Ye Li frowned at the two men who were silently competing with each by drinking. Minister Ye was stunned with his eyes nearly falling off but n.o.body paid him any attention. Old Lady Ye managed to advise them to stop but Mo Jing Li completely ignored her while Mo Xiu Yao nodded at her with a smile and didn"t refuse the drink from Mo Jing Li.
Ye Li glanced at Ah Jin who was standing not very far away from the table. Ah Jin was aware of Ye Li"s eyes and looked anxiously at Mo Xiu Yao who was drinking in silence.
Mo Jing Li reaches out for the flagon once more and a jade-like hand covered Mo Xiu Yao"s cup.
Mo Jing Li turned gloomy and raised his eyebrows at Mo Xiu Yao: "Mo Xiu Yao, what is this about?"
Ye Li put the cup in front of her indifferently: "Prince Li, are you drunk? It"s me who refused your drink. Why do you ask my husband?"
Mo Jing Li sneered and said scornfully: "Don"t bother us men while we are drinking. I don"t want to lower myself to your level."
Ye Li had a distant smile on her face: "I won"t lower myself to your level as well, Prince Li. It"s just that His Highness and I are going to visit Xu Family in the afternoon. You are not saying that we should go there with the smell of alcohol all over us, are you? Well, not everyone is as tolerant as you are, Prince Li, especially not Xu Family, a family of scholars that has pa.s.sed righteousness on through the generations. You don"t want us to be thrown out of Xu Family by our uncle, do you, Prince Li?"
"Mo Xiu Yao, don"t tell me you follow everything your wife tells you after you get married." Mo Jing Li stared at Ye Li with a dark mood for a good while before he finally spoke to Mo Xiu Yao with a scorn.
Mo Xiu Yao looked at him calmly. There was even a trace of smile on his face. "Jing Li, it"s not bad to respect a wife"s opinion. Ah Li is right. We are going to visit Mr.Xu and Minister Xu. Jing Li, you know well that it is possible that Mr.Hong Yu will throw us out of his manor."
However, Mo Jing Li wasn"t going to let him off: "I don"t know that besides the relatives of the bride"s parental family, you have to visit her uncle"s family as well. Mo Xiu Yao, no more nonsense! It"s a toast from me. Are you going to take it or not?"
"No." Mo Xiu Yao answered simply.
Ye Li, who was sitting beside him felt distinctly that he was in an extremely good mood and she could tell there was a bit of teasing in his tone.
"Well, Prince Li. Since Prince Ding is occupied, let"s not force him to do something against his will. We can grab a drink together sometime in the future." Fu Zhao has no choice but to act as a mediator in their dispute since they knew each other when they were still little and grew up together. Mo Xiu Yao and Mo Jing Li didn"t get along when they were kids. Who could have thought that their relationship had become worse which gave those who were around them a hard time.
Looking at Mo Xiu Yao, Fu Zhao was relieved that he had a much better temper than he did before and it was out of his expectation that Mo Xiu Yao would listen to what his princess had said. If it were a few years ago, the two of them would have fought to the bitter end or started to hit each other already.
"Jing Li..." Ye Ying talked softly. "We are going out this afternoon as well. You can have a drink with Prince Ding sometime later."
Mo Jing Li glanced at her with narrowed eyes. He snorted slightly but didn"t speak any more. Those on the table had a sigh of relief as well. Minister Ye rubbed his temples which ached slightly and swore that he wouldn"t have the two drinking at the same table from now on.
After lunch, Ye Li and Mo. Xiu Yao took their leave and went to Xu Family together directly. By the end of their visit at Xu Family, Mo Xiu Yao was asked to have a private chat with Xu Hong Yu in the study for an hour. Ye Li, on the other hand was excluded from the chat and she was asked to wait outside the study. Except Xu Qing Chen whose whereabouts were uncertain and Xu Qing Ze who was always ordered about by her second aunt, her other cousins were in the yard keeping her company.
Xu Qing Yan leaned on the desk and looked at Ye Li with a smile: "Sister Li, my father won"t eat my sister-in-law alive. Don"t worry about him."
Ye Li rolled her eyes at him and said angrily: "Which one of your eyes sees that I"m worried about him?"
Xu Qing Yan pointed at his eyes and laughed: "Both of them."
Xu Qing Feng who had always been simple sighed with emotion and looked at Ye Li sadly: "It has only been a few days and Li-er has become a member of another family. If Prince Ding treats you badly, just tell me. I will come forward on your behalf."
Ye Li nodded and said seriously: "I"ll keep that in mind. Don"t worry about me, third brother."
Xu Qing Feng sighed: "I"ll leave the capital soon. I"ll tell second brother to ask second sister-in-law to visit you from time to time at Prince Ding"s Manor after his wedding."
Xu Qing Yan laughed: "Third brother, I"m afraid you"ve been exaggerating. Prince Ding"s Manor isn"t a mountain of swords and a sea of flames. With us here, who dares to take advantage of sister Li?"
Xu Qing Bai who was sitting by their side rolled his eyes: "Who it is that hides behind the crowd as soon as he sees Prince Ding?" How came that Xu Family had brought up such a timid boy? There was no way to hope that he would protect Li-er.
Xu Qing Yan blushed. Thinking about someone"s measures, he couldn"t help but tremble: "Forth brother, it"s not that I"m timid. It"s because someone..." was too cruel. Every time he recalled the two unlucky bandits in the yard, Xu Qing Yan would have bad dreams. Now that whenever he saw Mo Jing Yao, Xu Qing Yan wanted to hide behind Xu Qing Bai out of reflex.
Though Xu Qing Yan didn"t finish his sentence, Ye Li could guess what had happened by his guilty look. That someone probably had scared him with something he had done. Ye Li had no interest to find out what it was. Mo Xiu Yao had built his reputation by winning battles when he was younger. She didn"t except him to be a man of innocence and moral integrity.
After she was back in the manor, Ye Li was busy with taking over the affairs of the manor. All kinds of accounts took her two days to figure out. Meanwhile she was surprised how wealthy Prince Ding"s Manor was with all the direct and indirect a.s.sets acc.u.mulated by generations of princes. When she became familiar with all the accounts, she received an invitation for the royal banquet. Since it was a farewell ceremony for all the envoys there was no way for Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao to refuse to attend.
Ye Li wasn"t in a good mood on her second time to the palace since her last experience wasn"t exactly nice. The carriage of Prince Ding"s Manor didn"t stop at the entrance to the palace as ordinary n.o.bles but went through the palace gate directly. Mo Xiu Yao was in a moon-white robe with patterns of a silver dragon, auspicious clouds and flying eagles. He looked like a cultivated and smart gentleman. "Ah Li, is something bothering you?"
Ye Li sat lazily in the carriage and said: "Nothing. It"s only that the palace is a little depressing."
Mo Xiu Yao couldn"t help laughing: "Countless people want to get into the palace. You are quite an exception."
Ye Li gave him a slight glance and said: "Is it that interesting to climb up stepping on innumerable corpses or being others" step on their way up?"
Mo Xiu Yao thought about it and smiled: "The process must be boring but most people don"t get to see the process. They just need to imagine themselves at the top of the world. That sensation could lead them to forget everything else."
Ye Li raised her eyebrows. She asked after staring at him for a good while: "Is that what you think?" Mo Xiu Yao was stunned and looked at his hands on the wheelchair before saying deeply: "No. I just don"t want to be someone else"s step up."