The drinking game at the zither gathering was, naturally, inseparable from the zither.
Bai Feiyao’s urging aside, the two Qin-Se Elders would have called for a drinking game regardless.
If she could avoid it, Ziqing would never drink.
In her past life as a mercenary, someone who faced death at every turn and had to stay on constant high alert, she’d long since developed a habit—when it came to drinking, either she got completely wasted or didn’t touch a drop at all. Jun Beiyue had also warned her that the Enchanting Incense in her system belonged to the aphrodisiac family, and was extremely easily triggered by alcohol.
As long as Bai Feiyao didn’t come after her directly, she had absolutely no intention of starting trouble.
As for the Yu Shi—trying to curry favor with the Gu family head while also showing off—well, that always came at a price.
At that moment, the Gu family head was watching her, his meaning clear: she should have stepped in to help just now.
Ziqing pretended not to understand, letting him look all he wanted, while privately wondering—why would Bai Feiyao, wanting to make trouble for the Yu family head, specifically single out the young master of the Yu Shi, Yu Xiao, by name?
Could there be some grudge between the two of them?
Faced with Bai Feiyao’s provocative challenge, Yu Xiao showed real spirit, standing up at once—bright eyes, sword-sharp brows, quite handsome.
“Bai Feiyao, watch your mouth. Whatever the drinking game is, just say it!”
Bai Feiyao rose lazily, glanced coldly at the wine jug on the table, and said with a smile, “An old game from Qinse Valley—guessing the tune. Care to try?”
The tune-guessing drinking game, as the name implied, involved guessing the name of a piece being played—whoever lost had to drink!
Hearing this, Ziqing’s interest evaporated instantly. Utterly dull, not a shred of fun in it.
“Deal!” Yu Xiao agreed at once.
Only then did Bai Feiyao seem to remember the two Elders were present. He turned and bowed, smiling. “Elders, allow Yu Xiao and me to get things started for everyone, shall we?”
The Se Elder’s face darkened, saying nothing. If not for the Bai Shi’s influence on Liuxian Isle, he’d have thrown this arrogant brat out long ago.
The Qin Elder, however, was good-natured enough to nod. “Two hundred zither players—choose whichever you like.”
Delighted, Bai Feiyao raised his voice. “Good, the usual rules—no limit on the wine, until one side calls defeat!”
“Let’s begin!” Yu Xiao said loudly, unwilling to be outdone either.
Bai Feiyao casually pointed to a zither player to step forward. Two rows of maidservants hurried over at once, stationing themselves behind Bai Feiyao and Yu Xiao respectively, ready to pour wine—counting carefully, there were exactly ten on each side!
Only then did Ziqing feel a flicker of surprise—why would they need so many people just to pour wine?
Soon, the first piece began.
Bai Feiyao rested one hand on the wine jug, utterly at ease, while Yu Xiao listened intently.
But no sooner had the piece begun than Bai Feiyao called out, “The famous piece, ‘Green Robe’!”
The zither player stopped—clearly, Bai Feiyao had guessed correctly. Yu Xiao dutifully hoisted the wine jar and drained it in one long gulp, and someone behind him immediately refilled it.
A vague unease stirred in Ziqing—she herself hadn’t even recognized “Green Robe” yet!
The second piece began right after, and once again, unexpectedly, Bai Feiyao guessed correctly first. Yu Xiao had no choice but to drink again!
And so it went, over and over—a full thirty pieces, and Bai Feiyao guessed every single one correctly. Yu Xiao, with barely a pause, drank his way through a full thirty jars of wine.
Even someone as deeply versed in music as Ziqing herself couldn’t possibly match that speed!
This man—there had to be something fishy going on!
But why was he targeting Yu Xiao specifically? Just because of what the Yu family head had said earlier?
While Ziqing was still hesitating, Yu Xiao downed three more jars. The crowd, which had been cheering him on at first, had long since gone quiet.
The Yu family head’s brow was knit tight—he wanted desperately to march up and pull his son down, but held back, too concerned about losing face.
By now, Yu Xiao was already staggering drunk, his face flushed all over. If not for both hands braced against the table, he wouldn’t have been able to stand at all.
How could someone in this state possibly guess any more tunes correctly?
Bai Feiyao didn’t spare him another glance, coldly sizing up the Yu family head instead. “Elder Yu, your son is so drunk he can’t even properly admit defeat. Why don’t you concede on his behalf, hm?”
The Yu family head’s face went ashen, and he furiously rose to his feet—but Yu Xiao roared, “Bai Feiyao, I’m not drunk! Keep going!”
“Not drunk—ha, well then, let’s keep going,” Bai Feiyao sneered coldly.
This time too, he guessed correctly, smiling. “Drink up!”
“Drink, then! I’m not afraid of you!” Though clearly drunk, Yu Xiao’s words carried an unyielding, iron-willed edge.
Bracing one hand on the table, he seized the wine jar with the other and tipped his head back, draining it dry once again!
“Excellent!” Bai Feiyao clapped in praise, grinning with wicked delight. “What capacity!”
But just then, Yu Xiao suddenly went “Pfft—” and spat the wine right back out!
The entire hall fell utterly silent at once.
Bai Feiyao’s gleeful smile froze instantly. He stared coldly at Yu Xiao, who was swaying, still bracing himself against the table, and after a long moment said icily, “There’s no rule saying you can spit out wine you’ve lost. Give him more—keep going!”
Crack! The Yu family head slammed the table and shot to his feet at once. “Bai Feiyao, don’t push this too far!”
“What, going to break the rules of Qinse Valley? If you can’t take losing, don’t step up in the first place!” Bai Feiyao sneered.
“You—!” the Yu family head choked with fury, pointing directly at Bai Feiyao. Bai Feiyao simply let him point, waiting for someone to concede.
Everyone present was sharp enough to understand—Bai Feiyao would never go this far just to torment the Yu Shi. His real target was the Gu Shi!
This Yu Xiao must have offended Bai Feiyao somehow. In an instant, whispers spread through the entire hall.
Seeing that the two Qin-Se Elders showed no intention of intervening, Ziqing finally understood—she had underestimated this tune-guessing drinking game.
Either you conceded defeat, or you kept drinking endlessly—potentially even to death!
Between peers, conceding would only mean admitting defeat in capacity or musical skill.
But now, Bai Feiyao was exploiting Yu Xiao’s stubborn pride to force the entire Yu clan into submission!
Even if the Yu Shi were later to gang up and hunt down the Bai Shi in retaliation, there was absolutely no way a family should ever concede to another family’s young master like this! How would the Yu family head ever hold his head up within his own clan, or on Liuxian Isle, ever again?
Everyone present was baffled—except Jiang Chen, who was smirking to himself, the corner of his mouth curling up again and again, unable to help it. If he’d had a tail, it would surely have been wagging with glee by now.
After Gu Suying left the day before, he’d stayed behind to attend to the eldest Miss Bai, and in passing had reported the Yu Shi bandit incident to her—only for the eldest Miss Bai to immediately recognize that the feather belonged to none other than the young master of the Yu Shi!
He’d flown into a rage at once—how could he let Yu Xiao off scot-free after suffering that slap from Gu Suying for nothing?
Through a mix of flattery and petulant insistence, he’d finally gotten the eldest Miss Bai to agree to take revenge on his behalf!
After a long wait, the Yu family head finally spoke. “Fine, I concede—”
But before he could finish, Yu Xiao cut him off loudly. “I’ll drink!”
With that, he immediately hoisted the wine again—only for the very first mouthful to come spraying right back out!
There was simply no way he could keep drinking like this.
Just then, a sharp, piercing cry suddenly tore through the sky. Everyone looked up urgently, only to find countless hawks circling overhead—no one knew when they’d gathered—their cries ringing out in waves, as though mourning for their master!
Yu Xiao glanced up, staggered several steps, but forced himself upright again and kept drinking.
Ziqing watched, brow furrowed, a pang of sympathy rising in her chest—such a stubborn man, so much like herself.
But just then, hawk feathers began drifting down one by one. Ziqing reached out to catch one, and the moment she looked closely at it, her heart lurched.
That feather…