Repeatedly broken branches

"Sister Lvmei, I'd like three jugs of pomegranate wine, three jugs of bamboo leaf wine, three jugs of pine needle wine, and a plate of duck tongues. By the way, what's the strongest liquor you have here?"

Green Plum smiled and said, "Our strongest wine here is 'Gentleman's Wine,' but it's not really suitable for young ladies."

Song Xinning slammed her hand on the table. "Why can't we give this to a young lady? I can hold my liquor perfectly well, so come on up!"

Liang Yuxue chimed in, "Yes, yes, I've been drinking my father's brewed wine since I was a child, and there's never been a problem with it!"

Xiao Mu smiled, her eyebrows curving and her starry eyes sparkling. She said softly, "Sister Lv Mei, go and bring it up. We'll mix it together; it'll be fine!"

Green Plum looked at the three of them with difficulty and said in a low voice, "It's not that I'm unwilling, but women really shouldn't drink too much strong liquor, it's easy to harm their health!"

Xiao Mu pulled Lü Mei aside, whispered in her ear, "Look at my two friends, one lost her lover, and the other was forced to marry someone she doesn't love. They're both so depressed they're contemplating suicide. Can you help them? A pot of strong liquor could cheer them up a bit. Please help them, okay? Hmm? Sister Lü Mei~"

"Okay... okay."

After a while, the servant brought over what they had ordered. He pointed to the pink porcelain bottle of wine and said, "The proprietress said that wine is strong, so you have to mix it before drinking, understand?"

"Okay, thank you," Xiao Mu said to him with a smile.

Song Xinning poured herself a full glass of Gentleman's Wine, held the glass tightly, and drank it down in one gulp. The wine was really strong; her whole body felt hot, as if she were being burned.

Xiao Mu said, "Drink slowly. What will we drink after you finish?"

After speaking, she poured herself a glass, took a small sip, and smelled the aroma of the wine. Knowing that she couldn't hold her liquor, she still drank the whole glass.

Not to be outdone, Liang Yuxue was a good drinker. She poured herself a full glass and easily swallowed the wine.

This wine is called "Gentleman's Wine," but it is anything but gentlemanly. It is smooth on the palate, but once it reaches the stomach, it causes a burning sensation, leaving one feeling confused and disoriented.

Xiao Mu's cheeks flushed crimson; she was almost tipsy. Her mind was hazy, and her gaze at the two people beside her became somewhat blurry.

She's already like this after just one cup. No, I can't let them see how weak I am.

She switched to a larger bowl, poured half a bowl of pomegranate wine, and then poured half a bowl of "gentleman's wine," mixing them together before drinking it down to neutralize the effect and reduce its potency.

She never expected the wine to taste so good. In an instant, she could understand why those men liked to drink so much. When they were unhappy, having a glass of wine really made all their troubles disappear.

The other two, Song Xinning, has hardly ever drunk alcohol, while Liang Yuxue said that she has been drinking the wine brewed by her father since she was a child. It is rice wine, which has no alcohol content, so of course she won't get drunk.

Now Liang Yuxue seemed to see butterflies fluttering in the air, and she immediately climbed onto the table and reached out to grab them.

Slurring her words, Song Xinning asked, "What are you doing! Don't break my Ayan apart!" It turned out that she had vaguely seen Shi Yan.

"What Ah Yan? It's clearly my Jing-gege!" Xiao Mu climbed onto the table and grabbed wildly in the air. "Han, Han Xingbai, you big bad guy! You haven't come to see me for so long, I was about to go find you! You big bad guy, I'll grab you to death, hmph, that'll teach you to stay away from me!"

"Butterfly~ Butterfly!"

"Ayan, Ayan!"

"Don't push me! We're on a train, we can't push! Waaah!"

"Are you crazy? Why did you catch all my butterflies? You have to pay me back! Daddy~ Butterfly~ Waa ...

Liang Yuxue lifted her jade-like buttocks and thrust them hard into Song Xinning's waist. Song Xinning swayed and fell to the ground, her buttocks feeling as if they had been smashed into eight pieces.

Song Xinning crawled under the table, hugged the fat cat that Green Plum kept, and fell fast asleep.

Seeing that "Yu Yanjing" was about to float away, Xiao Mu reached out to grab it and ran all the way outside the store.

Green Plum went out to buy groceries and didn't notice that they were drunk.

The shop was so busy that no one paid any attention to the three girls in the private room.

Xiao Mu chased after "Yu Yanjing" as they ran outside. Dark clouds were gathering, and it was about to rain. Passersby hurried home, afraid of getting wet.

The hallucination disappeared, and Xiao Mu sat down on the ground in disappointment and burst into tears. But there was no one on the road, and she felt so helpless.

"Han Xingbai, you big bad guy, it's been so long, don't you miss me at all? My father is gone... Waaaaaah..."

"Han Xingbai... Waaaaaah, I miss you so much..."

Xiao Mu sat on the ground, her bright eyes glistening with tears, and sobbed, "Nobody wants me anymore, not the system, not my father, and not even you!"

Suddenly, a slender wrist stretched out from mid-air, with an obsidian bracelet on it. Looking further up, it was Yu Yanjing in disguise, who was actually Han Xingbai.

Xiao Mu rubbed her eyes, and after opening them again to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she immediately got up from the ground, hugged Yu Yanjing's waist, and cried and sobbed, "Han Xingbai! Why did you take so long to come? I'm so sad, so sad!" She buried her head in Yu Yanjing's chest, grabbed his clothes, and started crying.

She reeks of alcohol. Has she been drinking? How exactly did Zhou Tingxi take care of her, letting her get drunk and wander outside all by herself?

Yu Yanjing felt heartbroken and gently patted her back, his voice hoarse and weary from his journey, "You're a wife now, is it alright for you to hold me like this?"

Xiao Mu didn't understand what he was talking about, so she pinched his cheek and said, "What do you mean by 'married woman'? You're talking nonsense. I'm asking you now, why... why did you leave for so long?"

Yu Yanjing's brow furrowed, and he pushed her away, his gaze burning. "You're already married, so why do you care why I left?" His tone was cold and sharp. He had clearly traveled day and night to see her, yet he chose to retaliate with the most hurtful words.

Xiao Mu's voice trailed off, "Han Xingbai~ please forgive me~ I don't want to marry him, I don't like him, he killed my father, killed Xiao Wan, killed Consort Chen, I don't want to see him at all! I won't let him sleep with me, and I won't let him touch me! Waaaaah!"

Yu Yanjing's expression softened considerably, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes, but his tone remained icy: "So what? What does it have to do with me?"

"What do you think!" Xiao Mu stood up and quickly planted a kiss on his lips, then said in a commanding tone, "Don't say things I don't want to hear, understand? Say things you like, get it?"

In an instant, her heart raced, her thoughts raced, and Yu Yanjing's face flushed red all the way to her earlobes.

He lowered his eyes, and the girl in his arms smiled at him. In that instant, everything else seemed unimportant, and all his anger vanished.

"I miss you so much, you know, Han Xingbai. Anyway, I wish you could take me with you. But I'm locked in a cage every day. I can't go out or play. I really want to go out and play with you every day. Hehe, your lips are so sweet!"

Xiao Mu subconsciously licked the corner of her mouth.

Yu Yanjing panicked and quickly pulled her out of his arms. In broad daylight, she was actually flirting with him like this. What was she trying to do?

"Yu Yanjing, why aren't you saying anything? Oh, right, I can't call you Yu Yanjing now, I have to call you Han Xingbai. Han Xingbai, where did you come from? On horseback or by car? Or by plane? Hahahaha, boohoo~" After saying that, Xiao Mu covered her face and cried again, tears slipping through her fingers.

“Say something, say something…”

Yu Yanjing carried her on his back, letting her grab, punch, and scratch wildly on his back. He didn't know what words to use to comfort her, nor did he know if coming here was the right thing to do. She was already married and had become someone else's wife. What was he to her?

If Shen Ruoxuan hadn't kicked him out of the palace and sent him to find Xia Yunzhi, he probably would never have dared to come. He was too scared—scared of her happiness, scared of her being happy with someone else.

But he also wanted her to be happy. Wouldn't it be enough if she were happy? But that person wasn't him. He felt so sorry and jealous.

Where are we going?

Yu Yanjing turned his head and whispered in her ear, "Go to the Zhou residence, your husband's house."

"No, no, I don't want to go! I don't want to see him! Let's go to Qiushui Lake, I want to go boating!"

"No," Yu Yanjing said firmly. "It's about to rain, you have to go home."

Xiao Mu nestled on his back and said softly, "When will we see each other again? How about you come to my house and be my guard?"

Yu Yanjing said calmly, "No, it won't be good for you if we find out."

Xiao Mu kicked her legs wildly and shouted angrily, "This won't work, that won't work, what will work? I want you to live in my house, can't we live together?"

"No."

Xiao Mu was fidgeting in anger, and Yu Yanjing frowned, saying sternly, "Don't move around, or I'll leave you here!"

"You've lost me before, so what? Last time... it was months ago. We were out having fun, right in the palace, and you left me outside! I was all alone. I'm not from here, I didn't know anything, and you still made me go back alone... I was so scared!"

So she still remembered that it was the first time he left her alone outside, but he still couldn't let go of her worries and followed her around.

Little girl, you still hold grudges.

Yu Yanjing couldn't help but raise his lips and push Xiao Mu up a little.

It's about to fall.

"Yu Yanjing..." Xiao Mu was almost asleep, calling his name in her sleep.

"Hmm." He responded in a low voice, "What's wrong? What are you trying to say now?"

Xiao Mu said softly, "I want to go home with you."

Yu Yanjing smiled and said, "I'll take you home now, we'll be there soon."

"Why don't you come in with me?"

Yu Yanjing reassured him, "No, but I won't leave for now. I'll stay here with you. Come find me whenever you can get out... I'm in the first house behind the vegetable market in the East Market, remember?"

Xiao Mu was almost asleep. She didn't know if she remembered or not, but she hugged him tighter and nodded frequently.

"Can we walk a little longer? I'm afraid you won't come looking for me again."

It's unclear whether she was talking in her sleep, but Yu Yanjing clearly passed by the Zhou residence without going in. She just kept walking forward, not knowing where she was going, just wandering aimlessly.

They never seem to tire.

"Han Xingbai, actually I'm from the future. Do you like me? Do you love me? If so, can we be together?"

Xiao Mu had opened her eyes, but she was still drunk. She didn't know how she said those words; perhaps the alcohol emboldened her, but her mind was still a complete fog.

Yu Yanjing smiled but did not answer, but his smile was enough to prove everything.

When Zhou Tingxi arrived with Song Xinning and Liang Yuxue's two personal maids, he did not find Xia Yunzhi. He had no choice but to have the two maids take their two still-drunk masters back first, so as not to attract attention.

Green Plum felt a little guilty. "It's all my fault. Why go shopping at a time like this? I completely forgot that your wife and her sisters are here."

"Didn't I tell you not to give her alcohol anymore? Why did you still bring her such strong liquor?"

Zhou Tingxi's tone was reproachful. He hadn't looked at Lümei once since he entered the room, while Lümei lowered her head in shame and kept apologizing.

"It's all my fault. I didn't take good care of Madam. Let's go find her together!"

Zhou Tingxi raised his hand to stop her, and said coldly, "No need. If she comes again in the future, don't let her in. She can't drink alcohol, let alone your wine. I shouldn't have saved you in the first place. If something happens to her, do you think your tavern can afford to compensate her?"

Zhou Tingxi left without looking back.

Green Plum was somewhat taken aback. General Zhou, he wasn't like this before. That year, she fled here and met Zhou Tingxi, who had returned from the desert. At that time, he treated everyone equally. He was so spirited and high-spirited. When he learned that she had fled from the desert, he took special care of her.

When they arrived in the capital, they opened a tavern for her. Knowing that she was a skilled brewer, Zhou Tingxi would come here whenever he had business to discuss.

Several times, drunk customers teased and harassed her, and Zhou Tingxi always stepped in to smooth things over. Although she was a few years older than Zhou Tingxi, she never treated him as a younger brother, but only as a confidant and benefactor.

Lu Mei often heard about Princess Heyang from Zhou Tingxi. She noticed that whenever Princess Heyang was mentioned, Zhou Tingxi's eyes would inexplicably soften. She had never seen the usually serious Zhou Tingxi have such a tender side. However, for a period of time, Zhou Tingxi stopped coming. When he came back, he never mentioned Princess Heyang again. Instead, he would mention a strange woman.

However, when Lümei first met Xia Yunzhi, Zhou Tingxi looked at her with such deep affection and was so gentle towards her that Lümei actually felt jealous. Why could she receive so much kindness from Zhou Tingxi?

Zhou Tingxi was never one to say hurtful things to others, but today, just because Lümei didn't keep a close eye on his wife, he actually said such things. Having known him for so long, she suddenly felt that she shouldn't have been in his life. She felt so lonely and longed to receive his kindness like Xia Yunzhi did.

But how could she be worthy? She was an orphan, a tavern owner, a person with no family background and no manners.