Chapter 153: Sleeping in the Wrong Bed

The guests had all dispersed. Luan Tao and Luan Miao were also tipsy and were escorted by Madam Luan to their rooms to rest. Luan Fu directed a group of servants to clean up the aftermath. Dianwei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, having toiled for several days, also went off to find places to take a nap.

Finding an empty table, Luan Yi finally took a moment to rest his feet. Guo Jia, Xu Shu, Xi Zhicai, Mao Jie, Xun Yu, Xun You, and Cheng Yu seized the opportunity and surrounded him, sitting down at his table.

"You guys? Aren't you going to rest?" Luan Yi glanced at them, feeling a bit guilty.

"Brother Yi isn't resting. How could we sleep?" Xi Zhicai replied with a grin.

Guo Jia wore a mischievous smirk. "Besides! Brother Yi has toasted every outsider, so you surely must share a few cups with us!"

"Ah? More drinking?"

Guo Jia paid no heed to Luan Yi's aggrieved and reluctant refusal. He filled a cup with wine and placed it in front of Luan Yi, adopting an attitude of "drink it or don't, but if you don't, we're through as friends."

"Brother Fengxiao!" Luan Yi pleaded pathetically, but was met with Guo Jia's silent refusal. "Sigh..." Luan Yi let out a long sigh, picked up the wine cup with a trembling hand, "Alright, I'll drink it then!" As the cup reached the tip of his nose, he immediately noticed something was amiss. The wine was indeed wine, but it was neither the divine immortal brew nor the strong spirits produced by other distilleries in the city. Instead, it was a fruit wine also produced by the Qifeng Pavilion, known as Yuanying Wine—low in alcohol, suitable for women or youths.

Luan Yi wrinkled his nose and laughed heartily. "Little Jia still knows how to take care of me!"

Hearing this, Xi Zhicai protested, "Hey? Is Brother Yi saying the rest of us don't care about you? Come, come, replace his drink with the immortal brew!"

The others joined in the teasing, reaching out to snatch the cup from Luan Yi's hand.

Luan Yi was startled and hurriedly apologized, "I misspoke! I misspoke, alright? You all care about me, every single one of you!"

"That's more like it!" Seeing Luan Yi's predicament, Xi Zhicai burst into laughter. "Cheers!"

The crisp "clink" of the wine cups sounded like a doorbell unlocking the gates of memory, pulling the minds of the young men back to their childhood days. They remembered the time when Luan Yi, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xu Shu, and Mao Jie sneaked off to Mujin House to steal wine, only to be caught red-handed by Master Cen upon returning to the academy that evening.

Luan Yi complained, "You lot were utterly lacking in loyalty! Back then, you all pushed the blame onto me collectively. It got me a full thirty strikes of the ruler!"

Everyone laughed. "Who told Master to favor you the most? If it were any of us, we'd have been forced to copy the *Analects* twice!"

They also recalled the days when they used to drink and converse merrily at Qifeng Pavilion. Without the need to rush about, sleep under the open sky, face a rain of spears and swords, or engage in court intrigue—that was truly a life worth living.

As the conversation flowed freely, the wine naturally diminished much faster. Although the Yuanying Wine was a low-alcohol fruit wine, it was still alcohol. Once in the stomach, mixing with the divine brew Luan Yi had already consumed, it accelerated the effects of the intoxicant. After an entire jar, Luan Yi's tongue began to refuse his command.

Seeing Luan Yi start to sway, Guo Jia stopped the other brothers from continuing the toasts. He stood up, cupped his fists toward Luan Yi, and said, "Brother Yi, the wedding banquet is over, and we must take our leave!"

"Oh!" Luan Yi shook his dazed head. "Alright! Go back and rest at Qifeng Pavilion first! Tomorrow I've invited Yuan Benchu and Cao Mengde to drink with me, you must come too!"

Guo Jia continued, "Brother Yi, you misunderstood. To have witnessed your wedding with our own eyes has filled us with immense joy. Now that the ceremony is over, it is time for us to leave the capital!"

"Leave the capital? So soon?" The alcohol-induced haze reced- ed by three parts as Luan Yi stood up. "We've finally gathered together—can't you stay a few more days?"

Guo Jia waved his hand. "No. We still have worldly affairs to attend to! We must leave as soon as possible."

Luan Yi wore a look of disappointment. He steadied himself against the table and stood up, swaying as he headed for the door. "I'll see you off!" Before he had taken two steps, he nearly tumbled to the ground, but was caught on either side by Guo Jia and Xu Shu and guided back to his seat.

"There's no need to stand on such ceremony among us. Brother Yi doesn't need to walk us out; we can manage leaving on our own."

"Mm!" Luan Yi's expression darkened; he lowered his head and waved his hand. "The next time you come to the capital, you must look for me!"

Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xun Yu, Xun You, and Cheng Yu consented one after another, cupped their fists, and departed.

Xu Shu and Mao Jie also cupped their fists. "Brother Yi, matters in Jinan are complicated, and we need to return and tend to them. Therefore, the two of us must also take our leave."

"Go then! Safe journey!"

The moon drifted westward, casting its glow upon the newly budding willow tips. The wedding banquet was over... the guests who should have left had gone, and those who should not have left were leaving too. Carrying a sense of loneliness in his heart, Luan Yi walked toward his bedroom with drunken steps.

As he passed the middle courtyard gate, a draft swept right into his face, making his head spin. The intoxication surged through him, and his stomach churned violently, feeling unbearably miserable. He crouched by the corner of the wall and retched heavily. "Ugh, ugh..."

"Young Master Luan, whatever is the matter with you?" Into the fresh garden air suddenly drifted a scent of jasmine, refreshing and soothing. It washed away the foul odors clinging to his mouth and nose and filled the hollow, lonely emptiness in Luan Yi's heart.

Half-squatting on the ground, he turned his head to look back. First, he caught sight of a pair of fair, lustrous thighs gleaming between the folds of a silk skirt—truly white as crystal, stunningly fair. Raising his gaze along her waist, her chest... at the very apex was Diaochan's peerless, supreme beauty, and those eyes filled with worry and soul-stirring charm.

Diaochan bent down, taking out a handkerchief to continually wipe the stains from Luan Yi's mouth and clothes. "Qiqiao, why are you just standing there staring like a fool? Help your master into the room!"

By this time, Luan Yi's hands and feet refused to obey him, and his mind was completely incapacitated, leaving him entirely at Diaochan's mercy.

With Diaochan and Qiqiao supporting him together, he was guided into their chamber and laid upon their bed.

The moment his back touched the heated brick bed, the accumulated exhaustion of recent days rushed toward his eyelids. Growing heavier and heavier, he sank into a deep sleep. As for what happened next? He had no idea. But Cai Yan, who lived in the main room not far from Diaochan, clearly heard the hysterical, breathless cries that echoed for a good half of the night.

Consequently, it was not long before the sound of low, muffled weeping drifted out from the main room.

The next morning, as day broke, Luan Yi awoke from his slumber and abruptly felt that the originally spacious bed had become unbearably crowded. Reaching out to both sides, his hands simultaneously touched smooth, bare skin. He bolted upright and looked around—surely enough, it was Diaochan and Qiqiao.

He was instantly startled, silently cursing himself as a disaster. Why had he ended up here on his wedding night instead of sharing the chamber with his lawful wife, Cai Yan? How heartbroken Cai Yan must be.

At this thought, he hurriedly scrambled down from the bed and fumbled haphazardly to put on his clothes.

Diaochan and Qiqiao were disturbed from their sleep, complaining discontentedly, "Young Master Luan, the night was so tempestuous, why not sleep a while longer!"

Bathed in sweat and panicked, Luan Yi said nothing further. His clothes were crooked and askew, but at least they were on his body. He burst through the door, hurried in a frenzy to the threshold of the main room, and hammered repeatedly on the door. "Zhaoji, is Yan'er up?"

After pounding for a long time, no one answered. He pushed hard; the wooden latch was fastened from within and would not yield. "Yan'er!"

"Clack..." The door opened in response to the shove, and Cai Yun stepped out from the bedroom. She blocked Luan Yi from entering and pulled the door shut behind her. "What is the husband doing here at this hour?"

"I!" Luan Yi was at a loss. "I want to see Yan'er!"

"See her? There's no need! Thanks to the husband's blessing, my lady did not sleep a single wink last night and has only just fallen asleep!"

Luan Yi scratched his head. "Is Yan'er angry with me? I drank too much yesterday and was completely muddled..."

"Muddled enough to wander into someone else's bed? Leaving the bride to spend her wedding night alone?" Cai Yun sneered, turning her head toward the side chamber to call out loudly, "I see the husband wasn't just drunk; his wits were stolen by a vixen."

"Who are you calling a vixen!" Hearing this, Qiqiao refused to let it rest. Throwing on the outer garment she had just put on, she rushed out of the room to quarrel with Cai Yun. "Make yourself clear! If you don't explain yourself, I won't let this rest!"

Luan Yi was already anxious and angry, his head pounding with a double headache. Hearing this chaotic bickering made him maddeningly annoyed, and he bellowed with fury, "Enough! It's only the first day after the wedding and you're already creating such a scene. Do we even want to live our lives from now on? If you don't want to live, get out of here, I don't have time to deal with this nonsense!" As he spoke, Luan Yi unconsciously exuded the authority of a military commander leading thousands of troops, mingling it with the dense aura of slaughter accumulated from fighting across battlefields.

Neither Cai Yun nor Qiqiao had ever witnessed such a display; they turned pale as ashes with fright and trembled uncontrollably.

Diaochan chose that exact moment, having properly dressed, to step out from her boudoir and smooth things over. "Calm your anger, Young Master! It is entirely this humble concubine's fault. Sister Cai... what happened last night was also my fault. At the time, this younger sister intended to help Young Master to your room, but Young Master had vomited everywhere, and even my clothes were covered in filth. That is why I thought to bring him back to my own room to clean him up first before sending him over. Who would have thought... while changing his clothes, Young Master..." At this point, Diaochan cast an aggrieved glance at Luan Yi, though to Luan Yi's eyes, it looked more like a seductive wink, making his heart flutter wildly. "Anyway, please do not blame Young Master. If anyone is to be blamed, blame me, your younger sister!"

Luan Yi had been harboring anger in his chest, but upon seeing the tears welling up in Diaochan's expressive eyes, his fury melted away. His heart instantly softened by half.

Just then, the doors of the main chamber slowly creaked open, revealing a face of pale beauty accompanied by tear-swollen eyelids. "A husband is the guiding pillar of his wife; how could Yan'er dare to blame Ziqi? I only ask that Ziqi treat me well!"

"Naturally! Naturally! I committed a grave offense yesterday, and I hope Zhaoji will forgive me!" With that, Luan Yi cupped his fists toward Cai Yan and bowed deeply until his hands reached the floor.

This action gave every woman present a tremendous shock.

Ever since Emperor Wu of Han established Confucianism as the sole state ideology, under the influence of Confucian doctrines upholding men and degrading women, the status of women in the Han Dynasty was exceedingly low. Women without status were treated like commodities, traded back and forth by husbands or masters. Some, to taste fresh meat, even went so far as to slaughter their wives and stew them in a cauldron—a fact reflected in the history of the Three Kingdoms when Liu Bei fled to Xiapi. At that time, upon hearing that Liu Bei was coming, the hunter Liu An, whether out of deliberate flattery or genuine appreciation for Liu Bei's benevolence, actually killed his wife and made meat soup of her to feed Liu Bei. This clearly demonstrates how lowly the status of women was at that time.

Furthermore, Liu Bei once uttered a famous saying that has echoed through the ages: "Brothers are like limbs, women are like clothing!" After uttering these words, not only was Liu Bei not reviled by the world, but his reputation for righteousness soared to unprecedented heights. From this, one can tell that this sentiment fully aligned with the social values of that era.

To make a long story short, in an era when women held such a lowly status, Luan Yi actually lowered his head and performed a grand ritual to apologize to Cai Yan. Such an action was utterly unheard of, and how could it not move the hearts of the women present?

"Ziqi, you must not..." The grievance trapped in Cai Yan's chest melted away like ice meeting fire, vanishing in an instant. She trotted over to Luan Yi's side and, tears streaming down her face, helped him up. "With Ziqi having such a heart, Yan'er is more than content!"