After Lin Kun left, Shao Mingyuan sat in the room filled with faint wine fragrance, remaining motionless for a long time.
Shao Zhi called out cautiously: “General?”
Shao Mingyuan raised his eyebrows: “Go and invite Young Master Chi, Young Master Zhu, and the others here. Tell them I’m treating them to drinks at Chunfeng Tavern.”
Shao Zhi felt somewhat relieved.
The General still knew how to invite good friends for drinks—that was more reassuring than his current state.
“Yes, sir.”
As Shao Zhi reached the door, he heard Shao Mingyuan call from behind: “Shao Zhi—”
He turned around to meet a pair of eyes cold as winter stars: “Go tie up Steward Shen and have Leng Yi interrogate him thoroughly!”
Shao Zhi’s heart trembled.
Leng Yi was in charge of military punishments, and his methods for interrogating spies were no less effective than those of the famous Jinlin Guards.
It seemed the General was truly enraged.
“General, if we tie up Steward Shen, what about Madam—”
Shao Mingyuan lifted his eyelids and asked flatly: “Do you know how to knock someone unconscious?”
In that instant, Shao Zhi’s expression was quite complex: “Yes!”
Of course, he knew how to knock someone out, but he had thought the General wouldn’t resort to such methods, especially since Steward Shen was the General’s mother’s trusted aide—
After Shao Zhi left with his orders, Shao Mingyuan sat for a while longer before rising to go to the front tavern.
It was afternoon, the quiet time for the tavern. Shao Mingyuan entered the private room where he had recently met with Chi Can and waited silently.
Yang Houcheng was the first to arrive.
Seeing Shao Mingyuan, Yang Houcheng was full of joy and stepped forward to pat him: “Tingquan, I’ve been waiting for this drinking session for so long! Since you returned to the capital, we haven’t had a chance!”
Shao Mingyuan raised the wine pot in his hand: “Then today we won’t stop until we’re drunk!”
“No problem!” Yang Houcheng laughed at the sight of the wine pot. “‘Intoxicated by Spring Breeze,’ right? Today we can drink to our hearts’ content. Oh, why haven’t those two arrived yet?”
After speaking, he patted his head and explained to himself: “I forgot this is West Main Street. Tingquan, next time we gather, let’s change to Baiwei Studio, or Desheng Tower across the street, which would work too. Both are old establishments, and they’re closer to us.”
“But the wine here is good.”
Hearing this, Yang Houcheng chuckled: “You’re right about that. I loved sneaking sips of Chunfeng Tavern’s wine when I was little.”
The two were longtime friends, so their conversation was naturally unrestrained. By the time Chi Can and Zhu Yàn arrived one after another, they had already finished one pot of wine.
Chi Can wore a sapphire blue robe with iris patterns today, with an ivory-colored sash of matching design and a piece of ink jade hanging from it—truly a gentleman like jade, bringing radiance to the entire room upon entering.
“I say, Tingquan, you’re truly nostalgic, so reluctant to part with this Chunfeng Tavern?”
Shao Mingyuan smiled: “I am indeed nostalgic.”
He was now the behind-the-scenes owner of Chunfeng Tavern, making it more convenient to conduct business he couldn’t handle at the marquis’ residence. Just like today, first meeting Lin Kun, then inviting Chi Can and the others for drinks. Even if someone discovered his whereabouts, they wouldn’t think much of it.
This place wasn’t just the brightest memory of his youth—it was also somewhere he could relax somewhat in the future.
Chi Can plopped down without ceremony, and even though he ungracefully propped up his leg, he still looked pleasing to the eye. He smiled and said, “This is the first time in years we’ve all gathered so completely. You two are unfair—you already started drinking?”
Zhu Yàn was much more proper, giving Shao Mingyuan a gentle smile before sitting down.
Shao Mingyuan filled a cup with wine: “Since returning to the capital, I haven’t had time to gather with my brothers. Let me punish myself with three cups first!”
He drank three cups of wine in succession, his face like cold jade taking on a flush of red.
Yang Houcheng reached out to pat his shoulder, laughing heartily: “That’s our Tingquan being straightforward! Come, let’s drink.”
When good friends gathered, there was naturally none of the pretense of ordinary drinking parties. They raised their cups and drank with great pleasure.
However, Zhu Yàn was observant and gradually sensed something amiss.
From sitting down until now, Tingquan hadn’t frowned once while drinking, his cheeks red as sunset clouds, yet he hadn’t touched a single chopstick of food.
Could it be because of his wife’s mourning period that he didn’t want to eat rich foods?
Zhu Yàn excused himself to use the washroom and instructed the server waiting outside to bring several vegetarian dishes.
He first picked up a meatball, ate it, then smiled: “Chunfeng Tavern’s pan-fried vegetarian meatballs taste quite good. You should all try them.”
Chi Can obligingly took a chopstickful and, after eating, commented: “Not bad.”
Yang Houcheng ate one meatball and shook his head: “I still think this wine-marinated quail has more flavor for drinking!”
Shao Mingyuan only listened without speaking, picking up his wine cup for another sip.
Now Zhu Yàn was certain: his friend had something on his mind!
In the past, given their friendship, they could speak freely about anything. But now that Shao Mingyuan’s status was different, perhaps there were things they shouldn’t know about, so he couldn’t ask directly.
Zhu Yàn simply pretended not to notice and placed a vegetarian meatball in Shao Mingyuan’s dish: “Tingquan, you try it too. Yang Er has no taste.”
Hearing this, Yang Houcheng was displeased and pouted: “Who has no taste?”
He reached out to place a chopstickful of wine-marinated quail in Shao Mingyuan’s dish, not to be outdone: “Tingquan, try this and see which dish goes better with wine!”
Zhu Yàn: “…” This is a pig teammate, isn’t it?
Though Chi Can wasn’t as observant as Zhu Yàn, by this point, he could see something was wrong.
Unlike Zhu Yàn’s overthinking, he set down his chopsticks and asked directly with raised eyebrows: “Tingquan, are you in a bad mood?”
Shao Mingyuan paused, and under the gaze of his three friends, he stopped hiding it and smiled lightly: “Yes, that’s why I asked you all to drink with me.”
Fortunately, in this capital, he could still find people to drink with.
“What’s wrong?”
The secrets he had just uncovered couldn’t be shared even with good friends. Shao Mingyuan rubbed his wine cup and smiled: “I suddenly feel I don’t fit in with the capital. I might be better suited to staying in the north.”
But he knew that in the short term, he wouldn’t be able to leave the capital.
Hearing this, Chi Can felt inexplicably annoyed and snorted: “What not fitting in? With us here, you’ll fit in just fine!”
He had thought this fellow, aside from his high position and power, didn’t have any other advantages. In the future, wouldn’t he still have to follow his lead?
“Exactly!” Yang Houcheng chimed in to comfort him. “No matter how good the north is, does it have a Chunfeng Tavern?”
“No.”
“Does it have wine-marinated quail?”
“No.”
Listening to his friends’ back-and-forth, Shao Mingyuan suddenly felt the heavy pain pressing on his heart lighten considerably.
“Does it have us?”
“No.”
“Does it have such warm weather?” Yang Houcheng, emboldened by wine, became more animated, pointing outside the window.
Outside the window, bright sunlight filled the streets.
“No.”
“Does it have beautifully dressed pretty young ladies—”
Zhu Yàn lifted his foot and kicked Yang Houcheng under the table.
This fool, really bringing up the most sensitive topic.
Outside on the street, a horse carriage with azure curtains slowly stopped. The curtain lifted, and a little maid in a pale green jacket jumped down.
The little maid walked happily toward Chunfeng Tavern. Behind her, the carriage window curtain suddenly lifted gently, revealing a young lady’s quiet, gentle smile and calm, untroubled gaze.
Those eyes seemed familiar, as if seen in dreams a thousand times. The wine-intoxicated Shao Mingyuan felt somewhat dazed and said softly: “No, there aren’t any.”