Blessed by God

Chapter 43. Drunk

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“Master, we arrived.” Fu Duo opened the palanquin curtain for Yinyou, and was about to help him.

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“Alright, go down, it’s not like I can’t walk,” Yinyou bypassed Fu Duo’s hand to get out, then glanced at the restaurant’s signboard, and walked in.

Fu Duo let the sedan chair bearers scatter, and hurriedly followed in. The room booked by the eighth Lord was upstairs, and his Master had a leg injury. Won’t his Master suffer?

As soon as Yinyou reached the stairs, he saw a smiling Yinsi coming down from the top, “Seventh brother, this younger brother didn’t think carefully this time, now I’m here to help you out.” He said this with a helpless sigh, already stretching out his elbow to Yinyou.

Yinyou glanced at the outstretched arm, and without any politeness, put his hand on it.

The warmth coming from Yinyou’s palm made Yinsi slightly stunned, but then he smiled and helped Yinyou upstairs. While they climbed, it was very quiet and only one room could be heard, it seemed that several brothers had already come.

After entering the door, the eldest brother, third brother, fifth brother, ninth brother, and tenth brother were already there. Yinyou took his hand back and greeted the brothers first.

“I thought the seventh brother would come with the Crown Prince and the fourth brother, I didn’t expect you to come alone.” The third brother held a white porcelain wine glass, tilted his head and looked at Yinyou with a half-smile. This  small movement revealed a comfortable bookish air.

“Afraid the Crown Prince and the fourth brother still have things to do.” Yinyou picked an empty seat and sat down. “I haven’t been to the Ministry of Revenue these days, so how can I be with the fourth brother?” 

After finishing speaking, he glanced at the Old Nine and Old Ten, “Don’t the ninth and the tenth brothers need to study today?”

“The eighth elder brother is hosting a banquet, how can us younger brothers not come?” Although the ninth brother’s complexion was rather pale, he wasn’t like before, and still gave Yinyou face.

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The tenth brother was honest and straight-forward, and he scratched his head before admitting, “If we are just absent for half a day, nothing will happen.” Thinking of the densely packed words in the book, the tenth brother frowned.

Seeing him like this, Yinyou couldn’t help but smile. His tenth brother was quite interesting.

“Seventh brother, this is one of the signature wines in the store, would you like to try it?” Yinsi poured a glass of wine with his own hands and handed it to Yinyou. Although it was in a questioning tone, because Yinsi was the host, Yinyou had no right to refuse at this moment. 

“Eighth brother, then, I’ll thank you.” Yinyou took the cup with both hands, smelled it, took a sip, and commented with a smile, “It really is a good wine.”

The eldest brother Yinzi glanced at Yinyou and noticed that the smile on his face lacked two points of sincerity. “Since that’s the case, today we will get drunk and won’t go home. Now I too would like to toast my seventh younger brother.”

“Don’t dare,” Yinyou raised his wine glass, “Eldest brother, I’ll go first.”

Kangxi’s sons were dexterous and smart, but they were all narrow-minded. Even if the eldest brother had been on the battlefield several times, his straight-forward temperament hadn’t changed much and Yinyou felt that as long as the eldest brother didn’t touch his bottom line, Yinyou would never dare offend him. Yet today, he realized that maybe this person still remembered what happened a few years ago, otherwise how could he toast him so politely?

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After drinking the whole glass of wine served by the eldest brother, Yinyou still felt that the wine tasted sweet and mellow; it was indeed a good wine.

“This wine is called Faintly Fragrant Green Jade. It tastes sweet and has an endless aftertaste.” Seeing that Yinyou had drunk it all, the eldest brother smiled and picked up another jug ​​and poured a glass. “This wine is called Imperial Mighty Spring. When one first drinks it, it’s light, but the aftertaste is quite strong, seventh brother, do you dare to taste it?” 

He raised the cup and handed it to Yinyou.

Yinyou accepted the wine glass and chatted with a smile, “Since the elder brother has poured it himself, how can this younger brother refuse?” After drinking the wine, it was really as the eldest brother described it. He put down the wine glass, already mentally prepared to get drunk due to his brothers’ antics.

“Seventh younger brother drinks the eldest brother’s wine, would you accept the third brother’s glass of wine?” The third brother Yinzhi poured a cup with his own hands, the wine falling into the cup let out a nice sound.

“This wine is called Ten Colorful Blooming Islands. It’s a good name so it must be delicious.” Pushing the wine in front of Yinyou, Yinzhi’s smile didn’t change one bit.

Yinyou was not annoyed and took the wine with a smile. He raised his head and drank it before saying, “Drinking burning knives was very popular in the military camp, and today I finally know what that must have tasted like.”

He was not afraid of these guys playing tricks and because he knew the Crown Prince and the fourth brother were coming, he was not afraid of getting drunk either. In fact, it wasn’t difficult to pretend to be drunk after drinking a few cups.

The ninth brother watched from the side with a mocking face. After hearing Yinyou’s words, he took the jug next to him, and poured him a glass, “It is said that one sip of Holding Your Head Wine1扶头酒 fú tóu jiǔ. Wine makes it easy for people to get drunk. It is mostly found in ancient poems. is just like drinking one whole jug of wine. The seventh brother might as well try it.”

Holding Your Head Wine, as the name suggested, was very strong. This ninth brother was not afraid of getting his elder brother drunk.

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The fifth brother Yinqi held a cup of Thousand Spring Days wine in his hand, and did not join the ranks of these people persuading the seventh brother to drink, he just drank quietly by himself. 

Yinqi noticed how Yinyou smiled and drank glasses of wine one after the other just after entering the door, and he turned his head to the window, just in time to watch the two sedan chairs land at the entrance of the restaurant.

Quickly retracting his gaze, he looked back at the seventh brother whose cheeks were slightly flushed, and glanced at the few people who were still persuading him to keep drinking. He lowered his head to his cup, and slowly drank a sip.

“This wine is called Exquisite Jade…”

“Gu just said why is this room so lively? It turns out that you guys have already started drinking.” The Crown Prince in a brocade robe entered the room and looked at the wine glass in the ninth brother’s hand and then at Yinyou’s reddish cheeks with a smile, “If Gu had known this, Gu wouldn’t have waited for you to be half drunk before coming over to watch your jokes.”

Yinzhen looked at the ninth brother’s hand holding the wine glass with cold eyes. The ninth brother quickly put down the cup in his hand when hearing the Crown Prince’s voice and went over to greet him.

Yinyou also heaved a sigh of relief and got up to greet the Crown Prince. When he sat down, Yinzhen was already by his side. Yinyou then finally had the opportunity to stuff himself with some food. As for the others, they were all busy stabbing each other with words.

“Seventh brother, this duck tongue tastes good.” The tenth brother, who was sitting on his right, moved a plate in front of Yinyou. “This younger brother always orders this dish when coming here.”

Yinyou picked one bite with his chopstick and ate it. It tasted really good. He smiled and nodded to the tenth brother. “It’s really good.” 

Suddenly, he liked this little brother a bit more. At least he’s much cuter than Old Nine. Both of these younger brothers had high-ranking E’niangs, so it was no wonder that one was arrogant and the other was without much scheming.

The tenth brother also smiled and continued to eat. He was not very old, so he didn’t like to drink, instead he was more interested in the food.

Yinzhen who was sitting on Yinyou’s left saw him smiling foolishly and quickly asked someone to bring a bowl of Snow Fungus Soup in front of him, “Drink some soup, soothe your stomach.” 

He knew that the brother must’ve been drinking before he arrived and he was afraid that Yinyou’s stomach couldn’t bear the wine at this time with him wounded.

Yinyou was not interested in these sweet soups, but he still picked up the spoon and drank one sip after the other, with a scattered mind.

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The people at the table, although they were brothers, were plotting against each other. Even after drinking two glasses of wine, they spoke with backhanded compliments, just wishing they could kill the other with one sentence.

Now the eldest brother was weaker than the Crown Prince, but there were rumors in the harem that the Crown Prince was molesting the eunuchs, and nobody knew whether it was true or not, even more, Kangxi never asked. There were only two possibilities for this, one was the rumors were spread by someone with a hidden intention, and the other was that Kangxi had suppressed this matter because it was indeed true.

Yinyou tilted his head to look at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was now only in his twenties. He had extremely good-looking features, and he acted with restraint, but was still a little extravagant. This Crown Prince looked nothing like the future generation guessed he was, he wasn’t an incompetent second-rich generation who only knew how to drink and have sex.

After drinking for three rounds, all the other brothers who were invited also came, and little by little, after drinking enough, one by one they began to leave.

Yinyou also intended to leave but who knew that just after standing up, his mind flickered, and he staggered. Someone held him up.

“Seventh brother, be careful.” Yinsi’s voice was gentle and limpid, very pleasant to hear, “Don’t fall.”

“Thank you, eighth brother,” Yinyou took a step back, and someone behind him supported him. He knew it was Yinzhen without turning his head, so he simply leaned against the person behind him, so as not to get too dizzy, “Thank you, eighth brother for your hospitality today, I will take my leave now but surely we will get together again when we have time.”

Yinsi smiled, “Of course.” 

Glancing at Yinzhen’s hand on Yinyou’s waist, Yinsi slightly lowered his eyelids. “Then fourth brother and seventh brother walk slowly, this younger brother will not see you off.”

“Eighth brother, we will go first,” Yinzhen said with an expressionless face, and then helped Yinyou downstairs, apparently in a bad mood.

Out of the restaurant. Yinzhen didn’t let go of Yinyou, and pulled him into his sedan chair. “Go to my house to sober up, don’t go back to the palace looking this drunk.”

Yinyou didn’t object either. Leaning on Yinzhen’s shoulder, he rubbed his forehead with one hand, humming in a low voice.

“Uncomfortable?” Yinzhen stretched out his arms to embrace him, letting him lean into his arms, “I’ll let you lean for a while.”

Yinyou’s mind was not clear at this time but he knew that the two were close brothers for years, and so he didn’t have much resistance to Yinzhen’s intimate contact, he even twisted to adjust to a more comfortable posture.

“It’s up to them how the eldest brother and the third brother2The second eldest son of Kangxi is the Crown Prince. The eldest brother and the third brother, as people close to the CP’s age and with more experience than the younger brothers, are very suitable for this position too. The eldest brother has military achievements while the third brother is a literati-scholar, so the two are polar opposites. When Yinreng (CP) was deposed the first time, it was Yinzhi who spread the rumors accusing the Eldest Prince of using sorcery to overthrow Yinreng from his Crown Prince position. “The Kangxi Emperor believed the rumors and was so furious with Yinzhi (First Prince) that he called his son a treacherous subject and stripped him off his princely title and placed him under house arrest.” For more info, here’s his Wikipedia page. As for the third brother’s bad ending, when Yinzhen ascended the throne, he sent him to the imperial tombs to guard the ancestors (so he was exiled), and later when Yinxiang (13th brother) died, because Yinzhi didn’t brother to act sad, “he stripped Yunzhi of his title and had him confined in the Yong’an Pavilion, Jingshan, Beijing. Yunzhi died in 1732 during his incarceration.” Here’s his Wikipedia page. want to quarrel. Sooner or later they will dig a hole and jump on their own.” Even as he complained, Yinyou’s mind became more and more dizzy. “But the eighth brother, fourth brother, you have to be careful with him.”

Yinyou’s voice was low, but Yinzhen still heard him clearly, and his expression changed again and them again, “Seventh brother, you are drunk.” The shock in his heart was not fake.

Yinyou half-opened his eyes, twisted his neck and looked at Yinzhen, his eyes were wet and misty, and one could tell that he was not sober. “How can I get drunk so easily with such a little wine, I’m fine.”

Yinzhen looked at those blurry eyes, and forced himself to look away, “Then what nonsense are you talking about if you’re not drunk.”

“Pff,” Yinyou snickered, then slowly closed his eyes, and muttered. “Fourth brother, they all… you…”

The following words became indiscernible, and Yinzhen did not hear him clearly. He looked down at the person who had fallen asleep in his arms, slowly lowered his head, and pressed his lips against his. The taste of fine wine really made people feel intoxicated and lose their minds.

“Master, we’re here.” Xiao Luzi’s voice came outside the sedan chair.

Yinzhen sat up straight, looked at the moist lips of the person in his arms, and ordered in a calm voice, “Go to the kitchen and ask for a bowl of hangover soup.”

Brushing Yinyou’s soft lips with his fingertips, Yinzhen slowly withdrew his hand, “Bring two more people to help the seventh brother to your Master’s room.”

The translator has something to say: Am I in a roll or whaaat!! I guess I missed translating BBG? Thanks for reading!