Chapter 22: Feast And Wine
When Fei Li entered the room the following morning, it was only Lu Qinyi, Yang Xun and Zhao Mei sitting at the low table. They seemed to be discussing something but Lu Qinyi had his head bent, propped up with a hand to his forehead. To the side sat a decently sized stack of neatly tied papers.
"General Lu?" Yang Xun called after he realized Lu Qinyi hadn't responded in a while.
At that, Lu Qinyi abruptly raised his head, seeming to have been startled awake from his impromptu nap as he blinked sleepily a few times. He glanced over at Fei Li, giving the only nod of acknowledgement the other would receive before turning his attention back to Yang Xun. "Ah, sorry. What were you saying?"
"Did you just... fall asleep?" Yang Xun questioned with a small frown.
But Zhao Mei was even more direct as her piercing gaze looked him over. "General.. Did you sleep last night?"
"Ah... No, not really."
"But we were playing cards all of the night before. You've gone two days without sleep?" Yang Xun's frown deepened.
"Mmm. Seems it." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I had a lot of reports to catch up on. You should be happy Mei Mei, why are you looking at me like that?"
Her expression was one of displeasure and Yang Xun's wasn't much better, both annoyed with Lu Qinyi.
"What? You both are angry with me when I don't do work and now you're angry with me for doing work." Lu Qinyi huffed, twirling a brush he picked up from the table around his fingers.
"General, you can't skip sleeping for two nights. How can we get any work done when you're falling asleep? How irresponsible can you be? Miss Lu won't like hearing about this." Yang Xun scolded, snatching the brush from Lu Qinyi.
"Fine, fine. I won't fall asleep again." Lu Qinyi promised but he was already having to suppress a yawn. He scoffed at that last line. "Who do you think threatened me to finish these reports tonight?"
Zhao Mei rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't have had so many to do if you hadn't put them off."
Lu Qinyi waved his hand dismissively. "Are we continuing or can I speak with General Fei first?" The spoken of General Fei stood quietly to the side, arms tucked into himself as he was still defrosting from his exposure to the winter chill. He wasn't even sure why he had been called here and now he had to listen to these three bicker again. He was bored at best, annoyed at worst, but he still didn't interrupt.
"Yang Xun and I can finish these matters. Get some rest and join us later General." Zhao Mei hadn't even waited for his response before collecting that stack of reports and standing up.
"Mm?" Lu Qinyi raised an eyebrow but he wasn't about to complain. "Alright. I'll be by later then."
Yang Xun could only sigh and put away his annoyance. He also wanted Lu Qinyi to rest so he didn't object, gathering up the scattered papers from the table.
Zhao Mei brushed past Fei Li without a word or look but Yang Xun paused to exchange a mutual disapproving look before continuing out the door. Once it was just the two of them left in the room, Lu Qinyi gestured for him to take a seat. But Fei Li remained where he was, seeming particularly standoff-ish today. "What do you want?"
Lu Qinyi shot him a questioning look, wondering what his problem was this morning, but he got to the point rather than testing Fei Li's temper. "Yanlin will be leaving again soon so we're having something of a feast tonight. You're welcome to come if you so please. If you're worried about another attempt on your life and would rather not, I'll have Lin Jiao bring you dinner in your room instead."
Fei Li was taken back a moment, brows knitting together slightly as he processed this information. "You're... inviting me to..."
"Yes." Lu Qinyi cut in, easy smile on his face as he took amusement in Fei Li's bewilderment. He stood up, rubbing lightly at his eye as if that would help against the burning feeling that came with being awake for too long. "Come if you want. Don't if you don't. Please excuse me while I go have a nap." He made a shooing gesture which Fei Li frowned at but obeyed, still contemplating the invite as he turned and left the room.
In the end, he decided to go. Although the excuse he gave himself is that it was to return Lu Yanlin's politeness, in truth he wasn't entirely sure why. Still, he pulled on the fine outer robe that had been left for him and followed the guards who led him to the main hall. The once open space used for training had been lined with long rows of tables, the room filled with warmth, chatter and loud laughter. At the front of the room was the table for the general, his sister and his lieutenants. They wore fine clothes similar to the one Fei Li had been left, trimmed with gold thread embroidery. It was a bit strange to see the pair lieutenants, who usually wore their uniforms, instead dressed so nicely. Gold thread had even been intertwined in the braids in their hair.
Although their looks were fitting of a formal celebration, their demeanours weren't. They were still casually talking and laughing with one another, ultimately creating a rather relaxed atmosphere. Fei Li felt more at ease as he took his seat at the end of the table by Lu Qinyi. The other gave him a warm smile of greeting.
At first, there were some dark glares from a few of the more experienced soldiers, as well as some shared whispers. The last time Fei Li had left the courtyard, and the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt that had followed, were still fresh in everyone's memory so no one dared object too loudly. Even those glares were hidden under bowed heads when Lu Qinyi's cold gaze turned on each of them, almost daring them to question him. Those buried grievances were soon lulled anyway as food and drinks were served, no one bothering to pay Fei Li any more attention.
So Fei Li relaxed slightly in his seat, in no hurry to finish his meal as he listened in passively to the conversation of his dinner companions. The topic of the conversation flowed from court dramas to childhood stories to the wedding of some acquaintances that had ended in disaster and had the capital in a stir for days. Lu Yanlin was somewhat vague in her descriptions as it seemed she wasn't one for gossip but she still dutifully filled the others in on the events they'd missed. Fei Li was fairly comfortable with simply listening, the enthusiastic chatter entertainment enough for him. But occasionally one of the Lu's would turn to him and ask him about something or explain the context for something, although neither would push him for a response. Fei Li would give as much of a response as he felt like and the conversation would continue.
Fei Li had to admit that it was an enjoyable way to spend the night and an experience he didn't often get to partake in. Although his army held similar feasts to celebrate this or that, he never really participated in them. There were always more pressing matters, he would hardly waste his time on a feast. Even on the rare occasion where he did attend to show face, he kept his distance from others and would leave shortly after eating. Now, he had no responsibilities, nothing better to be doing and even when he guarded and distanced himself, the Lu siblings wouldn't leave him be.
He brought his attention back to the present, his gaze snapping to the soldier who approached them. He had already drunk a little too much, the alcohol boldening him enough to pad on over to offer his general some wine. He innocently hadn't paused to wonder why no one had done so yet, raising the pot in his hand slightly. "Can I pour you a cup General?"
"No, don't-" The other three quickly objected but it was too late, Lu Qinyi had snatched the pot with a grin.
"Siyu, you shouldn't drink." Lu Yanlin tried to take the pot from him but he easily avoided her. Zhao Mei only sighed, her expression a weary one of 'here we go again'.
"It's already been a year since I last drank, will you let it go? It's just a little alcohol." He tipped the wine pot back to take a few gulps.
"That's enough General," Yang Xun said anxiously, rising from his seat and intending to directly take the pot back but Lu Qinyi had decided to be utterly unreasonable, rising from his own seat to vault over the table out of reach. It was lucky that most of the empty dishes had been cleared away but the unlucky few that remained, including Fei Li's tea cup, crashed to the ground. The poor soldier looked on, frozen in place, already aware that he'd made a mistake that couldn't be contained anymore. As Lu Qinyi leisurely drank another mouthful of his forbidden goods, the expressions of Yang Xun, Zhao Mei and Lu Yanlin all looked equally poor.
"It's unbecoming of a general to be drinking like that." Lu Yanlin stated softly. There was a limit to what she could do to reel in this brother of hers without embarrassing him as a general in front of his soldiers. Lu Qinyi knew this well and was quick to retort.
"There's nothing wrong with a general drinking with his soldiers, especially if one of them offered."
The soldier standing awkwardly to the side paled as he heard this, backing away while he still could.
"Whenever you drink, something or someone always ends up broken, General. You really shouldn't drink any more." Yang Xun tried to reason more directly but Lu Qinyi shrugged this off.
"That's not my problem. I'm only drinking for tonight, I'm sure the damages can't be that great." But the look on the other's faces said it could most definitely be. Fei Li had to wonder what exactly Lu Qinyi had done to traumatize them to this state.
Zhao Mei stared at him a moment before a small, cold smile rose on her lips, the kind that told of sure victory before the battle had even finished. "If you drink too much, neither I nor Yang Xun will protect General Fei in your stead." Yang Xun didn't need to be consulted, he was immediately with Zhao Mei on this one.
This finally made Lu Qinyi pause, the pot not quite at his lips. "General Fei isn't defenseless." A talented general with two bodyguards close behind him, surely he would be fine even without him or his lieutenants. But Lu Qinyi didn't need to be told to know that wasn't entirely true.
"Against our trained soldiers and without anything to defend himself with?"
Lu Qinyi frowned. "You can't even watch him for one night so I can drink?"
Fei Li narrowed his eyes slightly, shooting Lu Qinyi an annoyed glance. Not only had he destroyed his cup of tea, now he was insulting him. It's true he was at a disadvantage and it wouldn't be easy to defend himself but still, what was he? A child that needed babysitting? The way Lu Qinyi was talking about him certainly made it sound that way.
"No." Zhao Mei was direct and to the point, leaving nothing for compromise. Lu Yanlin smiled lightly behind her cup, watching with amusement.
Lu Qinyi's brows twitched with annoyance, frown still tugging at his lips as he slowly lowered the hand that held the wine pot. "Fine. I won't drink much tonight. Satisfied?"
"Very." Zhao Mei replied without heart as Yang Xun nodded and Lu Yanlin only continued to smile.
Lu Qinyi sulkily returned to his seat, his pot of wine being replaced with a single cup of wine that was his allowance for the night. He even dared give a childish glare at Fei Li as if it were his fault he couldn't drink. Fei Li glared back, hmphing quietly as he claimed his new cup of tea from the attending servant.
As the night wrapped up, it was actually Yang Xun who drank too much. He became a crying mess who whined loudly about how much he loved his beloved Jialee even as he was dragged back to his room by Lu Yanlin and Zhao Mei. Lu Qinyi had just started to walk back with Fei Li when the soldier from earlier approached them. The two paused, Fei Li's vigilant and cautious gaze on the soldier even as Lu Qinyi stepped slightly in front of him, subtly shielding Fei Li behind him.
"Did you need something?" Lu Qinyi asked, friendly tone and casual posture although his gaze was fixed. But the soldier seemed to sway as he stood, his hands fidgeting before gathering up the courage to raise his head to meet Lu Qinyi's gaze. He seemed to be incredibly drunk as his face was flushed and even his words slurred.
"General... I just... I just wanted to apologize for earlier... Ive, I, I admire you, for so long..." The soldier seemed to want to continue but his mind must have blanked because he only looked up at Lu Qinyi with shining eyes, blinking slowly. Lu Qinyi hadn't even thought of how to respond yet when that soldier swayed violently and suddenly fell forward, collapsing right into Lu Qinyi.
Lu Qinyi hurriedly pushed him off, holding him up at arm's length. He seemed to have been both caught off guard and flustered as he wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Meanwhile, that soldier that had passed out for a moment could hardly stand on his own.
"Can..." He began, finally seeming to regain his senses. "Can someone come take this soldier back to his room? He's had too much to drink. Put him to bed and limit his alcohol allowance for the week."
Another soldier rushed forward to collect her friend and apologize to the general. Lu Qinyi was all too keen to hand him off before hastily turning on his heel to leave, Fei Li following behind with muted amusement. Seems there were actually situations that even Lu Qinyi wasn't immune to, he could stay calm and collected in the face of death and yet he lost his cool at a drunken soldier falling into his arms.
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