For some unknown reason, when He Zeyou said these words, Shen Qiyuan didn’t look at those four maidservants but instinctively looked toward the person beside him.

However, Ruyi didn’t look at him either—she only gazed with interest at those four young ladies, her gaze even more fervent than his, without any other emotions.

She didn’t care whether he would accept them or not, nor did she care whether he would be intimate with others.

His fingertips trembled slightly. Shen Qiyuan lowered his eyes and said coldly: “My Lord’s behavior—are you trying to drag me into prison with you?”

“How could that be?” He Zeyou hurriedly waved his hands. “If My Lord doesn’t speak and I don’t speak, wouldn’t we both be at peace?”

He sneered coldly and rose without giving face: “Today’s wine and dishes don’t suit my appetite. I’ll take my leave first.”

“Ah, My Lord.” He Zeyou and Ruyi simultaneously reached out to stop him.

With slight malice in his eyes, he looked up at her.

Ruyi frowned, very displeased as she looked back: “If My Lord doesn’t want to accept gifts, that’s fine, but why say the wine and dishes don’t suit your appetite? The main courses haven’t even been served yet.”

She cared about this?

He laughed angrily, brushing away her hand, but didn’t continue walking out—only glared at her once.

He Zeyou looked at Shen Qiyuan for a moment, his expression somewhat complex.

He probably knew what Shen Qiyuan wanted. At first, he had also planned to give it, but truly sitting here looking at the person beside him, despicable as he was, he found it somewhat difficult to speak.

“Sit a while longer.” He Zeyou said with difficulty.

Ruyi reached out and pressed Shen Qiyuan back into his seat, indignantly picking up the White Immortal Fish that Heye had just brought up and placing it in his bowl: “Try it.”

“It has bones.” He frowned.

Ruyi picked up chopsticks and carefully removed the bones one by one for him, then pushed the bowl closer: “Quickly try it.”

Lord Shen finally condescended to take a bite.

The White Immortal Fish was already extremely fresh and tender, and with the cook’s superb culinary skills, it was truly delicious.

His brow relaxing somewhat, Shen Qiyuan nodded: “It’s edible.”

This person really—when something tastes good, he won’t say it tastes good, being stingy with those two words of praise.

She smiled and shook her head, then poured wine for him again.

Shen Qiyuan’s expression brightened somewhat as he looked across at the other man.

They were both men—each knew what the other was thinking. But in this round, no matter from which level you looked at it, he was the one who won.

He Zeyou’s eyelashes trembled as he lowered his head to sip wine.

He couldn’t compete with Shen Qiyuan, let alone now, when the entire Marquis Manor was precarious—he could only protect himself wisely first. No matter how good Liu Ruyi was, she was just a woman. He hadn’t wanted her before, so why should he lose the greater for the lesser now?

After turning these thoughts around in his mind, when He Zeyou raised his head again, his eyes were much more composed.

“Yi’er, have a drink.” He poured wine for Ruyi.

Ruyi looked up and met his gaze directly. She seemed to smile but didn’t smile, the corners of her eyes carrying some mockery, as if she had seen through his cowardly and shameless thoughts completely.

He Zeyou awkwardly avoided her gaze and filled the cup: “Lord Shen is a model for the clan and a pillar of the court. Being able to dine together today is my honor.”

Saying this, he handed the full cup of wine to Ruyi: “Yi’er thinks so too, doesn’t she?”

Ruyi looked at the shimmering wine in the cup and clicked her tongue lightly.

What love, what affection—in Marquis Ningyuan’s eyes, none could compare to himself. This person was extremely selfish and extremely utilitarian—he wouldn’t stop until he had drained the last drop of blood from a woman’s body.

But she still reached out to take the wine and drank it all in one gulp.

He Zeyou lowered his eyes and said: “Next month is my mother’s full birthday celebration. I’ll order thirty tables of banquet at the Immortal Meeting Wine House to be sent to the marquis’ manor.”

The marquis manor had its own cooks, yet still ordered banquet tables from outside—this was to thank her.

Ruyi naturally had no reason to refuse.

When the wine was half-finished, He Zeyou made an excuse and left.

When he left, his footsteps paused for a long time at the doorway, but he ultimately didn’t turn back.

Ruyi held her wine cup and sighed with a smile: “Does My Lord still think I’m excessive now?”

If the person opposite wasn’t Shen Qiyuan, if she were Liu Ruyi, today she would have been sent to another’s bed by him, used as a stepping stone for his connections with important ministers. Making him and Grand Preceptor Liu mutually destroy each other was already the gentlest form of revenge.

Shen Qiyuan asked with an unpleasant expression: “Are you sad for him?”

“Does he deserve it?” She laughed. “I just feel it’s not worth it for Liu Ruyi.”

Someone like her, accustomed to being carefree, naturally didn’t mind much, but for a Great Qian woman like Liu Ruyi, misjudging one person meant a lifetime of consequences—even the road back would be difficult to walk.

Though she said this, Shen Qiyuan still said mockingly: “He Zeyou isn’t bad either—titled marquis at a young age, handsome in appearance, and elegant in bearing.”

Ruyi heard this and turned to look at him.

“What are you doing?” He said irritably.

Laughter welling up in her eyes, she reached out and caressed the corner of his lips: “You’ve been sour since entering—how many plums did My Lord eat this morning?”

“You use me as an arrow to kill two birds with one stone, yet expect me to have good words?”

She wanted to sell He Zeyou a favor while using him and He Zeyou as the signboard for the Immortal Meeting Wine House. She wanted everything except to truly want to see him.

Shen Qiyuan coldly turned his head away.

There were no other people on the terrace now. Ruyi sat closer, smiling as she raised her cup to him: “I apologize to My Lord.”

Today’s wine at the table was very strong—even demons would get drunk.

Shen Qiyuan stared at her swallowing throat and suddenly said, “Since it’s an apology, one cup is hardly enough.”

She was quite straightforward, throwing away the cup and tilting her head back to drink directly from the spout.

The fierce wine vapor made even passing birds flutter their wings. In moments, her eyes began to shine with soft light, her demeanor becoming seductive.

He asked in a low voice: “If the person you met yesterday had been him, would you have done the same?”

Ruyi raised an eyebrow, finding the person before her somewhat childish, and couldn’t help but soften her voice to coax him: “How could that be? Yesterday in that study, if anyone other than My Lord had been there, I wouldn’t have pounced forward.”

Lies.

She wasn’t drunk yet.

Shen Qiyuan pressed his lips together and refilled her wine pot, but his wrist was held by her.

“Am I drinking alone?” She pouted, her eyes full of resentment.

Shen Qiyuan thought for a moment: “I’ll accompany you then.”

He would drink one cup while she drank one pot—he didn’t believe she still wouldn’t get drunk.

The wind carried osmanthus fragrance, the sun was setting low, and the terrace was bathed in warm colors.

Gradually, three or four empty wine jars toppled by the table, and the leftover food in the dishes slowly cooled completely.

Ruyi propped up her chin and looked at the person beside her, unable to help reaching out to pinch his flushed face: “Lord Shen, are you drunk already?”

Shen Qiyuan’s head was too heavy to move, and he could only hum softly: “No.”

Only seven or eight cups—how could he be drunk?

He reached out, wanting to take more wine, but his hand was grasped by someone, and then he felt a warm touch separate his five fingers, intertwining shallowly with his.

“My Lord~” He heard her laughing sigh.

What was there to laugh about? He thought. Not everyone had as good an alcohol tolerance as her, just as not everyone was as passionate yet fickle as her.

He knew her habits—she would certainly gather all the handsome young gentlemen under her skirts, this one today, that one tomorrow, and when she grew tired of them, she would change again.

But he didn’t want anyone else anymore.

He just wanted her.