Chapter 1112: Grand Finale: Return of an Old Friend (20)

"If you sip it in small sips, you won't be able to taste the flavor of this snow wine." Empress Xian De laughed and said, "You have to drink it in big gulps from a wine bowl like this to enjoy its sweetness and richness."

"You always drank like this in the past?" Emperor Yongle frowned. "Nonsense."

"After all, I'm drinking alone and no one sees me. Why should I care so much?" Empress Xian De didn't think much of it. She held up the small wine jar in one hand and poured wine for Emperor Yongle.

Emperor Yongle wanted to say something, but hesitated. He looked at Empress Xian De deeply and remained silent.

Empress Xiande brewed snow wine every year, but this was the first time Emperor Yongle had accompanied her. For so many years, she had brewed tea and wine alone, watching flowers bloom and fall, living a carefree life in the deep palace. She was an excellent empress, but people almost forgot that she was only a woman, and felt lonely. More often than not, she could only savor the bitter taste of loneliness alone, just like the slightly bitter taste of this wine.

Aunt Tao and Eunuch Deng stood far away, as if wanting to preserve this precious moment for the Emperor and Empress. Empress Xian De handed the wine bowl to Emperor Yongle and said with a smile, "Every time Jing Xing comes to the palace banquet, he likes to drink from this bowl. I see that Your Majesty seems very envious. Tonight, there is no need to worry about it. I am the only one here, and I will not laugh at Your Majesty's misbehavior."

"What a joke! What is there for me to envy?" After saying this, Emperor Yongle picked up the wine bowl, looked at it critically, but still took a sip from the edge of the bowl.

Seeing this, Empress Xian De couldn't help laughing and said, "Your Majesty, what are you doing? You should learn from me." She picked up the wine bowl and drank it with her head tilted back. Even such an action, when performed by her, was very elegant and pleasing to the eye.

Emperor Yongle coughed lightly and said, "Nonsense." But his eyes followed Empress Xian De very gently.

Empress Xian De poured herself another bowl and said with a smile: "When I was young, I followed my father to read history books. I envied the unrestrained and free-spirited heroes in the books. They were abandoned in the troubled times, handsome and heroic, eating meat and drinking wine with hearty mouthfuls, wandering around the world. I felt that such a life was not in vain. I thought that in the future I would definitely marry such a great hero, make tea for him during the day, and drink with him at night." As she said this, her eyes sparkled, as if she had gone through all that time and returned to her girlhood, clamoring to ask her brother for wine cunningly.

"What happened next?" asked Emperor Yongle.

"Later, I married the Emperor. He refused to eat meat or drink wine with big mouthfuls. He was not at all unrestrained and free, nor was he rough but refined. Instead, he was very cold and aloof. I regret this."

Emperor Yongle squinted his eyes and looked at her. Her cheeks gradually turned red. He didn't know whether she was drunk or not. Emperor Yongle thought that she must be drunk. When Empress Xian De was sober, she would not say such childish words to criticize him.

He said, "Didn't you say you could hold your liquor well? Why are you acting so drunk in front of me?"

"I'm not drunk." Empress Xian De said, "I do want to be drunk, but unfortunately, I have had to stay sober for so many years."

Emperor Yongle could no longer laugh.

"I am really unlucky to marry the emperor. I have to share my husband with countless women. Even those wealthy families who have concubines at least have children with their wives. I don't even have my own children. This is not a very good marriage." Empress Xian De smiled and said, "That's why I envy the princess. The princess's life is not easy, and she has a lot to worry about. But she is luckier than me, and she still has room for choice. Jingxing treats her very well. Jingxing is not as cruel as the emperor."