The room was utterly silent, dim and shadowed, save for a narrow beam of sunlight streaming through the high skylight, illuminating the countless motes of dust suspended in the air.
Shattered wine jar fragments littered the floor in disarray, the table equally in disorder. The two men had drunk heartily through the entire night, now sitting quietly, both maintaining upright postures, showing not a trace of drunkenness!
Such capacity for alcohol was truly astonishing, truly extraordinary!
“No more wine left,” Baili Weisheng suddenly said with a laugh, and only in this remark could a faint hint of drunkenness finally be detected.
“Shall we get more?” Jun Beiyue asked generously, his voice still carrying its usual deep, commanding tone.
Baili Weisheng glanced up at the light streaming through the skylight, waving a hand with a laugh. “No, no, it’s already dawn. You should be heading back too.”
“Was it satisfying?” Jun Beiyue asked again.
Baili Weisheng turned to look at him, paused, then let out a belch, paused again, pressed his lips together, blinked hard several times, then suddenly raised a hand and called out loudly, “Satisfying! Drinking with Prince Yao truly is satisfying!”
“Are you happy?” Jun Beiyue asked again.
Baili Weisheng belched once more, raising a hand to point at Jun Beiyue, only for it to fail to hold steady, dropping heavily onto the table with a “thud.” He then slumped forward onto the table as well, resting his head on his arm, tilting his head to look up at Jun Beiyue, his refined, handsome face showing no flush of drunkenness at all, yet breaking into a delighted smile, simply grinning at Jun Beiyue without answering.
Jun Beiyue remained expressionless. From the moment Baili Weisheng had spoken his very first sentence, he had known this fellow was drunk.
There were many kinds of drunkenness, but as long as one hadn’t reached the point of passing out entirely, Jun Beiyue had the skill to extract answers from anyone!
A person’s tolerance for alcohol could be discerned from how they poured it, how they held the cup, their posture while drinking, their pace, their expressions.
Last night, the moment Baili Weisheng had picked up his first wine jar, Jun Beiyue had known he could drink extraordinarily well.
Drunken reactions generally fell into several categories—some passed out the moment they drank, some rambled endlessly, some grew violent, some simply couldn’t stop drinking, and so on.
Yet those with truly exceptional tolerance, unless completely and utterly overindulged into a stupor, would never simply collapse into sleep upon getting drunk!
“Jun Beiyue… hee hee…”
“Prince Yao… ha ha.”
…
Baili Weisheng grew increasingly delighted with laughter. The corner of Jun Beiyue’s lips curled into a cold smile, and beneath the table, his hand gently nudged the sleeping Ziqing.
Ziqing woke groggily, but the moment she saw Baili Weisheng in such a drunken state, she immediately snapped fully alert, sitting beside Jun Beiyue, not daring to move or speak carelessly.
Yet Baili Weisheng, drunk as he was, still noticed her, his hand moving toward her, pointing, about to say something, but pausing instead, letting out three consecutive belches. Finally recovering, he suddenly leaned forward, grinning happily, “Little Qingqing!”
At these words, Ziqing gave a sudden start, and Jun Beiyue’s handsome face immediately darkened.
But unexpectedly, Baili Weisheng suddenly withdrew, straightening his back and sitting upright, fixing his gaze on Jun Beiyue with a look of complete seriousness!
Jun Beiyue was about to speak, but Baili Weisheng squinted at him with a smile. “Ha, I know who you are!”
“Who?” Jun Beiyue raised an eyebrow. The questioning could now begin.
“Hee hee, I won’t tell you!” Baili Weisheng said with a laugh.
“Then do you know who you yourself are?” Jun Beiyue asked coldly.
“I know—I’m… I’m… I won’t tell you!” Baili Weisheng said, tossing his head triumphantly.
Ziqing watched with her lips twitching repeatedly, while Jun Beiyue snorted coldly, leaning in close to stare directly into Baili Weisheng’s eyes. “Look at me. I’ll tell you.”
Baili Weisheng blinked, then obediently looked into Jun Beiyue’s deep, sea-dark eyes. Seemingly unable to see clearly across the table, he hurriedly rose and walked over to Jun Beiyue, staring intently at him.
Jun Beiyue remained perfectly still, his dark eyes growing ever deeper. Ziqing glanced over, then immediately looked away, unable to suppress a shiver of apprehension—this man’s eyes, at this moment, seemed even darker, even deeper than usual. He must possess some form of hypnotic technique!
A man of Baili Weisheng’s caliber would surely have a will not easily broken, while Jun Beiyue was using alcohol to weaken that resolve. What he sought wasn’t mere drunken rambling, but the truest, most genuine truth.
Baili Weisheng stared into Jun Beiyue’s eyes, laughing continuously, but after only a moment, his laughter abruptly stopped. Ziqing watched with furrowed brow, unable to help but tense up!
She wasn’t the only one curious about this fellow’s true identity—Jun Beiyue clearly wanted to know as well.
She had once had him investigated, but it turned out there truly were people in this world whom even the Prince Yao’s manor couldn’t uncover.
“What are you?” Jun Beiyue finally asked, his voice deep.
Yet unexpectedly, Baili Weisheng immediately answered, “I won’t tell you!”
With that, he immediately laughed again, stumbling backward in drunken steps, pointing at Jun Beiyue. “I don’t know who you are!”
Ziqing froze, then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, afraid she truly wouldn’t be able to hold back her laughter!
Clearly, Jun Beiyue’s attempted hypnosis had failed. He slowly turned away, no longer paying attention, his face expressionless, evidently uninterested in drunken ramblings. Ziqing immediately lowered her head, not daring to look at him.
But at that moment, Baili Weisheng burst out laughing again. “Ha ha, I do know who you are! Shall I tell you?”
Jun Beiyue sheathed his sword and took Ziqing’s hand, moving to leave.
But Baili Weisheng’s next words from behind stopped him dead in his tracks. “You’re Little Moon-Moon!”
“Pfft!”
Ziqing truly couldn’t hold it back any longer, bursting into laughter outright. Though she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, her whole body shook with barely contained laughter, unable to stop.
No one could tell what expression Jun Beiyue wore at that moment, because no one dared look at him.
“Shiliang, seal his mouth and send him to a guest room,” he said coldly, his voice sounding as though it came from some frozen wasteland, chillingly cold.
Shiliang didn’t even dare acknowledge the order, immediately complying.
Jun Beiyue took Ziqing’s hand and walked out without a backward glance, while Ziqing, still laughing even as they exited, nearly laughed herself dizzy.
Not until… not until Jun Beiyue stopped and turned to look at her.
Only then did she close her mouth, though her body still trembled, shaking with the effort of holding back.
Jun Beiyue, his face cold, immediately swept her up into his arms, carrying her horizontally.
Only then did Ziqing manage to compose herself somewhat. “Hey, what are you doing? Put me down.”
Jun Beiyue said nothing, simply pressing her head against his chest, holding it there, and with a light tap of his toes, nearly took to the air…
By the time they returned to Qinse Valley, it was already past noon. From a distance, they could already see the zither platform laden with banquet tables—tonight’s zither banquet, where guests could not only sample Qinse Valley’s exclusive delicacies and fine wines, but also enjoy the valley’s signature zither-and-se ensemble performance, a privilege not ordinarily available to just anyone.
“Don’t drink too much tonight,” Jun Beiyue reminded flatly, finally releasing the large hand that had been pressing against the back of Ziqing’s head.
Ziqing had finally stopped laughing. She looked up at him, then couldn’t help but burst into a small laugh again before saying, “I know.”
Excessive alcohol acted as a catalyst for the seductive fragrance within her body—too much, and the drug’s effects would flare up, leaving her in misery.
Jun Beiyue was about to remind her further, but Situ Haonan suddenly rushed over, anxious. “Beiyue, you need to go over there right away—that girl is making a scene demanding to see you, and my parents can’t do anything with her!”
That girl? Who could that be?