Hu Xiaotian sighed. "Drowning sorrow in wine only deepens it, but with both generals showing me such hospitality, refusing another drink would mean I didn't know how to appreciate a favor. Generals, let me drain my bowl first as a toast." He raised the bowl and gulped down all the wine in one go, then set the empty bowl on the table and gazed quietly at Tang Boxi. His meaning was simple: You've been shouting loud enough, you bastard. Your turn to drink.
Tang Boxi certainly would not show weakness in front of a little eunuch. He raised his bowl and drained it in one gulp.
Li Chenzhou caught the smile at the corner of Hu Xiaotian's mouth and understood. One bowl against their two-this fellow had still come out ahead. He took a sip of wine and set his bowl down.
"Why aren't you drinking, General Li?" Hu Xiaotian asked.
"I have little tolerance for wine," Li Chenzhou said. "If I drink it all, I'll certainly pass out drunk."
Hu Xiaotian cursed inwardly. You were just talking about drowning a thousand sorrows in drunkenness. So you meant to get me drunk while hardly drinking yourself.
"Eunuch Hu, my brother can't drink," Tang Boxi said. "Don't force him."
Hu Xiaotian did not know whether to laugh or cry. When I can't drink, you insist on forcing me. When your brother can't drink, no one else is allowed to force him. Are all the generals of Great Yong Kingdom this unreasonable?
"Was the General Wen who unfortunately died in the line of duty the son of Wen Chenghuan, Great Kang's Grand Tutor?" Li Chenzhou asked.
Hu Xiaotian nodded. "Yes, that was him."
Li Chenzhou sighed. "I've long heard that a young prodigy accomplished in both civil and martial affairs recently emerged