The banquet was restless from the very beginning. After jointly raising cups to congratulate Great Tang’s ten thousand years and His Majesty’s long life, apart from the three imperial brothers, the most noble in status, Yuchi Gong, carrying a wine jar, found Yun Ye. Victory wine had to be drunk, but the vessel used to hold the wine was somewhat large. Yun Ye didn’t mind if you used giant goblets, but using a wine jar was really too excessive. Having just returned home with only a few small pastries Xiao Ya had stuffed in his stomach, he was now supposed to open his belly and drink the Yun family’s high-proof liquor?

Damn it! In the military, the rule was you could be drunk to death but absolutely couldn’t be scared to death. Old fool Yuchi’s timing was perfectly chosen—the warriors had returned in great victory, it was the time for hearty drinking. He even used the past events of drinking from helmets with Li Er after the great victory over Dou Jiande as supporting evidence.

Having mentioned their elders, Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Li Ke immediately couldn’t sit still. They could only stand up together to toast. Under old Yuchi’s contemptuous gaze, the three brothers put down the wine cups in their hands and lifted three wine jars larger than human heads from the side, staring fixedly at old Yuchi with hateful gazes.

Li Gang actually didn’t advise against it. Everyone else was egging them on together, craning their necks waiting for the five of them to drain their jars together. Yun Ye was rather clever—he transferred the wine jar in his hands to the veteran who’d campaigned with him. The moved veteran’s eyes turned red.

The Yun family’s fine wine had different alcohol contents—there was fifty proof, forty proof, and also twenty proof. The jar old fool Yuchi had just stuffed to Yun Ye had a large number written on the seal—sixty. This damn thing was basically a failed product of alcohol refinement. Without giving it to someone else, Yun Ye would be drunk to death.

Li Chengqian was the cleverest of the clever. Having mixed with Yun Ye for so long, his perceptiveness was unquestionable. Seeing Yun Ye stuff the wine jar to the soldier, he wasn’t stupid either. He immediately knew something was wrong. Patting the campaigning veteran’s chest, he stuffed his wine jar over, constantly speaking words of gratitude to the warriors for risking their lives for Great Tang—this jar of wine naturally needed to be enjoyed first with the brave warriors. Li Tai and Li Ke were moved by their elder brother’s noble character and naturally also sent over the wine jars in their hands. Old Yuchi stroked his beard and loudly praised the young people for having the style of the ancients. Li Gang and the others also loudly cheered. The entire venue stood up holding wine cups, waiting for Yun Ye and his companions to lift the wine jars again so everyone could drink heartily together.

In the pile of wine jars, Yun Ye finally managed to find one with twenty written on it, preparing to drink heartily with old Yuchi.

“Ye’er, save your brother! You must have a way, right? What’s different between the jar you found and the earlier one?” Li Chengqian, also pretending to pick wine jars, asked Yun Ye.

“Don’t say your brother isn’t looking out for you—the smaller the number on the wine jar, the better.” Hearing these words, Li Chengqian deeply agreed. He quickly found three jars of low-proof wine. After thinking, he gave the jar marked fifteen to Li Tai, the one marked twenty to Li Ke, and gritting his teeth, lifted a jar marked with thirty for himself. There really weren’t any with smaller numbers.

Glancing at old Yuchi’s jar, which had two large Arabic numerals written on it—five—this reassured Li Chengqian considerably. The wine ceremony official personally inspected the seal clay on the wine jars—intact and undamaged. They removed the seal clay and uncovered the red silk cloth on the jars. Wine fragrance pervaded. Old Yuchi gave a great shout: “Drink!”

Those campaigning veterans also shouted together. Finally came the jar-lifting hearty drinking. Yun Ye drank with extreme boldness—this was learned from Xue Wanren on the grasslands. He raised the wine jar to a sixty-degree angle, swallowing the wine in great gulps. Wine continuously trickled down from the corners of his mouth, splashing. The bearing of a military man was vividly displayed. The whole venue called out approval. While drinking, Li Chengqian watched Yun Ye. Seeing Yun Ye drink this way, he immediately raised his jar higher by several degrees. Li Tai and Li Ke had drunk the Yun Manor’s fine brew before. Thinking of that violent taste, their hearts trembled with fear. But after drinking a mouthful, their eyes brightened and they immediately swallowed in great gulps—they thought the taste was quite good.

Amidst the cheering sounds, everyone drained their wine jars. Old fool Yuchi’s eyes turned blood red. He affectionately patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and also patted the backs of the three Li brothers several times. Li Ke immediately shot out a stream of wine—not because he was drunk, but because Yuchi Gong had slapped the wine out of his stomach.

Yuchi Gong didn’t care at all. The three Li brothers had given him tremendous face today. Just as he was about to praise them a few words, he saw the Yun family’s campaigning veterans fall to the ground with repeated thuds. Not everyone had old fool Yuchi’s capacity to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. With three to five jin of strong liquor in their bellies, few people could endure it.

Though Li Chengqian also swayed unsteadily, his eyes were still relatively clear, and he persisted without falling.

Yun Ye saw old Yuchi about to grab more wine. Looking again, there were no numbers smaller than thirty on the jars. He glanced at old Qian attending at the side. The shrewd old Qian immediately came behind Yun Ye. At this moment, Marquis Yun had long since lost his capacity for alcohol and was preparing to fall. Who knew Li Chengqian would beat him to it, falling onto old Qian. Old Qian could only support His Highness the Crown Prince—he absolutely didn’t dare let him fall. Once he fell, Li Tai and Li Ke weren’t stupid either. All three princes were drunk and collapsed. Yun Ye had no choice but to also collapse drunkenly onto Li Chengqian.

The inner servants Li Chengqian had brought, along with Yun family servants, sent the four people entangled together and not letting go back to Yun Ye’s room. Old Yuchi immediately burst into loud laughter, full of pride. He’d knocked down both the host and the most noble guests right from the start—how could he not be proud?

Li Gang pointed at Yuchi Gong for a long time before putting his hand down. As an old scholar, he had no way to criticize military customs. The banquet continued. With all the main characters drunk, the Yun family banquet immediately became a scene of wild revelry. Academy students at this time also learned to drink from wine jars. The result, needless to say—the banquet had just begun when the Yun family guest rooms were filled with drunks.

When Yun Ye and his companions entered the bedroom, without anyone’s help, Yun Ye stood up. Li Chengqian also twisted his neck and stood up. Li Tai, pressed at the very bottom, grunted and shook Li Ke off his body.

“Ye’er, your family’s wine is quite good. The kind I just drank was very good. Get some more—we’ll drink slowly in the room. Food and drinking snacks should also be brought. I’m very hungry.” Li Ke hadn’t even climbed up yet when he opened his mouth to ask Yun Ye for food.

“Isn’t anyone asking what actually happened?” Yun Ye looked at the three imperial brothers and asked.

“What’s there to ask? You picked your own wine, and our wine was picked by my elder brother. Why ask so much? Just drink. How did you know which wines were mild and which were fierce?”

“There are numbers on them. The smaller ones are milder. Mine had twenty written on it. What about yours?” Yun Ye had long ago seen Li Chengqian’s actions. What he needed to do was pierce through this paper window—this was very beneficial for the three brothers’ unity.

“Mine had fifteen written on it,” Li Tai said. “Mine had twenty written on it,” Li Ke said.

“So unlucky! I wanted to find a jar with ten written on it but just couldn’t find one. I could only take one with thirty written on it. Fortunately, I spilled a lot of the wine from the jar. Otherwise, even if it was thirty-proof mild wine, it would have killed me.” Li Chengqian, having received imperial family education from childhood, knew how to create goodwill.

The words were said just right—no need to continue. He called for old Qian and had him prepare a table of food and dishes to be sent to the bedroom. Yun Ye planned to have a good chat with these three brothers. However, seeing all three with listless expressions, he abandoned this idea. Imperial family members’ psychological responses couldn’t possibly be made public. Talking at this time would only yield perfunctoriness and suspicion. Yun Ye suddenly felt like laughing—why was he putting himself in a god’s perspective? From this small matter just now, none of these three were fools.

Let them live their own days. Better not to force things unnaturally. The wisdom they displayed in some matters wasn’t something he, a commoner by birth, could compare with. What exists is reasonable. Everyone’s goals are different, starting points are different, inner journeys are different—what right did he have to want to change human hearts, the hardest thing to change in the world? So many experts and professors in later generations were helpless about such things—what did he have to offer? Yun Ye was startled with alarm—life had been too smooth, and he’d become somewhat arrogant.

“Chengqian, I heard you’re engaged to General Hou’s daughter. When will you marry?” Yun Ye decisively began gossiping.

“Two more months. You’re also about to marry, right? I heard when you went on campaign, the young lady re-coiled her hair. Such a wife should be brought home sooner. Your Yun family only has you as a single sprout. Marrying early is good for continuing the family line.”

Though Li Chengqian was young, speaking about these matters, his face was full of solemnity, completely without a trace of joking intent. The ancients regarded continuing the family line with extraordinary importance. If later generations’ family planning policies were implemented in the Tang Dynasty, Yun Ye could be certain the Tang imperial court would have long been overthrown.

“Grandmother also spoke to me about this matter today. I said I’d follow her wishes. Whenever she wants to arrange my marriage, I’ll marry then. I’m listening to Grandmother on this matter—I don’t want to make a mess of the wedding.”

“Do you still think about my older sister?” Hearing Li Chengqian ask this, Li Ke and Li Tai, who were eating and drinking with heads down, immediately put down their chopsticks and watched together to see how Yun Ye would answer.

“Chengqian, is Anlan well?” After drinking a mouthful of water and thinking for a moment, Yun Ye asked Li Chengqian.

“Not well. She’s lost a lot of weight. The Grand Emperor doesn’t pay much attention to her anymore. Ye’er, if you could marry her, that would be wonderful. We’d become true brothers.”

“Chengqian, I distanced myself from Anlan not because she used the Grand Emperor to pressure me, but because Anlan deliberately did that. This is also a question I only figured out on the grasslands. She’s proud, stubborn, and self-reliant—a rare good woman in the world. Though your brother here can’t claim to be one in ten thousand talents, among the people you can see, I should be the most suitable and best match for her.” Speaking to this point, Yun Ye looked at the three brothers and saw their faces full of confusion.

“You’re saying the misunderstanding between you was deliberately created by my sister?” Li Tai’s mouth couldn’t close.

“Little Tai, we’re brothers, so I speak freely with you about everything. You should keep this matter in your hearts—no need to spread it around, and don’t go ask Anlan either. Your sister doesn’t want you to know, and naturally she has her reasons. Just think—with your sister’s intelligence, how could she do such a foolish thing? There’s only one reason—she did it deliberately. Moreover, this matter was extremely dangerous. She clearly has great affection for me, yet when I was happiest, she extinguished the love in my heart. Why? It’s because she believed that if I got involved in this matter, I would certainly be smashed to pieces.”