"All right, Old Qin, get up. What a shame about the wine in that gourd."
Xu Yi stepped through the door and said with a smile.
The Confucian-robed middle-aged man showed no reaction, still slumped over the table.
Xu Yi said, "The enfeoffments are all over. You should have stopped sitting here on duty long ago, yet you're still here. Clearly, you were waiting for me. The wine was still flowing from the gourd, so you obviously knocked it over only after you noticed me coming. Your body hasn't moved an inch, but ever since I arrived, your blood's been flowing faster and faster. You already did me in. Why put on this guilty face? You feel no guilt, and I won't accept it."
As soon as Xu Yi finished speaking, the Confucian-robed middle-aged man let out a heavy sigh. "You may not accept it, but Qin Mou truly does feel guilty. After all, you're the first person in all these years to offer Qin Mou a favor. Whatever else may be, I'll remember that kindness. Do you believe me or not?"
Xu Yi said, "I do believe you. Otherwise, you wouldn't need to wait for me here. What is there to say to a man who's as good as dead? Surely you haven't been assigned by Feng Ting Shu to put another noose around this dying man's neck. That would be pointless."
The Confucian-robed middle-aged man's bleary, drunken eyes instantly cleared. He asked in surprise, "From the way you speak, you don't seem to hate Qin Mou all that much."
Xu Yi said, "It'd be a lie to say I don't hate you. I'm the sort who repays every grudge. But when I remember that you had no choice, and that I need something from someone, perhaps I can