After the emperor said "Rise," Chu Susu stood up and said, "Your Majesty is too kind. I had a pleasant conversation with Niannian, so we drank a few more cups. Niannian is already a little drunk. I was afraid that she might offend Your Majesty, so I suggested that we send Niannian back to the palace first."

Chu Nian wasn't actually drunk; she just wanted to be "drunk," which is why others perceived her as drunk.

Upon seeing the emperor arrive, she became even more drunk—she felt that this would allow her to avoid kneeling, ha!

She swayed as she got up, holding a half-full wine cup in her hand. Her eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she smiled and walked toward the emperor, muttering, "Come, Your Majesty, come and dine with me and my sister the Empress..." As she spoke, she tripped over something and swayed forward, falling into the emperor's arms.

Suhe's eyelids twitched: Was this woman trying to seduce the emperor in front of the empress?

As it turned out, her worries were completely unnecessary.

Seeing Chu Nian fall forward, the Empress actually opened her arms before the Emperor could catch her and let her fall into her arms.

Ying Yuan, who had already opened his arms to receive the soft jade into his embrace: ...

The Empress said, "Your Majesty, please come in. Suhe, what are you waiting for? Why don't you invite Your Majesty to take a seat? Your Majesty, please forgive Consort Lian, who is a little drunk. If she has been impolite, please forgive her."

The emperor was very annoyed: Did I mean to blame my beloved concubine? I clearly wanted to catch her, so why did you intercept me?

Finally, under the somewhat strange gazes of many palace servants, the emperor awkwardly withdrew his hand and sat down in the seat recommended by Suhe: the main seat that the emperor should sit in, of course.

Even though the Empress was always a confidante of the Regent, she always respected the Emperor and gave him the respect he deserved.

Suhe then suggested, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, this servant sees that the Imperial Concubine is quite drunk. Perhaps this servant could assist her to the inner palace to rest for a while."

Chu Nian pouted and said, "No, I don't want to rest. I want to drink with His Majesty and the Empress."

The Emperor quickly said, "Very well, the Consort will not go anywhere today. She will stay here and drink with His Majesty!" He then gave Suhe a warning look.

"You may leave!" Empress Chu Susu was very clever and had already noticed the emperor's displeasure, so she quickly instructed Suhe.

Suhe was able to become Zhao Susu's confidante for a reason; she was perceptive and noticed that the emperor was displeased. At this point, she stopped talking, quickly and respectfully replied "Yes," and withdrew.

Chu Nian happily filled the Emperor and Empress's cups with wine, saying, "Your Majesty, Empress, do you know? I've eaten and drunk quite a lot, but this jar of wine is the only one that suits my taste best. Please try it!"

Chu Susu asked in surprise, "What? Isn't this the peach blossom wine we just drank?"

Chu Nian said, "Yes, but it tastes a bit different from the ones we drank earlier."

The emperor sensed something was amiss: "How many jars?" He then asked, "Empress, how many jars have you and Niannian drunk from now?"

Chu Susu was actually afraid of saying the wrong thing while drunk, so she barely drank any; Chu Nian did all the drinking. However, Chu Nian converted all the alcohol into energy, transforming it into spiritual power that was integrated into her soul, making it impossible for her to get drunk.

But no one else knows about this!

Chu Susu answered truthfully, "This... should be the fourth jar."

"The fourth jar?" the Emperor exclaimed in shock. "How could you two drink so much wine at once? One is the Empress, the head of the harem, and her conduct should be a model for the entire harem; the other is the Imperial Concubine, and should also..."

"Your Majesty," Chu Nian interrupted him before he could finish speaking, holding the wine cup to his lips, "Drink up, this wine is really delicious, drink it quickly, don't just keep talking to your sister Empress."

"Very well, I'll drink! I'll drink!" the emperor said helplessly, taking the cup Chu Nian handed him and drinking the wine in one gulp.

As soon as the wine went down his throat, he felt a warm sensation slowly rising in his abdomen, and his mouth was filled with a lingering fragrance. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Good wine!"

Chu Nian laughed even more heartily and said, "See? I told you so! This wine is delicious, isn't it? Your Majesty, you should drink some too!" As she spoke, she swayed but enthusiastically raised the cup to the Empress's lips.

The Empress smiled, reached out and took the wine, drank it, and found that the taste was extraordinary, far superior to the peach blossom wine she had drunk before.

The emperor asked the empress, "What kind of wine is this? This is the first time I've ever tasted it."

The Empress smiled wryly, somewhat helplessly, "This is also my first time drinking this wine. I don't know what kind it is, but it shouldn't be the peach blossom wine that we usually drink in the palace."

The emperor asked in surprise, "What? This isn't wine that the empress kept in her palace?"

The Empress paused in surprise for a moment, then shook her head with a faint smile, wondering to herself: What kind of wine is this? And where did it come from? Did the Imperial Concubine also bring it from the Imperial Kitchen? But it seems that the wines in the Imperial Kitchen are all peach blossom wine!

Seeing Chu Nian pick up the wine jar again and pour wine for the three of them, she originally wanted to ask Chu Nian if the wine was also taken from the imperial kitchen or if it came from somewhere else; but then she thought that the emperor was also here, and he might not know that Chu Nian had stolen the wine, so she decided to wait until the emperor left before asking, thus suppressing her doubts.

The three of them toasted each other and drank quite happily.

Suddenly, Suhe's report rang out from outside: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the head chef of the Imperial Kitchen, Liu Quan, requests an audience!"

Liu Quan had only come to request an audience with the Empress. Because it was dark, he didn't see that there were still several people from the Emperor's side sitting at the entrance of the small side hall of Kunning Palace. Otherwise, he would have turned around and left.

Just then, Suhe finished her report and came back to summon him into the hall. He saw several of the emperor's men there and thought to himself that the emperor was probably also there. But Suhe had already finished delivering her message, so he couldn't turn back now and had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.

He planned to find any random topic to report back first, and then discuss the serious problems he had discovered with the Empress when the Emperor was not around.

As soon as he entered the palace, he saw the newly promoted Consort Lian holding a huge wine jar and pouring wine for the Emperor and the Emperor.

To be honest, the masters in the palace are always elegant and graceful. Even if they like to drink, they always pour the wine from the wine jar into a wine pot first before bringing it to the table to pour into their cups. This is the first time he has ever seen someone pour wine directly from the jar.

Just as he was about to bow to the three masters present, he suddenly noticed that besides the character for "wine" on the red paper pasted on the wine jar, there was also an inconspicuous plum blossom drawn in the corner. His face immediately changed, his legs went weak, and he knelt down in a flash.

He almost screamed.

He steadied himself, suppressing the terrified cry that almost escaped his lips, and bowed three times, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" before bowing to the Empress and Consort Chu Nian.