Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 64

"This servant dares not make the decision on his own. Guard Lou instructed that Miss must take it personally." The servant lowered his head, looking as if he would stand there and die if the servant did not take it.

"No! I'm tired, I'm going to sleep." Zi Jin slumped her head, looking extremely exhausted. She yawned in a mock manner, ignored the servant in front of her, and turned to leave.

The servant looked up in astonishment at Zi Jin turning and walking away, then knelt down with a thud: "If Miss doesn't go, this servant will have no way to explain. I can only kneel here and wait for Miss to change her mind."

Zi Jin turned her head helplessly, looking at the servant staring at her with a face full of grief and indignation in the dim light, as if she had committed some heinous crime. She had done nothing wrong, so why was she being driven to this point of no return by their self-torture?

Zi Jin shook her head, turned around helplessly, and went back without even glancing at the servant. She picked up the wine jar he had been holding high and struggled to return the way she came. Damn her compassion, damn her womanly kindness, damn her Prince Jinyang!

With a dark expression, Zi Jin carried the wine jar, which weighed at least twenty pounds, and staggered inside. She placed the jar on the table next to Dugu Xihui, panting slightly but not daring to exert any force, for fear that the pain in her chest would worsen.

Dugu Xihui watched Zi Jin's every move. After seeing the wine jar placed, he got up, poured out the tea in the teacup on the table, tore open the seal, and poured more wine into the teacup.

“Master, you mustn’t! We are currently in Huaiyin. If your chronic illness relapses, it could endanger your life. I urge you to reconsider.” Lou Shuo said this while looking at Zi Jin, as if she were the culprit.

Zi Jin glared back defiantly: "If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. He drank his own, I didn't force him, so why is it all my fault? I said I wouldn't take it, but you insisted, and now that I've taken it, it's my fault again! The more you do, the more mistakes you make, so it's better not to do anything at all."

Zi Jin didn't even glance at the two of them, and walked angrily towards the door.

"Come back and drink with me." Dugu Xihui picked up another teacup and poured wine into it.

Zi Jin turned around innocently and looked at Dugu Xihui: "I can't hold my liquor, and I'm afraid I'll spoil your enjoyment, young master." The ugly and vicious behavior of those drunkards in the Yue Kingdom's palace was still vivid in her mind. Now that she was under house arrest and her life was uncertain, how could Zi Jin dare to drink?

Dugu Xihui picked up the teacup on the table and sat back down: "Drink with me." His tone left no room for compromise, and based on past experience, his anger was on the verge of exploding.

Zi Jin lingered until she reached Dugu Xi Hui's side, then reluctantly sat down, her eyes fixed on the wine in her teacup. The painful memories of her two previous drunken episodes were still fresh in her mind; she absolutely couldn't forget the pain once the wounds had healed, otherwise she would be too vulgar.

"Master, you mustn't!" Just as Dugu Xihui picked up his teacup, Lou Shuo was shocked and took two steps forward, his face full of fear.

Zi Jin was surprised by Lou Shuo's excessive reaction. Could two glasses of wine really kill someone? Why was he so nervous?

Lou Shuo looked at Zi Jin again, his eyes surprisingly pleading.

Zi Jin was overjoyed, secretly calculating that if Lou Shuo owed her a favor because of this, it would save her a lot of effort in gathering information in the future.

Dugu Xihui seemed to be deep in thought, slowly bringing the teacup to her lips, but it was stopped by a hand.

"Young master, what's the point of drinking alone like this? How about we play a game?" Zi Jin winked mysteriously.

Dugu Xihui slightly raised his eyes, a mysterious light flashing in them: "Tell me about it."

Zi Jin walked to Lou Shuo's side, whispered a few words in his ear, and Lou Shuo gave Zi Jin a deep look before turning around and leaving.

In a short while, Lou Shuo placed a bowl and a die on the table and respectfully stepped aside.

Zi Jin placed the dice in the bowl and noticed a hint of curiosity in Dugu Xihui's eyes. She secretly sighed, "What a good kid! He's never even seen dice before." He doesn't drink, gamble, or frequent prostitutes, and he's handsome. Judging from Na Minglou's appearance, his income is quite good. Aside from his eccentric temperament, he's incredibly stubborn. He has neither Jun Chi's ambition nor Jun An's manipulative nature. Judging from his expression, he seems deeply in love with Yu Luo. Yu Luo, you've hit the jackpot!

Zi Jin picked up the dice and shook them casually: "You shake it once, I shake it once, and Lou Shuo shakes it once. Whoever Lou Shuo's number is closest to has to drink, how about it?" As she said this, Zi Jin gave Lou Shuo a meaningful look.

Dugu Xihui stared at Zi Jin for a long time, his gaze sharp as arrows, as if trying to see right through her.

Zi Jin felt her scalp tingle under Dugu Xihui's unfathomable gaze, her smile stiffened, and she felt secretly guilty.

After a long while, Dugu Xihui's lips curled slightly, revealing an extremely charming smile, and she said softly, "Okay."

Zi Jin gently tossed the dice into the bowl, and exclaimed in disappointment, "One."

Dugu Xihui imitated Zi Jin's manner and casually tossed the dice into the bowl.

Zi Jin quickly stuck her head out and said, "Four o'clock." After saying that, she quickly put away the dice and handed them to Lou Shuo, blinking her eyes at him vigorously.

Lou Shuo smiled knowingly and casually tossed the dice in his hand.

When Zi Jin peeked out to check, her face immediately darkened: "Three o'clock?"

Dugu Xihui didn't say much, picked up the teacup beside him, and was about to drink it.

Zi Jin glared at Lou Shuo resentfully and blocked Dugu Xihui's bowl again: "Three o'clock is the middle point, no one needs to drink. I forgot to mention that earlier."

Lou Shuo lowered his head in embarrassment, looking at his toes.

Dugu Xihui was slightly taken aback, then slowly smiled, gently put down the bowl in his hand, picked up the dice and threw them again.

Zi Jin looked at him strangely. Dugu Xihui rolled a "four," blew hard on the dice in his hand, and threw them into the bowl. "Five."

Zi Jin hung her head, secretly praying that Lou Shuo would roll "three points" again.

Lou Shuo took the dice, held his breath, and gently tossed the dice into the bowl. The dice traced a beautiful arc in the bowl.

"Four o'clock!" Zi Jin exclaimed, staring fiercely at Lou Shuo's slightly flushed face: You're supposed to be a martial arts master, are you deliberately messing with me?

Dugu Xihui's eyes flickered, and she tried to pick up the bowl in her hand again, but Zi Jin snatched it away first: "His number is the same as yours, so according to the rules, it should be my drink!"

Zi Jin held her breath, swallowed the entire bottle of wine in one gulp, casually wiped the wine stains from her mouth with her sleeve, and shouted with boundless pride, "Continue!"

In the next round, Zi Jin scored "one point", Dugu Xihui scored "four points", and Lou Shuo scored "six points".

Zi Jin stared blankly at Lou Shuo: You can't play me like this!

Dugu Xihui glanced at Lou Shuo's count, gently picked up the teacup, lowered her eyes, and was about to drink it down.

Zi Jin nervously snatched the teacup back: "One, two, three, four, five, six, four and six are two points short, one and six are one point short, it's my turn to drink!" She drank it all in one gulp, wiped her mouth hard with her wide sleeve, and secretly gave Lou Shuo a disdainful look.

A hint of a smile flashed in Dugu Xihui's lowered eyes. He picked up the dice and casually tossed them.

No matter what number Dugu Xihui threw, Zi Jin always found some excuse to avoid letting him touch the teacup. Given Lou Shuo's countless failures, Zi Jin didn't even bother to despise him anymore. Adhering to the principle of relying on oneself rather than others, she used every excuse she could think of. With a third of the twenty jin already gone, Zi Jin's sleeves drooped down, dripping with wine. This was a four-layered cotton spring garment; if she drank any more, she'd definitely have nowhere to vomit.

Zi Jin glanced at the dice, then at the wine jar, adjusted her dripping sleeve, and stared at the wine in her teacup, waiting to be drunk. Her lips twitched repeatedly.