She lowered her head, looking at the wine in the cup, and said word by word, "If you drink this wine today, I'll forgive you."
Fengyi Palace.
Pei Ying, who had been cornered by Cui Jintang, was extremely bored. She found a palace maid and got two flasks of wine, then drank glumly.
By the time Cui Jintang found her, she had already finished a whole flask and was lying crookedly under the corridor.
Hearing the footsteps, Pei Ying turned her head with the flask in her hand.
Her willow-leaf eyebrows knitted together bit by bit.
She snapped angrily, "Why is it you again? I'm not my brother. Why do you keep pestering me?"
Cui Jintang kicked away the flask blocking her way.
She reached out and snatched the flask from Pei Ying's hand. Just as she was about to smash it, Pei Ying started shouting.
"This is the imperial wine in the palace. How dare you smash it?!"
Cui Jintang lifted her eyelids and glanced at her.
She deliberately turned around so that Pei Ying could see clearly.
"Bang!"
The flask shattered into pieces. Unable to dodge in time, some of the wine splashed on their skirts.
Pei Ying stared at Cui Jintang with wide eyes, her lips trembling. She couldn't say a word for a long time.
After a long while, she slumped down on the stone bench, looking absent - minded.
She murmured in a low voice, "Sure enough..."
Cui Jintang walked forward slowly and stood in front of Pei Ying, frowning. "Look up."
Pei Ying stared at her defiantly, like an angry cat.
"Sure enough what?" Cui Jintang said with a straight face. "I don't like it when people talk half - heartedly."
Pei Ying stubbornly refused to continue. Then she saw Cui Jintang raise her eyebrows slightly.
Actually, for her, this was quite intimidating.
"... County Mistress Zhiheng said that you seem to be born not knowing what fear and timidity are. People like you have no empathy and are the coldest - hearted ones."
What illogical nonsense!
Cui Jintang stepped to the side and ordered Yinglan, "Go find the mammy in Fengyi Palace and tell her that I accidentally drank some wine and would like to get a bowl of sobering - up soup."
Yinglan responded.
She acted quickly. Soon she came back with a bowl of warm sobering - up soup.
Cui Jintang took the soup and handed it to Pei Ying. "If I were cold - hearted, I wouldn't be concerned about whether your head will hurt later."
"Drink it."
Pei Ying turned her head away stubbornly. "I won't drink!"
Cui Jintang almost gritted her teeth as she said, "This is the last time I'll speak nicely to you."
"Later, I'll force your chin open and pour it down your throat."
Perhaps Cui Jintang's tone was too intimidating. Pei Ying silently turned around, held the soup with both hands, and sipped it little by little.
Cui Jintang sighed and sat down opposite her.
She slowly explained, "Three years ago, when I first met the old lady, she had fainted and fallen into the lake. She had been unconscious for a long time."
"I told Zhu San to rescue the old lady. By then, she was barely breathing. I asked the old lady repeatedly. Using the rare herb as medicine could save her life, but because the old lady was in poor health, it would leave her with a heart - palpitating illness."
"The old lady agreed, and that's why Zhu San saved her. Are you still sulking about this?"
Pei Ying thought for a long time but couldn't find anything wrong.
She mumbled an "um" in a shy way.
Cui Jintang let out a sigh of relief and said again, "Previously... I was ill. I really didn't know that you came to my mansion. It was my fault. I apologize to you."
"I'll also ask Zhu San to check the old lady's pulse every three days. How about that?"
Pei Ying couldn't say whether it was good or not.
She still couldn't let it go in her heart.
After all, that day, waiting for so long without seeing her, the hope in Pei Ying's heart faded little by little. The suffocating feeling of despair still haunted her to this day.
After a long while, Pei Ying gritted her teeth and suddenly turned around and shouted, "Qing'er, bring the wine."
Cui Jintang frowned. "You haven't even finished your sobering - up soup yet."
Pei Ying didn't say a word. She took two wine cups, filled them with wine, took one for herself, and handed the other to Cui Jintang.
She lowered her head, looking at the wine in the cup, and said word by word, "If you drink this wine today, I'll forgive you."
Cui Jintang took it and smelled a strong aroma of wine.
This wine was very strong.
Cui Jintang sighed, reached out and took Pei Ying's cup as well, then tilted her head and drank both cups of wine.
Not having drunk such strong wine for a long time, Cui Jintang couldn't help but cough several times.
Pei Ying opposite suddenly stood up.
She realized that her reaction was too extreme. She turned her head away and said in a very awkward and stiff tone, "You've drunk the wine. You don't need to come and find me every day."
Cui Jintang coughed twice. Before she could say anything, Pei Ying pushed her away and ran away quickly.
"Ying... Yinglan."
She held back the burning discomfort in her throat. "You follow her. This is the palace. Don't let her run around and bump into any noble people."
Yinglan was worried about her. "What about you, miss?"
"I'll sit here and take a rest. I'll go to the front hall later."
Seeing Cui Jintang's complexion gradually improve, Yinglan was finally relieved. She turned around and chased after Pei Ying.
The tip of her nose caught a strong fragrance of osmanthus.
It was so strong that Cui Jintang felt a bit uncomfortable in her nose.
She rested in place for a while before getting up and slowly walking out.
---
The Imperial Study.
The emperor put down the memorial and glanced at Huang Zuoshi, who was in a sorry state below the hall. He said half - smilingly, "Lord Pei, are you interrogating me?"
Pei Zhaolin was neither over - bearing nor humble. "I wouldn't dare, Your Majesty. I'm just confused."
"Didn't I tell you when you left, Lord Pei?"
The emperor stood up, slowly walked down from the dragon throne, and waved his hand to excuse Pei Zhaolin from the salute. "It's time for Lord Pei to be promoted."
"You've done a great job in this case. I'm very pleased."
Pei Zhaolin frowned and was about to speak when the emperor interrupted him. "You've been tired on this trip. There will be a banquet in the palace tonight. Lord Pei, go and prepare first."
"... I obey your order, Your Majesty."
The grand eunuch personally escorted Pei Zhaolin out of the Imperial Study.
"Lord Pei is a remarkable person. This is a good time for promotion. Please don't blame me for being talkative, my lord. If you can put your mind in line with the emperor's wishes, as for those irrelevant matters... just let them go."
The irrelevant matters referred to Huang Zuoshi's case.
Pei Zhaolin neither agreed nor refuted. "You're right, Your Excellency."
---
Today's banquet was held in Chengqian Palace.
Besides the civil and military officials, the relatives of officials above the third rank were also invited.
Since the emperor had no empress, all the affairs in the palace were handled by Concubine Xie Rou.
So even though Qi Xutao was extremely bored, she endured it and sat there obediently waiting for the banquet to start.
Finally, she saw Cui Jintang in the last row of the relatives of the officials. Just as she was about to stand up, she was stopped by Xie Rou.
"Tangtang entered the palace with Lady Pei. If you look for her in public at this time, others will start to suspect her identity."
Qi Xutao pouted and sat back down gloomily.
Cui Jintang in the distance noticed this and smiled.
Suddenly, she felt a bit itchy on her arm.
She scratched it casually, thinking that there were so many flowers here that there must be a lot of mosquitoes, so she didn't take it to heart.
It wasn't until the eunuch shouted, "The banquet begins - -", that Chengqian Palace became lively.
There were singing and dancing everywhere, and it was a bustling scene.
Gradually, Cui Jintang felt that her vision was a bit blurry. She shook her head trying to stay awake when she heard a voice.
"I've long heard that Miss Cui from the Pei Mansion plays the zither very well. May I have the honor to hear a tune today?"