Wanpin accidentally knocked over the wine glass.
Yipin, who was sitting next to her, exclaimed, "Oh, sister, how could you be so careless?"
Her voice attracted a lot of attention.
The palace maids serving beside him hurried forward to clean up.
Wanpin waited until all those scrutinizing and probing eyes were moved away, then she lowered her voice with an unpleasant expression and said, "Mind your own business."
Yipin's face froze for a moment, but she had a smile on her lips. She held the wine in her hand and said sarcastically, "Sister Wanpin has a really bad temper. But it's also true. Before entering the palace, Sister Wan was terribly afraid of you. She hid from you for so many years. Now that she has entered the palace, she has surpassed you and won the emperor's favor. It's inevitable that you feel resentful."
Wanpin's father was only promoted to the position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple. In terms of official position, he was not as high as her father.
Her princess's mother was punished by the emperor last year. Now that she has lost her power, she still doesn't know how to restrain herself.
Wanpin glared at Yipin fiercely and said, "Yipin, you should just take care of yourself. No matter how capable I am, I am not comparable to you."
On the other side, Lipin heard the lively quarrel and couldn't help but smile.
But she didn't join in the fun.
In her opinion, Li Wan's favor is more acceptable than Concubine Yi and Concubine Wan's favor.
Princess Anyang, who was a little further away, also noticed the undercurrent here and had a sneer on her face.
At this time, the emperor raised his glass, and everyone followed suit. As usual, the emperor gave a brief toast, and then the bonfire party officially began.
The atmosphere suddenly became heated.
Perhaps it was because we were in the wild, the world was vast, and the rules that bound people seemed to be relaxed a little.
Both the masters and the servants were not as restrained as usual.
Chat and laugh out loud.
Li Wan was very hungry and buried his head in eating meat.
The emperor cut a plate and she ate one plate.
Cao Yu couldn't bear to see that Li Wan actually wanted the emperor to serve him. He stepped forward several times and wanted to replace the emperor, but was stopped by the emperor with a look.
The emperor cut the meat into slices with great interest and put them on the plate. Watching Li Wan eat all the meat he cut, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart.
The emperor pushed a sauce dish over and said, "Try this sauce, it's a local specialty with a unique flavor."
Li Wan dipped some of the barbecue in it, and the sauce tasted like something rotten.
The emperor asked how.
Li Wan just said that he couldn't get used to the food.
The emperor did not force her to eat, and said, "Eat less. There is still a lot of food to eat later. Be careful not to get a stomachache."
As he said this, he did not stop cutting the meat.
Li Wan looked at him sadly and said, "Then you should cut less meat."
However, this venison is really delicious when roasted. It is marinated for a long time before roasting, and the aroma of the sauce has completely penetrated deep into the meat. The spices on the outside are completely mixed with the aroma of the meat. Just smelling it makes people salivate. The meat is not dry at all, and it is really appetizing when paired with various sauces.
Paired with iced fruit wine, it is just right to relieve the greasiness. A bite of meat and a sip of wine is simply too satisfying.
Local officials also arranged for Kabuki performers from the singing and dancing troupe to come and perform.
Li Wan ate barbecue and drank fruit wine, watching the beautiful women dancing. In this lively atmosphere, he felt more relaxed and happy than ever before.
The emperor also looked very happy. It was rare for him to be so relaxed in front of others. His handsome face was illuminated by the firelight, coated with a layer of warm light. With a smile on his lips, he listened to the ministers on both sides talking, occasionally saying a few words, turning his head from time to time to talk to Li Wan. His hands were not idle either, and from time to time he fed Li Wan something he thought was delicious.
After seeing it so many times, people got used to it and no longer took it seriously.
The ministers did not have as many complicated thoughts as the ladies, and they all felt that the emperor just treated Li Wan as a little toy, like a cat or a dog, feeding her food and teasing her a few times when he was happy, but they did not take Li Wan seriously.
They didn't take Li Wan seriously, and Li Wan was happy and at ease.
"Sister Wan, what is this?" The King of Qi, who was standing next to him, stared at the attractive fruit wine in Li Wan's glass and asked, "Why is it different from mine?"
There is sour plum soup in his cup.
Li Wan smiled and said, "This is wine, Your Highness cannot drink it."
Upon hearing this, the emperor suddenly turned his head and looked over. When he saw Li Wan, his eyes suddenly turned darker. A large blush appeared on Li Wan's fair cheeks, and her eyes were filled with watery light, sparkling and her lips were unusually moist and red.
The emperor then realized that Li Wan had drunk up the two jugs of fruit wine on the table without noticing.
Although this fruit wine has a low alcohol content, it still has some aftereffects if you drink too much.
Li Wan was already a little drunk at this moment.
The emperor asked, "Are you drunk?"
Li Wan hurriedly shook her head, her eyes sparkling: "No."
It had been a while since she had relaxed like this, and she really didn't want to end it too early.
Her eyes were soft and bright, and her lips were rosy, like plump and juicy fruits tempting to be picked. The emperor stared into her eyes and couldn't help wanting to kiss her in front of everyone, to hold her lips and taste the wine on her lips. There was a light of forbearance in his phoenix eyes, but he finally restrained himself and just grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it hard.
"Let Cuizhu take you back to rest first?"
He didn't want anyone to see her like this.
Li Wan pitifully begged him to let her stay a little longer.
The emperor looked at her soft and eager eyes, wishing he could bite her hard. The heat in his eyes almost melted her, but this time in public, he could only squeeze her hand tightly, staring at her with his phoenix eyes, and warned in a low voice: "Don't drink anymore."
Li Wan nodded quickly.
The expressions and conversation between the two people were far apart, but in the eyes of others, it could be interpreted differently.
"It looks like the Emperor is angry."
The palace maid beside Princess Anyang, who was a little further away, suddenly whispered as she poured tea for Princess Anyang.
Princess Anyang looked over immediately and saw that her brother the emperor was talking to Li Wan with a stern face. His eyes seemed to be on fire and he seemed to be angry about something. Li Wan shrank his neck like a quail, as if he was being scolded.
Princess Anyang immediately sneered coldly, "I am just a servant sent by the Queen Mother to seduce my brother. When my brother was in a good mood, he teased me like a kitten or a puppy for a few days, and now I really think of myself as a human being."
She did not lower her voice deliberately, and it was carried by the wind to the ears of Concubine Li, Concubine Wan and Concubine Yi behind her.
The expressions of several people changed slightly.
Princess Anyang's words touched Concubine Wan's heart.
Wanpin's tense expression throughout the night was much more relaxed now. She fiddled with the wine glass on the table and chuckled, "She is just relying on her beauty and the fact that she is close to the emperor. The emperor is just using her as a pastime. Could it be that he really values such a seductive woman who is not presentable enough?"
This is a bit too harsh to hear.
Lipin frowned slightly, but then said with a hint of smile: "The young lady did not offend my sister this evening, so why should Sister Wanpin be so mean."
Wanpin didn't expect that someone would speak up for Li Wan. This person was Lipin. She immediately glanced at him and said, "I've never heard of any friendship between Lipin and Li Wan."
He secretly scolded her for meddling in other people's business.
Lipin pursed her lips and smiled: "We are not close friends, I am just speaking fairly."
Yipin, who had just suffered a loss at the hands of Wanpin, immediately forgot about the past grudges between her and Lipin, and immediately smiled with her hands covering her mouth, "Yes, some people are so proud of something, as if she can be favored just because that person is not presentable."
Wanpin really wanted to tear Yipin's mouth apart.
When she was outside the palace, all the girls from various families in Kyoto were surrounding her. Even Concubine Yi always flattered her by calling her Sister Wan. After entering the palace, seeing that she was not favored by the emperor, they were not as attentive to her as before. Last year, her mother was punished, and Concubine Yi never visited her again.
Not only Concubine Yi, but also all the departments in the palace did not treat her as attentively as they did at the beginning.
In less than two years since entering the palace, she has already experienced the fickleness of human nature.
If it were the past, she would have slapped Concubine Yi hard.
But things are different now.
She saw several pairs of eyes looking over here, even her mother looked over here with a questioning look.
Wanpin had to swallow her breath, gave her mother a look that showed no problem, then picked up the wine glass on the table and drank the fruit wine in it.
…
Li Wan drank a lot of wine and his stomach was so bloated that he couldn't stand it anymore, so he secretly got up and went back to the tent.
Cuizhu was watching the dancer's performance intently. When she saw Li Wan stand up, she immediately wanted to follow.
Li Wan held her down, asked her to continue watching the show, and then went away alone.
After she finished her work and came out of the tent, she ran into Concubine Wan.
Wanpin brought two palace maids and blocked Li Wan's way with a sneer on her face:
"Li Wan, do you still remember me?"
Li Wan looked at the situation and felt that it didn't seem like an accidental encounter, but rather that Concubine Wan was deliberately trying to block her.
Everybody was having a bonfire party.
There was no one around at this time, and the hustle and bustle was far away.
Since Concubine Wan came with bad intentions, Li Wan simply skipped the process of greeting.
She smiled slightly, but this smile was cold: "Zhou Wan, when we were young, you pushed me into the icy lake because our names had the same character. I was bedridden for more than three months and even developed a chronic disease. How could I not recognize you?"
Wanpin was stunned as she didn't expect Li Wan to react like this.
The palace servant behind her immediately shouted angrily, "You daring servant! How dare you address your master by his name!"
Wanpin finally reacted and scolded, "Li Wan, you are so bold. Do you really think you can fly up to the tree and become a phoenix? You are just a small thing that is not presentable. You can throw it away when you get tired of playing with it. Do you really think you can be the master in this palace?"
Li Wan was too lazy to deal with her and just wanted to leave.
At this moment, Chunyue, the palace maid behind Wanpin, who was also Wanpin's personal maid brought in from outside the palace, suddenly stepped forward and pushed Li Wan: "Did the master let you go?"
Li Wan had sharp eyes and caught a glimpse of the figure in the distance. She followed the force of the maid pushing her and fell to the ground, letting out a cry of pain loud enough for the person over there to hear.
Chunyue was stunned for a moment and thought, she didn't use much strength, so how come he fell down with just one push?
This Li Wan is really weak...
Wanpin was also stunned. She didn't want to fight with Li Wan.
Li Wan glanced at the figure that was originally going in another direction and was now walking towards this side. She lowered her head to look at her palm which was cut by the gravel she had rubbed against the ground, and couldn't help but take a breath.
"Empress Wan, what happened?"
At this moment, a cold voice sounded.
Wanpin was startled and turned around abruptly.
I saw Qin Lin, dressed in black and with a stern face, walking towards this side.
Li Wan also looked up in the direction of the voice.
Meeting Qin Lin's gaze.
In the firelight, her face was as white as jade, and she looked at him with red eyes. The tears in her eyes were like a clear spring, sparkling and her eyelashes were filled with tears.
The look in her eyes when she looked at him was filled with embarrassment, grievance, and a hint of trust.
Qin Lin's eyes were deep. He walked up to Li Wan without saying a word and extended his hand to her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
