The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Feng Jiuxiao slowly awoke, and the first thing he saw was the ceiling. Painted on the ceiling was actually a picture of "Zhaojun Leaving the Frontier." For some inexplicable reason, a series of images floated into his mind:
Excerpt 1: Countless Xiongnu cavalrymen gallop across the boundless wilderness, each wielding a scimitar and shouting loudly, their frenzied advance kicking up clouds of dust!
Scene Two: Chanyu Huhanye personally travels to Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Xuan of Han. A tall figure stands against a majestic palace; deep within the palace walls, the indistinct figure of Emperor Xuan is revealed! Only Emperor Xuan's voice echoes throughout the palace: "I bestow upon Zhaojun to Chanyu Huhanye!"
Scene 3: Amidst the swirling sandstorm, countless convoys formed a long, winding line. Inside one of the convoys sat Wang Zhaojun, one of the four most famous beauties in Chinese history, draped in a fox fur coat!

Scene Four: On a bumpy road, Wang Zhaojun switched to riding a horse. The exotic scenery around her suddenly stirred up her homesickness, so she plucked the strings of her zither and played a mournful farewell song to express her sorrow. Just then, some wild geese flying south heard the beautiful music and saw the beautiful woman on horseback, so they forgot to flap their wings and fell to the ground. From then on, Zhaojun and "the falling geese" became inseparable.

Oh dear, why am I thinking about these things?
Last night's heavy drinking left him feeling drunk for the first time, and he vaguely remembered that Pang Shiwu carried him back to his room.

Recalling last night, Zheng Sanqian's silver tongue was indeed formidable; he could get anyone to obediently drink with him after just a few words! Under his persuasion, everyone at the table was completely drunk!

The first one to fall seemed to be Wang Sheng, the second seemed to be Duanmu Yan, then Big Wolf, Ouyang Zhong, Lü Qi, Deng Ba, Zhang Deyi, I don’t really remember whether Fifteen fell or not, but I have a deep impression of Zeng Yong’s brief encounter, after all, Erni took good care of him!
He continued to recall the events of last night. Yuan Zishan and Xiong Mengyan didn't seem to have drunk much; they were both competing with each other, seemingly afraid of embarrassing themselves. Chang Zijin, on the other hand, was very relaxed and drank quite a bit. He guessed that she knew Erni and Zeng Yong were there and that she would be fine, so she didn't hold back.

As for chili peppers, she was the one shouting the loudest, probably quite drunk. I remember she even seemed to burst into song at the end! A young woman losing her composure in public would normally be ridiculed, but who among those present would laugh at her? Who dared to? Moreover, everyone was "carried away" by the revelry, including Zhang Deyi, that old fox who, for the first time ever, performed a "Breaking the Formation Dance" for everyone! It's a military dance, yet he danced it with such grace and charm! His usual shrewdness had completely transformed him into a carefree, passionate young man! Could such a contrast have occurred if they hadn't been so drunk?

Ouyang Zhong shook his head and swayed his body, tapping his bowl with chopsticks as if to accompany himself, humming something unintelligible, but he seemed quite engrossed in the music.

In short, everyone has "revealed their true colors," so who would still laugh at others?
Zheng Sanqian, the instigator, kept fanning the flames from beginning to end, constantly offering toasts and urging people to drink. In the end, his "little trick" finally succeeded. Before he could even offer a toast, everyone had already started to offer him toasts! The atmosphere was perfect, and they even wanted to get him drunk!
Zheng Sanqian was eventually carried away by Asang!

When he encourages others to drink more, doesn't he know he might drink too much himself? The boomerang he's thrown will eventually hit him on the forehead! It's just that he's a man of strong emotions, not afraid of drinking too much or getting drunk, only afraid of not drinking enough to express his feelings properly!

Being alone in a foreign land, struggling to make a living, the long-term loneliness is something that most people cannot endure!
When this person suddenly encounters a fellow villager from his hometown, the joy of such a long-awaited reunion is something that outsiders cannot understand! But Feng Jiuxiao understands! He was stranded in a foreign land when he was eight years old, and besides loneliness, his enemies were hunger and cold!

Zheng Sanqian was originally a cheerful and generous person, but he had been lonely and even repressed for a long time. When he met a kindred spirit with whom he felt he had "met sooner," he naturally erupted with passion!
How can a man normally express his excitement and enthusiasm? By drinking, of course! Making sure your honored guest enjoys the drinks is the best way to do so!

But what constitutes "drinking well"? It's when you've drunk too much, of course! And what does "drinking too much" mean? It means drinking until you can't drink anymore!
A thousand cups of wine are not enough when drinking with a bosom friend; even half a sentence is too much when talking to someone with whom you don't see eye to eye!

Yesterday, Zheng Sanqian and Feng Jiuxiao and the others hit it off immediately!
These people, though varied in temperament—some forthright, some cunning, some lively, some quiet—were all remarkably cheerful when drinking with him! Even the seemingly shrewd Zhang Deyi never cheated when drinking with him, downing his drink in one gulp! Despite his age, he drank more heartily than many young people! Truly worthy of being his "pure cousin"!
Big Wolf, with his shoulder-length blond hair, high nose, and deep-set eyes, was even more "fierce" when it came to drinking, daring to drink three cups against Zheng Sanqian! He would drink three cups, and Zheng Sanqian would drink one! Even the spicy girl dared to challenge him to a drinking contest! Although they were drinking wine, the fact that a girl could down a whole bowl of wine in one go, and drink three large bowls with Zheng Sanqian, and then alternate drinking five or six more bowls with him, deeply moved Zheng Sanqian!
He was suddenly confronted with so many genuine people, and he really couldn't handle it. He drank himself into a stupor and became completely drunk!
When he sobered up, it was already dusk the next day! Although he was still dizzy, he was very happy!

Feng Jiuxiao and the others left early the next morning. Before leaving, they had planned to meet Zheng Sanqian, but Asang said he was still asleep, so they didn't disturb him, leaving only a letter and four gold ingots. The letter essentially said that they were in a hurry and had to leave without saying goodbye, hoping for forgiveness and wishing to meet again someday!
When Feng Jiuxiao got up, it was still pitch black. The sunrise here is one or two hours later than in the Central Plains. In other words, the sun is already high in the sky in the Central Plains, but here they are just seeing the sunrise! After all, the region is vast and spans a large area.

When he sat up, Pang Shiwu also woke up, but he was still drowsy and didn't want to move. "Brother, why are you up so early?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Is it early? It's already past dawn!"

Pang Shiwu was startled: "What? It's already Mao Shi (5-7 AM)? And it's still so dark outside?"

"Have you forgotten that it gets light late here?!"

"Oh, I almost forgot, I need to get up quickly. Didn't we agree to leave early today? I can't hold you back."

"Your alcohol tolerance has improved! You drank so much yesterday, and you're perfectly fine today?"

"How can I be alright? My head hurts terribly! I drank a whole jar by myself, it must have been thirty pounds, oh dear, I drank too much!"

"Hehe, Zheng Sanqian is really good at persuading people to drink. We can say we've been completely wiped out!"

"No, Yong-ge is fine."

"He didn't drink anything! If Erni hadn't been so vigilant, he would have collapsed too!"

"It wouldn't really matter if he collapsed, the main problem is that it might aggravate his wounds, and then Sister Erni would definitely be furious!"

"With a night of recovery, his wound must have healed completely."

"Shall I tell everyone to get up now?"

"Tell everyone to leave as soon as they've finished washing up! We won't bother Boss Zheng in the morning; he definitely won't be able to get up now!"

Pang Shiwu laughed and said, "Really? He can drink so much, how come he can't get up at this hour?"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "You think he has a high alcohol tolerance? Actually, he's only so-so! He went out and secretly threw up several times last night, you didn't see it!"

Pang Shiwu was taken aback: "What? He went out and threw up several times?"

"Yeah! You think he has a high alcohol tolerance, but actually he's just bold when it comes to drinking! He's not good at drinking, he's just willing to drink! He was really too excited last night and drank to his heart's content! Every time he threw up, he could drink even more, because he had room in his stomach!"

"Hey, this Mr. Zheng is really a man of character!"

"That's why I thought we'd hit it off so well at first sight."

"Hehe, big brother, am I right?"

"Yes, you're right! We really do get along well!" "Big brother, I'm going to check on him! See if he's awake yet!"

A short while later, Pang Shiwu returned, shaking his head. "Brother, you were absolutely right. He was sleeping soundly. Asang called him several times but he didn't respond. If it weren't for his loud snoring, I would have thought he was dead from drinking! I didn't let Asang call him anymore; I just let him sleep. He drank way too much! An ordinary person would have died long ago! Luckily, he threw up yesterday! I just don't understand how he can drink so much! I certainly can't drink that much!" He remembered that Zheng Sanqian had drunk three jars of barley wine when he collapsed! Each jar weighed thirty jin, so three jars weighed ninety jin. Even ten strong men couldn't handle that much alcohol!
"How could you possibly drink yourself to death? You never wish anyone well!"

"Ha, I was just kidding!"

"Let's settle the bill in a bit! We'll use gold ingots; they only accept gold ingots here!"

"Okay! How much?"

Feng Jiuxiao smiled enigmatically: "Do you even need to ask me? Since they're so generous, surely our Young Master Pang wouldn't be too stingy? You decide!"

Pang Shiwu said, "Then I'll give him four gold ingots! It's quite heavy to carry too much gold on the cart!"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "Alright. You really are a rich young master! You're so worried that the gold will damage the car, so you're spending it all quickly!"

Pang Shiwu turned around without looking back and said, "In this desolate land, horses are far more valuable than gold! Gold can be earned back, but horses are hard to find once they're gone!"

He was right.

Yaks are easy to obtain in Tibet, but good horses are hard to find!

Too much gold will increase the weight of the vehicle, which will increase the burden on the horses and may cause them to get injured!

Therefore, to reduce the probability of horse injury, we must reduce the burden on the horse! To reduce the burden on the horse, we must reduce the weight of its main "external possession," gold!

That sounds logical, no problem!

But the real reason why Pang Shiwu decided to take out four gold ingots actually involved three bowls of noodles!

Face, social standing, and personal dignity!
Eating these three bowls of noodles well will make you feel like a fish in water; not eating them well will make you feel like you can't move an inch.

Four gold ingots for three bowls of noodles! Worth it!
Zhang Deyi and the others were woken up from their sleep. Although they were unwilling, they dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction in front of Pang Shiwu!

Chili vaguely heard the young lady calling her. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt too heavy to open. Finally, she felt someone shaking her shoulder and woke her up. She struggled to open her eyes and saw the young lady staring at her. She immediately said, "Miss, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Yuan Zishan said, "It's getting late, we should get up. They're all up and waiting for us."

Chili was instantly wide awake: "What? It's morning? It's so dark, I thought it was the middle of the night! Oh dear, I drank too much yesterday, I'm still a little dizzy!" She rubbed her sleepy eyes, got out of bed to get dressed and wash up.

When she and Yuan Zishan left the inn, they felt a chill; the temperature was really low!
The sky was still pitch black, but the earth was covered in silvery white snow, which was half a foot thick!

Everyone is in position.

Feng Jiuxiao said in the carriage, "Chili, it snowed all night last night, and the road is not easy to travel, so let's set off early and have breakfast in the nearest market town later. Is that alright with you?"

Chili exhaled a long puff of white air, "I'm fine!"

Yuan Zishan said, "Aren't you going to greet Boss Zheng?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Fifteen went to fight him just now, but seeing that he was still sleeping, I didn't disturb his peaceful sleep. I left him a letter." He turned to face Asang, who was standing at the door seeing everyone off, and said softly, "When your boss wakes up, please give him our regards and tell him that when he has the opportunity to come to the Central Plains in the future, he must look for us. If there are no unexpected events, we will settle down at Yingyue Manor in Hengyang."

Asang replied, "Okay! I'll definitely pass it on!"

He watched Feng Jiuxiao's convoy drive away into the night towards Qinghai Lake. Only after it had completely disappeared into the darkness did he return inside and close the door. Everything fell silent again, a stark contrast to the commotion of the previous night!

Seven or eight carriages drove away, leaving messy hoof and wheel tracks on the snow.

Chang Zijin sat in the car, lifted the curtain and looked outside, "If only this snow could never be destroyed!"

Erni said, "How could that be? People have to shovel snow as soon as they go out; it's impossible to avoid damage!"

Chang Zijin lowered the curtain, her face filled with dejection.

There is never a perfect solution in this world!
Above: "Zhaojun Leaving the Frontier" (End of this chapter)