The prince is more stable

Chapter 638 Pure Friends
Although they had only met twice, Li Qingzhao was exceptionally warm towards Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian had seen many women in his life, so he could naturally see that Li Qingzhao's enthusiasm for him was not romantic love, but more like the feeling of meeting a good buddy. They got along well, had fun together, and were compatible.

To be honest, Zhao Xiaoqian also really likes this way of getting along.

He already had enough women. Even with Li Qingzhao's status as a historical figure, Zhao Xiaoqian never developed any romantic feelings for her.

He wasn't a breeding pig in the village, nor was he the type to sleep with every pretty woman he saw.

Besides, Li Qingzhao was just a young girl of marriageable age at the time, which would be considered a minor in later generations. Zhao Xiaoqian would not be so beastly as to lay a hand on such a young girl.

"I don't know when I'll be able to control myself when I'm a little older," Zhao Xiaoqian wondered.

As for the present, Zhao Xiaoqian enjoys this way of getting along with Li Qingzhao.

She's his good sister; she only cares about Giaogiao.

He was her best male friend; if anything was going to happen, it would have happened long ago. Why would it be her husband's turn?
What a wonderful relationship, yet it's also a nuisance to others.

“In the future, when we appear together, try not to sit at the same table…” Zhao Xiaoqian sighed dejectedly: “I’ll take the initiative and sit at the children’s table. You can pretend you don’t know me. We all have a bright future.”

Li Qingzhao couldn't stop laughing, giggling non-stop: "You're very honest, unlike others who, even though they can't outdrink me, stubbornly insist on saving face and refuse to admit defeat."

Zhao Xiaoqian said quietly, "Alcohol tolerance is like a math problem; if you can't do it, you just can't..."

He then turned and glanced at her, saying, "Did your father send you to apologize to me in person?"

Mentioning this, Li Qingzhao became a little unhappy and pouted, saying, "My father is worried that I might offend you and affect his career. Humph! All he ever thinks about is getting promoted."

"By the way, you won't make things difficult for my father, will you?" Li Qingzhao finally became a little uneasy.

"According to the rules of the underworld, an apology should be made with... well, since this is an apology, can you at least be a little nicer? I'm waiting." Zhao Xiaoqian calmly assumed the posture of being apologized to.

Li Qingzhao turned her head away: "I haven't offended you, why should I apologize? Your poor alcohol tolerance is your problem, I'm not wrong."

"You brought this up again..." Zhao Xiaoqian rubbed his forehead, looking annoyed. "Fine, I'll take it as an apology and not hold it against you. We'll meet again someday."

After saying this, Zhao Xiaoqian stood up and left.

Li Qingzhao grabbed him, saying, "Don't go!"

"What are you doing?"

Li Qingzhao took a thin booklet out of her bosom and handed it to him.

Zhao Xiaoqian took it blankly. The booklet was very simple, with a blank cover, unlike the printed books on the outside. Upon closer inspection, the booklet still carried a faint fragrance of a young girl, as soft and sweet as butter, and intoxicatingly fragrant.

"What is this?" Zhao Xiaoqian opened the booklet and saw that it contained handwritten poems, some complete and some only half-finished. Judging from the delicate yet vigorous handwriting, it was obviously copied by Li Qingzhao herself.

Looking at those poems again, they seemed increasingly familiar; they were all works written by Zhao Xiaoqian.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingzhao hand-copied an entire booklet. Clearly, though she didn't say it aloud, she greatly admired Zhao Xiaoqian's poems… perhaps even a little bit?

Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian's dazed expression, Li Qingzhao wrinkled her delicate nose triumphantly and laughed, "Zhao Banque, aren't you moved? I copied down all the poems you wrote by hand last night, not missing a single one. My hand is so sore from copying."

Zhao Xiaoqian, however, hung his head, looking utterly defeated, staring blankly at the booklet and muttering to himself, "This woman got me drunk last night, and she still had the energy to go home and copy this booklet..."

This woman's alcohol tolerance is so high that she could easily take down ten of me.
Li Qingzhao was both amused and exasperated: "Hey, Zhao Zian, I asked you if you were moved, but you're still bothered by my drinking capacity. Are men really that obsessed with saving face?"

"Call me brother," Zhao Xiaoqian said sternly.

"what?"

“I’m older than you, you have to call me brother. You have no respect for elders. Who told you to call me by my courtesy name?”

Li Qingzhao stubbornly raised her chin: "I won't! I'll just call you Zhao Zi'an. The day you can outdrink me, then I'll call you brother."

"...Didn't we agree not to talk about drinking capacity?"

Li Qingzhao snorted and said, "Do you carry your seal with you?"

"What are you doing?"

Pointing to the booklet in his hand, Li Qingzhao said, "Put your seal on this booklet. I want to keep this booklet. It will only have value if it has your seal."

Zhao Xiaoqian gave her a deep look, then took out his personal seal from his pocket and stamped it on the title page of the book.

Li Qingzhao smiled happily, took back the booklet, carefully tucked it into her bosom, and then patted his shoulder: "Thank you very much, Brother Zian!"

"To express my gratitude, I'll treat you to drinks tomorrow," Li Qingzhao said generously.

“There’s no need for that! I’m not worthy to mention the word ‘wine’ in front of you,” Zhao Xiaoqian refused decisively.

"How about we eat, but not drink alcohol?"

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and said, "Perhaps it won't work; I'm about to set off on an expedition." Li Qingzhao was taken aback: "Leading our Great Song army to launch a northern expedition against the Liao Kingdom?"

"That's about right. Let's take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun first."

Li Qingzhao immediately became excited: "Brother Zian, would you mind taking me with you? I won't be a burden to you. I'll disguise myself as a man and serve as your personal guard, how about that?"

"Don't be silly. This is a war between two countries, and the battlefield is littered with corpses. You're a young lady, and you've wet your pants in fear. Do you expect me to help you change them?"

Li Qingzhao retorted angrily, "Zhao Zian, how dare you underestimate me! In my life, I, Li Qingzhao, have never feared anyone! If you dare to take me away, I will show you what true heroine spirit is!"

Even if you kneel down and kowtow to me eighteen times, and give me 100,000 taels of silver, I still won't take you with me. Forget about it.

Li Qingzhao chuckled and spat out a curse: "Dream on! My family is very poor and doesn't have that much money to give you. I've been wearing the same clothes for years, and my father doesn't have the money to buy me new ones."

Zhao Xiaoqian chuckled. It seemed that Li Qingzhao was indeed not well-off. She was always short of money. Her family had fallen on hard times when she was young, and they could barely be considered middle class. Later, she married a man named Zhao Mingcheng. He was a decent man, but he liked to play with calligraphy, painting, and seal carving, which was a very expensive hobby.

So the couple always lived a very frugal life. Later, Zhao Mingcheng died of illness, and Li Qingzhao remarried. Fate began to be unfair to her, and she suffered a lot of hardship and poverty in the second half of her life, which was very pitiful.

Li Qingzhao was only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time. She had not yet met her future husband and was still her father's beloved daughter, living a carefree life.

Zhao Xiaoqian did not know whether his encounter with Li Qingzhao would change her future fate.

Let’s hope so.

Regardless of romantic feelings, Zhao Xiaoqian simply felt that the life of China's foremost talented woman should not be so destitute and impoverished.

He liked Li Qingzhao as she was now, carefree, laughing whenever she wanted, always basking in the sunlight, never seeing the darkness of the world.

"I'm leaving for war in a few days. Take good care of yourself. When I return to Bianjing, I'll bring you some Liao specialties, like wine vessels made from Liao army skulls, how about that?" Zhao Xiaoqian grinned mischievously at her.

If other women heard this, they would surely turn pale with fright and refuse in fear.

To everyone's surprise, Li Qingzhao's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly: "Great! I like it! The skull must be tanned and sun-dried for several days, otherwise it will smell terrible. I will wait for you to bring it to me in Bianjing. Don't forget."

"Drinking wine from a vessel made from the skulls of Liao soldiers, haha, just thinking about it is exciting! I'll have something to brag about in the future." Li Qingzhao's beautiful eyes sparkled with joy.

Zhao Xiaoqian was taken aback, then burst into laughter: "Alright, I will definitely remember to bring it to you, and I will choose the skull with the most perfect shape and appearance, and ask an expert craftsman to make it for you... By the way, how about the skull of the Liao general? That would be even more prestigious."

Li Qingzhao trembled with excitement: "Good, good! It must be a general, preferably the commander-in-chief of an army! Zhao Zian, don't lie to me, I'll be waiting for your triumphant return in Bianjing."

Indeed, she truly deserves to be called the foremost female talent; this is so typical of Li Qingzhao.

Sure enough, the female friends I made were also eagle-like women.

The two sat on the stone steps of the Prince's Mansion and chatted for a long time. Zhao Xiaoqian did not intend to invite her into the mansion, nor did Li Qingzhao intend to enter the mansion.

The friendships we made were purely platonic, without any ulterior motives.

We get along well, our personalities match, and we can chat all day long sitting on the street.

As darkness fell, Li Qingzhao looked up at the sky and exclaimed in alarm, "This is bad!" She hurriedly got up and rushed home.

Zhao Xiaoqian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, her father hadn't spoiled her too much. No matter how unruly the little girl was, there were still rules. Try breaking the rules and see what happens.

"Let's go! If I don't go back, my father will beat me to death." Li Qingzhao hurriedly ran towards the Imperial Street.

She had only run a couple of steps before sprinting back. Li Qingzhao stared intently at Zhao Xiaoqian, remaining silent for a long time.

"Zhao Zian, it's wonderful to be friends with a hero like you from the Song Dynasty, hehe!"

Then Li Qingzhao put away her smile, straightened her clothes very seriously, and gave him a dignified and formal bow.

"Zhao Zian, may you make a great contribution to the Song Dynasty and wipe away the century-old shame of our Song Dynasty. I await your good news in Bianjing. It is truly good that the Song Dynasty has a hero like you to support it!"

After saying this, Li Qingzhao smiled sweetly at him, turned around and ran away quickly, her running posture still showing no trace of a young lady's modesty.

Zhao Xiaoqian stood frozen in front of the palace gate, staring at her departing figure for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"It's really good to know you as a friend," Zhao Xiaoqian murmured.

Light footsteps sounded behind him, and Zhao Hao's voice came from behind him.

"Who was that girl just now? She looked only fourteen or fifteen years old. How could you do that to her?"

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, "It's a purely platonic friendship, without any romantic feelings whatsoever."

Zhao Hao snorted coldly: "Ask our guard dog if it believes it or not."

“I just asked the dog, and it said it never catches mice.”

(End of this chapter)