The Distance Caused by Wine
Reaching the dock, Xuan Tian Ming’s group bought over ten fast horses and a carriage then rushed in the direction of the capital.
Zi Rui was saved, and Qian Zhou’s divine archery team was wiped out; however, nobody was able to ensure that there would not be any other enemies hidden elsewhere. The North had defected to the enemy, and this was equivalent to opening a large hole in Da Shun. The enemy could enter as they pleased, and it could not be stopped.
Along the way, Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Zi Rui were working together to provide Feng Yu Heng with some “ideological training” with the main reason being that Zi Rui wanted to lay down the pen and pick up a sword. He still wanted to stand on the same battlefield as Feng Yu Heng, and he even gave himself a pompous reason: “Elder sister, don’t you want to protect me? If you don’t keep me at your side, how will you protect me!” While saying this, he waved his small hand in front of her: “If I am not at your side, you protected me to the point that I lost a finger. If I lost a few more, I wouldn’t even be able to pick up chopsticks.”
Feng Yu Heng feared this the most, and her eyes immediately began to turn red. Not to mention putting down the pen to pick up a sword, even if this child said that he wanted to spend his life laying around and counting money, she would have to be willing.
Thus the end result of this matter was Feng Yu Heng deciding to compromise; however, she agreed with Feng Zi Rui: “When the matters are taken care of after returning to the capital, you will come with me to the military camp, and you will learn martial arts from the soldiers. You will learn the art of war from the support group. You cannot slack off at any time.”
Feng Zi Rui nodded, “Elder sister, don’t worry. I know what I want.” While he spoke, he appeared to be in high spirits. How could this be the appearance of an eight-year-old child? It was just that this precociousness that caused Feng Yu Heng to feel a little sad. If possible, she would rather her younger brother be a little simpler. She would spread her wings to protect him and provide him with a joyful childhood.
The carriage continued to advance, and Feng Yu Heng’s nerves finally began to relax. Leaning against Xuan Tian Ming, she fell into a deep sleep after just a short while. Xuan Tian Ming held this girl tightly in his embrace, and a heartache that could not be expressed appeared.
Because Ban Zou required Yao Xian to save him, and because of all of the things that had occurred this time around, they would need to enter the palace to greet the Emperor, thus Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng did not return directly to the military camp. Instead, they were rushing toward the capital.
When they finally passed through the capital’s gates, Feng Yu Heng tightly held her chest, feeling that her heart had fallen from a very dangerous place before finally returning to its original location.
She smiled bitterly, “In the past, I did not think that the capital provided peace of mind, but that was because I had not experienced anything too big, and that sense of belonging did not come so easily.”
After entering the capital, the hidden guards dispersed while heading toward the Yu Palace. Bai Ze drove the carriage, bringing the group toward the Yao manor first. As a result, they came up empty. The servants of the Yao manor said: “Master has gone into the palace. He was called by his Majesty to drink wine.” The words that were said were very practiced. It was clear that this sort of thing had become exceedingly common.
Feng Yu Heng was extremely speechless. On their way into the palace, she said to Xuan Tian Ming: “Can you have your dad not always tie up my grandfather? At such an old age, he can’t keep drinking that much.”
Xuan Tian Ming spread his hands, “If I was in the capital, I would be able to control it, but once I have left the capital, he is the boss.”
Feng Zi Rui was puzzled and asked: “Isn’t the emperor the boss to begin with?”
Feng Yu Heng told him: “Everybody has a weakness. With your brother-in-law present, he really does feel a little bit awkward as the boss.”
Xuan Tian Ming added: “In truth, even if I am not present, the boss in the palace was never him. There is also imperial concubine mother watching over him.”
These words were verified when they reached the steps of Heavenly Hall, as they saw a servant from Winter Moon Palace talking to Zhang Yuan: “Our imperial concubine said that the smell of alcohol could be noticed from the faraway Winter Moon Palace. She finds it to be very foul smelling, and she is disgusted to the point of not being able to sleep. She specially sent this servant to come and take a look to see, have the wine jars in Heavenly Hall been spilled?”
Zhang Yuan smiled along: “Two jars did spill. Imperial concubine really is amazing. This servant will immediately have someone quickly take care of it. We must not offend imperial concubine.”
“Un.” The palace maid nodded, “Then I will trouble eunuch Yuan. Oh right, I heard that imperial physician Yao came into the palace?”
Zhang Yuan did not dare hide it, quickly saying: “Indeed. At this moment, he is accompanying the Emperor in dr… he is currently accompanying the Emperor in studying new prescriptions.”
“Oh.” The palace maid nodded, “Then I hope that they are able to find an effective prescription for giving up drinking.”
Xuan Tian Ming’s expression sank, as he brought his wife and younger brother-in-law forward. Just as Zhang Yuan was about to return inside the hall, he saw the group walking toward him. He quickly went forward to welcome them, “Oh! Your Highness, imperial daughter, why have you come? Weren’t you going to the military camp?”
Xuan Tian Ming waved his hand and snorted while glaring at Zhang Yuan: “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on the old man to ensure that he does not drink?”
Zhang Yuan nearly cried, “Your Highness, there’s nothing that I can do! At noon, his Majesty sent this servant over to Winter Moon Palace to deliver some peeled pine nuts. Just as this servant left, he secretly sent someone to invite lord Yao. Hah, not to hide it from your Highness, this servant really can’t keep an eye on him. He will find all kinds of excuses to invite lord Yao into the palace. Even if lord Yao is at the Hundred Herb Hall, he is still able to be called over. He has even feigned illness three times.”
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. This was truly more annoying than worrying about love.
Just as they were speaking, the Emperor’s voice shouted from inside: “Little Yuan! Go and fetch another jar of wine for Us!”
Immediately following this came Yao Xian’s voice: “Two jars!”
Feng Yu Heng hid behind Xuan Tian Ming, “I can’t manage this. I’ll leave it to you.”
Xuan Tian Ming was also extremely vexed, as he began to walk in.
Zhang Yuan trotted in behind him. While trotting, he said: “Dear lord, don’t keep shouting! I will tell you, the Winter Moon Palace has already sent someone to deliver a message. If you continue to drink, imperial concubine Yun will have a headache and will be unable to sleep. I will leave the rest to you!”
Upon hearing mention of imperial concubine Yun, the Emperor froze in place. His body shook, and he stared blankly for a bit.
Yao Xian had clearly drank too much. Holding his cup of wine in one hand, he did not forget to laugh at the Emperor: “You’re the boss, yet you’re actually afraid of your wife!”
Feng Yu Heng rushed forward in fear and covered Yao Xian’s mouth. She then quietly whispered into his ear: “Grandfather, do you not want to live? Quickly stop speaking.”
The Emperor saw Feng Yu Heng suddenly appear and blinked at first. He then turned to look at Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Zi Rui. He wanted to say something, but he still chose to ask Zhang Yuan: “You mean to say that there was movement from dearest’s side?”
Zhang Yuan said: “Imperial concubine Yun said that she could smell it from so far away. She felt so disgusted that she could not fall asleep, thus…”
“I’m done drinking! Put it all away!” The Emperor immediately made the decision and told Yao Xian: “In the future, we will not drink in the palace. This old one’s wife does not like the smell of wine.”
Zhang Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief, but he was not entirely at ease, as he heard the Emperor say: “Next time, We will sneak out and go to your Yao manor to drink.”
These words nearly caused Zhang Yuan to cough up blood. The eunuch endured for a long time but was unable to hold it in, saying: “Just based on the way you drink, imperial concubine Yun would not be willing to see you.”
The Emperor immediately shriveled up.
Feng Yu Heng quickly tugged at Yao Xian: “Grandfather, stop drinking. I came to ask you for an urgent matter.” While saying this, she feared that Yao Xian would not sober up. She quickly brought Zi Rui over and brought his left hand up for Yao Xian to see, “The people of Qian Zhou did this. His pinky on his left hand is gone.”
“What?” Yao Xian immediately stopped up, knocking over a jar of good wine. At this moment, the smell of wine truly filled the air, but whether it was Zhang Yuan or the Emperor, neither was worried about the smell of wine. Zi Rui’s missing finger caused them to become dazed. Who knew if it was because Yao Xian was drunk or angry, but his face was completely red, as he did his best to slam the table while shouting: “Which bastard did this? Was it Feng Jin Yuan? Fuck, this old one will cut him!”
Saying this, he moved to rush outside, but Xuan Tian Ming quickly stopped him. Feng Yu Heng also did her best to advise: “Don’t be so rash. Even if you are going to cut him, you need to wake up from being drunk to do it! Why else is it said that drinking will ruin things. Look, you can’t even get a thrill out of cutting someone!”
This time, Yao Xian felt that he had lost out by getting drunk. Not long after standing up, he began to sway. After swaying a few times, he sat back down.
Feng Yu Heng helplessly sighed, but the Emperor was stroking his beard while staring wide-eyed and shouting about getting revenge for Zi Rui. The two looked at each other and began to shout! It was as though they were competing.
The Emperor said: “This old one will eradicate his entire family!”
Yao Xian said: “This old one will wipe his entire extended family!”
The Emperor continued: “This old one will dig up his family’s ancestral grave!”
Yao Xian also continued: “This old will use a machine gun and destroy his entire country!”
The Emperor swallowed some saliva down the wrong pipe and nearly choked himself to death, “What is a machine gun? What sort of thing is a machine gun?”
As a result, before this question could be answered, Yao Xian’s head leaned to the side, and he fell asleep on the table.
The Emperor was not much better, as he also sat down and leaned over, falling asleep.
The anger in Xuan Tian Ming’s heart caused him to clench his fists. Zhang Yuan saw this and began to feel afraid, quickly going forward to stop him: “Your Highness, no matter what is said, he is your father. You must not hit him! If you are truly too angered, how about you find someone that you are unhappy with inside the capital and start a fire! Right, start a fire. How relieving is that!”
Even Feng Zi Rui could scarcely bear to continue listening to this. He finally understood why this emperor occasionally seemed to be unreliable. With this sort of eunuch at his side, how could he be reliable?
Feng Yu Heng helplessly held Zi Rui then looked at the passed out Yao Xian, feeling exceedingly speechless. She was hoping to have him treat a patient, yet he did quite well, getting drunk to this degree with the Emperor. She pointed at the two and said to Zi Rui: “Have you seen this. Men absolutely must not touch wine. No matter how young or old, and no matter their position, as long as one drinks too much, they will become extremely disgraceful!”
Zi Rui nodded fiercely, “It’s too disgraceful.”
“Right.” Feng Yu Heng continued: “It’s not just shameful, even his wife does not want to see him. Imperial concubine Yun has not seen the Emperor for many years because he likes drinking wine.”
Zhang Yuan’s heart began to feel cold from hearing this. Just how much enmity did imperial daughter Ji An have toward wine that she was even capable of making up this sort of story. If imperial concubine Yun and the Emperor were separated by just some wine, it would have been resolved long ago. But he did not dare say this. He could only discuss with the two: “Your Highness, imperial daughter, based on this situation…”
Xuan Tian Ming snorted coldly, “Have someone bring the two into the inner hall. Then tidy up their things. This prince and imperial daughter will make do with staying here for the night.”
Zhang Yuan nodded and quickly began directing the servants. Right before leaving, he glanced at Feng Yu Heng and asked something that caused her to become speechless: “What exactly is a machine gun?”