My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chang An froze completely, his hand holding the wine bottle stopped in mid-air. For a moment, he didn't know what to do to express the shock in his heart.

He simply stopped talking, picked up two more bites of food with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth. Li Ying saw Chang An's expression and thought that he disagreed, so he quickly said:

"Chang Yonghe, you also know what my sister is thinking. You can't let my sister down twice, right?"

Chang An became even more upset when he heard this, his eyes almost popped out - No, my dear prince, you can eat whatever you want but you can't say whatever you want! How have I ever let your sister down?

"Your Highness, please don't say anything nonsense. I..." Chang An lowered his voice and said halfway. He secretly glanced at Li Longji who was sitting right above him drinking, and lowered his voice and said, "How have I let down the princess? There is nothing between the princess and me!"

"Chang Yong and you, what are you thinking about!" Li Ying immediately knew that Chang An was thinking about the wrong thing, and quickly said: "What I mean is that you have failed my sister's feelings several times."

"Thoughts?" Chang An still didn't quite understand.

Li Ying also secretly glanced at Li Longji at this time and asked, "Do you still remember the matter of being conferred the title of marquis and the marriage?"

Chang An nodded. Of course he remembered it. Then Li Ying continued, "This is not only my father's idea, but more importantly, my sister's idea."

Chang An frowned, a little puzzled. He and Princess Yongmu Li Ke'er had only met once or twice at that time, right? So he asked, "But at that time, I only met the eldest princess a few times. I don't quite understand."

"I don't understand it either, but before my father gave the reward, he personally asked my sister about it!" Li Ying said, "It would have been fine if my sister agreed at that time, but when she agreed, it seemed that there was something..."

"Something?"

"Somewhat happy."

Chang An's mind began to get confused. He knew that he was going to surrender, and to a young marquis, and he was actually... happy? Then he suddenly remembered that when Li Longji took him to dinner, the queen nodded slightly to him...

After refusing the marriage proposal, Li Ke'er was so polite to herself. No matter how anyone addressed her, she would always call her "Marquis Dingkang". Not only did she seem formal, but she was also polite, surprisingly polite!

To put it in today's terms, although it's not very accurate, it means it's a meeting between ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend who broke up peacefully?

"Not only that, but the later statements about seeing you might make enemies and wanting to protect you were all made by my sister," Li Ying said. "Later, the most crucial statement of protection was also made by my sister. What we said before or what my uncle said was all bullshit!"

"My elder sister is the one my father loves the most. My elder sister has spoken up. My father is not giving face to Elder Song, not to me, not to King Qi, and certainly not to you! He is giving face to my elder sister."

"If I don't help you, you will really die!"

Chang An was silent, thought for a long time, picked up the wine glass, and said: "This glass, please toast to the princess for me."

Li Ying nodded, then picked up the wine glass and took the wine for his sister. Then he asked, "What about Xiaoguai..."

"Of course you can. I didn't say no at that time." Chang An smiled faintly.

"That's fine. I'll tell my sister later."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"What are you thanking me for? What's the relationship between us?" Li Ying patted his chest and said with a smile.

After chatting and laughing with Li Ying for a while, he suddenly felt someone pulling him. He turned around curiously and found that it was Yuan Qianyao. Chang An looked at him with questioning eyes, but he just pointed at a place.

Chang An subconsciously looked in the direction he pointed - Chang Wenmeng was sitting in the position of a fifth-rank official. It seemed that there was a unique tacit understanding between father and son, and Chang Wenmeng also cast his eyes over at this time. Then the two of them raised their glasses at the same time and drank from each other.

As if out of relief, Chang Wenmeng finished the wine in the bottle and smiled at Chang An.

After sitting for a while, Li Longji spoke up: "My lords, how is the winter solstice?"

As soon as these words came out, all the ministers stood up and gathered in front of Li Longji. Chang An didn't know where he should stand, so he was pulled by Li Ying to the front and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Your Majesty, long live my emperor."

Chang An wanted to kneel down as well, but was stopped by Li Ying, and then he heard his whisper: "You don't have to kneel."

So Chang An could only stand in the first row with Li Ying, and just raised his hand to greet them. Then Li Longji nodded and said, "Please stand up and take your seats."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After sitting back in his original seat and taking a brief rest, Chang An was pulled to the front again and performed the first drinking ceremony. Then Li Longji said:

"It's the winter solstice festival, and today's banquet is for the emperor and his subjects to celebrate. There's no need to be restrained, just chat freely!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chang An sat in his original position and just ate his food, but at this moment, a minister sitting behind him called out in a low voice: "Marquis Dingkang."

Chang An turned around and saw a middle-aged man behind him, wearing a dark crimson robe, who looked like a fourth-rank official. He nodded slightly and greeted, "May I know who you are, sir?"

"I am the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and my surname is Hu." The man replied.

"Meet Hu Shaoqing."

Chang An simply responded and then turned back to his original position. Hu Shaoqing was stunned for a moment, then he said, "I have long heard of the great name of Marquis Dingkang. Would you like to drink a cup with me?"

Chang An tilted his head slightly, picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Hu Shaoqing's, and then took a sip. Then he said, "My wife is pregnant and will soon be full-term. She can't stand the smell of alcohol. Please forgive me."

"It's okay, it's okay." Hu Shaoqing didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

But then, next to Hu Shaoqing, an old minister said, "Marquis Dingkang."

Chang An turned around and felt that this person looked familiar: "Meet the Dali Temple Minister."

"I didn't expect you still remembered me." The Dali Temple Minister said with a smile.

Chang An smiled. The two of them had some interactions before when Zhang Jiazhen kidnapped Gu Li, so he naturally remembered it.

"I'll have a drink, you take care of the family, just one drink." The Dali Temple Minister was also very polite and said so. After all, the relationship between him and the other party was just a matter of face, and it was not enough to drink a glass.

"Thank you for your understanding, Grand Justice." Chang An nodded slightly, then clinked glasses with him and took a sip.

Maybe it was because he talked too much, but after he and the Dali Temple Minister had just had a drink, they had to start the second drinking ceremony. Chang An stood in front, said some congratulatory words to Li Longji, and then returned to his seat.

After returning to his seat, Chang An took a few more bites of food. Li Ying then put a cup of tea over for him and said, "Eat slowly, drink some tea to get rid of the smell of alcohol."

Chang An nodded and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

"Why are you eating all the time? Eating is just a formality." Li Ying asked at this time.

Chang An leaned close to Li Ying's ear and said, "To be honest, my mother Gu told me to eat more before I left. I dared not disobey."

Li Ying smiled and said, "Eat slowly, don't choke."

Suddenly, Yuan Qianyao's voice came from Chang An's side: "Little friend Chang, look up."

Chang An didn't understand what was going on, so he looked at Yuan Qianyao, then raised his head and looked around. He found that many officials were greeting him slightly, and some even picked up their wine glasses.

This made Chang An stunned. He turned his gaze back to Yuan Qianyao and asked, "Master Yuan, what's going on?"

"One of them might be your future father-in-law, Old Taishan." Yuan Qianyao said with a smile, "Who wouldn't want to have you as their son-in-law? Even if you're his mistress, it wouldn't be much of a difference."

Chang An immediately frowned and said calmly, "I won't take a concubine."

After saying this, Chang An picked up the wine glass at hand and toasted back to some ministers, but he only drank one sip each time - and used it to deal with the opposite side at the same time.

After taking a sip, Chang An glanced at Chang Wenmeng. At this time, many people gathered around him, and it was unknown what they were talking about.

At this time, several officials in scarlet robes came closer to him and greeted him, "Marquis Dingkang."

Chang An turned around and found that it was a few ministers. After a simple and polite drink, a few officials left, but there were still two officials left. Chang An was still a little curious, but after watching the two ministers whisper to each other, they left directly.

He frowned slightly, and became a little confused, then looked at Yuan Qianyao and asked, "What's going on with these adults?"

Yuan Qianyao stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I just said it, and you know it too."

Chang An came back to his senses at this time, nodded, and said: "Am I so popular? Apart from this marquis status, there is nothing else worthy of their attention."

"If you have such thoughts, you might as well keep it and raise your son, and ask for a glance from the princess."

But Yuan Qianyao said: "Friend Chang, this is what you don't understand."

"You see the present, and they see the future. It's not uncommon for parents to gain status through their daughters. This is a matter of family interests, and these old foxes think about it better than anyone else."

"So, it's not that you are popular, it's what you show, your talent and potential."