inspire-indiana Chapter 47: Drained
Chapter 47: Drained
into the night.
Inside the headquarters of the Shouwang Banquet.
Each prince entered the restaurant with a smile on their face.
Those who are close friends gather in groups of three or five, while those who are unconventional find a corner to sit in.
Although they lost money betting on horses today, they were all very happy.
The eunuch hiding in the shadows was completely baffled when he saw this.
Why are you so happy even though you lost money?
As the young eunuch recorded this incident in his notebook, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "These princes have lost at least a hundred taels of gold, and some have even lost several thousand taels. That's more money than I could spend in several lifetimes."
"They can actually laugh."
"Are these princes all suffering from a mental illness, or do they think they can win this money back tomorrow?"
While thinking, the little eunuch hurriedly wrote these things down in a booklet.
Before long, all the princes had arrived, followed by the sons of the various military governors.
"Oh, Brother Wang, you've come too."
"Since His Highness Prince Shou has invited me, how could I dare not come?"
"Ha, you must have misheard. Today is His Highness Prince Shou's banquet for distinguished guests from all directions. How dare you, a mere illegitimate child, appear here?"
"That's right, they don't even know their place, yet they dare to attend today's banquet."
"What, did you step in dog poop today? Did you smell it and come here?"
Wang Rui, the son of the military governor of Longyou, was so angry that his face turned red, but he dared not refute him.
After all, he really was an illegitimate child, and besides, he was just a pawn of the military governor of Longyou.
I came to Prince Shou's racecourse only to help my father deal with the gold in the house; I dare not cause any trouble here.
Secretly, the young eunuch also recorded the whole thing.
The imperial guards responsible for maintaining order at the restaurant also discovered the matter, but dared not get involved.
They had no idea what His Highness Prince Shou meant.
The original order was only to host a banquet for the prince, not for these people.
Now that the guests have arrived, they dare not ask or speak, and can only watch as they try to prevent a conflict from breaking out.
Before long, Li Mao also arrived at the headquarters of the Prince of Shou's banquet.
When he saw the sons of these military governors, he was also taken aback.
Originally, he only wanted to kill his own brothers to prevent anyone from secretly profiting when he eventually rebelled.
As a result, these people also came to their deaths.
Li Mao turned his head slightly and said to the servant, "Tell the kitchen to prepare the dishes as usual, but in larger quantities."
The servant's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded to Li Mao, saying, "I understand."
After saying that, the servant ran all the way to the back kitchen.
Li Mao then slowly walked towards the main pavilion of the Prince of Shou's banquet.
Upon seeing Li Mao appear, the princes who had been hiding in the corners all entered the main pavilion.
"Eighteenth Brother, you've finally arrived."
"Eighteenth brother, you have kept your elder brother waiting for a long time."
"Brother Eighteen, all of us brothers have come to support you."
"Eighteenth Brother, come and sit down. It's been a long time since we brothers have had a drink together since we established our own residence."
Li Mao bowed slightly to the assembled princes and said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, brothers."
"It was my fault. I will punish myself with three cups."
Although it was just a polite remark.
But none of these princes intended to let Li Mao go.
Thinking that they were just brothers and could drink freely, he simply took a wine jar and replaced it with a large bowl for Li Mao.
He broke the seal and poured three full bowls of wine for Li Mao.
Li Mao looked at the three large bowls of wine in front of him, picked them up, and drank them all in one gulp.
The crowd cheered and gave him three more large bowls.
Li Mao seized the opportunity and sat directly in the main seat.
The other princes stared longingly at Li Mao, seemingly hoping to get some money out of him.
"Eighteenth Brother, is it really only ten days?"
Li Mao said with a smile, "Of course, this is the limit, absolutely no more."
"Ten days is too short, it should be at least thirty days."
"If you ask me, we should just rotate the schedule every two weeks from now on."
"That won't do. If we rotate every two weeks, our eighteenth brother will be completely drained."
"What do you mean 'drained'? Look at Eighteenth Brother's body, does he look like he's been drained?"
"It's such a pity about Sister-in-law Eighteen. Such a beautiful woman, she actually became a Taoist nun."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
The originally lively atmosphere turned cold because of this sentence.
After all, those present were all princes.
Who hasn't heard some rumors?
Whether the news is true or false.
Now that Yang Yuhuan is in a Taoist temple, even if it's a fake, it has become real.
But to say these things at this time would be like stabbing Li Mao in the heart.
Li Mao immediately changed the subject, saying, "Ten days, it can only be ten days."
“We are brothers, so if any of you feel that ten days is not enough, please feel free to ask me.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the princes raised their wine bowls.
"The eighteenth brother is magnanimous."
"It has to be our own brothers."
"Haha, of course. Brother Eighteen has always cared about us brothers."
"That's right, with Brother Eighteen around, how could we possibly let our own brothers down?"
Li Mao smiled faintly, then clapped his hands in mid-air.
"Clap~"
Upon hearing the noise, the servant outside immediately instructed the palace maids to bring the food up quickly.
One after another, steaming hot and exquisite dishes were served, and everyone's eyes were fixed on their favorite dish.
The servant secretly exchanged a glance with Li Mao.
Li Mao nodded subtly.
"Brother Eighteen, I've been craving this roast suckling pig for a long time."
"And these spicy duck feet are absolutely delicious."
"Life would be perfect if I could eat such delicious food every day."
"Eighteenth Brother, I'd like to discuss something with you. We'd like to bring two cooks to our residence. You can name your price."
“Yes, Brother Eighteen, I also want to bring back two chefs.”
Li Mao shook his head and said, "Brothers, it's not about money. The chefs at my headquarters are all master chefs."
"If you brothers want it, why bother talking about money?"
"but."
At this point, Li Mao paused deliberately.
Everyone looked at Li Mao's ambiguous smile.
Everyone thought that Li Mao was considering which old chef to give to them.
In fact, Li Mao was really holding back from laughing out loud.
They had originally planned to find a way to poison their food and kill them.
As a result, these "brothers" actually came to us on their own.
Li Mao smiled faintly and said, "Brothers, it's not that I'm reluctant to part with this kitchen staff."
"It's not that there aren't enough to go around. Besides, the headquarters should at least keep two cooks."
"However, I do have a plan. What do you brothers think?"