Chapter 373 Say it again

When the Taoist priest arrived at the side room, he saw his junior brother pulling Xie Zheng along, calling him brother, and getting drunk and incoherent.

"Xie Zheng, how high a rank are you now? This official robe exudes an aura of power, and paired with those official boots, it's simply impossible to look away."

Song Chunxue lay on the table, pointing at Xie Zheng's clothes and laughing, "The first time I saw you was when that bastard Cheng Yuan beat me so badly that my head was bleeding. When I saw you striding in front of me in your official boots, it was like Guanyin Bodhisattva descending to earth."

Xie Zheng felt both helpless and amused, and looked up at the Taoist priest whose face was full of astonishment.

"Taoist priest, please sit down and order two more hot dishes."

The Taoist priest waved his hand, "I've already eaten, how come she's so drunk?"

"I'm not drunk. Who said I'm drunk?" Song Chunxue's head was so heavy she couldn't lift it. "Lord Xie, I haven't even said it yet. A man like you shouldn't lack beauties around him."

The Taoist priest instinctively stepped forward and pulled her. He was drunk and talking nonsense. Once he sobered up, even if his junior brother wanted to jump into the river, he wouldn't drown.

Xie Zheng picked up his chopsticks and took a couple of bites of food, wanting to hear what other shocking things she would say.

"To be honest, when you said you were in love with me, I was both happy and disappointed. I was disappointed that you had taken a liking to a widow who farms. If your mother knew, she would be furious."

Xie Zheng put down his chopsticks. "This kind of thing has nothing to do with status or position. I was..."

"Now that we're drinking buddies, I can speak freely and boldly. You should keep your eyes open in the future and find a young and beautiful woman as soon as possible. Maybe you can even have three or four sons."

"You're a man..."

The Taoist priest covered Song Chunxue's mouth and looked at Xie Zheng expressionlessly. "Well, she's quite drunk. I'll take her home first."

Before Xie Zheng could say anything more, he saw the Taoist priest take out a talisman from his pocket, stick it on himself, and then disappear from the room.

Subsequently, Song Chunxue also disappeared.

"Don't be afraid, Lord Xie. It's not appropriate for me to carry her back in public, so I'll have to hide. I'll come back later."

As soon as he finished speaking, the window was bumped, and a gust of wind blew in.

Rubbing his eyes, Xie Zheng wondered, "Could he be drunk too?"

*

Song Chunxue was woken up by the urge to urinate.

My bladder is about to burst.

Just as she was struggling to sit up, half-closing her eyes, and searching for her shoes with her feet, a pair of hands grabbed her calves.

She was so frightened that she opened her eyes, completely wide awake.

"Mother, don't kick me!" The fourth son put his shoes on her feet. "How did you get in here while you were drunk? Only a hermit could climb over the wall to get into this fortress."

"It's possible that the Taoist priest entered the courtyard and I didn't notice, but why is Mother so drunk? Is she in a bad mood because she killed someone?"

The fourth brother comforted her, "Mother killed bandits, you rid the people of a scourge. I also killed two people outside, and I was almost strangled to death."

Song Chunxue nodded, "That's right. Killing those bandits is fine; you might even accumulate merit."

She got up and walked outside, saying, "I'm going to the outhouse."

As she emerged from the outhouse, Song Chunxue suddenly remembered what she had said to Xie Zheng at the restaurant, and instinctively covered her face with her hands.

She staggered, her face contorted in pain as she leaned against the wall, thinking to herself, "Heavens above, I'm so sorry for Xie Zheng. He must be terrified by her true appearance."

Then she sat on the steps of the north room, unable to tell whether it was morning or evening.

"What time is it?"

"Shenshi (3-5 PM)".

Where is Hongying?

"They went back after feeding the livestock. My brother-in-law had to go to the fields to pull weeds, and my sister went home to make steamed buns." The fourth brother asked curiously, "Mom, does your head still hurt?"

At this moment, Sanwa came out of the kitchen.

He had an apron tied around his waist, and his hands were covered in flour. "Mom, how about potato noodles tonight?"

"Hmm, very good." Song Chunxue cleared her hoarse throat. The noodles were easy to digest, and they were perfect to eat after drinking.

Fortunately, the third and fourth sisters didn't ask any more questions. She ate her noodles in a daze, and the fourth sister went to wash the dishes on her own initiative.

Sanwa looked at her with some worry, "Mother, Second Brother wrote a letter, do you want to see it?"

"I'll look at it again tomorrow. My head is spinning, so I'm going to sleep now. You guys should go to sleep early too."

Sanwa suppressed what he wanted to say, "I have a day off tomorrow, so Mother doesn't need to get up early."

...

The next day at noon, Song Chunxue was clearing weeds from the high wall when the Taoist priest and Lord Xie arrived together.

The moment Song Chunxue saw Xie Zheng, her toes gripped the ground. Why could she remember those things even when she was drunk?

"Thank you, Master Xie, Taoist priest," Sanwa said with delight as he came out of the east room, "come in and sit down, I'll make you some tea."

After entering the room and taking a seat, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

The Taoist priest chuckled, "Junior brother, are you behaving yourself now?"

Song Chunxue regained her composure and said, "I apologize for my poor drinking manners, Lord Xie."

Xie Zheng laughed, "Just call me Xie Zheng, we're drinking buddies now."

Liu Chunshu came in carrying two gift boxes, smiled and nodded at Song Chunxue, then left the room to chat with Sanwa.

Song Chunxue asked calmly, "Are you leaving today?"

"Yes, the bandits haven't been quelled yet. I need to join up with the soldiers led by others, and we'll set off at noon." At this point, Xie Zheng said with a smile, "Looks like I'll have to eat your braised noodles another time."

Yesterday's memories resurfaced and mocked her.

However, drinking buddies are bound to make fools of themselves when they drink together often, and they will still be drinking together in the future.

Practice makes perfect. After seeing her lose control when she's drunk so many times, you'll get used to it.

"Then I'll treat you to a meal next time, and we'll have to drink again."

She's quite straightforward when she's drunk; she's acting like a dead pig that's not afraid of boiling water now.

"Then it's settled." Xie Zheng stood up and looked at the Taoist priest. "Aren't you going to say a few words?"

Song Chunxue asked curiously, "Is Senior Brother leaving too?"

“Hmm, those bandits are not easy to deal with. Their headquarters even has a few charlatans who know some tricks. I’m going to go and have a go at them.” The Taoist priest clasped his hands in front of him, standing obediently. “That donkey is too playful. This time I want to bring that horse with me.”

“No problem, Senior Brother, just take it.” Song Chunxue stood up. “I’ll go tie the harness.”

The fourth brother had just returned from his outing when he entered the courtyard and saw Lord Xie and the Taoist priest chatting in the yard. It was quite a nice scene.

But then, as if thinking of something, he shook his head slightly, "What a pity."

Sanwa leaned closer to him and asked, "What are you muttering to yourself?"

The fourth son stroked his chin. "Our mother is really different now. She's associating with important people."

“Yes, this means that Mother can be considered a big shot now. Just now, someone came to ask Mother to draw talismans, but I stopped them.” Sanwa was very pleased. “I still remember when Mother first started learning to read and write, she was a completely different person from now.”

"Didn't Mother say that after you get married, she would travel the world and wander the ends of the earth?" the fourth son whispered. "Do you think Mother might end up with the Taoist priest?"

The third child frowned, leaned back, and looked at the fourth child with some disdain.

"Don't look at me like that," the fourth brother said, feeling uneasy under his gaze. "Just say what you have to say."

"Don't look at your mother and the Taoist priest like that anymore. The Taoist priest treats your mother as a junior brother or sister. If you continue to have such thoughts, be careful that the Taoist priest will teach you a lesson."

"Fourth brother, I really think you should go to school and stay away from those shady things. Your mind is full of filth and corruption. They are clearly pure people."

Sanwa didn't want to hear such words from his own family.

The fourth brother pointed angrily at him, "Say that again?"