After lunch, Ye Li and the others quickly found an excuse to leave.
Seeing Ye Li's hurried demeanor, Su Yourong was almost certain that the old man Shen Jing had gotten drunk was Emperor Zhou.
Only then would Ye Li and the others leave in such a hurry.
Shen Jing and his group also rushed back.
Upon returning to the mansion, Shen Jing immediately drew Zhou Yi's face.
He even drew the servant by Zhou Yi's side.
Su Yourong also gave him a definitive answer.
It was Emperor Zhou!
That so-called servant was Gao Jing, the Commander of the Imperial Guards!
"You're really something! You just arrived in the capital and already got His Majesty drunk!"
Looking at the portrait in front of her, Su Yourong helplessly massaged her forehead, truly at a loss for words.
"How was I supposed to know that was His Majesty?!"
Shen Jing looked at Su Yourong with a bitter expression, "He just got drunk, it should... be nothing serious, right?"
Zhou Yi? Zhou Yi!
He now highly suspected that it wasn't that he misheard, but that Emperor Zhou deliberately mispronounced it!
"Let's hope it's nothing serious!"
Su Yourong said worriedly, "His Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness. If he were to fall ill from drinking, those princes, princesses, and all the court officials wouldn't let you off."
Actually, just normal drinking, even if Emperor Zhou got drunk, wouldn't be a big deal.
After all, Shen Jing wasn't forcing the wine down Emperor Zhou's throat with a jug.
But the problem was, Emperor Zhou had been seriously ill before!
Moreover, with Prince Ji's rebellion currently underway, Emperor Zhou, if not utterly exhausted, must have been under considerable stress.
Getting drunk in such a situation could truly lead to him falling ill, or even trigger other hidden ailments!
If that happened, Shen Jing's good days would probably truly be over.
"How is this my business?!"
Shen Jing was annoyed, "He wanted to drink it himself."
"Hehe..."
Su Yourong rolled her eyes at him, "If His Majesty really falls ill because of the drinking, who cares if His Majesty wanted to drink it himself or if you got him drunk?"
Shen Jing was speechless, grunting for a long time before saying nonchalantly, "Anyway, it's already like this. If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster; if it's a disaster, you can't avoid it! Maybe he'll be fine after a good sleep. Let's not scare ourselves here."
Who said you couldn't get drunk just because you'd recovered from an illness?
Perhaps Emperor Zhou hadn't been able to sleep these past few days because of Prince Ji's rebellion, and today he just took the opportunity to have a good sleep after getting drunk!
Perhaps Emperor Zhou would even have to thank him for letting him get a good night's sleep!
Shen Jing comforted himself inwardly.
Yet, he couldn't help but doubt his own guess.
He was the ruler of a country after all!
He wouldn't be so blatantly shameless, would he?
Was he possessed by Jiajing?
Other Jiajing emperors were greedy for money, but at least they beat around the bush. Was he not even putting on a show?
Su Yourong thought for a moment, then instructed, "If anyone asks, you just insist that you and he were just having a normal drink and chat!"
Now, they certainly couldn't let people know that Shen Jing had seen through everything.
Otherwise, if His Majesty really had a problem, it would become Shen Jing intentionally getting His Majesty drunk!
They couldn't bear that responsibility!
Shen Jing, however, acted as if nothing had happened, continuously comforting Su Yourong.
It had been some time now; if Emperor Zhou had truly developed any issues from drinking, someone would have found them already.
Imperial Palace.
As dusk approached, the drunken Emperor Zhou gradually regained consciousness.
Yu Rang quickly ordered someone to bring sobering soup.
"Father Emperor..."
Ye Li, her face full of worry, leaned forward and called out softly.
Emperor Zhou rubbed his slightly throbbing head, looked up at his daughter, "Qinghe, why are you here?"
Ye Li replied angrily, "Your daughter heard that that scoundrel Shen Jing got you drunk, so I rushed back..."
When mentioning Shen Jing, Ye Li gritted her teeth in anger again.
Thankfully, Father Emperor was fine!
Otherwise, she would never forgive him!
"It's nothing, nothing."
Emperor Zhou shook his head again and sat up, saying with a laugh, "It's been a long time since I've had such a satisfying drink..."
"Don't you know your own body?"
Ye Li pouted slightly, "You've just recovered from a serious illness, you should be taking good care of yourself, yet you drank like that! Your daughter and Eldest Sister were so worried when we heard you were drunk. If we weren't afraid of arousing Shen Jing's suspicion, we would have returned long ago..."
"What's there to worry about? Am I not fine?"
As Emperor Zhou spoke, a palace maid brought warm sobering soup.
Ye Li took the sobering soup and brought it to Emperor Zhou's lips.
Emperor Zhou didn't hesitate, drinking the sobering soup in a few gulps. Ye Li then took a silk handkerchief to wipe Emperor Zhou's mouth.
Ye Li put away the silk handkerchief and said angrily, "Your daughter will definitely teach that scoundrel Shen Jing a good lesson later!"
"I got drunk myself, why blame him?"
Emperor Zhou looked at his daughter with a doting gaze, "I chatted with him for a while today and found that this boy is truly a talent!"
"He is indeed a talent, a shamelessly talented one!"
Ye Li was utterly exasperated.
"Don't just look at people's surface!"
Emperor Zhou shook his head gently, "This son's talent is not scholarly talent, but talent for governing the world! This is the most rare and valuable!"
"Ah?"
Ye Li's eyes widened in astonishment, and she tentatively asked, "Father Emperor, are you still drunk?"
Shen Jing, a talent for governing the world?
She really didn't know where Father Emperor saw Shen Jing as a talent for governing the world.
If Shen Jing was a talent for governing the world, then looking across Great Zhou, it would probably be full of world-shaking talents!
Emperor Zhou was slightly stunned, then gave a helpless smile, "It's not that I'm still drunk, but that you can only see the surface of people! At his age, my knowledge and mindset were far inferior to his!"
Ye Li was surprised, looking at Emperor Zhou with curiosity, "Father Emperor, what exactly did you talk about with Shen Jing?"
Had Father Emperor been given a love potion by Shen Jing?
He just had one drink with Shen Jing, and now he was only speaking well of him?
If she didn't know Shen Jing, she might have thought Father Emperor had discovered a rare genius!
"We talked about a lot."
Emperor Zhou smiled, "However, this boy is truly a bit annoying. He clearly has great insights on some matters, but when I pressed him, he wouldn't say anymore! I even suspect whether this boy guessed my identity and was deliberately teasing me."
Hmm?
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart.
Ye Li lowered her gaze, carefully recalling the things Shen Jing said when she and Su Yourong went to find him.
As she thought, Ye Li suddenly looked up, "He shouldn't have guessed Father Emperor's identity, but he might have realized that your daughter and Father Emperor are working together!"
As Ye Li spoke, she immediately told Emperor Zhou the things Shen Jing had said to her later.
She suddenly realized that Shen Jing's words seemed to be intentionally provoking her!
And Su Yourong's reaction also seemed odd!
Listening to Ye Li's words, a look of sudden understanding appeared on Emperor Zhou's face, "Hmm, it seems I underestimated this boy's intelligence! He definitely saw something; he deliberately got me drunk!"
"That scoundrel!"
Ye Li was angry, "Your daughter will go and deal with him for Father Emperor!"
"No need!"
Emperor Zhou waved his hand gently, a mischievous smile, unbefitting his status, suddenly appearing on his face, "I have a way to deal with him!"
