After Xia Changming left, Hu Xiaotian straightened his robes before knocking on Jian Rongxin's door. Her cool voice came from inside. "The door isn't locked. Come in."
Hu Xiaotian pushed the door open and entered. The brazier kept the room comfortably warm; stepping inside from the bitter cold felt like passing straight from the depths of winter into spring.
Jian Rongxin had already laid out the meal on the table. To Hu Xiaotian's surprise, a pot of wine was warming on the Red-Clay Stove.
Hu Xiaotian glanced at the wine pot, and a knowing smile touched the corners of his lips.
"Haven't eaten yet?" Jian Rongxin asked. "Join me."
"Shall we have a couple of drinks to warm ourselves up?" Hu Xiaotian asked deliberately.
"I don't even know how I got drunk yesterday, so I wanted to recall it carefully while I'm sober!" Jian Rongxin said softly. At the mention of it, her delicate brows rose. Gentle and gracious as she usually was, she had a temper too, and her expression made her displeasure with his earlier conduct clear.
Hu Xiaotian chuckled.
Jian Rongxin picked up a large bowl and filled it for him.
Hu Xiaotian stood on no ceremony. He lifted the bowl and drained it in one go. The hot wine warmed him from head to toe, leaving him thoroughly comfortable.
"If I'd known getting drunk would feel so awful, I would never have fallen for your trick," Jian Rongxin said.
"One bout of drunkenness dissolves a thousand sorrows," Hu Xiaotian said. "Get drunk and fall asleep, and you can forget a great many things for a while."
"But once you sober up, your head hurts even more, and the things troubling you remain etched in your memory." Jian Rongxin sighed wistfully. "That saying about drunkenness dissolving a