Ninth Imperial Glorious Phoenix Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Drunk

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Mingzhu glared at Su Lan, speaking firmly in a low voice, “I’ve heard that some people drink themselves to death, and the next day they’re found dead. Shen Ruilin has never been this drunk before, so there must be something wrong. I have to check on him to make sure he’s not dead. You and Su Mei stay outside and keep watch. Call me if anything happens.” 

With that, she firmly closed the door. Her heart pounded heavily, her feet felt like stepping on cotton, and her voice trembled, “Shen Ruilin? Where are you? Are you okay?”

The room remained silent, filled with a strong smell of alcohol, like a spilled jar of wine. Mingzhu fanned her nose and walked cautiously to the center of the room. However, she couldn’t take another step forward, her teeth chattering lightly. 

She felt a mix of fear, embarrassment, and nervous excitement, along with some inexplicable sadness. Was she really going to give herself over like this?

What else could she do? If she wanted benefits, she had to pay the price. After standing for a long time, she gradually calmed down, mustering the courage to call out again, “Shen Ruilin? Where are you?”

There was a low “hm” from the corner of the room, followed by complete silence.

What a good temperament he has! Even when he’s drunk like this, he doesn’t make a fuss, just lies there obediently. He only responds when someone calls him. He’s nothing like Third Brother, who gets rowdy when he’s drunk, disturbing the peace of the whole house. And he’s definitely not like Yuwen You, that disgusting creep, who, when drunk, would surely torment her to near death. 

Mingzhu immediately found another advantage in Shen Ruilin, and the more she thought about it, the more confident she became about her future life. 

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the corner of the room, followed by a loud “thud.” 

Mingzhu, feeling guilty, was startled, and she jumped, clasping her hands tightly to her chest as she peered into the darkness, straining her eyes to see what was happening. But with no light in the room and the dim moonlight outside, she couldn’t make out anything clearly. 

Mingzhu, nervous and sweating, didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, she heard a low voice from the corner of the room: “Water.” 

The voice was hoarse and difficult to discern, but it had a faintly familiar feeling to it. 

After hesitating for a moment, Mingzhu felt around on the table until she found the teapot. She felt to see if it was hot, then found a cup and poured water into it. 

Because she couldn’t see, she only realized the water had spilled out of the cup when it touched her hand. Ignoring it, she tightly gripped the cup of water and felt her way towards the corner of the room. 

Not forgetting to speak aloud to boost her own courage and reassure herself, she said, “Shen Ruilin, I’ve brought you some water. Don’t move around, okay?”

As she walked, she suddenly tripped over a stool on the ground, unable to control herself and fell forward with a low cry, ending up in a very embarrassing position. A glass of water splashed all over the floor, making her feel utterly embarrassed. She had wasted all her efforts on dressing up, and now she was both anxious and angry, forgetting to appear weak. 

She stood up and kicked the troublesome stool in frustration, but unfortunately, she ended up hitting her toes. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and she wished she could find the person responsible and give them a good beating.

Amidst her agitation, a hoarse plea came from the corner of the room: “Water.”

Knowing that drunk people often get thirsty, Mingzhu reluctantly suppressed her anger and adopted a softer tone, “Don’t worry, I’ll go pour some fresh water for you.” Despite the pain in her foot, she carefully made her way to the table. She was now cautious after her fall, moving inch by inch with her hands extended forward.

After a while, she managed to pour another glass of water and approached the bed. Bending down, she reached out to push the person, “Get up and drink some water.”

But Shen Ruilin seemed to be asleep, lying still on the bed without making a sound. Mingzhu was nervous and afraid of being discovered. She thought of leaving immediately but couldn’t resist her persistence. She bit her lip and cautiously reached out.

First, she touched the broad shoulders, then she felt her way along and reached the chilly hair. Continuing, she felt the smooth and full forehead, along with the thick eyebrows and prominent nose. Not bad looking… Mingzhu couldn’t help but recall something. There’s a saying about feeling the bones to judge a person’s fortune, which is essentially a blind person feeling someone’s face and then making predictions based on their appearance. In this moment, she truly felt like a blind person feeling the bones to judge a person’s fortune.

Thinking of this, her tense mood eased a bit. With a light laugh, she lightly patted Shen Ruilin’s cheek and whispered, “This person has a full forehead and a long life line, indicating good fortune.” Feeling him move away unhappily, she sternly said, “Are you still pretending? Do you want more water? Hurry up and get up! After you finish, I have something to discuss with you.”

Shen Ruilin remained silent, but Mingzhu felt a bit pleased that he didn’t resist. She poked his face and urged, “Get up.”

Suddenly, his hand grasped hers tightly, pulling away the hand she was using to poke his face. His hand was burning hot, and when it touched her skin, it felt like it was being scorched by fire. Mingzhu’s face flushed uncontrollably, and she felt something unusual at the wrist where he held her. Her heart pounded, and she stammered, “What are you doing? Let go!”

Shen Ruilin obediently released her hand, silently sitting up. Perhaps because he was too drunk or for some other reason, he stumbled slightly when sitting up. Mingzhu instinctively reached out to support him, but she didn’t expect him to lean heavily against her. Without thinking, she pushed him onto the bed, causing the back of his head to hit the bed with a thud. Hearing him groan in pain, she felt a twinge of regret, “I didn’t mean to, but it’s all your fault for leaning on me.”

Afraid that Shen Ruilin would hold a grudge, but also realizing that she needed to be more attentive, she tentatively tried to help him up again, “Here, drink some water.” This time, perhaps because Shen Ruilin was a bit more sober, he managed to cooperate with her movements, making it less awkward.

After feeding him a glass of water, Mingzhu was about to let go, but then she heard him say, “More.” She couldn’t help but glare, “More? Aren’t you being a bit rude, treating me like a servant?”

Shen Ruilin remained silent, lying quietly without moving. His meaning was clear: whether she wanted to give more or not was up to her, and he wouldn’t insist.

Shouldn’t it be that he responds to a gesture of her finger? Why is it like this? Could it be that she was too fierce and scared him? Mingzhu stared in bewilderment in the darkness, feeling unlucky. Finally building up the courage to make a move, but this person was not cooperating at all, completely unaware of his surroundings in his drunken state. What should she do? Would she have to make the first move? How unlucky.

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