Zi Shou took his Wine Cup and dipped it into the wine pool.
Now this was the proper way to do it.
As for drinking straight from it with his mouth, as though drinking from a stream...
He simply couldn't do it. This wine pool wasn't running water. If everyone put their mouths to the pool, how was anyone supposed to drink?
Never mind that the ministers wouldn't dare drink alongside him. Even if they did, a crowd drinking like cattle and horses hardly made a flattering sight.
As for the rumors of climbing into the wine pool to bathe, treating it like a hot spring, those were even more absurd.
Ancient winemaking techniques weren't particularly advanced. Clear distilled liquor hadn't appeared until after the Tang Dynasty. Never mind homemade grape wine-even grain wine wasn't clear enough. People waited for the sediment to settle before drawing it off. Who would dare climb in?
Beside the wine pool stood a Jia, with a flared mouth, posts on its rim, a broad body, and long legs underneath.
After Cheng Tang defeated Jie, he had designated this as the royal vessel for warming wine. The feudal lords could only use horn-shaped vessels to warm theirs.
Zi Shou warmed his wine in it. People in ancient times preferred drinking warmed wine, which both evaporated the methanol in it and drove away the cold.
In truth, warming it or not made little difference. As long as he didn't drink too much, he would be fine.
At that moment, Yang Ren, Shang Rong, and Lu Xiong were all staring fixedly at the Wine Cup, their faces visibly moved.
Zi Shou raised his cup. "Then I shall drink first!"
After sniffing it lightly, Zi Shou hid his face behind his sleeve and drained the cup. It tasted