Chapter 258 Ninety Degrees
Shen Yuexi got out of the car and walked a few steps. When the wind blew, she felt something was wrong.
My feet feel weak, like I'm stepping on cotton.
She put her hands on the carriage and shook her head vigorously. It would have been fine if she hadn't shaken it, but when she did, she felt dizzy.
She had never drunk so much alcohol since she came here. Now she realized that she was a weakling who couldn't even handle a bottle of wine.
This is a big problem. How can I go to see Zhao Mu if I walk so unsteadily?
What a bad idea.
She was at a loss when Xia Lan jumped down from the carriage, came close to her, held her hand and said, "Madam, I will help you in."
"He's in there, why do you still want to go?" Shen Yuexi turned and looked at Xia Lan.
The Xialan people seemed to split into two, spinning in front of her eyes, and after a while they became three.
"It has always been the servants who have protected the masters, and never the masters who have protected the servants," Xia Lan held her arm and walked forward. "Even if he is in there, I will risk my life to protect my mistress. Besides, my mistress just drank too much, and I'm afraid she's feeling a little unwell. It's safer to have me accompany her."
"Okay... hold on to me, don't let me stagger." She looked down at the empty wine bottle in her hand, then turned to Qiang Lin and said, "I remember now, Zhao Mu loves wine... cork the bottle, carry it on a plate, cover it with red silk, and come in with us."
Qiang Lin didn't know why Shen Yuexi asked this, but he still did as she asked.
Shen Yuexi straightened her back, trying to appear normal, and slowly walked towards the garrison with Xia Lan's support. Her eyelids were so heavy that she had to lower her eyes and pretend to look at the ground.
Wei Liang came out of the hall and saw Shen Yuexi coming in with the help of a maid. He hurriedly said, "Princess Zhao, General Zhao is entertaining the envoys from the King of Qi. Do you want to rest in the side rooms first?"
The news that the King of Qi was going to war with Xiao Zhuo was known to everyone. Now that the two hostile groups had arrived at this time, he considered whether to let Shen Yuexi take shelter for a while.
Wei Liang meant well. Xia Lan was delighted after hearing this and said to Shen Yuexi:
"Princess, let's go and rest as General Wei has arranged. We can then go see General Zhao after the King of Qi's envoy has left."
She had a hard time holding Shen Yuexi up, and she was really afraid that her master would collapse to the ground, which would be too embarrassing.
"The King of Qi's envoy? Is that Xiao Beiheng?" Shen Yuexi lowered her eyes and said, "I was just looking for him. Xia Lan, let's go in."
This sentence was said with such decisiveness that Xia Lan was shocked.
The master was obviously frightened by Xiao Beiheng just now and his face turned pale, but after walking a few steps, his attitude changed completely and he actually took the initiative to find Xiao Beiheng.
She didn't dare disobey, so she had to help Shen Yuexi walk up the stairs to the lobby, with Wei Liang following closely behind.
After only a few steps up, I heard a loud voice in the lobby say, "Pour a second bowl for Mr. Song."
"General Zhao, I really can't hold my liquor..." Another man's voice came, with seven parts helplessness and three parts fear. It was not Xiao Beiheng's voice as she had guessed.
In the center of the hall sat a tall, ruddy-faced middle-aged man in an ochre-yellow robe. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his tanned forearms. On the table before him lay a large bowl and two wine jars.
Sitting below him was a bookish man, waving a feather fan with a wry smile on his face, watching the maid pour wine into the large bowl on the table in front of him.
"The one in the middle is General Zhao." Wei Liang said to Shen Yuexi.
Shen Yuexi gently pushed Xia Lan away, clasped her hands together, and saluted Zhao Mu, saying, "Shen Yuexi greets General Zhao."
Zhao Mu had already caught a glimpse of Shen Yuexi coming in, but he had never liked women who looked sickly and delicate, so he had no intention of paying any attention to Shen Yuexi. However, he did not expect Shen Yuexi to greet him with a military salute, which was quite neat. Compared with her charming appearance, he immediately looked at her with admiration.
"Oh, Princess Zhao actually understands military etiquette?" He put down the wine bowl in his hand, stood up and looked at Shen Yuexi.
"After accompanying my husband on his campaigns for so long, I'll naturally learn some things," Shen Yuexi turned to the bookish man and said with a smile, "Mr. Song, how are you?"
Song Zhen stared at Shen Yuexi blankly and only nodded in response.
He came here to lobby for Xiao Beiheng, and he also expected that Xiao Zhuo would send someone, but he didn't expect that Xiao Zhuo would actually send Shen Yuexi to join in the fun. This was completely beyond his expectations.
"Give Princess Zhao a seat," Zhao Mu said to the maid behind him as he sat down, "bring the wine."
After hearing this, Wei Liang quickly said:
"General Zhao, although Princess Zhao is also an envoy, she is a woman after all. Is the etiquette for these three bowls of greeting wine..."
Zhao Mu loved drinking. Anyone who came to discuss business with him had to drink three bowls of wine first, otherwise he would not talk. In his words, if you can't even drink a little wine, there is no point in talking to you.
Although this move seemed to be just for drinking, Zhao Mu had his own ulterior motives.
After three bowls of wine, most people would be drunk. When drunk, people speak their mind, often revealing their true intentions. Zhao Mu, a military commander, didn't have the cunning cunning of a strategist. This method, which he had devised three years ago, was quite effective. Those who tried to play tricks or schemes would be pacified after three bowls of wine.
"Rules are rules. Since Princess Zhao has come as an envoy, you must drink these three bowls of wine," Zhao Mu glanced at Song Zhen. "If you don't want to drink, please leave on your own. There's no need to discuss this with me."
Song Zhen just smiled bitterly after hearing this.
How could he not talk about it? He was entrusted by the King of Qi to come and persuade Zhao Mu to surrender. If he said nothing, it would be a waste of his trip.
He only found out about this rule when he arrived. He drank a bowl of wine with gritted teeth and was trying to delay time so that the effect of the first bowl would wear off first.
Wei Liang wanted to persuade her, but unexpectedly, after Shen Yuexi sat down, she put her hands on the table and said, "I'm here to discuss this with Zhao Shuai, so I have to follow Zhao Shuai's rules and fill three bowls directly."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only Wei Liang, but also Zhao Mu, Song Zhen, Xia Lan, and even the maid who was about to pour the wine were stunned.
The lobby fell silent for a moment.
"Great!" Zhao Mu slammed the table and said to the maid, "Fill three bowls for Princess Zhao."
A maid brought three bowls and placed them in a row on the table in front of Shen Yuexi. Then she tilted the wine jar, poured three bowls of wine, and returned to Zhao Mu.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Shen Yuexi, wanting to see if she was bragging.
Shen Yuexi picked up a bowl, put it to her lips to taste it, and said to herself: "Thank you, Big Bear... My mouth is really dry."
She drank the wine in the bowl in one breath, put the bowl on the table, picked up the second bowl, and drank it down in one gulp.
Wei Liang and Song Zhen were stunned, especially Song Zhen. He still remembered the time when they defeated the Western Rong in Xiaogang Village. Everyone was celebrating, and Xiao Zhuo wanted to drink, but Shen Yuexi refused. He hadn't expected Shen Yuexi to drink like water. It was amazing. No wonder Xiao Zhuo sent her here. It looked like they were having a party.
Zhao Mu's eyes lit up as he watched. After Shen Yuexi finished her third bowl, he gave her a thumbs up:
"Princess Zhao is truly generous. Just now, I thought Prince Zhao had sent the wrong person."
"Just three bowls of water, haha." Shen Yuexi put down the empty bowl and looked at Song Zhen who was sitting opposite. "Mr. Song, since you are here to discuss business, how come you can't even drink the second bowl? If you don't drink it, I will have to talk to Zhao Shuai."
Song Zhen's face changed.
This Shen Yuexi is really irritating. It's fine if he drank three bowls of wine, but he actually said he drank three bowls of water. This is clearly a provocation to him.
"I'll drink." He picked up the wine bowl on the table and gestured to Zhao Mu.
Zhao Mu smiled and said, "That's right. Mr. Song is a man after all. How could he be defeated by a woman?"
"Wait." Shen Yuexi stretched out her hand to stop him, then turned to Zhao Mu and said, "Zhao Shuai, my husband knows that Zhao Shuai likes to drink, so he specially asked me to bring a bottle of fine liquor this time. Just one bowl of this liquor can make people drunk..."
Before she finished speaking, Zhao Mu showed an unconvinced expression and said, "You actually have such a strong liquor? Take it out and let me see it."
Shen Yuexi turned to Qiang Lin in the hall and said, "Bring some wine."
Qiang Lin walked into the hall, carrying a tray in both hands. Shen Yuexi pulled the red silk from the tray, picked up the wine bottle, and placed it on the table. She said to Zhao Mu, "You can pour two bowls of wine from this bottle. One for General Zhao and one for Mr. Song."
The maid came over to get the wine, and Shen Yuexi said with a smile: "Let me tell you, both of you, this wine is very strong, and one bowl will make you drunk."
She had just asked Big Bear to make liquor and turned all the wine in the bowl into water. Now the liquor was poured into this empty bottle, and the alcohol content was as high as 90 degrees.
Zhao Mu and Song Zhen were both unconvinced. A maid came over, took the wine bottle and poured a bowl for Song Zhen first, and then poured another bowl for Zhao Mu. The hall was filled with the strong aroma of wine, a pungent smell.
Song Zhen initially suspected Shen Yuexi had tampered with the wine, but she poured it for Zhao Mu. If the wine was tampered with, it would be a recipe for disaster. He then took a sip and found it to be incredibly pungent, far stronger than anything he'd had before.
He hesitated and didn't dare to drink, and looked up at Zhao Mu.
Zhao Mu took the wine bowl, sniffed it, and said with a look of joy, "Good wine!" He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
Shen Yuexi propped her chin on her hand, tilted her head and looked at Song Zhen, smiling, "If Mr. Song doesn't dare to drink, you can just pour it out."
Song Zhen was ridiculed again and again, and he couldn't hold back his pride, so he closed his eyes and drank the wine in the bowl in one breath.
"Alright, Zhao Shuai," Shen Yuexi turned to Zhao Mu with a smile, "let's get down to business."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a thud from the opposite side, and Song Zhen had slipped out of the chair and under the table.
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