If this were a sword, Awuge would probably be dead already.
"You flatter me." Li Qingchen withdrew his jade pendant and uttered these two words lightly, a faint smile on his face.
But Awuge was not convinced and gritted his teeth, saying, "Let's have a duel. Victory and defeat are common in war. But you have been able to win several times but failed to win. You are clearly deliberately humiliating me!"
Faced with the reprimand, Li Qingchen also had a reason to speak up: "I'm afraid the Crown Prince doesn't understand the culture of the Central Plains very well. Even when we people of Daye are competing, we value harmony. We will yield when we can, and we will draw the game if we can. If we really want to win, we won't win too easily. Just like in a game, we can't let the opponent lose too many pieces. We call this courtesy."
After Li Qingchen's explanation, the previous cat-and-mouse game turned out to be him saving face for Prince Awuge. The officials couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.
Ah Wuge knew perfectly well what was going on, but he was no match for Li Qingchen in words. He could only suppress his resentment, put the sword back in the Bodhisattva's hand, and angrily returned to his seat. He picked up his wine cup and, as if venting his anger, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.
As soon as he finished drinking one cup, a palace servant came forward and refilled the cup. Without saying a word, Awuge picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
This went on for a while, and after three cups of wine, even Ah Wuge, who was known for his high alcohol tolerance, couldn't help but blush after drinking three cups.
Firstly, it was consumed on an empty stomach, and secondly, this wine was not the fruit wine on Wei Shuwan's table, but the strong liquor Jiu Yun Chun.
Awuge turned around and reluctantly cupped his hands towards Li Qingchen, saying, "I have already drunk three cups of wine as punishment as agreed, so our competition is over."
Li Qingchen gestured "please" to Awuge, who then returned to his seat and took a seat. He subconsciously glanced at Pan Wenjun not far away and clenched his fists tightly.
He was almost about to propose marriage before the competition, but was interrupted. Now that he had lost the competition, he was too ashamed to bring it up again. Everything could only be discussed after the banquet.
Wei Shuwan took in all of Awuge's reactions without missing a single detail. She understood perfectly that she had not been wrong; Awuge had come to ask for Pan Wenjun's hand in marriage on behalf of the Emperor of Ziyi Kingdom.
Fortunately, Li Qingchen quelled her arrogance, so it seems she and Sister Pan will have a little more time.
Li Qingchen bowed to Emperor Pingjia and then returned to his seat. Wei Shuwan greeted him with eyes full of gratitude. However, she could not tell Li Qingchen about Pan Wenjun's experiences in her previous life, so she could not express her gratitude.
Wei Shuwan thought of the most direct way to express her gratitude and reached out to take her own wine glass, but then she saw that Li Qingchen's glass contained strong liquor. It didn't make sense for the person offering the toast to drink fruit wine while the person being toasted was expected to drink strong liquor. So, she changed her mind halfway to the wine pot, went to the next table, took Li Qingchen's wine pot, and filled her own glass.
"I'd like to offer you a toast." She held up her glass of strong liquor and sincerely offered it to Li Qingchen.
Li Qingchen glanced down at the wine in her glass, then snatched it away without a word. "I appreciate your sentiment, but this wine is too strong for you."
Having said that, he raised his chin and brought the glass of wine to his lips.
"Hey—" Wei Shuwan wanted to stop him, but her hand froze in mid-air as she watched helplessly as Li Qingchen drank her cup of wine.
Setting down his wine cup, Li Qingchen noticed that Wei Shuwan was still staring intently at him. He smiled, reached out and took the silver pot from her side, poured the fruit wine back into the cup, and handed it back to her: "This will do."
Wei Shuwan frowned as she stared at the wine cup filled with bright red nectar. This was the cup that Li Qingchen had just dipped his tongue in. Could she really use it again?
But since I was the one who offered the wine first, and Li Qingchen drank it all in one gulp, if I didn't drink it, wouldn't that be a clear sign of disdain?
After a moment's internal struggle, Wei Shuwan finally gave up resisting, took the wine cup, thanked him, and drank it down.
She secretly convinced herself: We've already kissed twice, so why worry about this indirect kiss...
Wei Shuwan put down her empty cup and turned around, only then noticing two pairs of eyes staring at her. Looking back, she saw it was Crown Prince Awuge. His gaze was cold and piercing, like a venomous snake eyeing its prey. Moreover, as Awuge stared in her direction, he overheard his attendants talking, nodding knowingly from time to time.
Wei Shuwan guessed that it was probably the close attendant who knew Shengjing well, who was introducing her relationship with Li Qingchen to Awuge. Obviously, she herself was also angered by Awuge.
However, none of this matters. Since she is determined to get involved, she cannot be afraid of these things. But right now, she doesn't have the energy to care about Awuge. Her priority is to bring her uncle and Sister Pan together as soon as possible.
The phrase "as soon as possible" means to get everything settled within the time limit of this banquet, and to make the matter public before Awuge speaks. If it is announced too late, Emperor Pingjia will suspect that his uncle and the Pan family are deliberately defying the imperial decree.
Moreover, it would be best if many people could witness this, because if only a few people knew about it, Emperor Pingjia might very well persuade them to sacrifice their personal love for the sake of the greater good. Only with enough witnesses would Emperor Pingjia completely give up his idea of separating the lovers.
But forcing a relationship between two people to be established within two or three hours at a banquet is clearly not an easy task. Let alone Sun Xingjian being her uncle, even if she were Sun Xingjian's uncle, she wouldn't have such an obedient nephew.
Just as he was worrying, the music in the hall changed, suddenly shifting from the previous rousing melody to a gentle and melodious tune. With each clear note like pearls falling on a jade plate, a dozen or so dancers began to sway and dance. Then they suddenly gathered together, forming a tight circle, chins raised, and their long, flowing sleeves were tossed into the air.
Just as the dense, flowing sleeves that obscured people's view fell, a fairy-like beauty descended from the sky, with a pink silk ribbon tied around her waist that connected to the dome, and a half-mask covering her face.
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