When Mo Xi and Meng Ze returned from outside, the main hall was already filled with guests. Princess Yanping spotted them and immediately ran over, smiling brightly and speaking sweetly, “Older Sister, brother-in-law! May you have peace and happiness!”
Meng Ze gave a light cough. “Little girl, stop talking nonsense.”
Mo Xi glanced at Princess Yanping.
The incident of Yanping trying to flirt with him on the day they returned to the city was still fresh in his mind. Yet this girl could now pretend as though nothing had happened. Her skin was indeed astonishingly thick.
Yanping gave him a coquettish blink with her starry eyes. “Hehe, His Lordship Xi He thinks about my sister every moment of every day. You two are only missing an imperial betrothal. What’s wrong with me calling you brother-in-law?”
Meng Ze: “…Yanping!”
“All right, all right, I won’t disturb you anymore.” After saying this, Yanping blew Mo Xi a flirtatious kiss. “Handsome brother-in-law, see you later.”
With a trail of fragrant powder, she disappeared, leaving Mo Xi and Meng Ze staring at each other in extreme embarrassment.
After a pause, Mo Xi glanced at the water clock and said, “His Majesty should be arriving soon. I’ll escort you to your seat.”
Meng Ze smiled. “No need. I still have to go speak with a few of my sisters and greet them. His Lordship Xi He, go attend to your own matters.”
After saying this, she left.
Mo Xi stood there for a while and looked around, but he did not see Gu Mang anywhere. His brows furrowed slightly.
Where had this man gone?
Although he could use the Slave Lock Ring to summon him, Mo Xi was somewhat averse to that slave collar. Therefore, he took his long legs and searched around himself. In the end, he found Gu Mang in a secluded corner, talking with Jiang Yexue.
“Why are you two here?”
Jiang Yexue turned his head when he saw him and said gently, “We happened to run into each other. Just chatting.”
“…What do you have to talk about with him?”
Jiang Yexue smiled and answered bluntly, “We were talking about you.”
Mo Xi’s gaze fell on Gu Mang.
Gu Mang had his head lowered, his fingers anxiously rubbing the corner of his sleeve. He was just about to say something when the herald behind them suddenly called out in a drawn-out voice:
“His Majesty has arrived—”
Mo Xi therefore said nothing more. He merely said flatly to Gu Mang, “Let’s go. Come back to our seats with me.”
Once His Majesty arrived, the New Year’s Eve banquet officially began.
Naturally, it was filled with dazzling delicacies, toasts and praises, bestowed dishes and dances, with the sounds of strings and flutes everywhere.
After all the formalities were completed, the banquet became lively and noisy. The various families toasted one another and chatted with each other, and many people wore tipsy smiles on their faces.
His Majesty leaned leisurely against the back of his throne and smiled lazily.
“Everyone, tonight I have only one request of you. Be happy.”
The ministers raised their cups and offered their thanks, wishing the kingdom prosperity and flourishing fortunes. The entire scene was filled with warmth and joy.
After three rounds of wine, the guests began moving around and toasting one another.
Murong Lian was slouched against the back of his chair, smoking his water pipe. His peach-blossom eyes were lowered, and his face carried three parts drunkenness and seven parts languor.
When Mo Xi happened to glance over, he discovered that Murong Lian was also narrowing his eyes and staring at Gu Mang. Within those hazy eyes seemed to lurk some strange emotion that was impossible to explain.
“Come, His Lordship Xi He, let me toast you.”
Changfeng Jun arrived with his little daughter, who had suffered from the Madness Disorder.
Mo Xi withdrew his gaze, accepted a cup of Qianqiusui, and, as usual, exchanged a few words of blessing with Changfeng Jun before asking, “How is your daughter doing?”
Changfeng Jun stroked little Lan’er’s head, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile.
“She’s doing better. After Apothecary Jiang returned to the city, he has been looking after her all along. It’s all thanks to the apothecary.”
Lan’er’s tiny body was only about as tall as the banquet table. When she saw Gu Mang, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Big Brother!”
Gu Mang blinked his blue eyes. His brows and eyes seemed to unfold like spring leaves, and he smiled.
“Little Dragonfly.”
“Hehe, my name is Lan’er. I…”
But she could not finish speaking.
There were too many people at the banquet, and it was ultimately inappropriate to say too much to someone who was the target of everyone’s hostility.
Changfeng Jun pressed down on his little daughter’s head, signaling her not to say anything more.
Lan’er looked at him blankly.
“Father?”
But Gu Mang was no longer as ignorant as he had once been.
He now understood that he was a “traitor,” and that being a traitor was shameful. Not to mention the words Jiang Yexue had just spoken to awaken him.
In the past, Gu Mang had never had a particularly direct or profound understanding of the word “betrayal.” He only knew that whenever people mentioned it in front of him, their eyes were always filled with an indescribable hatred.
And whenever Mo Xi mentioned those two words, besides hatred, there seemed to be pain deeper than the sea.
Seven years old.
Like a young wolf cub that had not yet learned to hunt, his father had been left in the miserable state of having his body torn apart because of his brother’s “betrayal.”
He himself had originally done the same thing as that person.
No wonder everyone was disgusted by him and despised him.
A wolf that betrayed its pack deserved to be torn apart alive and devoured.
“Big Brother, are you unhappy…?”
Gu Mang’s gaze dimmed. He lowered his head and fell into thought, silently saying nothing more.
Lan’er was young and ignorant of the ways of the world. She thought that he also did not want to pay attention to her because of her Madness Disorder. Tears immediately gathered in her eyes.
“Big Brother, we played together before. I—”
“All right, Lan’er.”
Changfeng Jun forced a smile and interrupted her, drawing her closer to his knee.
“His Lordship Xi He, we’ll go toast the other families first. May you have peace and happiness, His Lordship Xi He.”
With that, he hurried away with his daughter, who kept turning her head back three times every few steps.
Mo Xi sensed that something was wrong with Gu Mang and turned to look at him.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Gu Mang sniffed and said to Mo Xi, “Happy New Year. I also…” He imitated the others and picked up a wine cup from the table. “I’ll also toast you.”
Mo Xi: “……..”
That meddlesome, overly kind Jiang Yexue had definitely said something more to Gu Mang.
Mo Xi did not take the wine Gu Mang offered him. Instead, he stared into those clear blue eyes, as though he wanted to look straight through them and into Gu Mang’s bones and flesh.
He gritted his teeth.
“What exactly did you hear?”
But before Gu Mang could speak, another group came over to offer their New Year’s toast.
It was inconvenient for Mo Xi to discuss private matters with him in front of everyone, so he could only entertain the guests first.
He was one of Chonghua’s leading noble military commanders, and there were truly countless people coming over to chat and exchange pleasantries with him that night.
One group left, and another arrived.
Although Mo Xi wanted to grab Gu Mang and question him carefully, he gradually discovered that this thought of his was simply far too naive.
“His Lordship Xi He, peace and happiness to you.”
“Come, come, drink this cup. May His Lordship Xi He accomplish more extraordinary feats and rise higher in the coming year.”
There were so many nobles in Chonghua. One came after another, and even one cup from each person would be enough to make him dizzy.
Mo Xi’s tolerance for alcohol was fairly good.
Unlike another Lord Shuo Hu.
Murong Lian was already completely drunk. He was slumped against his seat, biting the mouthpiece of his pipe, his eyes dreamily drinking in the sight of Life Like a Dream.
But by the latter half of the banquet, even Mo Xi was beginning to find it difficult to hold out.
As fate would have it, several old aristocrats came over to toast him.
They were all white-bearded uncles and elders. Mo Xi could not refuse to give them face, so he endured his discomfort and drank cup after cup with them.
Several high-ranking officers of the Northern Frontier Army watched from the Heroes’ Seats and muttered quietly:
“They’re trying to get our stepdad drunk.”
Someone else laughed gleefully.
“Pfft. In the past, when His Lordship Xi He was campaigning outside, he always spent New Year’s Eve at the military camp. He was the boss, and whoever toasted him, he wouldn’t drink. One year he even issued a ban on alcohol. Now that he’s back in the imperial capital, he can’t help himself. Hahaha, who can escape the heavens!”
Someone else, enjoying the spectacle far too much, said with sparkling eyes, “Guess what? Do you think Stepdad will get drunk tonight?”
“Wow! That scene is definitely going to be spectacular!”
“I’ve never seen Stepdad drunk before. Do you think he’ll go crazy when he gets drunk?”
“I think he’ll just pass out and sleep!”
“Come on, come on, why don’t we bet? I bet our Stepdad will fall asleep directly after getting drunk!”
“Then I bet he’ll get drunk and throw fireballs at people!”
“Bet high or low, bets are final!”
These military ruffians clearly had ulterior motives.
And the old nobles who were forcing wine down Mo Xi’s throat were not acting out of kindness either.
Although they were aristocrats like Mo Xi and had no class conflict with him, family grudges and jealousy were by no means lacking.
They were all noble-blooded people who wore blue-and-gold silk belts.
Why was it that Mo Xi now stood so much higher than their sons and grandsons?
This man had clearly lost his father at a young age. His mother had even become involved with her deceased husband’s brother back then. One family scandal had followed another, and the Mo family should have collapsed long ago.
Who could have known that Mo Xi, with his stubborn and ruthless temperament, would actually endure all those bitter hardships and survive until he reached such a position of power that he could influence the entire court?
Why?
Even more unbearable to them was the fact that Mo Xi not only had illustrious military achievements, but his character was also exceptionally upright.
Compared with those pampered young masters of their generation, the difference was simply like heaven and earth.
The Old Lord was needless to mention. Even the new ruler praised him endlessly whenever he brought him up.
Which young master from an aristocratic family had not been pulled out and compared with His Lordship Xi He?
Even when these old men and women compared their own children with one another, the conversation would eventually be dragged around to Mo Xi—
Someone would say, “Ah, my son is becoming more handsome every day.”
The opposing family would respond sourly, “Hehe, not as handsome as His Lordship Xi He.”
Someone would say, “My son has incredible talent. He ignited the Academy’s spirit-testing pillar at thirteen! Hahaha!”
The opposing family would sourly reply, “Hehe, His Lordship Xi He did it at ten. All ten stone pillars burned apart. Can your son do that?”
Someone else would say, “My youngest son may not be good at other things, but his character is elegant and refined. Why, His Majesty even praised him at court. As his father, I’m very pleased.”
The opposing family would respond sourly, “Hehehe, can he compare with His Lordship Xi He’s purity, like a hibiscus rising from clear water?”
It was truly strange.
This man was not some immortal.
Why did he spend every day looking as though he had never eaten the food of the mortal world?
Could it be that there was not the slightest bit of mud on him, and that he had never made even the tiniest mistake?
Thus, as the days and months accumulated, Mo Xi became an unresolved knot in the hearts of these elders.
Although many of them praised him to his face, every one of them secretly wished to see him make some mistake or become embroiled in some scandal.
Only then could the bitterness of having their own precious sons suppressed for so many years finally be released in one breath.
Only then could they sigh with deep emotion and say, with self-satisfaction:
“Hehe, I said it long ago. This Lord Xi He, in the end, is just an ordinary person after all.”
So this was why they were now trying so hard to force alcohol upon Mo Xi.
Originally, these old things had only wanted some entertainment.
But after one thing led to another, their malicious intentions began to emerge.
The old men thought:
Once a person became drunk, it was easy to do something wrong or say something wrong.
They could not get their hands on any major flaw of His Lordship Xi He right now, but exposing a few minor shortcomings would be good enough.
What was there to be so self-righteous about?
Several old foxes exchanged glances.
They did not even need to speak. Each understood the other perfectly.
They began taking turns to toast Mo Xi, one after another.
“His Lordship Xi He, another cup! Hahaha! May you rise steadily through the ranks and become rich!”
“I’ve always been teaching my youngest son to learn from His Lordship Xi He in everything. Come, come! Fill His Lordship Xi He’s cup!”
Mo Xi was truly beginning to be unable to endure it.
If they had been peers or juniors, he could naturally have refused.
But these people were all around the same age as his father, and each wore a warm, enthusiastic smile.
In terms of both emotion and reason, he had no way to refuse.
After several rounds, even the corners of his phoenix eyes had been reddened by the fumes of alcohol.
The Northern Frontier military ruffians murmured:
“I think Stepdad will fall after two more cups.”
“Two cups? I think one is enough.”
“Stepdad really looks like he can’t hold out anymore…”
But Mo Xi endured it and drank six more full rounds.
When the seventh cup was pushed toward him, his face had turned green.
He was almost nauseated.
“Sorry, Uncle Qin, I—”
Uncle Qin’s little eyes sparkled as he said with deep emotion, “Xi’er, back then your father and I were comrades-in-arms. We went through life and death together. This cup, I offer to your father! You absolutely cannot refuse. Drink it down for him!”
The others joined in the cheering.
“Drink! Drink! Like father, like son!”
“Drink one for your father and his old friend!”
At this point, how could Mo Xi not know that they were taking turns to get him drunk, just to watch him make a fool of himself?
But Mo Xi’s temper was as hard as forged iron.
If he had not seen through their intentions, that would have been one thing.
Now that he had seen through them, there was even less chance that he would admit defeat.
His vision was dizzy and hazy. All he could see were oily, grinning faces and clusters of eyes that looked like vultures swooping down upon their prey.
A wave of blood surged through his chest.
His father…
How did these people have the face to mention his father in front of him again?
Back then, after his father died, his uncle seized power and his mother remarried.
How had these people treated him?
One after another, they had avoided him, wishing they could crush him and wipe him away like rotten mud stuck to the sole of a shoe.
Yet now, they repeatedly called themselves his “old friends” and “old acquaintances,” even claiming that they had held him when he was little and taught him how to ride horses and hunt…
Mo Xi’s chest burned fiercely.
The corners of his eyes grew even redder, and a powerful flame of anger and stubbornness suddenly rose within him.
“Drink! Drink!”
“Hahaha, the Mo family has never been good at holding their liquor. It reminds me of our late Lord Fu Ling, who also couldn’t touch alcohol.”
“Xi’er is so much like Fu Ling.”
How dare they mention them again—!
Those faces were like bundles of dry grass in his heart.
A jug of wine.
A spark.
Boiling oil splashing everywhere.
Suddenly, flames erupted!
Mo Xi abruptly stood up, his eyes fixed deathly upon the men in front of him.
His appearance, with both eyes blood-red, was truly frightening. The elders’ expressions changed slightly, and their smiles stiffened.
They were still wary of Mo Xi when he became angry.
Someone immediately forced himself to remain calm and said, “His Lordship Xi He, if you don’t want to drink, then don’t. Your father actually didn’t like drinking either. You and he…”
Before he could finish—
“Bang!”
Mo Xi slapped open a jar of strong liquor beside the table with one hand.
His gaze did not move even half an inch from the other man’s face.
The veins on his arm bulged as he roughly lifted the wine jar and shoved it into the other man’s arms.
He himself opened another jar.
The old nobleman’s facial muscles trembled as he forced out a frightened smile.
“What does His Lordship Xi He mean by this?”
“I’m drinking this for my late father with Uncle Qin.”
Mo Xi bit out each word through clenched teeth.
His empty hand lifted and lightly patted the other man’s wrinkled face.
His voice was soft.
“I finished mine. Uncle Qin had better not leave a single drop. Whoever backs down is the grandson.”
Having said that, he lifted the jar, tipped his head back, closed his eyes, and poured the entire jar of wine down his throat!
This time, it was not merely the people around His Lordship Xi He.
Almost everyone in the hall was drawn by such a display of drinking.
They turned their heads in shock and stared wide-eyed at the drinking contest taking place here.
Uncle Qin watched Mo Xi drink directly from the jar.
Then he looked at the wine jar in his own hands, which was even larger than a washbasin.
He could not help swallowing.
A chill crept up his back.
But with everyone around watching the spectacle, he could not afford to lose face.
He could only harden his heart, raise his head, and drink.
But he ultimately did not possess Mo Xi’s tenacious spirit.
After drinking half, he could take no more.
He bent over and vomited with a loud “Wah!”
The porcelain shattered with a sharp sound.
The wine jar smashed into pieces on the floor.
Uncle Qin struggled to raise his head.
He met Mo Xi’s ruthless, contemptuous gaze looking down upon him.
His phoenix eyes were blood-red and tinged with alcohol, yet his will was still strong enough to keep him conscious.
Those eyes were like bayonets.
Mo Xi’s moist lips and teeth pressed together with a sinister click.
“Uncle Qin, still drinking?”
Uncle Qin suddenly shuddered.
“No more, no more…”
He would not drink.
But there were others who felt that Mo Xi would collapse if he drank just a little more.
With the mentality that they could not stop halfway, they stepped forward to continue the contest.
Seeing another jar of strong liquor being brought over, Mo Xi was about to take it.
But another person suddenly stopped his arm.
Mo Xi was dizzy and heavy-headed, his eye sockets stained red.
He turned his head to look.
He saw Gu Mang standing up.
His expression was clear and resolute.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether he was the Gu Senior Brother from those years ago, or the broken captive he was now.
Gu Mang took the wine jar over and said,
“You people are a whole group of them. Why are you bullying him all by himself?”