Chapter Thirty-Three Wine

  The palace maid in green on the left handed over an embroidered stool, asking Qin Lei to sit down. The one on the right held a brocade tray with a pair of brand new embroidered golden cloud shoes on it.

  Two palace maids knelt in front of Qin Lei, removing the original Cloud Step boots from Qin Lei. Then, with two fingers of her small hand opening the shoe face of the Carefree Shoe, another hand gently supported Qin Lei's ankle and put the Carefree Shoe on Qin Lei's foot.

  Four soft and boneless small hands were moving on Qin Lei's feet, a warm current surged from the soles to his heart, and the bachelor's heart began to beat uncontrollably. Qin Lei secretly scolded himself for being unmanly, forcibly suppressing the infatuation in his heart, and not losing face in front of tens of thousands of people.

  The shoes were finally worn, and the smooth feeling also went away. Qin Lei looked at the two beautiful palace maids with a complicated mood, and a handsome smile was sent over. The two palace maids were suddenly made to blush, and they said in a soft voice: "Congratulations to your highness for turning bad luck into good fortune and renewing all things. Please follow me to the next stage."

  Four palace maids, two in yellow and two in green, led the way ahead, and only after those two green-clad girls touched his feet did Qin Lei's lustful heart open up. His face remained calm, but his eyes kept darting towards the palace maid walking in front of him, her skirt fluttering with each step, wondering what was going on in his mind.

  Next are the six steps of incense, hair binding, bead gathering, hand washing, eating noodles and eating eggs. Fortunately, it was just a show, with symbolic meaning greater than actual significance, and it didn't take half an hour in total. This is undoubtedly a blessing for officials and nobles on both sides.

  Under the leadership of the 16 beautiful palace maids, Qin Lei arrived at the last case. This ninth case was slightly larger than the previous one, covered with red felt, and nine red-robed palace maids stood in front of it. On the case were placed nine wine cups, and the people of Qin were good at drinking, using cups that were more than three times larger than those of Qi.

  The crown prince who had been accompanying him all along smiled at him and said, "This pass is not so easy to get through, fifth brother. You have to think of nine names to drink these nine cups of wine, and you can't leave a single drop."

  The third brother behind him also raised his eyebrows and said, "Fifth brother, in our Qin state, not being good at drinking is looked down upon." The fourth brother also whispered, "We know that fifth brother still has to enter the palace to pay respects to Princess Jin later, so we've instructed them not to use strong liquor, fifth brother can drink with ease." A face full of deep fraternal affection.

  Qin Lei looked at the wine cup that was as big as a fist and sighed: "I'm not good at drinking, my brain is also dull, it's really hard for me."

  The prince comforted him, saying: "Fourth brother is right, this cup contains rice wine, fifth brother just relax"

  At this time, the first red-robed palace maid presented the first cup of wine to Qin Lei with respect. Qin Lei smiled slightly at her and took the cup. He turned around, raised it above his head, and solemnly said: "The first cup, a toast to Heaven!"

  He brought the wine to his lips, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, a hint of surprise flashed across the corner of his eyes, but was blocked by his sleeve, and no one saw it. Qin Lei hesitated for a moment, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. His expression didn't change.

  Tens of thousands of people in the arena saw Qin Lei being so refreshing, without any difficulty, and suddenly burst out with a "Cheers!" which almost startled Qin Lei into throwing away the wine glass in his hand.

  He handed the wine cup back to the palace maid with a lingering fear in his heart.

  The second palace maid presented the second cup, Qin Lei took it over, raised it high and said loudly: "Second cup, to the earth!" He drained it in one gulp, his face still unchanged.

  "Hurrah! Hurrah!" The loud shout of tens of thousands of people rang out simultaneously, the sound was deafening, but Qin Lei was well-prepared and just smiled calmly.

  The third cup, Qin Lei took over, both hands held above his head, and said loudly: "Third cup, to Your Majesty." He tilted his head back and poured it down, a thread of crimson quietly creeping up his handsome face.

  "Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!" The sound still shook the air.

  Qin Lei's mouth was curved with a mysterious smile as he handed the wine cup to the palace maid. As their hands touched, Qin Lei's little finger swiftly brushed against the maid's palm. The beautiful young palace maid trembled all over, her face flushing like a startled deer, and she hastily took the wine cup and retreated in disarray.

  His action was far from being noticed by the ministers, but several brothers on the side had noticed it.

  Qin Lei's eyes quickly swept over several brothers, they were all smiling. The smiles were somewhat different, the crown prince was a spoiled smile, and the third and fourth elders seemed to have a faintly mocking smile between their eyebrows.

  Qin Lei didn't think much of it. He took the fourth cup, raised it above his head, hesitated for a moment, and said in a clear voice: "This fourth cup is to toast Great Qin."

  He took a swig and drained the glass, letting out a light belch, and the strong smell of liquor immediately spread throughout his body.

  This time it was still three cheers, and Qin Lei, who had thought he would hear four, was slightly disappointed.

  The crown prince's nostrils flared slightly, and then his smile remained unchanged, but his eyes were somewhat cold.

  At the fifth toast, Qin Lei let out a long sigh, stood up with his wine cup in hand to the center of the room, cleared his throat and said loudly: "Since I was young, I have been away from home, day and night thinking about my hometown. After countless hardships and struggles, I finally returned to my hometown as I wished. This toast is to all my brothers who sacrificed for me, Qin Lei will never forget you in his life." He raised the cup and drank it all in one gulp.

  This is the person he truly wants to respect.

  The soldiers at the scene seemed to be infected by him. The thunderous cheers of "Good!" "Good!" "Good!" were twice as loud as before, leaving the officials and nobles in the field bewildered.

  Qin Lei took over the sixth cup, his hand still didn't have a single tremble, only his movements slowed down a lot.

  Drinking on an empty stomach is a big taboo. Qin Lei smiled wryly in his heart.

  At this point, he was in a situation where he couldn't back down, and he could only grit his teeth and drink cup after cup. He held the wine glass, took a small step forward in the arena, and tens of thousands of people stared at Qin Lei without blinking, wanting to see what new tricks this increasingly bold Fifth Prince had up his sleeve.

  Qin Lei stood still, his eyes scanning the crowd. Everyone suddenly held their breath, waiting for him to speak. Qin Lei bowed deeply to the crowd. His face suddenly turned red, but he lowered his head, and a wave of dizziness washed over him, feeling extremely uncomfortable. It took a long time before he finally managed to suppress the turmoil in his chest and straightened up again. To others, it seemed like the Fifth Prince had made an exceptionally sincere bow.

  Qin Lei's face turned red as he spat out a mouthful of turbid air and said loudly, "Since I was young, I have always wanted to return to my hometown one day and receive what kind of welcome. I believe the people from my hometown will be very enthusiastic towards me, but I didn't expect all of you to give me such a grand reception. What virtue or ability does this humble person possess? And how can I repay it? There's only drinking this cup to express my gratitude. Thank you, everyone."

  The sixth time, he drank it all in one gulp.

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  Today's second update, the newcomer list ranking has already risen to 120, thank you everyone for your support. I will work harder to code and repay everyone's kindness.

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