu Tián Qǔ was happy with the clay in the location they were able to secure information about through bribery. Liu Tián Qǔ order twenty large Qvevri pots from the potter and also left a ton of beeswax with the potter. Some of the beeswax came from Liu Tián Qǔ apiary and some she purchased.
Liu Tián Qǔ explained the sketches she drew to the potter. She explained how she wanted the inside of the clay vessels to be lined with beeswax and the outside of the clay vessel lined with lime. The potter was paid in full for the clay vessels ordered.
Liu Tián Qǔ even gave the potter an enormous tip. Liu Tián Qǔ knew that for the potter to finish the vessels in time, he would have to hire an army of people to help him. The Qvevri clay vessels she ordered were enormous. They also took a long time to make. However, Liu Tián Qǔ needed the pot for October. It was already the end of May, so that didn't give the potter much time to complete all twenty pots.
Although Liu Tián Qǔ wasn't sure when the grapes would ripen. From the observations she made. Liu Tián Qǔ was guessing the grapes would ripen around late October or November.
The mid-afternoon found Liu Tián Qǔ in a glass shop and then a woodshop. In the glass shop. Liu Tián Qǔ gave the glass shop owner sketches she drew of the implements she would need for the process of European winemaking. She also gave the glassmaker sketches of several types of wine glass bottles she wanted to be custom made for her vineyard.
Liu Tián Qǔ had noticed that in the Tolling Lands. Very few people made wine using grapes. To Liu Tián Qǔ, the wine that was produced using grapes were horrible. The majority of the winemakers in the Tolling Lands made wine using grains. However, strangely enough, she didn't see where wine bottles were used.
It seemed like in the Tolling Lands. Everyone made and stored their wine in wine jars, pot, gourds, and wine vessels. That was what prompt Liu Tián Qǔ to commission wine bottles specially customized for the wine she would be producing from her vineyard.
In the woodshop, Liu Tián Qǔ commissioned several massive wooden vats big enough to hold up to ten people at one time. These were the vats that would be used for grape treading. Liu Tián Qǔ also gave the woodshop owner sketches she drew of the implements she would need for cleaning the Qvevri. As well as for European and Qvevri winemaking. Liu Tián Qǔ felt so relieved when the owner of the woodshop assured her that he would have no problem crafting the Qvevri implements she sketched out.
Finally, Liu Tián Qǔ gave the woodshop owner sketches of the wine barrels she wanted him to craft for her. Liu Tián Qǔ originally was going to stick with the Georgian style of winemaking. The European winemaking was more time consuming and required additives that Liu Tián Qǔ didn't have on hand. However, she was able to buy alternatives for the additives she needed from the peddler that Nadelineians used in their winemaking process. So Liu Tián Qǔ decided to give European winemaking a try.
Liu Tián Qǔ then order baskets for grape picking and barrels to hold the grapes. She also orders ladders and wheelbarrows and many other things she would need during the process of grape picking season. As the order grew, so did the smile of the woodshop owner. Liu Tián Qǔ chuckled to herself as she swallowed down the last of the strengthen potion and quickly popped a few sweets in her mouth to counter the taste of the traditional strengthen potion. She thought of the conversation she had with the assistant of the wooden shop owner.
After Liu Tián Qǔ paid in full for all that she order and left a handsome tip with directions on where everything should be delivered, she had turned to leave the shop. However, the carving that an assistant woodworker was working on caught Liu Tián Qǔ's eye. The woodworker was stenciling a beautiful carving onto a small circler small piece of redwood. Liu Tián Qǔ had originally stopped because she was so amazed at the skills of the assistant woodworker.