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Before she knew it, she had wandered to the vicinity of the stables. It was already evening, and no one was using the horses. Old Hu had probably gone to eat, and the area around the stables was deserted. As she strolled by, she noticed several leather pouches hanging on a wooden post. At a glance, they appeared to be wine pouches used by the Liao people to hold wine. On a whim, she took one down and took a couple of sips. The hot, spicy liquid flowed straight down her throat, warming her stomach as if it were on fire.

Normally, she would never have liked such strong liquor from the Liao Kingdom, but today, with so much unresolved sorrow in her heart, she found the liquor quite palatable. So she simply grabbed the wine flask, found a sheltered spot in the haystack, nestled inside, and began to drink it down in one gulp after another.

"Lotus blossoms open on the water, oh dear, a fragrant breeze fills the air, oh dear, a woman stands beneath the willow trees, her clothes creaking softly, a woman in a skirt, carrying flowered shoes, selling them, oh dear..."

...

A dappled horse, a thousand pieces of gold, call the boy to exchange them for fine wine, to dispel with you the sorrows of ages past.

..."

She sang in a very low voice, taking a big gulp of wine after singing for a while, and then singing for a while longer.

"When I get back to Kaifeng, I will go to Lord Bao to resign from my post. I want to go home, go home... Second brother is at home, fifth brother is at home, and Master is there too. Little Seven wants to go home, wants to go home..." She talked to herself, her tone light and cheerful, but tears kept flowing down her face, her cheeks were already soaked.

She choked on a large gulp of wine and couldn't help but cough violently. After coughing, she seemed to have used up all her strength. She leaned softly against the pile of grass, pulled some grass over herself, and closed her eyes.

If only I could just get drunk and die, and never wake up again, how wonderful that would be.

Finally, in a hazy state, she succumbed to the effects of the alcohol and her consciousness faded into darkness.

Volume 3, Chapter 20

She didn't know how much time had passed, but in her dazed state, she felt someone pick her up.

"Who are you?" she asked vaguely, her eyes still closed, her fingers slightly bent as she peered into the eyes of the person holding her.

Zhan Zhao turned his head away helplessly, avoiding her fingers, and said softly, "You've had too much to drink. You'll get cold sleeping here. I'll take you back to your tent."

"Big brother..."

She withdrew her hand, snuggled closer to Zhan Zhao to make herself more comfortable, and offered no further resistance.

"I'm not..." Zhan Zhao tried to explain, but then noticed a smile on her lips and a tender look on her sleeping face. He smiled bitterly, knowing that it would be futile to explain, as she obviously couldn't hear him, so he didn't continue.

The stables weren't far from Mo Yan's tent. Snow was falling heavily, and Zhan Zhao, with his excellent lightness skills, carried her into the tent in no time, unseen by anyone. He gently placed her on the soft couch, removed her shoes, socks, and cloak, and then covered her with a quilt.

After he finished all this and was about to get up, Mo Yan, who had already lain down, suddenly felt the person beside her leave. She hurriedly grabbed him and murmured urgently, "Big brother, don't go, don't go."

There were no lights in the tent, and it was pitch black. Although Zhan Zhao could not see the expression on her face, he could not bear to struggle against her soft words. He could only sit down by her bed and say softly, "I won't leave. You can sleep."

Mo Yan followed the robe down to his hand, and quickly grasped it tightly. Their palms were pressed together, and he placed them on her heart before she calmed down.

After a long while, Zhan Zhao assumed she had fallen asleep and slowly tried to withdraw his hand. However, the moment he moved, Mo Yan suddenly jolted and cried out anxiously, "Big brother, big brother..."

"I'm here, I'm here!" Zhan Zhao dared not move again.

Hearing that he was still there, Mo Yan seemed relieved, but she was still worried and tugged at him: "Big brother, you sleep with me too."

He stood frozen in place.

Mo Yan, however, had already begun to pull him forcefully. While he was still stunned, she pulled him down without saying a word and covered his body with the quilt. Her head was pressed intimately against his, her breathing shallow, making his ears itch.

Zhan Zhao closed his eyes tightly, holding her slender body in his arms. If this was a dream, he wished it could last longer.

After a while, Mo Yan still couldn't sleep. She twisted and turned, took off her outer robe, leaving only her inner robe, but still felt uncomfortable and said, "It's hot, it's hot."

Zhan Zhao sighed inwardly. No wonder she felt unwell after drinking so much strong liquor in one go. He could only say softly, "It's okay, just fall asleep."

Mo Yan twisted her body, her hand restlessly reaching down to his neck. The cool touch felt incredibly comfortable, so she leaned in and pressed her head against his neck... Her hand continued to caress his neck, then touched his earlobe, and finally slipped inside his robe.

"Xiao Qi! Don't move." He was completely flustered by her.

Mo Yan was in a daze and couldn't hear anything. Her hand had already touched the skin on his chest... Zhan Zhao couldn't help but breathe rapidly. He quickly grabbed her hand and whispered, "Lie down, I'll go get you a glass of water."

"oh."

Hearing her reply, Zhan Zhao quietly slipped out of the quilt, covered her up again, and left without daring to stay any longer.

In the darkness, unaware that he had left, Mo Yan mumbled a few words, but finally succumbed to her drunkenness and fell into a deep sleep.

Back in his tent, Zhan Zhao lit a lamp and saw Su Zui leaning against a low table, drinking from a wine flask. He frowned slightly, took the wine flask from Su Zui, and advised, "You can drink when you get back to Yanxie Town. It's better not to drink now."

"I just saw that girl drinking so happily, so I took it back without thinking. She's already almost finished drinking it all. Do you think there's any left?" Su Zui didn't insist, and smiled at him: "That girl must be really drunk, right? If I hadn't seen her, she probably would have been sleeping in the haystack tonight."

"So you left a mark for me to go to the stables?"

Having just returned from the banquet hosted by the Xiao siblings, Zhan Zhao saw Su Zui's mark on the tree where they had agreed to meet. Thinking that Su Zui had something important to do, Zhan Zhao rushed to the stable, but instead of seeing Su Zui, he saw Mo Yan in the haystack.

"You're back so soon. I thought we could make up for your wedding night tonight, that's why I called you over."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Zhao smiled helplessly, knowing that he was being teased, and therefore did not reply.

"Did you glean anything from the banquet hosted by the Xiao siblings tonight?" Su Zui asked, having waited there specifically to inquire about this matter.

“Xiao Xin said that Yelü Hongji chased a leopard to the southwest, and he didn’t have many men with him, who all seemed to be his trusted confidants. I think Yelü Hongji deliberately sent the Xiao siblings away, otherwise, given Xiao Xin’s personality, he would most likely have gone with him to hunt the leopard.” Zhan Zhao had already sat down, but when he saw the snow on his body, he remembered that he hadn’t taken off his cloak, so he got up again, took it off, and shook off the snow.

Su Zui was about to ask another question when he looked up at Zhan Zhao. Suddenly, his gaze fixed on Zhan Zhao's neck, and he smiled mischievously: "I really thought you were a true gentleman who could remain unmoved even with a woman in his lap. I didn't expect that you would lose all self-control when you met that girl."

In the firelight, several bright red, round spots were clearly visible on Zhan Zhao's neck.

Reaching down to touch his neck, Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered that Mo Yan had intimately rested her face against it. It must have been her. A blush rose to his lips... He quickly pulled up his clothes and then looked down to find a spacious robe to cover himself.

"You wouldn't really be with that girl..." Su Zui guessed, seeing his uncomfortable appearance. "No wonder you forgot to take off your cloak when you came in, so that's why."

"No."

Zhan Zhao's answer was simple and clear. He looked up and saw that Su Zui still had a half-smile on his face, so he had no choice but to say again, "Really, no, I can't."