Liu Mingzhi looked at the complicated meaning of expectation and intolerance intertwined in Li Yugang's dim eyes. He really couldn't think of any reason to refuse Li Yugang's request to have a few drinks with him, so he could only nod with sadness in his heart.
"Hey, boy, listen to Mr. Ming."
A hint of relief flashed across Li Yugang's eyes, which were filled with a faint deathly gray color. He broke away from Liu Mingzhi's support with his arms with slight force, and walked with difficulty towards the low table opposite where the wine and dishes were placed, leaning on the faucet.
"You don't need to hold me up. I can still hold on to this. Let's sit together."
Liu Mingzhi followed Li Yugang nervously, holding up his hands with both hands, fearing that Li Yugang would accidentally fall down. Fortunately, it was just a worry in vain. Although Li Yugang's steps were difficult, he finally knelt down and sat firmly on the low table.
forward.
Li Yugang put the faucet aside and took a few deep breaths, watching Liu Mingzhi reach out and gesture towards the futon opposite.
"sit."
"Hey, boy, sit down."
Seeing Liu Mingzhi swinging his clothes and sitting down on his knees, Li Yugang turned his head and looked at Li Chengbai and others who were following closely behind.
"Uncle Wang, second brother, third brother, and Li Yue, you guys, please go back. I want to talk to Liu Xiaozi alone about some unforgettable past events.
You guys are here, I’m afraid I can’t express what’s on my mind.”
The little uncle Li Yugang refers to is naturally the current clan leader Li Chengbai, the second brother, and the third brother are Duan Wang Li Yang and others, and the rest are his juniors and relatives of the Li clan who have lived in the clan mansion for a long time.
After hearing Li Yugang's words, Li Chengbai and others subconsciously looked at each other and did not directly agree. Instead, they looked at Liu Mingzhi with complicated eyes.
They did not want to ask for Liu Mingzhi's consent, but they hoped that Liu Mingzhi would not delay Li Yugang for too long, so that they and other relatives would not be able to see Li Yugang for the last time.
Liu Mingzhi looked at the meaningful eyes of Li Chengbai and others, understood the meaning in their eyes, and nodded silently in response to Li Chengbai and the others.
Seeing this, Li Chengbai and other members of the Li clan sighed quietly, looked deeply at Li Yugang, turned around and walked towards the outside of Siguo Hall without saying a word.
After Li Chengbai and others disappeared from the palace gate, Li Yugang chuckled and looked back: "With these 'idlers' gone, we two friends who have been together for many years can talk freely and drink happily.
Pour the wine, I will do my best to accompany you, Mr. Liu, until you get drunk."
Liu Mingzhi looked at Li Yugang's "high-spirited" expression, and his heart felt as if he had been pricked by a needle.
He had seen Li Yugang's current posture before. It was exactly the same as before Li Zheng's great success many years ago. He seemed to be full of energy, but in fact it was just a reflection of his past.
Glancing at Li Yugang's dim eyes again, Liu Mingzhi breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the wine bottle in front of him and filled up both of his glasses.
"cheers."
"cheers."
As the drink entered his throat, Liu Mingzhi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and he swallowed the drink gently with a look of recalling the past in his eyes.
Li Yugang kept staring at Liu Mingzhi's every move, and naturally noticed the slight change in Liu Mingzhi's expression. He smiled softly and pointed his bottomed wine glass to Liu Mingzhi. Li Yugang asked: "How does it taste?"
Liu Mingzhi smacked his lips a few times and put down the wine glass in his hand with a sad expression.
"Good wine! Good wine! The friendship between you and me, which has lasted for more than ten years, is all in this glass of wine.
If it hadn't been for Ming Gong's treat today, I would have almost forgotten what this turbid wine tastes like."
Li Yugang sighed, picked up the jug and filled the glass with wine: "In the past, although you and I didn't meet at Yanbo Pavilion, we met at Yanbo Pavilion.
Thanks to the deliberate matchmaking of Yun Yatou, a very smart girl, you and I were able to form a lifelong friendship.
At that time, the three of you and I were riding a boat on the Qinhuai River, and the drink we drank was this ordinary turbid wine.
Since that time, in the past ten years or so, the number of times you and I have toasted and drank together can be said to be very few.
Time flies by like a white horse, and it is extremely ruthless.
In the blink of an eye, not only have I grown old, but you have also transformed from a young man in his prime to the king of a country who now leads the country.
And those words you said on the boat back then are still fresh in my mind, even though so many years have passed!
The future generations are to be feared, how could one know that those who come will not be here now.
Yes! Who would have known that the person who came was not here now!
The Haikou you praised to the then King of Huainan, Li Yugang, has finally come true."
Liu Mingzhi took the drink and put it into his mouth, savoring the taste of the wine before swallowing it.
"My father-in-law never took the joke I made when I was young and frivolous, and I never took it seriously. But God took it seriously and made such a big joke on me.
Now when I think back to the time when Yanbo Pavilion and Ming Gong first met on the banks of the Qinhuai River, I feel really sad.
As for the matter of the boy becoming the king of a country... well... now that the matter has come to this, the boy is too lazy to say anything, let alone to defend himself.
Let the people of the world comment on the matters here."
"Have a good heart. The fact that you have such a heart means that it is no accident that you have reached this point. Sometimes, small things can determine the fate of a person's life."
"I don't want to refute this, maybe this is what we often call seeing at a young age!
However, the boy was very relieved to see Duke Ming talking so calmly about the boy proclaiming himself emperor.
Thousands of words are on my lips but there are no words to put them into words. I can only express my gratitude to you Ming Gong with a glass of wine.
Ming Gong, would you like to have a drink together?"
"cheers!"
The two of them tasted the wine carefully and drank it. Li Yugang squinted his eyes and sighed in silence for a long time.
"You should already know what happened between me and the emperor, right?"
Liu Mingzhi pursed his lips and was silent for a while, nodding slightly: "I heard a few words from Lao Zhou."
"Just a few words?"
"Then just a little more!"
Li Yugang raised his finger and pointed at Liu Mingzhi and smiled bitterly: "You kid, you are still exactly the same as when we first met. You always like to leave a little room for speech.
Although it is pleasant to listen to, it also makes people's appetites uncomfortable.
This habit is not good and needs to be changed!"
"Ming Gong, as the saying goes, nature is easy to change but hard to change. Ming Gong, please forgive me. I can no longer change the habits I have developed over the years.
If you force the correction, you might make some jokes, which would be self-defeating and make you laugh. In this case, it’s better to stick to your true intentions.”
"This is quite reasonable. I hope you can never forget your original intention!"
Liu Mingzhi poured two glasses of wine again and looked at Li Yugang's expression of hesitation: "Ming Gong, I would like to take the liberty to ask, decades have passed since the grudges and grudges between you and your father, and my father has already passed away.
It has been going on for nearly ten years.
Regarding some of the past events between you two brothers, have you ever let go of them now?"
Li Yugang hesitated when he was holding the wine, and his face showed a sad look that even Liu Mingzhi couldn't understand. He brought the wine glass to his mouth and drank it in one gulp. Li Yugang threw the wine glass heavily on the table.
"The matter between me and the emperor will be settled properly after I see him, so you don't have to interfere.
As for whether you feel relieved or not, what use does my answer have to you, Mr. Liu? It's just dispensable nonsense."
Looking at the unexplainable complex meaning in Li Yugang's eyes, Liu Mingzhi fell silent.
He originally thought that Li Yugang took the initiative to mention the matter between him and Li Zheng because he wanted to talk to him about something, so he brought it up. Now it seems that he was wrong. Li Yugang must have other ideas.
"Ming Gong said that there is really no need for me to ask too much about the matter between you and your father.
You just treat me like a kid and talk nonsense after drinking, so don't take it to heart.
Drink, drink!”
Li Yugang picked up Liu Mingzhi's filled wine glass but had not yet brought it to his mouth. His dim eyes with a deathly gray color gradually became brighter. He stared at Liu Mingzhi intently for a long time, then he suddenly raised his head and put the wine in the glass into his mouth.
.
"When I pass away, can you bury me in the mausoleum of the imperial brother?"
When Liu Mingzhi heard Li Yugang's somewhat unclear words, he couldn't help but look a little confused: "Ah? What?"