Chapter 226 One for One, the Emperor's Drinking Contest
Ji Qingwu couldn't figure out exactly what it was either.
But at least it's not a big-headed pear.
Mo Lingling stared at the dagger: "But at that time, the only person who could save me was Li Chengxun. My relatives were either dead or exiled, and no one cared about my life or death."
Ji Qingwu reminded her of this fact again.
“Now that Li Chengxun has denied saving you, why don’t you take some time to think back on it?”
She pushed the clothes aside, her tone still gentle.
"What you need to do now is to tidy yourself up a bit, change into clean clothes, and then leave the princess's residence as soon as possible."
"There's no rush to find out what happened back then."
Mo Lingling suppressed her chaotic thoughts and picked up her dress.
The room was small, and there was no separate private space for changing clothes.
But since they were both women, Mo Lingling didn't hesitate. She turned her back and quietly took off her dirty clothes.
Ji Qingwu looked at the knife handle on the table. The fine patterns were made of sturdy jujube wood.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door from the outside.
Mo Lingling, who had just stripped herself naked, shuddered.
Ji Qingwu calmly made a shushing gesture to her.
She walked towards the door, and through the crack in the door, she could vaguely make out that it was a man dressed in black.
The person at the door asked in a low voice, "Miss Ji, are you inside?"
The sound was like the whisper of the wind in the night.
Ji Qingwu was slightly surprised as he confirmed the other party's identity: "Lord Duan?"
Mo Lingling's hands, still covered by her clothes, stopped moving uncontrollably.
The reason she was convinced that the person who came to save her must be Li Chengxun was because when her father was in trouble, only the Li family helped her.
On the boat, when her clothes were torn by bandits, her hands and feet were bound, and her eyes were covered with a black cloth. She kept shouting, hoping that someone would come to rescue her.
But who can come? No one can come.
She could only place this meager hope on Li Chengxun, her childhood sweetheart. She called Li Chengxun's name a thousand times in her heart, never imagining that anyone else would come to her rescue.
Now, on Li Chengxun's joyous day, in a face-to-face confrontation, everything has been overturned.
At this moment, upon hearing Duan Mingfeng's voice again...
Mo Lingling felt as if a string in her mind had snapped completely.
He clearly hates himself the most.
He once pushed her into a pile of rubble, causing her knees to bruise and bleed, but he didn't even lift a finger to help her up.
Duan Mingfeng only knows how to bully her and never gives her a kind look, so why would he risk his life to save her?
He even promised her that he would help her avenge her father.
After the strings in Mo Lingling's mind snapped, they became tangled together and rolled into a knot.
Seeing that it was Duan Mingfeng outside the door, Ji Qingwu opened the door a crack.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Mo Lingling was still in a daze, and it had taken her half a cup of tea to put on her clothes.
She reacted quickly and slammed the door shut.
It was so fast that it almost hit Duan Mingfeng's high nose.
Ji Qingwu said, "Lord Duan, please wait a little longer."
Through the door, Duan Mingfeng touched his nose and said, "Miss Ji, I'm not going in. Could you come out for a moment?"
Ji Qingwu asked, "Is it in a hurry?"
Duan Mingfeng thought for a moment and said, "It's not in a rush."
Ji Qingwu waved his hand, urging Mo Lingling, who was still dawdling, to hurry up and change her clothes.
She asked casually, "How did Lord Duan know I was here?"
Duan Mingfeng lowered his head; there was a row of muddy footprints left by Mo Lingling at the doorway.
He paused for a moment and then said, "The Duan family has a unique secret technique: tracking."
Upon hearing his words, Ji Qingwu also paused for a moment.
He then asked, "...I've heard that families that possess secret techniques usually have something like a family crest. Do you have one in your family?"
Duan Mingfeng said, "Yes."
Tracking techniques, secret symbols...
Ji Qingwu stared at the dagger on the table, at the two interlocking circles.
She asked, "What does your family crest look like?"
Duan Mingfeng didn't understand why he was being asked this, and replied, "It is the Qiankun Circle derived from the character Xuan."
Ji Qingwu nodded solemnly.
She knew those two circles were not simple.
Mo Lingling: !!!
The two exchanged a glance, and Ji Qingwu felt that Mo Lingling needed more time to process the second wave of shock tonight.
Ji Qingwu asked through the door, "What brings Lord Duan to see me?"
Duan Mingfeng explained his purpose: "His Majesty is drinking in the front hall, and Eunuch Li is serving him and cannot leave, so he asked me to come."
Ji Qingwu didn't notice anything amiss. It was only natural for the emperor's elder brother to drink a few more cups to celebrate Princess Qingyun's wedding.
She asked, puzzled, "Why did Eunuch Li ask you to find me?"
Duan Mingfeng recalled the scene before he arrived and said tactfully, "His Majesty has already drunk all the military officers at the table under the table, and is now drinking with General Wei."
Ji Qingwu flung open the door, her eyes filled with astonishment.
No wonder Li Yuzong wanted to call her over as a savior.
First, he drank the military officers under the table, then he drank with Wei Ting.
Consort Wei in the palace was someone who could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk; there was no one in the Wei family with a low alcohol tolerance.
Ji Qingwu said, "The Imperial Son-in-Law and Princess Qingyun are also ahead, didn't they try to persuade His Majesty?"
The door opened, and Duan Mingfeng's gaze shifted briefly before he shook his head and said, "I can't persuade him at all."
Indeed, Princess Qingyun trembles even when she speaks a few words to her elder brother, the Emperor, let alone Li Chengxun.
There should be at least one person in the front hall who could persuade the emperor.
Ji Qingwu continued, "There's court tomorrow morning, and drinking is bad for your health. Didn't Princess Huachang go and persuade her to stop?"
Duan Mingfeng said, "The Princess has already left her seat and returned home."
Ji Qingwu asked again, "Where was Prince Yong? Didn't he go over and fend off the drinking?"
Even three cobblers can outwit Zhuge Liang. Prince Yong was a frequent visitor to various sensual and decadent places, so his alcohol tolerance should be fine.
Duan Mingfeng said, "Prince Yong is already drunk."
He explained, "The prince got himself drunk."
When he finally had a chance to show his skills, why was Zhao Minghong so useless?
Ji Qingwu shook his head to make sure no one was around, then pulled Duan Mingfeng inside.
"Lord Duan, please keep an eye on Miss Mo for a while and make sure she isn't discovered by the princess's people. I'll go to the front hall, how about that?"
Duan Mingfeng had no objection to the one-for-one exchange and quickly agreed.
"Perfect."
*
The atmosphere in the lobby was lively.
To everyone's surprise, Emperor Wusu became interested and ordered Li Yuzong to bring wine cups, wanting to enjoy himself with his guests.
The emperor sat directly at the head of the table where Wei Ting was seated, and many of the people at the table were Wei Ting's subordinates.
These military officers were initially somewhat reserved, but one or two of them couldn't sit still and began whispering among themselves.
“I have never drunk alcohol with the Emperor. Back when I was in the Northern Army, I never saw the Emperor touch a drop of alcohol.”
"Go and offer a toast first. It's not really appropriate not to drink at a wedding banquet."
"I'll start, and you'd better keep up."
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