Wu Hongming, meanwhile, was not aware of this and he praised Lu Liangwei when he saw how boldly she downed her drink. “Miss Weiwei, you sure can hold your liquor well!”
Lu Liangwei felt awkward when she heard this, but it did not seem to be a suitable time to reveal the truth. She could only reply humbly, “I must have embarrassed myself in front of Uncle Wu for being such a poor drinker.”
Ling Lihua was sitting on the other side of Lu Liangwei. She hugged Lu Liangwei around the shoulders. “Weiwei, why don’t we mother and daughter have a drink together?”
Lu Liangwei nodded. “Alright.”
She was about to get Zhu Yu to pour her the ‘wine’, when Long Yang placed a cup right in front of her.
Lu Liangwei hesitated before taking the cup. She was initially slightly worried, but when she found that there was no trace of alcohol in her cup, she was relieved.
She lifted her cup and clinked it with Ling Lihua’s. “I wish for Mother to always be healthy, young, and beautiful!”
Ling Lihua reached out to pinch her face. “You are such a sweet-talker. I wish for you to always be happy and beautiful too!”
With that, she gulped the wine in her cup with her head thrown back.
Lu Liangwei’s smile became brighter as she finished the tea in her cup as well.
She did not want to lie to her mother, but she felt cornered in her current situation.
Forget about it. She would be honest with her mother once dinner was over.
As she thought about this, she held her palm to her forehead and pretended to be tipsy. “I can’t really drink. The rest of you should continue without me.”
No one forced her any further when they saw her this way.
Wu Hongming approached Long Yang first as it was a rare opportunity to be drinking with the Emperor.
“Your Majesty must really be a good drinker. Would you mind having a drink with me?”
He paused for a moment and added, “I’m just an uncouth man. I know little about etiquette, and I ask for His Majesty to pardon me for this.”
With that, he poured a cup of wine and placed it in front of Long Yang.
Everyone broke out in cold sweat over his actions.
The Emperor might be dining at the same table with them, but he was still the Emperor. Wu Hongming was being much too rash.
If he had offended the Emperor, it would be lucky for him if he could escape with nothing more than a punishment.
Even the old beggar felt slightly worried for him!
Lu Liangwei turned to peek at Long Yang’s expression and saw that he looked pretty much normal. He did not seem upset, which made Lu Liangwei relieved.
Long Yang took a look at the cup of wine held in front of him by Wu Hongming, but made no move to take the cup from him.
“Where’s the fun in drinking from a cup?” With those words, he picked up the bowl Lu Liangwei had placed in front of him previously, then gulped down its contents.
Wu Hongming was taken aback, but pulled himself together and burst out laughing. “You are very straightforward, Your Majesty. There’s not much fun in using a bowl either, so why don’t we…”
He picked up two vats of wine and placed them on the table. He put one in front of Long Yang. “Wine is best when drunk in huge mouthfuls. What do you say, Your Majesty?”
Just like that, everyone present finally realized. Wu Hongming’s intention was not to drink with the Emperor. He was trying to put the Emperor on the spot.
This was brazen of him. Was he not afraid of offending the Emperor?
Lu Liangwei gave a slightly astonished look at Wu Hongming. Why would he want to do that to His Majesty?
Ling Lihua frowned. She was about to stop Wu Hongming when Long Yang suddenly stood up. He removed the mud seal from the vat.
“Since Mr. Wu is in such a good mood, I’ll happily join you.” With that, he picked up the vat of wine, threw his head back, and began drinking.
“Your Majesty…” Lu Liangwei frowned. She wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
His Majesty may be healthy now, but if he continued drinking in such a way, it would harm his body.
Wu Hongming could not resist cheering out loud when he saw this. “Your Majesty, you can really drink!”
With that, he picked up his vat of wine and drank as well, not wanting to fall behind.
At the other table.
“Miss Lin, you look very familiar to me. Have we met each other before this?” Chu Yi stared at Lin Qingyuan and asked with a big smile on his face.
Zhao Qian’s lips twitched. Could this fellow have gotten smarter with the way he tried to hook up with girls?
Lin Qingyuan gave Chu Yi a strange look. “I’ve never met you before, Uncle.”
Uncle?
Chu Yi nearly spat out the wine he had just drunk.