Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting with winning over Daiyu's favorability

"Senior Brother, let me raise a glass to you. Thank you for taking care of me over the past year!"

Deng Zechen downed his drink in one gulp, and Du Feng also finished his drink in one swift motion.

After a while, the eyes of the people in the seats began to glaze over.

At the table, only the birthday celebrant Deng Zechen and the deliberately controlled Guo Wenmo appeared to be somewhat lucid.

Feng Ziming stood up unsteadily, apologized, and went to the outhouse.

It was only then that Deng Zechen realized it was getting dark and remembered that Lin Daiyu was still on the other side, so he left to take her back to the Rongguo Mansion.

Even though Sun Sanzhu has agreed to resolve this matter, it's best not to leave too much room for discussion with the Rongguo Mansion before the matter is actually resolved.

Upon arriving at the other room, he found it empty. Sensing something, Deng Zechen strode towards the door.

All that could be seen was a carriage gradually disappearing into the distance. Xiangling had just bid farewell to Lin Daiyu and was about to return home.

Looking at Brother Deng, who was drunk and whose heart and eyes were filled with Miss Lin, she hurriedly lowered her eyes, feeling as if she had eaten a sour wild fruit.

The sour and astringent taste was almost burning up to my forehead, but Miss Lin was also a very kind person to me...

"Why is Brother Deng out here?"

Having drunk quite a bit of wine at the table, Deng Zechen felt as if his feet were walking on cotton. After listening to Xiangling's words, he took a long time to react before replying:

"Oh? I came to see Miss Lin. Has she gone back?"

Xiangling bit her lip, took a deep breath, and then stepped forward to support Deng Zechen's hand:

"Miss Lin just left, let's go back first, it's windy outside."

I see you're a little drunk.

As luck would have it, a cool breeze blew by at that moment, swirling the leaves of the trees in the neighboring yard up and down before finally settling on the ground in front of us.

The wind blew in his face, just enough to dispel some of Deng Zechen's drunkenness.

Deng Zechen waved his hand dismissively, "I don't need help, I'm not drunk. Go have fun by yourself, eat some good food, don't worry about us."

After saying that, he went back on his own, secretly pleased with himself.

I've drunk plenty of baijiu (Chinese white liquor) during business dinners, so what's a little bit of huangjiu (yellow wine)? How could I possibly get drunk?

Don't underestimate me!

Xiangling was both amused and exasperated, but she had no choice but to go along with him.

As they approached the room, Deng Zechen happened to run into Feng Ziming, who was returning home.

Feng Ziming saw Deng Zechen and came up to him mysteriously, saying:

"Now I know why you were turned away by the academy!"

Listening to the laughter and chatter of the others in the room, Deng Zechen thought that this was, after all, his private matter, so he simply pulled Feng Ziming to sit on the railing of the porch outside the door.

"Do you know why? Tell me."

Although the alcohol had made Feng Ziming's thinking a little confused, fortunately, he was only speaking a little slower at the moment, which did not affect their communication.

Do you remember our classmate Shi Chen from when we studied together in Wuxian?

Deng Zechen recalled for a moment, first remembering a pair of sinister and narrow eyes, and then slowly matching the name with the person in his memory.

"Remember."

"I heard something a few days ago: the wife of the Duke of Shan State has died."

Originally, this had nothing to do with me, and I didn't take it to heart. But who knew that Shi Chen was the mistress of the Duke of Shan, Shi Guangzhu!

The Duke of Shanguo has no sons to this day. He learned that Shichen, whom he had casually raised outside, had passed the county examination with the second-highest score.

They took Shi Chen home directly and even wanted to add him to the family genealogy.

The Duchess of Naguo remained unconvinced, and the situation remained at a stalemate. The Duke of Shan, however, held his only son in high regard.

Upon hearing this, Deng Zechen's slight intoxication vanished instantly. "You mean, Shi Chen is using the Duke of Shan's influence to sabotage things?"

Feng Ziming nodded, and said somewhat apologetically:

"I made a special inquiry and found out that Mr. He Yue of the academy received a favor from Duke Shi Guangzhu in his early years."

If Shi Chen had known in advance that you were going to study at the academy, he could indeed have used this method to refuse you entry.

"I'm sorry, Zechen, today is supposed to be your birthday. I shouldn't be saying these things to you at this time."

Deng Zechen shook his head seriously, rejecting Feng Ziming's apology:

"What did you do wrong? I should thank you for going to the trouble of finding out information for me."

Otherwise, who knows how long they would have been kept in the dark, and it might have caused even bigger problems in the future.

"Hmm...we do need to be more vigilant, but right now Shi Chen shouldn't have time to keep targeting us."

Because of the passing of Lady Shan Guo, Shi Chen is unable to participate in next year's prefectural examination.

The wife of the Duke of Shan's family was quite powerful, and they learned that the conflict between the Duke of Shan and his wife was all because of Shi Chen.

They directly instructed Shi Chen to go to Lotus Temple to observe a vegetarian diet and pray for blessings for three years on behalf of the Lady of Shan State, as a way to fulfill his filial duty.

The Duke of Shanguo agreed to their request, which is good news for us.

Deng Zechen hadn't expected things to develop this way, but he felt that while He Yue from that academy was certainly acting on Shi Chen's orders, that wasn't necessarily the whole reason.

Thinking back to the way He Yue looked at her back then, the raw hatred and disgust in his eyes were not the kind of look one would expect when doing something for someone else.

There must be some inside story behind this that I don't yet know.

"Alright, let's go back and eat. I'll be more careful. Thanks for reminding me."

The two of them walked back to the room arm in arm.

Guo Wenmo was talking to Du Feng casually at that moment:

"My younger brother is unruly, and you've had to put in a lot of trouble to take care of him."

Du Feng's expression showed no abnormality; he simply drank another glass of wine.

"Yes, naughty, I'll have to put in a lot of effort."

"He's a bit lazy, so please discipline him strictly. If he needs to be disciplined, then discipline him. Don't spoil him."

"Yeah, lazy, I should hit him."

Guo Wenmo and Du Feng clearly felt that there was nothing wrong with what the other said. If you ignored the fact that Guo Wenmo was toasting Guo Wenshao, who was fast asleep on the table, he just looked like an ordinary elder worrying about his own naughty child.

Aside from staring straight ahead, Du Feng showed absolutely no other unusual behavior.

Feng Ziming and Deng Zechen returned to their seats, with Deng Zechen sitting between Du Feng and Guo Wenshao.

Watching Du Feng down glass after glass of wine, Deng Zechen waved his hand in front of Du Feng's eyes twice, tentatively saying:

"Your junior brother comes from a poor family. Are you going to give him some pocket money now?"

Du Feng paused in his drinking motion, put down his glass as if deep in thought. Deng Zechen held his breath, only to hear Du Feng's firm reply:

"Yes, he's poor, I'll give him money."

Okay, that's settled. Everyone at this table is pretty drunk.

It turns out that the eldest brother was only outwardly clear-headed.

Seeing his senior brother rummaging through his clothes after putting the wine glass on the table, Deng Zechen quickly stopped Du Feng.

Du Feng was still holding two gold leaves in his hand, looking at Deng Zechen with some confusion:

"What are you doing? Junior Brother is poor, I need to give him money to spend."

Deng Zechen found it quite amusing. Du Feng usually acted like a proper older brother, but now that he was drunk, the contrast was stark.

It's such a pity there's no way to record a video!

"Your junior brother doesn't want money. He sees you as his role model and wants to become a well-rounded talent like you. You are prepared to teach him all your best skills."

Upon hearing this, Du Feng's eyes darkened, as if he had recalled something unpleasant:

"My junior brothers and I are different; we don't have that qualification."