Empire Conquest
Chapter 209 - 205: Waking Up from a Hangover

Chapter 209: Chapter 205: Waking Up from a Hangover

Bai Zhizhan didn’t even know how he got drunk, or if he even had gotten drunk at all, or maybe he just collapsed into sleep.

In any case, when he woke up, Bai Zhizhan realized he was lying in a warm bed.

Right, it was the guest room bed in Li Yunxiang’s luxury mansion.

Since Bai Zhizhan had not yet settled down, and he had not reached the military rank to be assigned a separate housing before the war, for the past decade or so, whenever he stayed in the Imperial Capital for an extended period, Bai Zhizhan would basically bunk with Li Yunxiang. And the largest guest room in Li Yunxiang’s house had become Bai Zhizhan’s nest.

Speaking of which, this villa, with a front and back garden and extravagance similar to a manor, didn’t belong to Li Yunxiang. It was brought as a dowry by Li Yunxiang’s wife from her family home.

From this perspective, Li Yunxiang could be considered as married into the wife’s family.

Of course, that wasn’t your ordinary marrying into the wife’s family.

Li Yunxiang’s wife was named Fang Suqing, and her mother, Suqing’s own mother, was the Holy Emperor’s maternal aunt, truly an imperial relative.

Of course, that relationship was a bit distant.

Though not one of the descendants of the Eight Pillars, the Fang family, which had produced two Empresses and three Grand Secretaries in the Empire, definitely counted as a noble family. In terms of influence, they far surpassed families like the Zhao Family, which had fallen from grace. The key point was that the Fang family was never short of money, so when marrying off their most beloved granddaughter to Li Yunxiang, the head of the Fang family generously handed over this mansion as a dowry.

This marriage was quite to the equal match.

In those days, Li Yunxiang was a household name, a war hero, an ace pilot, the prince charming that many young girls dreamt of every night.

As for the Fang family, which had no relations to the military, no amount of money could buy them a General.

Li Yunxiang’s subsequent meteoric rise in the Navy, apart from his outstanding personal abilities, was also greatly related to this marriage. After all, by marrying Fang Suqing, he became an imperial relative by marriage. Even traditional Navy generals like Zhu Shijian, who looked down upon the wealth-reeking Fang family, had to show face to the Holy Emperor. Besides, Li Yunxiang was no spoiled heir; his abilities were unquestionable.

He really was drunk, and so much so that his memory was in fragments.

Before even getting out of bed, Bai Zhizhan felt sore all over, his head felt like it was going to explode, and his throat was so dry it was as if he had just swallowed half a pound of sand.

These were all the aftereffects of a hangover.

It was already early morning, but the sky had only just brightened.

In the past twenty-odd years, Bai Zhizhan had never been one to sleep in; he usually got up before dawn, unless he was so drunk that he slept until daylight.

In fact, he seldom passed out from drunkenness like he had last night.

In Bai Zhizhan’s memory, it happened only three or four times.

Last night, he let go, or rather his inner turmoil seemed to have been resolved, so he did not deliberately restrain himself and drank openly.

The guest room was large and had an en suite bathroom, along with heating and hot water.

Since Bai Zhizhan often visited, there was a toothbrush and towel specially prepared for him.

After washing up, Bai Zhizhan, dressed only in a sleep robe, headed to the dining room.

At Li Yunxiang’s house, Bai Zhizhan had long since become accustomed to making himself at home. There was no need to be polite; Fang Suqing, quite a few years older than Bai Zhizhan, had always treated him like her own younger brother.

There was no one in the dining room; the servants were still downstairs in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

Although he was empty-stomached, Bai Zhizhan was mostly thirsty at the moment. There was always a pot of boiled water in the dining room, so there was no need to go to the kitchen.

"Oh no—"

A woman’s sharp scream suddenly rang out, startling Bai Zhizhan into shivering a few times.

Especially because it was a high-pitched soprano, and it sounded quite young.

Was it one of the housemaids?

However, the Li Family’s servants all knew Bai Zhizhan, and were used to seeing him walking around in his sleepwear, so they wouldn’t be so unceremoniously startled.

It indeed was a young woman, and like Bai Zhizhan, she was dressed only in a sleep robe; it looked like she had just gotten out of bed too.

To say she was very young would be inaccurate; she looked to be under thirty in appearance.

When Bai Zhizhan turned around, she tugged at the neckline of her robe and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry, I was just coming down for some water."

Bai Zhizhan forced a polite smile, nodding his head before turning to walk away.

"You..."

By the time the woman snapped back from her surprise, Bai Zhizhan had already left the dining room.

Back in his guest room, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t help but smirk wryly.

Although in the past decade, especially the golden ten years after the war, the manners of Empire had greatly liberalized, and women’s social status had significantly improved, overall, the customs of Empire were still fairly conservative, and many traditional views could not be changed in just ten years.

No one else saw that incident, right?

When he hurried away at the start, Bai Zhizhan hadn’t taken a good look but just felt that the age of the woman couldn’t be too young.

After getting dressed, Bai Zhizhan waited for a while, guessing that it was time for breakfast before heading to the dining room again.

Li Yunxiang and Fang Suqing were already having breakfast and talking softly.

The young woman was also there, sitting next to Fang Suqing.

Breakfast was very sumptuous, offering millet porridge, mixed grain eight-treasure porridge, mung bean porridge, steamed buns, and fried dough sticks as staple foods, plus boiled eggs, soy milk, and cow’s milk. If needed, one could ask the servants to make fried eggs or boil noodles, ensuring both Southern and Northern tastes were accommodated.

They were catering to Bai Zhizhan.

Both Li Yunxiang and his wife were from the North, while Bai Zhizhan was from the South and had lived in the Navy for a long time, hence Bai Zhizhan preferred Western-style breakfast.

"Good morning, Sister Suqing," Bai Zhizhan deliberately greeted Fang Suqing.

"You’re up so early? Last night, you came back dead drunk. I’ve already scolded your Brother Li, telling him not to drink so much in the future." While speaking, Fang Suqing ladled a bowl of millet porridge and placed it in front of Bai Zhizhan. "Millet porridge is stomach-nourishing; drink more."

"Thanks for your concern, Sister Suqing."

"Here, let me introduce you. This is my cousin, Zhang Xiaoqing. She’s quite a fan of yours, and she came specifically to see what the great hero looks like."

"Sister!"

Before Fang Suqing could finish the introduction, the young woman had already buried her head.

Turns out, she was tricked into coming here for a blind date!

At this thought, Bai Zhizhan’s head began to spin.

"What hero, not hero, your big brother is still a great hero," Li Yunxiang saw through Bai Zhizhan’s thoughts and quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"You’re the old hero, not the great hero."

"Suqing, that’s not fair to say, remember back in the day..."

"Who wants to bring up old stories with you?"

"I mean, can we still have a decent conversation?"

...

Bai Zhizhan didn’t join in, just kept his head down and drank his porridge, his current strategy being to play dumb.

"Sister, actually we’ve met before."

"Phew—"

Zhang Xiaoqing sitting across suddenly burst out with a sentence, Bai Zhizhan almost sprayed out the mouthful of porridge.

"You’ve already met?" Fang Suqing was also very surprised.

"When did this happen?"

Li Yunxiang whispered to Bai Zhizhan, his eyebrows squeezed a few times in a knowing way, which made Bai Zhizhan dare not express any emotion.

"Suqing, I mean, let’s not meddle here; they’ve known each other for a while."

"Ah... Right, right, since you’ve already met, then chat more. Young people, you surely have a lot to talk about; we won’t disturb you."

As Fang Suqing said these words, Li Yunxiang had already stood up, took hold of Bai Zhizhan’s shoulder, pressing him onto his seat, and undeniably prevented him from getting up.

This couple, they put on quite the show!