Chapter 336 Ouyang Lianghan, Unfazed by a Thousand Cups
Before Ouyang Rong came to Xunyang Ferry to pick up the person, he never expected that...
The dark-skinned, plain-looking, short and stocky man in front of me, wearing a felt hat, is none other than Li Zhengyan, the famous Prefect of Meizhou.
As he approached, he couldn't help but glance a few more times at Li Zhengyan, who was squatting on the stone pier of Xunyang Ferry, chatting and laughing with the dockworkers wearing sweat towels.
He didn't seem like a former governor at all; he was more like an honest and simple farmer.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the group of entourage quietly waiting behind the middle-aged man in the dark felt hat, and then looked at the Yangzhou official ship docked at the pier. His identity should be beyond doubt.
He tried calling out, "Lord Li."
Li Zhengyan, who was chatting and laughing, turned his head somewhat reluctantly, his eyes falling on Ouyang Rong, and stared at him for a while.
"Don't call me 'big brother' or 'small brother,' I'm just a nobody now."
"You must be Lianghan, who 'studies hard and makes progress every day'? I know you. I used to hear Brother Xie and Brother Chen mention you often. Haha, you may not know me, but I know you very well."
Li Zhengyan stood up and greeted them with a hearty laugh.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Li... for your kind words."
Ouyang Rong paused, and seeing that Li Zhengyan and his entourage were not wearing official robes and were traveling in civilian clothes, he abandoned the formalities of official etiquette and clasped his hands in apology.
"I am a little late, please forgive me, seniors and brothers."
He arrived late, looking apologetic, and his eyes seemingly unintentionally glanced at Li Zhengyan and the expressions of Wei Shaoqi and the others behind him.
Li Zhengyan didn't ask why he was late. He waved his hand and said with a half-smile:
"It's alright, Lianghan will be punished with three cups of wine later."
Ouyang Rong's eyes widened slightly: "Lord Li, are all the heroes of Guanzhong so fond of drinking?"
"Of course!" Li Zhengyan laughed.
"Having served as an official in other places for many years, I've only ever seen Shandong heroes whose drinking capacity is roughly comparable to that of us Guanzhong men."
"However, I am not very knowledgeable and have not come from the Southeast much, so I am not very clear about the drinking capacity of the heroes of Jiangnan. But this trip to Yangzhou has allowed me to experience the colorful and charming Yangzhou. It is indeed a charming and gentle place."
"It's just that the literati of Yangzhou are too sentimental when it comes to drinking. They have to recite a few lines of poetry after drinking a cup of wine, which is a bit lingering and sentimental. To put it bluntly, their alcohol tolerance is weak."
Li Zhengyan's entourage behind him burst into good-natured laughter. Li Zhengyan also laughed and turned around to look, then smiled at Ouyang Rong:
"I wonder how much alcohol people in the western part of Jiangnan are capable of drinking?"
Ouyang Rong nodded: "It's a pity that Li Gong has never met me, otherwise he wouldn't have questioned our drinking capacity in Jiangnan."
Li Zhengyan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What does Lianghan have to say?"
Ouyang Rong pointed to himself and said modestly, "Me? I can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, and I have never met my match in my life."
The air in the arena visibly froze for a moment.
There was a pause.
Li Zhengyan was somewhat surprised by the man's bluntness, and Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing, Wang Junzhi and others following behind him also glanced at him sideways.
Li Zhengyan and his companions exchanged glances silently, then smiled and praised:
“Lianghan is straightforward and doesn’t beat around the bush. Good, then we’ll have to have a good drink later.”
Ouyang Rong said in a serious tone:
"If there is a banquet during Li Gong's visit to Xunyang, please be sure to invite me."
"No problem, no problem," Li Zhengyan chuckled.
Ouyang Rong stepped to the side and gestured with his hands: "Lord Li, Mr. Wei... this way please. The carriage is ready, and the official post station is also prepared. Please put your luggage away first."
"Dinner will be at my humble abode in Chaisangfang. My aunt, who was hearing that the elders were coming, personally cooked a feast to welcome you all."
"You're too kind, Auntie."
"Please don't stand on ceremony, Mr. Li. My aunt has prepared some simple country dishes. I don't know if you gentlemen will like them. However, I've asked Xunyang Tower to send some Daughter's Red wine. I guarantee there will be plenty of wine. We won't leave until we're drunk tonight."
"Lianghan is so warm and straightforward. Alright, let's drink until we drop."
That night, a welcoming banquet was held at the mansion in Huaiye Lane.
Before the banquet began, the women of the Huaiye Lane residence made extra preparations, and Ouyang Rong also acted very solemnly.
Even Xie Lingjiang came over as a deputy host.
Seeing this, while waiting for the maids to bring the dishes and wine, Li Zhengyan and the others exchanged glances, their expressions quite surprised.
The welcome banquet begins.
Without saying a word, Ouyang Rong stood up and asked Xie Lingjiang to pour him some wine, while he first punished himself by drinking three cups.
One cup is equivalent to half a jin of wine, and three cups are equivalent to one and a half jin of wine, even though the alcohol content of the aged wine is not high.
However, those who couldn't hold their liquor usually collapsed halfway through the punishment.
"Mr. Li, Mr. Wei, Brother Wang... I won't say much more, I'll start by drinking a cup as punishment."
Seeing Ouyang Rong's bold and enthusiastic manner, he took the lead in drinking, gulping it down without spilling a drop, showing great enjoyment.
The slight dissatisfaction that some people had felt towards the Jiangzhou Prefect for not arriving late in the afternoon, and who seemed arrogant, immediately subsided.
"Lord Ouyang is so magnanimous! Today he has changed my impression of the literati of Jiangnan."
Li Zhengyan sighed, and as Ouyang Rong finished his first cup of wine, he subtly changed the subject:
"But Lianghan, please drink slowly. The night is long, and you gentlemen and I have long admired your name. Today, we feel like old friends, so we must have a good chat..."
"It's alright, finish your penalty drink first."
Ouyang Rong waved his hand, and Xie Lingjiang lowered her eyes, knowingly pouring wine into his empty cup.
Li Zhengyan thought about it and felt that it would only be three cups, so he nodded in agreement:
"That works too, Lianghan is very generous."
He drank the second and third cups with great enthusiasm.
Wei Shaoqi, who had always been taciturn and preferred to observe rather than speak, suddenly spoke:
"Is Lianghan's face alright?"
Li Zhengyan looked up and noticed that his younger brother's face was unusually red. Concerned, he offered the following advice:
"Please give Bulanghan more food. Hey, Xie Xian's niece, quickly give him some food."
"No...it's okay, I can drink."
Someone leaned on the table, swayed as they raised their glass, and said, slightly lisping:
"Wanwan, move aside. I'm happy to see you today, senior. I... I have to finish my drink. I... I can drink. Move aside."
After saying that, he drank half of the fourth cup.
He collapsed, his face flushed, slumped over the table.
I have a blackout.
Li Zhengyan and the others: "..."
"Senior Brother."
“My love.”
Xie Lingjiang and Zhen Shuyuan stepped forward, frowned, and helped the guest up, apologizing to him. Li Zhengyan quickly waved his hand to comfort him.
The two women then escorted the drunken male owner of the mansion back to his room.
Only a table of fine wine and food remained in the hall, along with a group of guests.
The air was completely silent.
Li Zhengyan, Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing, and Wang Junzhi couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.
This... is less than half a pound.
Du Shuqing asked in confusion, "Can't get drunk even after a thousand cups?"
Everyone's lips twitched in unison.
Wei Shaoqi turned his head and glanced at Li Zhengyan, who was in the lead: "Lord Yan, about that matter..."
Li Zhengyan waved his hand: "It's okay, we'll talk when you wake up."
As he spoke, he picked up the wine pot that Ouyang Rong had used to pour wine, poured himself a cup, and tasted it alone.
After tasting the wine, Li Zhengyan lowered his eyes, put down the cup, nodded, and then shook his head.
He took out his chopsticks first to eat, and the others followed suit.
After a short while, having eaten and drunk their fill, everyone departed...
Five days have passed since the welcoming banquet at the Huaiye Lane mansion.
Li Zhengyan and others gradually discovered that this young, handsome, and hospitable Jiangzhou Prefect seemed to have a great fondness for wine.
Although he gets tipsy after just a few drinks, he's practically intoxicated after just a sip of alcohol.
During these five days, Li Zhengyan and his entourage attended banquets every day in Xunyang City.
Unlike other disillusioned and dejected officials living far from home, Li Zhengyan and his group were highly sought after by the literati of Xunyang.
Upon arriving in Jiangzhou, he received a warm welcome from all sides of Xunyang City, especially from the scholars.
Of course, Wang Lengran and his group are an exception.
Li Zhengyan and others, as extreme conservatives in the court, were sworn enemies of the Wei family.
These past few days, Li Zhengyan has invited Ouyang Rong to every banquet.
This young chief secretary, who rarely attended banquets for scholars in Xunyang, was only in his early twenties.
They're very accommodating; they come every time.
However... he always got drunk.
Not long after the banquet began, he was already feeling unwell. Even after just a few drinks, he couldn't hold his liquor and had to be helped back home drunk by Yan Canjun and others.
Well, in Li Zhengyan and others' eyes, he was both bad at drinking and loved to make threats, which was a bit outrageous.
But wine is indispensable at literary banquets.
Li Zhengyan and the others were speechless when they realized that if the purpose of those who urged others to drink at banquets in the past was to get others drunk, then Ouyang Lianghan was different. He was greedy for alcohol and used this as an excuse to get himself drunk.
Later on, every time Ouyang Rong made a move to get up during a banquet, everyone's eyelids would twitch and they would quickly stop him...
On this day, the banquet was held at the residence of a retired official, a former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, in Xiushuifang.
Li Zhengyan, Wei Shaoqi, and others came at the invitation.
Ouyang Rong was also invited to the banquet.
Shortly after the banquet began, taking advantage of the host's sudden urgent departure,
Before Ouyang Rong could even sit down and drink, Li Zhengyan turned and asked:
"I always forgot to ask, we idle people traveling around Xunyang, having fun and drinking, shouldn't have disturbed Lianghan's daytime business, right?"
Ouyang Rong replied with a smile, "I am just a lowly chief secretary. What important business do you have? Come, let's drink."
Li Zhengyan waved his hand to stop him and asked sincerely, "I heard that Lianghan has a very good personal relationship with the family of the Prince of Xunyang."
Ouyang Rong asked in confusion, "Where did you hear that? I don't think I've ever been invited to any banquets at the Xunyang Prince's Mansion. There's no question of a private relationship between us, although we do have frequent contact for official business."
At this point, he shook his head, then blinked and said:
"Speaking of which, in terms of personal relationships, I should be closer to you, Mr. Li. We've been drinking to our hearts' content lately. Ah, finally, I've met my match in drinking capacity."
After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the cup without saying another word.
Wei Shaoqi, Wang Junzhi, and others who were standing nearby, their eyes fixed straight ahead as they picked up food, twitched at the corners of their mouths.
"Yeah."
Li Zhengyan carefully observed the subtle expressions on Ouyang Rong's slightly tipsy face and continued to ask:
"But I heard when I was in Luoyang that when Liang Han was the magistrate of Longcheng, the family of the Prince of Xunyang were also exiled to Longcheng, and I also heard that Liang Han lived next door to them, and the house was generously given to him by the Prince of Xunyang's family..."
"Now that we're both in Xunyang City, our private relationship must be pretty good."
"Hmm, there are quite a few rumors circulating outside, and they've been quite well-organized." Ouyang Rong chuckled drunkenly, pointing to his official robes and the hall floor beneath his feet, and said:
"What a coincidence! My official robes were also bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress, and the residence of Minister He, who is hosting us tonight, was also granted by Her Majesty. Our private relationship with Her Majesty must be even better."
Upon hearing this, Du Shuqing frowned slightly, while Wei Shaoqi and Wang Junzhi exchanged a silent glance.
Li Zhengyan wasn't annoyed. He smiled and said, "How can you compare like that? Lianghan has drunk too much again. Come on, eat more vegetables."
As she spoke, she placed a steamed lion's head meatball into Ouyang Rong's bowl.
Ouyang Rong's face flushed red with wine, and he took another sip of wine with a smile.
Li Zhengyan also took a sip of wine, put down his chopsticks, and sighed deeply:
"Is that really the case? Well, I may have been presumptuous."
Upon noticing that Ouyang Rongguang was picking at his food and, being drunk, was not responding, Li Zhengyan continued:
"Lianghan, you may not know this, but the matter is like this: when the Prince of Xunyang was still in Luoyang, he did me and Brother Wei a great favor. We haven't seen each other for many years and miss him dearly."
"It's a pity that we are currently in exile and in the eye of the storm, so it's not good to make a ostentatious visit. It would be better if we could get an introduction from someone we know."
"Therefore, having heard that Lianghan has a very good personal relationship with the Prince of Xunyang's mansion, I took the liberty of coming here to ask for your help from your teacher and Brother Shen."
He paused, then asked calmly, "They must have mentioned it to Liang Han in their correspondence, right?"
Ouyang Rong nodded and readily admitted:
"I did mention it, but I haven't been in contact with my teacher or Lord Shen for quite some time, so they probably don't know either. I've already sent a letter to explain."
"However, since Lord Li is a good friend of my teacher and Lord Shen, I will do my best to receive him."
He frowned slightly, as if trying to put himself in Li Zhengyan's shoes, and looked somewhat troubled:
"Actually, I've been dealing with Your Highness a lot during the day because of the construction of the Buddha statue. Well, I should be able to have some conversations with you. If there's anything you want to say or send, I can pass it on to you."
Li Zhengyan glanced at Ouyang Rong, who, despite his drunken state, displayed a sincere attitude, pursed his lips, shook his head, and remained silent.
Ouyang Rong raised his glass and toasted with Wei Shaoqi and others around him, then turned and asked with a sudden realization:
"By the way, Lord Li has been in Xunyang City for so long, hasn't he sent any official letter or anything?"
Li Zhengyan, with his dark face, sighed dejectedly: "I sent a letter, but there was no response."
Ouyang Rong offered his words of comfort:
"His Highness has taken on the post of Supervisor of Construction in Jiangnan and has been working diligently for Her Majesty the Empress. He has been very busy lately and may not have seen the invitation. Li Gong, please don't worry too much and wait a little longer."
Hearing this seemingly meaningful remark, Wei Shaoqi suddenly said, "I'm afraid Your Highness has already seen it."
He didn't say anything more.
The atmosphere at the table fell silent.
"Why didn't you reply when you saw it?"
Ouyang Rong's tone was questioning, and his words were somewhat presumptuous:
"I understand. Your Highness is pretending not to see it. How can you do that? After all, we have a relationship as ruler and subject."
After a moment of silence, the crowd, who had slightly opened their eyes, saw him waving his hand with a drunken, unrestrained air:
"Alright then, Lord Li, what do you wish to say? Tell me, and I will relay your message, shall I?"
Li Zhengyan remained silent.
The drunkard was completely oblivious to his embarrassment.
A moment later, the former governor of Meizhou, who had come to Jiangzhou specifically for this purpose, suddenly raised his cup and laughed loudly:
"Come, Lianghan, drink some wine."
"Okay, okay."
About half an hour later.
The host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely. The banquet ended, and everyone dispersed.
Ouyang Changshi, who could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, was seen off by Vice Minister He, Li Zhengyan and others with amusement. He was then helped away from the banquet residence by Yan Liulang, who had accompanied him to the banquet.
The two passed by a dimly lit alleyway on the side of the street.
Ouyang Rong, seemingly drunk and slumped, suddenly brushed aside his arm, turned into a dimly lit alley, and nimbly slipped into a waiting, quiet carriage. He immediately addressed the woman in red, who was resting her chin on her hand and patiently waiting inside:
"They finally asked. It seems they've been holding back all this time. Their plans during their trip to Jiangzhou are definitely not as simple as just showing loyalty and getting closer to each other."
(End of this chapter)
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