Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“The Dragon King never drank.”
Looking at Shangguan Ru who had drank almost half of the pot of wine, Queen Ju coldly reprimanded her. But her words couldn’t hurt the other side’s feelings at all now.
The taste of the wine was quite hot and coarse. Queen Ju did not drink, and Xu Yanwei and Xiao Fengchai had given up after a few sips. Shangguan Ru, however, complained about a lack of fun as she spat out with her tongue.
She was in a perfect state: intoxicated yet sober, cognizant enough to feel all the good feelings and numb enough to laugh at the hurtful words of Queen Ju.
Shangguan Ru held the wine pot alone and went back to the original big tent, where there were only monks living. The monks smelled the alcohol and all of them became flustered in their rush to make way for her. She went straight up to the two monks of the Four Truths Temple and asked, “Monks, are you interested in drinking?”
Fayan’s smile was bigger than usual but Lianqing anxiously waved and hid his hands in his sleeves, pushing Shangguan Ru outside. “Ridiculous, it’s really ridiculous. How old are you? Such a heavy smell of alcohol…”
Out of the tent, Lianqing clasped his hands, saluted, and sighed, “Little girl is really bold and forthright. It was worth getting to know and making friends with you. If it had been before… Alas, please do not come again. My ten years of cultivation has been ruined by the smell of the wine.”
“Ehh, haven’t you only been a monk for two or three years?” Shangguan Ru’s mind was still clear.
“My Master said that I have the root of wisdom and I had been a monk for ten years in my previous life, so… Alas, Amitabha, what kind of wine is this?”
Shangguan Ru laughed and left, letting Lianqing keep his ten years of cultivation of his previous life.
But she did not want to drink alone, and also did not want to go back to the tent to listen to Queen Ju’s sarcasm, so she held the pot and turned around on the spot, walking towards the soldiers’ tent. She shouted to the archers on the watchtower when she was halfway there, “Come down and have a drink.”
Over a dozen arrows were immediately pointed at her. The soldiers looked at each other and none of them wanted to be the first to shoot.
The soldiers who were resting in the tents all came out after hearing the voice. Looking at the half-drunk little girl, they all couldn’t help but smile.
Shangguan Ru also smiled. This wasn’t the first time she had gotten drunk, and also wouldn’t be the last time. “Come on, it’s my treat.”
The soldiers all looked at the new chief.
The new chief, the only one who didn’t smile, surveyed the tents where the prisoners lived before saying, “What kind of trick are you playing? No one is allowed to go over there. There may be a trap.”
“Haha,” Shangguan Ru laughed out loud, lifted the wine pot with both hands and gulped down a mouthful before saying, “Everyone says that the men of the Prairie will drink whatever wine comes to them. You are really disappointing.”
“She’s just a little girl…” Some of the soldiers defiantly argued.
“Can she get us all drunk?” More soldiers were ready to try.
The chief grunted and turned back to the tent.
Seven or eight soldiers went forward, and each of them produced a wooden bowl from their bags and looked at Shangguan Ru with a smile, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Shangguan Ru filled the bowls with wine and finally lifted the wine pot to her ear and shook several times, smiling, “Oops, there’s only a little left. It seems that we can’t fully enjoy ourselves.”
The soldiers did not care. One of them drunk up first, smacked his lips and said, “Good wine. Share the wine and drink as you like, that’s how we’ll enjoy ourselves to the fullest.”
The crowd held a bowl in their hands and drank it up all at the same time.
Shangguan Ru threw away the wine pot, her body already swaying a bit. “I owe you one. I’ll make up for it later.”
“We’ll pay you back.”
Seeing that the prisoner and the prison guards’ little wine banquet was about to end, the chief came out of the tent with a wine jar under each arm, which was much bigger than the one that Shangguan Ru had brought. Then he said with a cold face, “The people of the Norland are not so stingy, and we’ll pay you back now. Those who can’t drink much walk away now. Do not let the little girl embarrass you.”
No one would admit their drinking capacity was small. The chief ordered someone to bring out some clean bowls. The host and the guest then stood drinking in the courtyard. At first, it was a bit dull but after drinking two bowls of wine, the soldiers quickly reached the same state as Shangguan Ru, talking and laughing, and some were even singing and dancing.
“Drinking wine without meat is like… is like…” A soldier could not think of anything to finish his comparison so Shangguan Ru helped him. “It’s like a steed without a saddle, a hero without a treasured sword, a beauty without a dowry, a king without a counselor, a general without a soldier, or…”
“A woman without a man.” The one who said this was kicked and punched and bore the burden of going to a nearby camp to ask for meat.
The prison in the forbidden zone covered a large area which included over a dozen camps and kept many prisoners. The camp where Shangguan Ru was imprisoned was actually the best one.
The soldier who went out to get meat soon finished his task and brought back a leg of beef and four legs of lamb which were all prepared and ready to eat, with four curious soldiers following him.
The soldiers were all experienced and they quickly built a simple rack with their long spears and hung those five chunks of meat. Then they took out a knife and sliced the meat of to eat. Shangguan Ru also ate a little but continued to drink most of the time.
Seeing this, the soldiers on the watchtowers protested and requested that the chief should treat them equally by having them take turns to guard and drink.
So the banquet in the courtyard became even more lively. Shangguan Ru didn’t remember how many toasts she had made and also didn’t remember what she had said or heard. But she was very happy because everyone was very friendly to her. They were prison guards and prisoner, and also at the same time, hosts and guest. There was no such loyalty as master and servant, and neither was there any of the so-called betrayal either.
The two pots of wine were soon finished off, and the man who went out to borrow wine brought back more soldiers.
By the middle of the night, there were already eighty or ninety people gathered in the little camp. The ones who came later didn’t even know why the party started. When they saw a little girl drinking like a man in the crowd, they were all stunned. But after only a bowl of wine in their stomachs, they all treated her like a close friend.
This was about the time when the previous officer of the camp came, who was also holding a small pot of wine. “What a crowded party! Count me in!” He had come as he had heard that there was wine and meat being served here, though he didn’t expect to see Shangguan Ru here. Stupefied, he then laughed, “So, you like drinking. Why didn’t you say so earlier? Come, accompany me in having a few drinks.”
Since she was drunk, it took Shangguan Ru a long while to recognize who the person was in front of her. Then she pointed at him and said, “You are not good, bullying women. Definitely not a good man of the Prairie.”
The drunkards in the camp were all in high spirits, and a few slices of mutton and beef was no longer enough for their appetites. Full of energy, they were ready to fight each other. Shangguan Ru’s words had provided them with a perfect opportunity to let off their steam.
The officer reached out with his hand but suddenly found that the eyes of the people around were not right. He hurriedly took three steps back and said, “Hey, calm down. Do you want to offend my superior?”
The new chief of the camp forced his way out of the crowd and said with a strong smell of wine, “What kind of superior are you? A woman-bully, and an ass-kisser who can’t even ride a horse properly? I’m gonna offend you today.”
The officer’s face paled, and he suddenly turned around and ran desperately towards the camp gate. An arrow swished past his ear and then he was kicked in the butt. He was being treated like a fugitive.
Shangguan Ru didn’t see the whole process. She fell down but didn’t fall asleep completely. And there was a joyful uproar in her ear as if many people were passionately urging her to drink again, “Have another bowl of wine…”
When she opened her eyes again, she felt a splitting headache and was limp as if she had been torn into pieces, and then barely glued back together by a crude craftsman. “Am I dead?” she asked.
“Almost.” said a disgruntled voice.
Shangguan Ru finally recognized the person in front of her, “Where is this?”
“Where else could it be? The old place.” Xu Yanwei peevishly said while holding a silk handkerchief in her hand. She was carefully wiping Miss Ru’s forehead.
This was the tent that had held those monks. Shangguan Ru was lying in the very inside portion with her head resting on Xu Yanwei’s legs. Five steps away sat the smiling Fayan and Lianqing with a look of reverence.
“How did we get back here?” Shangguan Ru wanted to sit up but was pinned down by Xu Yanwei. “How do you have the brass to even ask? You were dead drunk, and if it wasn’t for me, you’d be trampled to death by a bunch of Norland men. And no one was willing to take you in except for these kind-hearted monks. Otherwise, you’d have slept with a bunch of stinky men and what would happen if the news got out? Now you’d better lie down for a while. You are a young lady, and even the bitches of the Retention Alley… I never saw you drink so much in the castle.”
Shangguan Ru stuck her tongue out and smiled, then closed her eyes and fell asleep again. It was a sound sleep, without noise or nightmares.
Xu Yanwei looked down at the delicate jade-like face and wiped more gently, suddenly thinking that she was really lucky to not be in a relationship with the Dragon King. Looking at his women, none of them were happy, or even normal.
Shangguan Ru woke up in the afternoon and felt much better. Fayan and Lianqing accepted her thanks but another group of monks glared at her. The tent was filled with the smell of wine and probably wouldn’t dissipate for two or three days.
The effect of the last night’s impromptu feast was great. As soon as she left the tent, Shangguan Ru found that there were many soldiers in the camp, many of whom smiled at her with a bruised face but dared not speak.
“How come the people from the other camps were left behind?” Shangguan Ru felt very strange.
Xu Yanwei held the young lady back and really wanted to pat her to wake her up. “Obviously it’s to prevent them from letting out the secret. I don’t know what to say. You just focused on drinking and didn’t even look for someone to pass along a message. If the Dragon King knew that we are here, he’ll come right away to save us.”
Shangguan Ru knocked herself on the head, and exclaimed, “What an idiot I was to forget all about it.”
The young noble officer, who had once negotiated with the four women, came over, followed by two armed soldiers. “Please come with me, Instructor Shangguan.”
Xu Yanwei stood in front of Shangguan Ru like a petite and aggressive female bird. “What for? If you dare to touch Miss Ru, the Dragon King will rip out your heart and lungs and feed it to the dogs.”
The noble officer smiled, “I dare not touch your lady. Even without the Dragon King, the soldiers here can beat me half-dead. The man they beat up last night will never be able to walk again.”
Xu Yanwei had watched the whole incident herself last night so she moved aside a little. Shangguan Ru, however, didn’t remember much about it. She stared at the officer for a moment before saying, “Did we have a drink together last night?”
The noble officer’s face flushed a little, “Two bowls.”
“Pfft.” Xu Yanwei wouldn’t let Miss Ru be fooled by a man. “Two bowls of wine and you got as drunk as a madman? I got you out of his hands last night.”
The noble officer’s face turned even redder. Shangguan Ru laughed aloud, thinking that the scene must have been very interesting.
Their destination wasn’t far away, just in another tent of the camp. The soldiers withdrew but Xu Yanwei was determined to not leave, and the noble officer didn’t compel her to do so.
“My name is Azheba. I hope you will not accept any requests from the immortal master. I will find a way to get you out.”
