A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

It was late in the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), nearing curfew.

There are hardly any pedestrians to be seen on the streets and alleys of the capital.

Only in Pingkangfang was it just beginning to get busiest time of day.

After a sword dance, it was Mei Ying's turn to hold a pipa and play a frontier song.

He Jinglan smiled and invited Jianlan to sit and drink with her, saying she would introduce her good friend to him.

Jianlan and He Jinglan already knew each other, so she did not refuse.

However, he simply sat down and did not take the opportunity to get closer to the guests. He was composed and showed no signs of being ambiguous or ingratiating.

He Jinglan introduced the two sides.

An Qing and Jian Lan greeted each other with clasped hands.

Gu Xixi, however, did not make a move for a long time.

Out of the corner of her eye, He Jinglan noticed something amiss beside her and was immediately alarmed.

They were all so focused on watching the sword dance that they didn't notice what Gu Xixi was doing.

"Xixi, why are you still drinking?!"

He Jinglan reached out to grab the wine glass, but Gu Xixi poured the remaining wine into her mouth first.

An Qinghe had already picked up the wine pot in front of Gu Xixi, shook it, and gave He Jinglan a helpless expression.

"empty."

He Jinglan broke out in a cold sweat, grabbed Gu Xixi's shoulder, and gently pushed her, "Xixi, Xixi? Can you hear me?"

Finally, Gu Xixi limply raised her head, her cheeks flushed, and giggled a few times.

"Of course I can, I'm not drunk!"

"This is fruit juice, it won't make you drunk!"

"Freshly squeezed plum juice, Liuliumei, are you alright? Sweet and sour, that's me..."

Everyone present was shocked.

I can't understand a word she's saying!

Only Mei Ying managed to stay calm and didn't play any wrong notes, thus avoiding ruining her professional performance.

He Jinglan said with a bitter face, "Good Xixi, didn't you say you'd only drink two cups? How come the whole pot is gone in just a short while?"

Gu Xixi squinted at He Jinglan for a moment, then struggled to push her away and gestured to say:

"The dance was wonderful, absolutely fantastic! Immersive viewing, you know what I mean?"

"Like this, I was watching and pouring wine, one glass after another, and before I knew it, I had finished them all."

He Jinglan said in a panic, "Oh no, oh no! If someone finds out that I brought Xixi here and got her drunk, who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause!"

Others may not know, but An Qinghe naturally knows who He Jinglan is referring to as "someone".

Instead, he remained even more indifferent, saying, "Let him meddle in everything. We paid for the drinks; can he really throw us in jail?"

After saying that, he poured himself a full glass of wine and drank it down in a fit of pique.

Gladiolus was only stunned for a moment before quickly regaining her usual elegance and composure.

After all, what the guest said and thought was not something he should investigate.

Jianlan first instructed the maids to bring the hangover soup and the hangover-relieving stone.

He smiled gently and comforted He Jinglan, "Miss He, there's no need to worry too much. Boss Gu is just a little tipsy. He can help her to the rest room for a while and she'll feel better."

He Jinglan looked at Jianlan with complicated feelings, her heart filled with bitterness.

After much thought, all she could do was sigh and say, "Anyway, I'm planning to stay here tonight. I'll help her over so she can get some sleep."

People who are drunk are particularly heavy.

He Jinglan tried to lift Gu Xixi up, but she was only halfway up.

Gu Xixi suddenly opened her eyes and said, "I'm so thirsty, I'll drink some more!"

He Jinglan was stunned. Before she could react, Gu Xixi had already fallen downwards, exhausted.

Just as Gu Xixi was about to fall and hit her forehead on the corner of the table, Jianlan quickly reached out and supported her abdomen, finally managing to lift her up.

At almost the same moment, An Qinghe also rushed over from the other side of the table.

He hadn't expected someone to get ahead of him, and before he could stop, he collided heavily with Jianlan.

Gu Xixi fell to the ground sandwiched between the two men. The two cushions prevented her from feeling any discomfort.

He Jinglan and Mei Ying watched this scene in astonishment.

The door to the private room was pushed open from the outside, and a gasp of cold air could be heard.

"W-what...what's going on?!"

He Jinglan turned her head and looked over, her confusion turning to surprise, "Brother, what brings you here? And..."

He Jinghui didn't dare to look back; his face gradually turned pale.

He just wanted to see Mu Nanzhao get anxious and agitated, but he never expected it to actually lead to someone's death!

Mu Nanzhao calmly pushed He Jinghui aside and entered the private room.

What came into view was Gu Xixi lying stiffly on top of two men.

He Jinglan was shocked. "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! Xixi fell down just now, and the two of them bumped into each other while trying to save her. It really is such a coincidence!"

"Look at those two men, one on top of the other, both lying on the ground, completely disregarding the proper etiquette between men and women!"

Mei Ying was the first to regain her senses, and together with He Jinglan, they helped Gu Xixi to a chair.

An Qinghe and Jianlan then got up one after the other.

Both of them were in considerable pain from the collision and fall.

The room was as silent as a tomb.

He Jinghui quickly gave a signal, "We don't need you for now, you can all step back."

Just as Mei Ying and the others were about to leave, Mu Nanzhao said, "Haven't we already paid? Why are you leaving?"

Upon hearing this, of course no one dared to move.

The people at Shihua Pavilion had seen many high-ranking officials and dignitaries. Although the Regent had never been there, they could usually guess Mu Nanzhao's identity just by looking at He Jinghui's reaction.

Mu Nanzhao showed no anger on his face.

He walked up to Gu Xixi, as if speaking only to her, "How much have you drunk? Don't you know your own alcohol tolerance?"

Feeling guilty, He Jinglan lowered her head and hid behind He Jinghui.

Mu Nanzhao bent down, but before he could touch Gu Xixi, the person he thought was in a deep sleep opened her eyes.

When their eyes met at close range, each of them reflected the other's image.

Mu Nanzhao frowned slightly. "Awake?"

Gu Xixi stared at him blankly, remaining silent for a long time.

Mu Nanzhao was patient and remained bent over, letting her look at him.

Suddenly, Gu Xixi grabbed Mu Nanzhao's collar with both hands and roared in a deafening voice:

"I can't marry you right now!!! Why don't you understand?! Huh?!

Everyone was struck dumb.

With a dark expression, Mu Nanzhao picked up Gu Xixi and left.

An Qinghe tried to stop him, "Where are you taking Xixi?"

He Jinghui and He Jinglan quickly grabbed him, one on each side, and earnestly persuaded him:

"You heard such humiliating things about him, you're lucky you weren't silenced, chasing after him like that is just asking for trouble?"

"That's right, Brother An, don't worry. I swear on my life, although he may not be a gentleman, he's at least a decent person. At most, he'll just open a private room nearby for Miss Xixi to sleep in, but he won't do anything else!"

Mu Nanzhao carried Gu Xixi out of the private room.

Several unlucky people who happened to be passing by in the corridor either hurriedly retreated when they could, or tried to bury their faces in the walls and pillars when they couldn't get away.

They tried their best to make sure the regent didn't recognize them.

A quick-thinking waiter pushed open the door to an empty private room nearby.

Mu Nanzhao strode in and kicked the door shut behind him.

He released his fingers from the pressure point on Gu Xixi's speech acupoint, threw her onto the bed, and looked down at her.

“I don’t understand anything, but you can tell me now.”