Impératrice douairière Xiaoxuan

Chapitre 79

Ning Jin was already used to Mo Yan's unbridled tongue and wasn't annoyed. He continued, shaking his head, "I just love to waste things, the more expensive the better. ...Come, come, everyone sit down. Zichu, you sit down too. Pour the wine!"

Several maids stepped forward to pour wine, but Ning Jin was still dissatisfied: "You may all leave. I don't need your service today. Bring four more wine jugs, one for each of us. Today we'll all pour and drink by ourselves; that'll be more fun. Girl..." He looked at Mo Yan and asked with a smile, "Can you drink?"

"I know a little," Mo Yan replied truthfully.

"Then...would you like to have a few drinks with me?" Ning Jin asked, but his expression was somewhat strange.

Mo Yan smiled amiably: "Of course, I'd gladly risk my life to accompany you."

Upon hearing this, Ning Jin laughed heartily, poured himself a cup of wine, raised it to everyone, and drank it down in one gulp. "As the host, I'll drink three cups first as a sign of respect." After saying this, he poured two more cups and drank them down in quick succession.

Wu Zichu and Zhan Zhao both noticed the slight arrogance in his behavior and guessed that he was depressed, so neither dared to offer any advice. Mo Yan, however, was unaware of this. She hurriedly poured herself a cup of wine and drank it down, then poured another and drank it down as well…

Zhan Zhao quickly raised his hand to stop her: "You..."

“My fifth brother said,” she pushed away Kai Zhao’s hand, filled the cup, and said with a smile, “that when you’re traveling the world, you may not be as good as others in martial arts, but you must never lose your courage to drink, or you will be ridiculed.”

“Well said,” Ning Jin said with a smile. “Although your fifth brother is unlucky, what he said makes a lot of sense.”

Helpless, Zhan Zhao watched as she downed three cups in a row, and sighed inwardly.

Chapter Thirteen

Mo Yan's straightforwardness delighted Ning Jin. Seeing this, Wu Zichu also raised his wine cup to join in the fun, and said with a smile, "Your Highness, I also toast you."

Ning Jin narrowed his eyes and glanced at him sideways: "If you drink less than this girl, I'll look down on you."

"Alright!" Wu Zichu smiled and filled the cup with wine. "Your Highness knows my drinking capacity. Today, I'm going all out." With that, he drank three cups in a row.

Then, all three of them looked at Zhan Zhao.

Helpless, Zhan Zhao said nothing more and resignedly drank three cups of wine.

Seeing this, Ning Jin laughed heartily, picked up his chopsticks, and invited everyone to eat. For a moment, they mingled and chatted, clinking glasses and laughing. To make Ning Jin happy, Wu Zichu told him all sorts of old jokes and funny stories from his time in the martial arts world. Not only did he amuse Ning Jin, but even Mo Yan laughed heartily as she listened.

"If I had known the martial world was so much fun, I shouldn't have come back to be a constable," Mo Yan said with envy and deep regret.

"By the way, you clearly left back then, so why did you come back?"

Zhan Zhao asked with a smile. He was indeed quite curious about this matter, but he had never heard Mo Yan mention it before.

"I just thought being a constable seemed pretty interesting, so I couldn't resist sneaking back," Mo Yan said with a smile. "I was afraid my second brother would find out, so I secretly slipped away in the middle of the night."

Ning Jin intended to pour wine, but found the wine pot was empty. He had no choice but to call a maid to pour it. While waiting for the wine, he turned to Mo Yan and said with a half-smile, "You've already left, why are you suddenly thinking about the benefits of being a constable?"

"What good are there to be a constable?" Mo Yan picked up her wine jug and shook it, finding it empty. She quickly called for someone to refill it. She seemed a little confused about her sudden urge to return back then, scratching her ear as she recalled, "Back then, we were already at Li's shop in the Jingzhao Prefecture..."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Zhao and Ning Jin exchanged a glance: Beyond the Luo River to the west lies Jingzhao Prefecture, and this road is not the route to Shu. Mo Yan and her group taking this road must be related to Bai Yingyu.

Unaware of the two of them, Mo Yan, who had unknowingly drunk a whole pot of wine, was already somewhat tipsy, yet she insisted more earnestly on recalling the scene: "The little inn we stayed in didn't even have a name. Although the room was cheap, the food was terrible. My second brother only took one bite before putting down his chopsticks. There were five or six osmanthus trees next to the inn, and at night, the fragrance seeped into the room, making it impossible for me to sleep. I just kept thinking and thinking..."

At this point, she suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Zhan Zhao, and suddenly understood why she wanted to come back: that night, there was that same faint fragrance of osmanthus, and someone sighed almost imperceptibly when they heard that she was leaving.

This person.

She was someone she absolutely didn't want to hurt.

"What are you thinking about?" Zhan Zhao noticed her strange expression and wondered what she was thinking about.

Mo Yan met his gaze and honestly replied, "I was thinking of you, so I came back."

Upon hearing this blunt statement, everyone was stunned, especially Zhan Zhao, who stared intently at Mo Yan. Ning Jin was the first to react; unwilling to look at the two of them, he turned and called out impatiently towards the door, "Why hasn't the wine been served yet?"

A maid rushed in and reported, "The wine is not yet warmed, Your Highness, please wait a moment." Originally, only Ning Jin and Wu Zichu were prepared with the wine and dishes. They did not expect Zhan Zhao and Mo Yan to appear out of nowhere, nor did they expect everyone to drink so quickly and in such large quantities. The kitchen was busy preparing, but it was still delayed.

Before Ning Jin could speak, Mo Yan said, "Cold wine is good. I love drinking cold wine. Bring me a pot first, okay?" She didn't care what Zhan Zhao would think after hearing what she had just said. Whether he liked her or not was beyond her control, but her feelings for him were not something to be ashamed of. Now that she had said it, and thinking that he only saw her as a younger sister, her heart was filled with even more resentment.

"What's so good about cold wine? Drinking it cold will make you shiver all over." Ning Jin glanced at her sideways.

Mo Yan shook her head and sighed, "You wouldn't understand the kind of chivalrous spirit that comes from drinking cold wine with a warm heart, where every drop is felt in your heart."

Ning Jin was taken aback by her words and said with dissatisfaction, "Your posture doesn't resemble chivalrous chivalry at all; it's more like you're drowning your sorrows in alcohol."

Mo Yan was stunned by what he said. After a moment of thought, she realized that the ancient saying, "Drinking to drown one's sorrows only makes them worse," was true. After pondering the meaning of it, she couldn't help but sigh softly: "Li Bai was really smart. In life, there are more times than times when things don't go as planned."

"Girl, you got a constable job out of nowhere, and now you're going to be promoted to head constable. What's there to be unhappy about?" Ning Jin asked curiously. He had always seen Mo Yan as carefree and never thought she would have any worries.

“What’s so special about being a constable or a head constable?” Mo Yan pouted, her eyes reddening, and said aggrievedly, “He only treats me like a younger sister. Even if he gave me a Grand Scholar position in the Dragon Pavilion, it wouldn’t be anything special.”

Ning Jin and Wu Zichu both turned their gazes toward Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao finally understood why Mo Yan had been behaving strangely all along the way.

"Would you consider me your younger sister?"

"If I could have such a virtuous sister, it would be my great fortune."

Now, if he asked himself honestly, he certainly liked Mo Yan very much, but whether he treated her like a younger sister was something he had never considered. When she suddenly asked him that question, he didn't think much of it and simply answered instinctively.

"I..." His mind was racing, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Just then, a maid brought over some warm wine. Mo Yan picked up the wine pot, about to pour it, but then stopped and said to Zhan Zhao seriously, "Anyway, if you really want to recognize me as your sister, I will definitely refuse. So in the future, don't mention this to me, and even if someone else brings it up, don't say anything."

She thought to herself, if this brother-sister relationship were to become a reality, and there were no hope for the future, she would have to call the person she liked "brother" every day. She could never bear such humiliation.

"Do you agree?" She stared intently at Zhan Zhao, her eyes already somewhat glazed from the alcohol.

Zhan Zhao was both amused and exasperated, but seeing her earnest and nervous expression, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He nodded and said, "Of course I agree."