Chapter 68: The Wine Game (I)

Le Wuya whipped around and saw Xiang Zhijie, walking alone, leading a white horse.

For a moment, he felt dazed, as if transported back to the capital—when he had wandered listlessly through streets bright as daylight and packed with people, amid the sounds of laughter and play, and only this man had looked at him with an earnestness close to reverence, as if he, alone in all the world, was worth stopping for.

But this wasn't the capital.

In this frontier town, nightfall brought cold, dim, desolate streets.

Hardly anyone was out; for now, they were the only two around.

Seeing no one around, Le Wuya hurried over and, boldly, lightly shoved his forehead: "Since when do you copy Little Seven? So rude!"

Xiang Zhijie raised a hand to his forehead, smiling with a gentle, composed look: "Little Seven's always copying me. I just wanted to see if it was actually fun."

Le Wuya shook his head: "No fun. You two aren't alike at all."

As he spoke, his eyes drifted down and spotted a dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging at Xiang Zhijie's waist.

Xiang Zhijie smiled: "First time I've ever heard anyone say we're not alike."

Le Wuya quickly looked away, took the reins, and asked: "What assignment did you get?"

"None." Xiang Zhijie shook his head, smiling. "I snuck out."

Le Wuya adopted his teacher's manner and scolded: "Last time, the Seventh Prince got a fine assignment inspecting the mines. As his elder brother, aren't you feeling any pressure?"

Xiang Zhijie: "That's not where my ambitions lie."

Le Wuya: "Ah, so your ambition is to seek incense, huh?"

"Yeah, seeking incense." Xiang Zhijie nodded, then added, "...and paying respects to the gods while I'm at it."

...What a guy.

Xiang Zhijie: "I'd planned to come into town to see how Magistrate Wenren's been running things lately, then make a formal visit tomorrow. But turns out, after walking around, the city gates were already locked. Magistrate Wenren, got a spare room to put me up for the night?"

There were plenty of guest rooms in the yamen, so bringing Little Six back wouldn't be a problem.

But...

Just as Le Wuya was about to say no, Xiang Zhijie spoke: "I also have a few important things I want to say to Magistrate Wenren."

Smart kid—trying to shut him up, was he?

Le Wuya took a deep breath: "Talk first."

Xiang Zhijie took the reins back and walked side by side with him toward the county office, saying seriously: "My childhood name is Fengjun, and my courtesy name is Xiuzhu, from the saying 'the bamboo has integrity.'"

Le Wuya furrowed his brow.

...Fengjun... Xiu Guan?

He wasn't stupid—he quickly figured out the general gist of it.

Ha. That guy had tried to make him lose his composure!

Good thing Little Six had caught it and pointed it out early. If he'd let it slip in front of others, what would they think of him?

A real troublemaker, that one.

But then Le Wuya thought again, and found it strange.

Was this really so urgent? It was just about a letter—hardly worth Little Six making a special trip all the way here.

He must have other business to take care of.

Le Wuya was about to ask when he heard the clatter of hooves coming through the moonlight.

Few people in Nanting kept horses, and traveling merchants knew the rules—no one in plain clothes would dare gallop down the main streets at night.

Besides, that hoofbeat sounded familiar to Le Wuya.

Sure enough, the rider drew near, saw the two walking side by side, and stiffened with a sharp look. Without waiting for the horse to stop, he jumped off and strode over, moving to bow to Xiang Zhijie.

Xiang Zhijie caught his arm in time, stopping the gesture: "On the public street, with too many eyes around—no need for that."

Pei Mingqi said quietly: "Yes."

Then he turned to Le Wuya and said, none too politely: "Out this late, not staying put in the yamen—running around again!"

Le Wuya's brow twitched a few times, and he couldn't help pinching the bridge of his nose.

Great.

Just great!

If Helian Che attacked now, they'd have a hostage prince and a general both—all in one pot. Wouldn't that be fun?

Seeing him make the same gesture as in the old days when he was troubled, Pei Mingqi felt both joy and bitterness. He grabbed Le Wuya's wrist and pulled his hand away: "No pinching."

Xiang Zhijie, standing nearby, caught something odd in Pei Mingqi's words: "'Again'?"

"You haven't heard? A few days ago, Magistrate Wenren here ran across the border over a stone material deal. Tell me, isn't that bold of him?"

Xiang Zhijie kept his face neutral: "Is that so?"

Pei Mingqi, like someone guarding his prize, pulled Le Wuya closer—close enough that Le Wuya could feel his warm, slightly hurried breath: "I'm the one who dragged him back."

Xiang Zhijie's expression didn't change: "Then, many thanks to General Pei."

Pei Mingqi squinted.

...Thanks?

Him going to fetch his little magistrate was his own choice—what business was it of the Sixth Prince to thank him?

Xiang Zhijie seemed completely oblivious to the wariness coming off him: "General Pei, have you eaten on your way here? Let me treat you."

Pei Mingqi asked Le Wuya: "You hungry?"

Le Wuya perked up right away: "The Four Seas Tower!"

Pei Mingqi: "Good. I'm paying."

Xiang Zhijie: "I've got it."

Pei Mingqi: "Military affairs in Yizhou are under General Dingyuan's charge. Since I'm here, it's only right that I play host."

The actual landlord, Le Wuya, clutched his money pouch and shrank back in the middle, playing dead.

When he first came to this world, he arrived empty-handed, and all the money he had was Wen Ren's private property.

He had to be careful about spending it for him.

Compared to Pei Mingqi's pressing and sharp-tongued manner, Zhi Jie was indeed a modest gentleman who didn't like to argue, and said mildly, "Then we'll trouble Young General Pei."

...

At the Four Seas Tower, the lights were brilliant, and cups were raised as wine was poured.

The Four Seas Tower's own brew, rich in color and aroma, was called "Borrowing the Bright Moon."

Pei Mingqi poured Le Wuya a cup of wine.

Le Wuya declined, saying, "I'm not much of a drinker."

This was not a lie.

To test how much this body had changed, a month ago, Le Wuya had someone buy a jug of locally brewed rice wine and brought it back to his office to drink alone.

One cup in, he was already tipsy, squinting and searching the room for a bed.

Pei Mingqi didn't believe him: "You..."

Zhi Jie, who had seen his drinking capacity firsthand, came to Le Wuya's rescue: "Magistrate Wenren really isn't much of a drinker. I'll drink with General Pei."

Pei Mingqi: "If it's just the two of us drinking, won't it be boring?"

Le Wuya blinked, puzzled.

From what he remembered, these two didn't seem that close.

Could it be because they'd spent four years together nurturing his remnant soul?

While Le Wuya was wildly speculating, Zhi Jie asked, "Then let General Pei decide—what shall we do for fun? Flying flower orders? Dice? Finger-guessing?"

Pei Mingqi looked at him meaningfully: "How about a game of cover-and-guess?"

The cover-and-guess game wasn't like pitch-pot; it was a game of guessing hidden objects.

The simple version was to hide an object in one hand and have the other person guess which hand it was in.

The more complex version was for one person to think of a word or an object, and the guesser could ask three to five questions, which the question-setter would answer with "yes" or "no," and then the guesser would figure out what the word or object was.

If the guesser got it right, the question-setter drank.

If the guesser got it wrong, the guesser drank.

Of course, the rules for cover-and-guess varied from place to place, and there were too many to list.

Le Wuya wasn't very interested in this kind of scholarly back-and-forth game.

He wanted to see a game of finger-guessing.

So he butted in, "No. Not lively enough."

"You don't drink, so you don't get a say." Pei Mingqi turned to Zhi Jie and asked, "Sixth Prince, how about it?"

"Sure." Zhi Jie nodded. "But I've never played before. What are the rules?"

Pei Mingqi: "Simple. I ask you a question. If you can answer it truthfully, I drink; if you can't, you drink."

Zhi Jie: "But how do you know I'm telling the truth?"

Pei Mingqi: "With Yidi as witness and Dukang as proof, under heaven's watch, no lying."

Finally, he added meaningfully: "There are spirits in heaven and earth watching over us. You and I both know that, don't we?"

Zhi Jie thought for a moment: "That's not hard. I can give it a try. Any taboos?"

Pei Mingqi: "No questions about state affairs, military reports, money, or gods and ghosts—those are the four things off-limits."

Zhi Jie: "Understood."

"Who goes first?"

"The guest follows the host's lead, of course."

"...Fine." Most of Pei Mingqi's features were handsome and well-proportioned, but the corners of his eyes drooped slightly, giving him a somewhat pitiful, puppy-dog look even when he was being aggressive. "...Sixth Prince, when did you and Magistrate Wenren get so close?"

Le Wuya, who was enthusiastically picking rabbit meat out of the spicy hot pot, said, "...?"

Why is this coming at me?