Cuihuan sneaked in with an incredibly large kraft paper package and slowly unfurled it on the table. Wei Dongling stared at the table full of skewered pork, lamb, beef, chicken wings and chicken feet in astonishment.
Cuihuan somehow fished out a copper basin and charcoal. She said cheerfully with enthusiasm, "A snowy night goes perfectly with barbecue! Come on, to celebrate your successful marriage, let's start grilling!"
Wei Dongling protested discontentedly, "Look at what you're saying! It's as if I couldn't get married!"
Ruan Niang laughed, "Since it's a celebration, how can we do without wine? I'll go get some yellow rice wine to warm us up."
Cuihuan said with a grin, "I get drunk after just one cup. I'll just watch you drink and help you guys eat a couple more mouthfuls of lamb!"
The group wasted no time. They fanned the fire in the copper basin, put on the well - marbled lamb skewers and sprinkled on various seasonings. The aroma immediately wafted into their nostrils, making Wei Dongling drool.
Ruan Niang warmed up the yellow rice wine and dragged Jingzhe in from the door for a drink. The four of them sat around the round table, merrily eating barbecue and drinking yellow rice wine.
Cuihuan grabbed a skewer with her left hand and a wine cup with her right. Using tea in place of wine, she toasted Wei Dongling, "Come on! Let's celebrate that our Miss Wei is finally free from the palace and has brought out a large amount of gold, silver, jewels, gold bricks and silver notes! It's enough for us brothers and sisters to live a life of comfort from now on!"
"Good!" Ruan Niang and Jingzhe clapped merrily.
Hearing this, Wei Dongling beamed and downed the yellow rice wine in one gulp. She opened her mouth to bite the lamb skewer in Cuihuan's hand, and the two of them giggled and frolicked.
Ruan Niang felt sorry for Wei Dongling because she had been in a bad mood recently and hadn't eaten properly all day. So she put the roasted meat one by one into Wei Dongling's bowl.
Wei Dongling took everything without hesitation. After two cups of yellow rice wine, her cold body gradually warmed up, and her eyes became hazy.
Seeing that she wanted to drink more, Ruan Niang softly reminded her, "You still have some poison in your body. It's not suitable to drink too much." The poison from the embroidered shoes today might have only been dispelled by a little. The remaining poison had to be forced out one by one later.
Cuihuan stepped forward and poured all the wine from Wei Dongling's cup into Ruan Niang's. She filled Wei Dongling's cup with a cup of green tea and said firmly, "You once said that when looking for a man, you should find one who is willing to spend money on you. If it works out, we'll stay with him. If not, we'll kill him and eat his meat! In my opinion, the Prince of Xiliang looks quite decent. If he's willing to spend money on you, we'll keep an eye on him. Otherwise, we'll find a chance to get rid of him!"
Hearing this, Wei Dongling laughed heartily. The once gentle, kind - hearted and simple - minded Cuihuan had actually been influenced by her!
Wei Dongling knew very well that Cuihuan was deliberately avoiding a certain person and certain things. She didn't want to watch Wei Dongling sad and frustrated, so she was doing her best to make her happy.
It was really hard for Cuihuan.
Wei Dongling drank the green tea Cuihuan handed her in one gulp. With a hint of drunkenness, she waved her hand and laughed, "That's right! Come on! In this situation, I just want to sing a song! I'll dedicate 'Love Till Death' to you!"
What? The three of them stared at her in disbelief.
Jingzhe looked at Wei Dongling in shock as she climbed onto the stool under the influence of alcohol. Her face was flushed as she sang at the top of her voice.
But the singing was spine - chilling.
Jingzhe watched the wobbly Wei Dongling on the stool, afraid that she would fall. He stretched out his hands to catch her, but then was scared by her ear - piercing off - key howls and covered his ears.
Jingzhe secretly complained in his heart: This howl could probably wake up all the hibernating black bears within a radius of several kilometers! But to his surprise, Cuihuan was still clapping and cheering beside her?
Cuihuan: You don't understand shit! Miss Wei has been pent - up for so long. It's not easy for her to vent after leaving the palace. What are you objecting for?
Jingzhe:...
The black bears didn't wake up, but Cheng Hao did. He sleepily pushed the door open. The cold wind at the door almost blew Wei Dongling off the stool. Fortunately, Cuihuan rushed forward to hold her.
Cheng Hao looked at the barbecue on the table and then at the tipsy Wei Dongling. He asked in astonishment, "You guys actually ate delicious food behind my back?"
Jingzhe silently lifted the porcelain bowl warming beside the copper basin. It was full of all kinds of roasted meat for Cheng Hao.
Only then did Cheng Hao smile broadly. He held the bowl and used the bamboo skewer Jingzhe had used to pick up the meat and stuffed it into his mouth one by one.
Wei Dongling sat over. With a hazy look in her eyes, she propped her chin up and watched Cheng Hao gobbling the meat. She murmured to herself, "Cheng Hao, it was really hard for you to follow me into the palace!" Thinking of how he had loyally protected her in the palace, with old wounds not healed and new ones added, Wei Dongling felt a little guilty.
Cheng Hao kept stuffing food into his mouth and didn't forget to reach for the wine cup Jingzhe had used to fill it with yellow rice wine. While chewing the meat loudly, he mumbled to Wei Dongling, "It doesn't matter much. As a man, getting a little injured is nothing. The main thing is that I never expected the palace to be so full of intrigue. I watched with my own eyes as the miss was so cautious and planned every step carefully, but still ended up being schemed against. I was so frustrated and anxious but totally helpless. Now that we're leaving the palace in the name of a marriage alliance, it's actually a good thing. If the Prince of Xiliang treats you well, that's great. If not, we'll figure out another way out."
He had thought it over carefully. With Miss Wei's generous dowry today, it was enough to support a group of brothers and sisters for the rest of their lives without doing anything. If everyone really felt bored, they could still go back to selling milk tea. Even if he had to roll tapioca pearls day after day in the future, it would be better than staying in the palace all the time in fear.
Wei Dongling's eyes turned red. She always thought that Cheng Hao was relatively simple - minded and, like her, never thought too deeply about things. She never expected that today, this big, burly man would say such thoughtful words to her.
"Princess! Princess!" The palace maid Yue'e knocked on the door urgently. Without waiting for Wei Dongling's response, she rushed in in a hurry. Yue'e stepped forward and grabbed Wei Dongling's sleeve anxiously. "Princess Wu, your little uncle is fighting with the guards of the Prince of Xiliang! Please go and have a look!"
Wei Dongling was shocked. Most of her drunkenness faded away. She quickly got up and walked outside. Cheng Hao picked up the bowl and followed closely. Jingzhe, Ruan Niang and Cuihuan also rushed after them.
The night wind in December blew painfully on their cheeks. The white snow outside had reached knee - deep. Wei Dongling trudged through the snow. From afar, she heard people chattering. She was secretly anxious and flew out quickly with a light tap of her toes.
The guards of the Xiliang wedding - welcoming team formed three inner and three outer circles, surrounding the three people wrestling in the middle.
Wei Dongling quickly pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. She saw the tall and thin Luo Xunlong fighting two burly men one - on - two, locked in a fierce struggle.
The Prince of Xiliang, Li Mingyang, didn't step forward to stop them. He stood with his hands behind his back, watching intently.