Wanyan Yuan held out the wine cup with trembling hands. His movements were exceedingly slow, as though the cup weighed a thousand pounds. Just as it neared his lips, he stopped, his face filled with struggle.
Before long, the others in the hall noticed something was amiss and stared at him in surprise. Some of the more perceptive people had even begun to wonder whether there was something wrong with the wine.
The atmosphere in the hall became exceedingly strange once more. Seeing that Wanyan Yuan still would not drink, Wanyan Dan's anger rose again. He snorted coldly. "Why is the Ever Victorious King not drinking?"
The expression on Wanyan Yuan's face suggested he had made an enormous decision. He set down the wine cup and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this younger brother has recently been unwell. The physician instructed me to avoid alcohol at all costs. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
"Unwell?" Wanyan Dan sneered. "Someone, summon an imperial physician to examine the Ever Victorious King and see what illness he has contracted."
Cold sweat streamed down Wanyan Yuan's face as he hurriedly said, "This younger brother has suffered from insomnia and night sweats lately. Every night, I am plagued by nightmares. The physician merely told me to rest properly and abstain from alcohol, so there is no need to trouble an imperial physician." Having occupied a high position for so long, he was not entirely a useless coward. At this critical moment, he had managed to devise a plausible excuse. Even if an imperial physician came later, he had nothing to fear. As long as he insisted there was something wrong with his mind, not even the most skilled physician could determine whether he was lying.
"Is that so?" Wanyan Dan neither confirmed nor denied