As Mudan lifted the wine jug, the crowd exchanged glances and laughed. How could such a frail woman, who needed her brother’s company just to attend a banquet, dare to challenge others to a drinking contest? It seemed utterly presumptuous.
Cao Wanrong chuckled, “Miss He, don’t push yourself. As a woman, it’s unbecoming to get drunk. If something were to happen, we couldn’t explain ourselves. Let your brother drink for you instead.”
“I’ll take responsibility for my actions! You explain?” Mudan bowed to Prince Jing, filled his cup, and smiled, “Everyone here respects me so much they insist on toasting me. But I believe today’s events have mostly tired His Highness. Please allow me the audacity to lead them in a toast to you, Your Highness. We’ll drink it all, and you may drink as you please!”
Prince Jing smiled slightly, waving his hand to indicate she could do as she wished, then leaned back in his chair. He asked Liu Chang in a barely audible voice, “You’re not going to intervene on her behalf? Do you hate her, or do you know she can hold her liquor?”
Liu Chang replied indifferently, “She’s nothing to me. Even if she drinks herself to death, it’s no concern of mine.” He truly wasn’t worried. If he hadn’t once harbored improper thoughts and found Mudan’s clinginess annoying, he wouldn’t have known that the sickly Mudan was a formidable drinker. Back then, back then… why was he thinking about the past again? He rubbed his forehead, half in pain, half in disgust.
Prince Jing raised an eyebrow noncommittally and turned to watch the spectacle with interest.
Having received Prince Jing’s permission, Mudan provocatively slammed a jug of wine in front of Cao Wanrong, addressing him directly, “Cao Wanrong! Do you dare?”
Her brother, still somewhat conscious, tried to stop her, but Mudan gestured for Gui to make him sit down and stay out of it. She then pointed at Cao Wanrong, “Cao Wanrong! Are you afraid? If I, a mere woman, dare to do this, how can you, a grown man, not dare?”
She couldn’t take on the entire group, so she singled out Cao Wanrong. If she could defeat him, would the others still dare to challenge her? Besides, the others had already drunk quite a bit, while she had barely touched her drink. Moreover, appearances can be deceiving – who would have guessed that the sickly He Mudan naturally had such a high alcohol tolerance?
Publicly challenged to drink by a woman, Cao Wanrong couldn’t lose face. He sneered, “Nonsense, how could I not dare?” He picked up the wine jug and said, “Come on!”
Mudan swept a slightly contemptuous glance over those who had been egging them on earlier, raising her chin, “What about the rest of you? Don’t you want to join us, or do you prefer to toast His Highness separately? Or perhaps you don’t dare drink, can’t handle it?”
Hearing this, the young man surnamed Niu silently picked up the wine jug in front of him. Lü Chun, in a foul mood, was the least willing to engage in such antics and refused to be led by Mudan. He set down his cup heavily and said, “I’m not feeling well, so I won’t join you young people.”
Mudan didn’t force him, smiling, “You’re a respected elder. If you’re unwell, you should rest.”
Lü Chun glanced at Lü Fang, silently warning him not to embarrass himself, but Lü Fang pretended not to notice and smiled as he picked up his jug. Seeing this, the others had no choice but to follow suit. Mudan smiled slightly, nodded to Prince Jing, then began drinking from her jug. After drinking about a third, Lü Fang collapsed first, giggling as Lü Chun dragged him away. As she continued drinking, the young Niu and another scholar fell next. Cao Wanrong was still struggling to keep up when Prince Jing drank the cup Mudan had poured for him in one go and said calmly, “Enough! Let’s stop here!”
Despite her natural tolerance, Mudan had been eager for this moment. She immediately put down her jug, but Cao Wanrong, already quite drunk, shouted, “No, He Mudan, you haven’t finished!” Seeing that Prince Jing was looking down silently and Liu Chang was watching Cao Wanrong expressionlessly, Mudan knew they wouldn’t interfere. She boldly said, “Then you finish first, and I’ll finish after you!”
Cao Wanrong indeed finished his jug and promptly collapsed. Mudan let out a long sigh and bowed to Prince Jing to apologize. Prince Jing said indifferently, “Didn’t you say you’d drink after Cao Wanrong finished?”
Mudan replied seriously, “He’s too drunk to see me drink now. He won’t remember when he wakes up. I might as well drink with him next time we meet.”
“Indeed. This Cao Wanrong is a sore loser, quite disagreeable.” Prince Jing gestured for Mudan to rise, half-serious and half-joking, “You’re quite a strong-willed woman! It’s not good for women to be either too weak or too strong.”
Unsure of his meaning, Mudan just smiled and said, “One should act within one’s abilities.”
Prince Jing nodded, “I hear you and Jiang Dalang are to be married soon. When is the auspicious day?”
Mudan smiled, “It’s on the twenty-sixth of the sixth month.”
Prince Jing glanced at the expressionless Liu Chang and smiled, “That’s a double celebration then. I suppose Jiang Dalang is waiting downstairs? Since we have this fortunate encounter today, let him come up. I’ll toast to you both.”
Mudan protested that it was too much honor while sending Gui to call for Jiang Changyang. After all this commotion, it was clear that the real intent was to force Jiang Changyang to appear. Now that it was explicitly stated, Jiang Changyang couldn’t refuse.
Gui had barely left when he bumped into Jiang Changyang, who had been waiting nearby all along. Jiang Changyang entered with a stern face, bowed to Prince Jing, and sat down, his expression hardly improving. Prince Jing didn’t seem to mind and smiled, “Chengfeng, you used to be a frequent guest of mine, but lately I haven’t seen you around. If not for this chance encounter today, it would have been hard to see you.”
Jiang Changyang replied, “I’ve been busy, and when I’m free, Your Highness is usually resting. I didn’t want to disturb your peace.”
This was a lie. Prince Jing smiled faintly, “Since you’re here, how about a drink?” He then ordered Cao Wanrong and the others to be taken away, and had the table reset, appearing ready to drink heartily with Jiang Changyang and Liu Chang.
This day was bound to come sooner or later. After a moment of silence, Jiang Changyang said to Mudan, “The carriage is outside. Let Shunhou’er take you home.” Mudan bid farewell and supported her brother as they left. Just as they reached the stairs, they ran into Ahui.
Ahui smiled, “My mother is next door. Since Er Gong is very drunk, why not let him rest here for a while? Mother can chat with my mother, and wait for General Jiang to leave together. How about that?”
Although she knew this meeting was likely arranged by Prince Jing, Mudan couldn’t possibly refuse this suggestion. After all, Qin Niang had helped her greatly when Liu Chang had set her up, and they hadn’t formally met since Qin Niang’s abrupt departure. Mudan entrusted her brother to Shunhou’er’s care and followed Ahui to see Qin Niang, with Gui accompanying her.
As they walked, Ahui smiled and said, “We were just next door and saw you having a drinking contest. Mother, you’re truly full of surprises, with such a high tolerance for alcohol.”
“Not at all. I was actually about to fail, and it was thanks to Your Highness’s timely intervention that I narrowly escaped,” Mudan noticed that Ahui said she saw, not heard, which made her puzzled. How did they see? As they reached the doorway, they saw Qin Niang sitting in a private room, accompanied by two neatly dressed elderly maids. Seeing Mudan enter, Qin Niang was helped up by the two to greet her.
Mudan quickly stepped forward to support Qin Niang, saying, “You’re in a delicate condition, please don’t be so formal.”
Qin Niang smiled, “This is our first meeting since we parted, so these formalities are necessary. Once we become more familiar in the future, I won’t be so distant with you.” Although she was now heavily pregnant and had become much plumper and clumsier, she took good care of herself. Not only had it not affected her appearance, but she seemed even more charming and gentle than before, dressed exquisitely with a pretty face, exuding femininity.
In the future… another suggestive phrase. Mudan was tired of guessing. She smiled and complimented Qin Niang on becoming more beautiful, then mentioned that her fifth sister-in-law had just given birth to an adorably cute son.
Qin Niang, however, caressed her belly and said with a low laugh, “I want a daughter. Daughters are so sweet and reliable.” One of the two elderly maids quickly chimed in, “I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed, madam. Your belly is pointed and firm, it’s surely a boy.”
Mudan was momentarily speechless. She firmly disbelieved that Qin Niang wanted a daughter. In such an environment, without a son, one would try every means to have a boy for security. But in such an environment, Qin Niang probably didn’t dare speak the truth, pretending to want a daughter when she wanted a son.
Seeing Mudan’s silence, Qin Niang smiled and said, “Let’s not talk about things He Niang isn’t interested in.” She then took Mudan’s hand and walked towards the wall, saying in a low voice, “Let me show you something interesting and novel.” She lifted a painting on the wall, revealing a hole, and gestured for Mudan to look through it.
Mudan instinctively wanted to refuse, but Qin Niang gently pushed her, saying firmly yet kindly, “I’ve been watching you from here for a while. It’s hard to stand alone. It will only get more tiring in the future.”
What could be more straightforward than “It’s hard to stand alone”? Prince Jing’s words that couldn’t be said directly to Jiang Changyang were now spoken to her by Qin Niang. Mudan took a deep breath and looked through the hole as instructed. She saw Prince Jing grabbing Liu Chang and Jiang Changyang’s hands and putting them together. She quickly turned to look at Qin Niang, who glanced through the hole and said unsurprisingly, “Danniang, this is the trend of the times.”
The trend of the times. Such confident words. What gave her such confidence? Mudan frowned at Qin Niang.
“Whether you believe it or not, you and I are both without foundation. Although we try hard, we’re often not in control of our fate. If you’re less fortunate, you’d be me, and if I’m more fortunate, I’d be you,” Qin Niang looked directly at Mudan and said softly, “Whether you want to accept this goodwill is up to you.”
Mudan said quietly, “I like living a peaceful life.”
Qin Niang smiled understandingly, “I like that too. But there must be something, peace doesn’t come from nowhere. Alright, this is men’s business. Let’s women talk about something more intimate. For your wedding, I’ve prepared a generous gift for you.”
After leaving the restaurant, Jiang Changyang noticed Mudan seemed a bit gloomy and comforted her, “It’s alright, you have me. From tomorrow on, just focus on preparing for the wedding.”
What’s meant to come will come eventually. Mudan gave Jiang Changyang a bright smile.