The prince is more stable

Chapter 994: Ruthless and Affectionate
Li Qingzhao's attempt to play dumb to outsmart others backfired spectacularly, achieving a completely different result than she had envisioned.

Scholars and literati have all done this. One day, they write a masterpiece, but scholars still have their pride and are too embarrassed to show off their masterpiece everywhere. So they pretend that they heard it from someone else and recite it to their friends.

Upon hearing this, the friend exclaimed, "Wow, this work is amazing! An incredible masterpiece! Quickly, let me introduce you to the author!" Then, the person pretending to be clueless smiled reservedly and revealed the answer: "The author is me! Surprised? Does what you said earlier about it being amazing still count?"
Following the normal procedures of interactions among intellectuals, this is the correct direction for the plot to develop.

But Li Qingzhao never expected that Zhao Xiaoqian would not follow the script at all. He frantically added scenes for himself, turning the protagonist into a cannon fodder supporting character.

A perfectly good poem, "Like a Dream," was turned into a scandal when he uttered it, not only being called a spoiled brat but also violating three laws...

Is this something humans do?
Li Qingzhao sat in the elegant pavilion, so angry she wanted to cry, but she was too embarrassed to cry in front of Zhao Xiaoqian, so she could only drink her wine in silence.

Looking at Zhao Xiaoqian's wicked smile with a sidelong glance, Li Qingzhao grew angrier and angrier, so she slammed her hand on the table and stood up.

"I don't care anymore, you have to drink with me until we're both drunk!"

Without saying a word, Li Qingzhao grabbed the wine cup and poured it into his mouth.

Zhao Xiaoqian was shocked and immediately felt deep regret.

I shouldn't have been so sarcastic today. On a whim, I forgot that this woman is the Goddess of Wine of the Great Song Dynasty. Offending her might not have serious consequences, but it will definitely give me a headache.

The next day I had a hangover and a headache.

"Alright, alright, I was wrong. That poem, 'Like a Dream,' was really powerful. A thousand years from now, I wonder how many elementary school students will be kept after school because of it, crying and wailing as they try to memorize and recite the entire poem, and even making wild guesses about what thoughts and feelings the author wanted to express..."

Li Qingzhao snorted and said, "You're talking nonsense again. Poetry is poetry. It's easy to recite and expresses one's thoughts. Who's so bored as to guess what the author is thinking?"

This time, Zhao Xiaoqian was serious and said solemnly, "Are there really such bored people? I was a victim too. When I was a child, I had a bad memory and could never memorize the whole text. Every day, I was kept until almost dark before being released. As soon as I left the school, my mother would be waiting outside the school gate and give me a beating..."

Li Qingzhao didn't believe it and pouted, "Never mind all that, you've offended me today, so you have to drink with me until we're both drunk. Otherwise, I'll chase you all the way to Yanfu Palace, and this drinking won't end even if you hide at the ends of the earth."

Then Zhao Xiaoqian was forced to drink several more cups of wine.

Most of the wines in the Song Dynasty were rice wines, but there were also yellow wines, grape wines, and so on. These wines were easier to drink than the baijiu of later generations, and you didn't feel anything while drinking them, so you didn't pay attention to it when you drank one cup after another.

But these liquors have one thing in common: they have a strong aftereffect. You don't feel it when you first drink them, but in less than half an hour you start to feel dizzy and lightheaded.

If a cold wind blows, they'll cry out, "Wow!" and startle a flock of gulls and egrets as they struggle to cross...

Zhao Xiaoqian is now in this predicament.

It was no big deal for Li Qingzhao to make him drink a few cups of wine. When Zhao Xiaoqian was being forced to drink, he pretended to avoid it and refuse, but he still joked with the young girl with a smile.

However, after half an hour, Zhao Xiaoqian sensed that something was wrong.

My mind started to go blank, my vision became blurry, and I couldn't control my mouth. Things I shouldn't say in normal times just came out without thinking.

“Li Qingzhao, Little Li, you are a talented woman, and your fame has spread far and wide… Come closer and let me see what this thing is like. How did it grow up? How did it become so smart?” Zhao Xiaoqian, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, moved Li Qingzhao’s head around, parted the hair on the top of her head, and seemed to be trying to pry open her skull to study it.

Li Qingzhao was not annoyed. She had never seen Zhao Xiaoqian drunk before, so it was a novel experience for her, and she was happy to see him as he was now.

Letting him fidget with his head, Li Qingzhao smiled and poured another cup of wine into his mouth.

"You intellectuals are really bullying us! It's fine to just enjoy composing poems and essays, but you actually have to write them down and pass them down to future generations..."

"Do you even know how many children you've harmed in future generations? A bunch of immature people, making wild guesses in class about what you disrespectful elders were thinking when you wrote this work. How can we possibly guess what kind of twisted world you're living in?"

"Li Qingzhao, you owe me a blood debt! Give me back my childhood! ...And all those beatings I received as a child!"

Listening to the drunken Zhao Xiaoqian complain and act crazy, Li Qingzhao, with a charming smile, rested her chin on her hands, looked at him adoringly, and said softly, "Although I don't know what I owe you, I will definitely repay what I owe you."

"You sign a document!"

"Alright, alright, let's put it in writing. We'll do it when I wake up tomorrow morning," Li Qingzhao coaxed him with a charming smile.

After a pause, Li Qingzhao continued, "Now that you've become emperor, you must have many beauties in your harem, right? How many more have you taken in over the past six months?"

"Mind your own business. It's perfectly reasonable for me to take a hundred," Zhao Xiaoqian said, his vision growing increasingly blurry, the scene before him swaying as if an earthquake had struck.

"I'm so busy every day, I don't even have time to pick up beautiful women... I feel uneasy!" Zhao Xiaoqian muttered again.

Li Qingzhao's eyes lit up, and she leaned closer, laughing, "I didn't expect that you, this lecherous man, would actually settle down and not plan to take any more concubines?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course the emperor wants to take concubines, I just don't have time right now."

Zhao Xiaoqian hiccuped and said, "I inexplicably ended up in this position and inexplicably took on a lot of responsibilities. I have no choice but to do it."

"The Great Song Dynasty claims to be the legitimate successor to the Central Plains, but in reality it is nothing more than a regional separatist force. The Liao Dynasty in the north, the Western Xia in the northwest, the Tubo in the west... I will deal with all of them."

"Only when China is unified can the world be at peace!"

"After I die, I want to sit in the center of all those memorial tablets in the Imperial Ancestral Temple! Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong will all have to step aside!" Li Qingzhao said these bold words to the drunk Zhao Xiaoqian, words she would never normally utter. He was full of high spirits at that moment.

For some reason, Li Qingzhao suddenly felt that he had a bit of the shadow of Emperor Taizu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang. That imperial aura of sweeping across the world and unifying the country fascinated her.

This is what a true hero should look like.

Although Li Qingzhao was a talented woman who spent her days writing and painting, she actually didn't think much of those so-called talented men who only knew how to talk big and only knew poetry and prose.

Her ideal man must be a hero of the world, a true hero who can "bring peace to all generations," not just a pretentious scholar who writes sentimental poems on paper.

If one's lifelong learning cannot be used for the benefit of the world and the common people, one is ultimately nothing but a useless person.

In her eyes, the only hero was Zhao Xiaoqian.

Only he could truly unify the country, end the century of war, and allow the people to live in peace. Only he could make the Song Dynasty's army invincible, washing away the century of humiliation with swords and blood.

This great hero is now alone with her in a room.

very nice.

At least at this moment, the world consists only of her and him.

No matter what the future holds for her and him, this moment alone will be a lifelong memory.

Zhao Xiaoqian's body was already swaying precariously. Outside the elegant pavilion, Chen Shou paced back and forth. He had also heard Zhao Xiaoqian's drunken ramblings inside and couldn't help but feel worried. However, Li Qingzhao's relationship with the Emperor was not ordinary. If she were to enter the pavilion now, it would inevitably spoil the scene and might incur the Emperor's wrath.

Li Qingzhao also knew that this was a rare opportunity, and if she missed it today, she might never have another chance to get close to him.

Li Qingzhao glanced quickly at the tightly closed door of the Elegant Pavilion, a blush rising to her cheeks. She gritted her teeth, then suddenly pressed Zhao Xiaoqian down, her delicate red lips quickly pressing against his.

Zhao Xiaoqian's eyes widened in shock as he stared blankly at Li Qingzhao's face, which was flushed red as if it were about to bleed. For a moment, he forgot to react.

After a long while, their lips parted. Li Qingzhao stared intently at the face she had longed for day and night, then suddenly snapped back to reality, gritting her teeth with a fierce expression.

"You're drunk. Everything you just experienced was a hallucination. Remember, it was a hallucination! Forget it now!" Li Qingzhao seemed afraid he wouldn't forget, so she even brandished her delicate little fist at him in a show of force, looking quite fierce.

Zhao Xiaoqian blinked, a fleeting smile crossing his eyes, then nodded seriously: "That's right, I really am drunk..."

Li Qingzhao was taken aback, and a hint of disappointment immediately appeared on her face: "You, you...you really forgot?"

“Of course, I don’t remember anything after I woke up,” Zhao Xiaoqian said with a smile.

Li Qingzhao stamped her foot angrily: "You, you shameless scoundrel who started a relationship and then abandoned me!"

Zhao Xiaoqian looked completely innocent: "Didn't you tell me to forget about it?"

Li Qingzhao was speechless for a moment.

Women's minds are always so sentimental and fickle. No matter how talented Li Qingzhao was, she was still a woman after all.

The two stared at each other for a long time. Li Qingzhao grew angrier and angrier, then slammed her hand on the table and stood up. The bold and unrestrained goddess of wine was back in action.

"Fine, forget it, you better forget it! Drink more, and forget it all!"

As she spoke, Li Qingzhao began to pour him wine again, one cup after another.

Zhao Xiaoqian's eyes widened in surprise. After a few drinks, he was truly drunk this time.

However, in this situation, it would indeed be inappropriate not to get drunk.

What if she finds out I'm not completely drunk and makes me take responsibility?
It's like a scumbag wiping himself off and pulling up his pants, only to have a woman hug him with a tender and expectant look on her face, asking him, "What is our relationship now?"

A good scumbag won't make a direct statement at this point. He'll pretend to be deaf and dumb, change the subject, and say all sorts of sweet words, but he'll never define the relationship.

The same applies to Zhao Xiaoqian now.

Li Qingzhao was still young, probably not even sixteen years old yet. It would have been more appropriate to discuss topics about men and women a few years later. Today was a complete accident.

Fortunately, the accident was just a kiss, which is fine. Even if Li Qingzhao had a great constitution, she couldn't possibly get pregnant.

After being forced to drink a few glasses of wine by her, Zhao Xiaoqian simply lay down on the floor of the elegant room, completely giving up.

Li Qingzhao, however, wore a slightly reproachful expression, a look of resentment, and a touch of girlish shyness.

The current scene may be the best possible outcome for today.

(End of this chapter)