Chapter 149: Ambition

With that, the three of them began to drink heartily.
Midway through, the conversation from a neighboring table drifted over.
"Why didn't Young Master Hu Jie put up a fight? He just handed Huayong over to some little broad on a silver platter."
"Exactly. What talent or virtue does a little girl like her have?"
"I'm not convinced!"
"Yeah, neither am I!"
"Not convinced, and what can you do about it? Our Young Master Hu Jie doesn't care about those scraps of power."
Liu Sheng glanced back at the four men chatting away, then turned to look at Zhan Long and asked, "Who are they?"
"Hu Jie's men."
Hearing that they belonged to Hu Jie came as quite a surprise to Liu Sheng. He had always assumed Hu Jie lacked any backing whatsoever, preferring the carefree life of an ordinary man.
So he asked again, "Doesn't Hu Jie have no sphere of influence?"
Zhan Long smiled and replied, "Hu Jie simply has no desire to seize power; that doesn't mean he has no people behind him. If he didn't have some influence, how would he make a living in the future? Who would provide the funds for him to live so comfortably?"
Hearing this, Liu Sheng felt it made complete sense and gave the matter no further thought.
However, the voices from the other table started up again.
"That little broad Hu Yingqi—the way she swings her hips, just thinking about it makes me itch all over."
"Ain't that the truth? If Young Master Hu Jie had fought for power, that sluttery would never have had her chance."
"Right, right! If Young Master Hu Jie took supreme power, maybe he'd even hand that little broad Hu Yingqi over to us so we could have some fun!"
All four men burst into laughter.
Just as they were wallowing in their lewd fantasies, a wine bottle smashed down onto their dining table.
"Damn it! Who is it? Tired of living?!"
Cursing profusely, the four men jumped to their feet and glared at Liu Sheng's table.
At that moment, Liu Sheng turned his head back, looked at them, and said, "Hu Yingqi is about to become the head of Huayong. Do you think it's appropriate to talk about her like that?"
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to us like that? Have a death wish?"
Just then, Zhan Long stood up and gazed at the four of them. The moment they saw Zhan Long, they immediately sat back down and fell silent. They might not have recognized Liu Sheng, but they certainly knew Zhan Long—he was Huayong's premier, blade-wielding vanguard.
Zhan Long looked at the four and said, "These two are Eldest Miss Hu Yingqi's right-hand men. Do you think it's appropriate to speak ill of Miss Hu Yingqi right to their faces?"
Realizing they had spoken out of turn, the four men hurriedly chimed in:
"Not appropriate at all, not at all."
"Right, right, right. Just consider us dead drunk."
"Please don't hold it against us."
At this point, Ren Xiadong spoke up: "We're in a good mood today. Scram right now, or if I ever lay eyes on you again, I'll cripple the lot of you!"
Hearing Ren Xiadong's words, the four men scrambled away in a panic.
The three of them drank until midnight before finally wrapping up. Choosing neither to drive nor hail a cab, they supported each other, singing loudly all the way back.
"Zhan Long, the way you look right now, you don't look anything like Huayong's top bodyguard!" Ren Xiadong said with a drunken slur.
Zhan Long retorted, "And the two of you don't look like Huayong's second-in-command either!"
Hearing this, Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong puffed up with pride. Liu Sheng demanded, "Say that again."
"Liu Sheng, Ren Xiadong!" Zhan Long repeated.
The two of them waved their hands dismissively and said, "No, no, not our names. What was that title again?"
"Hahahahaha! Huayong's seconds-in-command!"
Hearing this, Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong both stopped dead in their tracks. Noticing they had halted, Zhan Long turned back to look at them.
The two of them had their eyes closed, basking in the sheer bliss of Zhan Long calling them seconds-in-command.
Zhan Long stepped forward, grabbed both of them, and hauled them along as he said, "Alright, you two seconds-in-command, stop self-admiring and hurry back to sleep. We've got plenty to do tomorrow!"
Upon returning to the Old Master's estate, Zhan Long went straight to his quarters to sleep, leaving Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong wandering around the courtyard for ages, clueless about where to go or even where they were supposed to sleep.
Right at that moment, Hu Yingqi suddenly intercepted them and ordered, "Stop right there!"
Liu Sheng recognized Hu Yingqi's voice instantly. Swaying unsteadily, he staggered over to her, threw his arms around her, and muttered, "I'm drunk, but I don't know where I'm supposed to sleep!"
With that, Liu Sheng lost consciousness completely and fell fast asleep right there, clinging to Hu Yingqi.
At ten o'clock the next morning, Liu Sheng finally woke up. Gazing around a room that looked painfully familiar, he suddenly realized this was Hu Yingqi's bedroom. Faint memories of hugging Hu Yingqi the previous night came flooding back.
A wave of panic hit him: "Crap, crap, crap! I just promised yesterday not to marry Hu Yingqi, and then I go and hug her like that? Didn't I just give both of us an opening?!"
Appalled by the thought, Liu Sheng sprang up in a hurry, only to notice someone lying next to him completely covered by the duvet, identity entirely unknown.
Assuming it was Hu Yingqi, Liu Sheng scrambled out of bed in sheer terror, muttering to himself, "It's over, it's over! If Old Master Hu finds out about this, he'll strip me of my position for sure! And I haven't even officially taken office yet!!"
Just as Liu Sheng was panicking, the bedroom door swung open. It was Hu Yingqi, carrying two bowls of congee. She walked in and said, "You must have had quite a lot to drink yesterday. Have some congee; it's good for your stomachs."
"Us?" Liu Sheng thought to himself. He quickly pulled back the duvet and saw that the person sleeping in the bed was actually Ren Xiadong. He let out a massive sigh of relief and muttered under his breath, "Thank goodness, thank goodness!"
"Seeing how completely out of it the two of you were yesterday, wandering aimlessly around the estate, I just put you both in my room. I slept in the guest room next door."
After Hu Yingqi explained, Liu Sheng picked up a bowl of congee and remarked, "It must be nice to be rich—you can sleep in whichever room you please." With that, he delivered a vicious kick to Ren Xiadong on the bed.
"Hey~!" Jolted by the rude awakening, Ren Xiadong bolted upright. After taking a long moment to collect his wits and realizing it was Liu Sheng, he glared at him unhappily and snapped, "Liu Sheng! Damn your sister! It's been all these years, why can't you ever kick this habit? I told you about this back in school—when someone is sleeping, is it really necessary to jolt them awake like that? It's terrifying!"
"Drink your congee! Don't let Eldest Miss Hu Yingqi's kindness go to waste."
Hearing that there was congee to eat, Ren Xiadong dropped the subject, climbed straight out of bed, and started slurping down the porridge.
They had consumed nothing but alcohol the night before, leaving their stomachs completely empty, so both men devoured the congee ravenously.
When they finished, they asked Hu Yingqi in unison, "Is there any more?"
"Yes. I'll go get you some more."
As Hu Yingqi turned to leave, Liu Sheng called out from behind, "Pickles! Do you have any red bean buns or anything like that?"
Ren Xiadong shouted after her as well, "Fried dough sticks would be best!"
Within moments, Hu Yingqi returned accompanied by two servants. This time, not only was there more congee, but everything Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong had asked for was present, along with an assortment of cold dishes and refreshing palate cleansers—exactly what people recovering from a heavy night of drinking crave.
Midway through the meal, Ren Xiadong observed, "This room is pretty nice, though it feels a bit feminine. Did Old Master Hu mistake the two of us for young maidens and assign us a room like this?"
"What do you mean, assigned by Old Master Hu? This is Eldest Miss Hu Yingqi's bedroom."
Hearing Liu Sheng's clarification, Ren Xiadong shook his head, racking his brain to recall the previous night. But he had completely blacked out and remembered nothing of what happened after they returned.
Suspecting that something might have transpired between Liu Sheng and Hu Yingqi, Ren Xiadong blurted out, "I blacked out yesterday, I swear I don't remember a thing. I have no idea what you two were doing near me, I'm telling the truth."
Liu Sheng kicked Ren Xiadong under the table and hissed, "It was just the two of us in this room yesterday; Eldest Miss Hu Yingqi slept in the room next door."
Hu Yingqi chuckled and said, "I honestly have no idea what the two of you were up to."
Ren Xiadong shook his head frantically and protested, "What could we possibly have been up to? I'm into women, though I can't speak for Liu Sheng."
"Screw your sister! Even if I were into men, I wouldn't be into you!"
Ren Xiadong laughed heartily and said, "Right, right, you only have eyes for Eldest Miss Hu Yingqi."
What had started as a casual joke from Ren Xiadong seemed to hit a nerve with Hu Yingqi. Blushing deeply, she said, "You guys go ahead and eat. Someone will come by to clear the plates when you're done. I'm heading out. We'll have lunch together, and tonight is the Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony."
Watching her reaction, Liu Sheng grabbed Ren Xiadong by the collar and warned, "Did you forget the oath we swore in front of Old Master Hu? Don't go tossing around jokes like that!"
Realizing his mistake, Ren Xiadong winced and said, "I forgot. I won't do it again."