“What are you laughing at?” Seeing him laugh, Huo Wujiu raised his eyebrows and asked after him.
Jiang Suizhou cleared his throat: “Nothing.”
Huo Wujiu then pounced on him and grabbed the booklet from his hand: “Are you laughing at my ugly writing, huh?”
Jiang Suizhou hid the pamphlet behind him, making Huo Wujiu pounce on him.
“No, no.” He laughed. “I just thought of something and found it funny.”
Huo Wujiu didn’t believe it: “What is it?”
Jiang Suizhou said with a straight face, “I embarrassed Huo Yuyan today by borrowing your name.”
Huo Wujiu’s eyebrows jumped: “So?”
Jiang Suizhou said, “I told him, you spoil me so much, and all your things will be mine.”
The corners of Huo Wujiu’s mouth hooked up: “That’s not a lie.”
Jiang Suizhou continued, “I also said that if he wants to reprimand me, he might as well clean you, the local tyrant, up first.”
Huo Wujiu clicked his tongue: “What local tyrant? How unpleasant to hear.”
Jiang Suizhou then laughed: “Anyway, his complexion looked unsightly when he heard that. Based on his nature, cleaning you up won’t be enough if he really wanted to deal with you, but I guess he will find you and have a talk with you in the next couple of days.”
Huo Wujiu frowned: “Talk about what?”
Jiang Suizhou laughed: “Naturally, you should not spoil a crafty sycophant. It’s going to be a huge mistake.”
——
As expected, within a few days, Jiang Suizhou’s words came true.
In order to give Jiang Suizhou room to have fun these days, Huo Wujiu left early and returned late every day. This was just to make Jiang Suizhou act recklessly and leave Huo Yuyan no chance to pull him to exact justice.
As a result, on this day, the matter over Jiang Suizhou’s side finally came to an end, leaving only some minor matters to be dealt with. Huo Wujiu also returned earlier.
Just as he entered the palace gate, Huo Yuyan’s attendant stopped him.
“Is General Huo available today?” the young eunuch asked.
Huo Wujiu frowned. “Yeah. What’s the matter?”
The young eunuch smiled and said, “Our Crown Prince has been concerned about your hard work these days. Would you like to have dinner with him and reminisce about the old times?”
What old times? He must be looking for him to complain.
Huo Wujiu raised an eyebrow.
It was really unfortunate that he already knew in advance what Huo Yuyan wanted to tell him about —— Not only did he know, but he also participated in it.
Nonetheless, he would never voice out these thoughts. He looked at the eunuch, smiled lightly and said, “Okay, lead the way.”
The young eunuch bowed in response and led him towards Huo Yuyan’s courtyard.
The palatial garden where Huo Yuyan lived was relatively remote. To quote him, it was quiet. Fortunately, however, the palace was exquisitely reconstructed. The doors and windows faced the sun, and the light was good all year round.
By the time Huo Wujiu arrived, it was already dark and the lights were on in the courtyard.
Huo Yuyan was already waiting for him at the table.
As soon as Huo Wujiu entered the door, he found a round table in the main hall. The dishes on the top were quite rich, and at first glance, they were made with care. Those dishes were not commonly found in Jiangnan, but were the specialties of Yangguan. Even that sizzling lamb looked amazingly authentic. A lot of effort must have been put from the ingredients to the cook.
“You’re back.” Seeing him come in, Huo Yuyan got up and smiled. “You’ve really worked hard. From the sky outside, it’s already late.”
Huo Wujiu responded with a hum and sat down with him at the table.
“I’ve been delayed for some time, all because of some messy and trivial matters. They’re giving me headaches,” Huo Wujiu said lightly.
Huo Yuyan smiled.
“To achieve a great cause, everything in the world must be done in detail. Which is not the accumulation of such trivial matters? Don’t always let such things upset you,” he gently advised.
But Huo Wujiu laughed unconcernedly and said, “What if it’s a great cause? It’s just the words of those rotten bunch of scholars to coax me. Forget it, let’s not talk about these disappointing things. Big Brother, you still remember my favorites back then.”
Huo Yuyan smiled and said in a warm voice, “Of course. Since you went to Ye City, it’s obvious that you have always missed the Yangguan customs. I’ve finally found a cook who specialized in Northwest dishes, but by then you were already in the Southern Jing… This time you’ve accomplished such a huge feat, and I’m happy for you, so I brought the cook along with me on our trip here.”
Huo Wujiu glanced at him.
This man has been the master for pretense since childhood.
However, when he was a child, this person pretended in front his elders and outsiders. Huo Wujiu never bothered with him. On the contrary, looking at his delicate and gentle appearance, he always protected him.
He never expected that he, Huo Wujiu, also was an outsider whom he had to disguise himself to.
He smiled, unmoved: “You’re too considerate, Big Brother.” With that, he picked up the wine glass on the table, raised his hand, toasted Huo Wujiu and downed his drink.
After a sip of wine entered Huo Wujiu’s throat, he frowned. When he put down the wine glass, he looked at the glass suspiciously.
When Huo Yuyan, who also drained his glass of wine, noticed his doubtful expression, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Huo Wujiu asked in return, “What kind of wine is this? It’s very bitter.”
Huo Yuyan sighed when he heard his comment, and said with a light smile, “I forgot to tell you. I haven’t been in good health for the past two days. The imperial doctor told me not to drink alcohol, and if I must, I have to drink the medicinal wine he specially brewed.”
Naturally, he forgot to mention that he poured this wine specially for Huo Wujiu to drink.
If he didn’t drink it, how could he taste the bitterness enough to ask? If he didn’t ask, how could he start the conversation and tell how his ‘beautiful concubine’ had exasperated him to the point of exhaustion in the past few days?
Unbeknownst to him, there was something the imperial doctor also didn’t tell him.
This medicinal wine was a great tonic. His body was extremely weak and drinking some of it was really beneficial.
But for healthy people, this tonic wine was a wonderful recipe for increasing heat and replenishing qi, nourishing yin and strengthening yang.
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