Lian'er tried to persuade, "Dad, I know you can hold your liquor! But could you promise Qingluan that you won't practice martial arts after drinking?"
Grandfather saw that nobody in the room was siding with him, so he gave up and lay down, ignoring everyone.
Evan Xiao arrived, and Minister Zhuo invited him to stay for dinner.
The two drank and chatted about the people and happenings in the Vermilion Kingdom. Before they knew it, it was late at night.
So, Minister Zhuo had Evan Xiao spend the night.
He'd stayed here before; there was a special courtyard set aside for him in the guest wing.
Evan Xiao didn't refuse and went to settle in.
When Grace found out, she couldn't sit still and snuck off to find him.
When she arrived, she saw two shadows cast on the papered door in his room.
One was Evan Xiao, and the other was a woman.
Why would there be a woman inside at this hour?
It was winter, so the door was shut tight. Grace crept closer and peeked inside through the crack.
It was a maid, handing Evan Xiao a steaming bowl.
"No need. I'm not drunk," Evan Xiao said.
"General, Madam insisted I make sure you drink this! Too much alcohol is bad for you, so please, for Madam's sake, drink this Sobering Soup to protect your liver and spleen!" the maid said.
Evan Xiao couldn't refuse and drank it.
But the maid still didn't leave.
"Do you need something else?" Evan Xiao asked.
"No... I'll take my leave. General, please rest early." With that, the maid slowly put the bowl back on the tray and shuffled out.
At the door, she glanced back at Evan Xiao.
As she looked, she saw Evan Xiao's cold, intimidating gaze, and the maid shivered in fear and hurriedly opened the door.
"Ah!" As soon as the door opened, she saw Grace, and was so startled she dropped everything in her hands.
Grace tilted her head and looked at her without saying a word.
"Miss Lawrence! Why are you at the door? You scared me!" the maid said as she picked up her things.
"Aren't you Ginger, the maid assigned to Rona Zhu? Why are you here delivering Sobering Soup?" Grace asked.
Ginger was a newly purchased maid, given to Rona Zhu after the family moved to Yan City.
"Madam sent Xiaofei to deliver the Sobering Soup, but Xiaofei sprained her ankle and ran into Third Miss. So Third Miss asked me to help Xiaofei and deliver it instead," Ginger explained clearly.
Third Miss referred to Rona Zhu, who was the third daughter in her family.
"Alright, you may go," Grace said.
"Yes!" Ginger replied and left.
Grace turned to look at her, feeling like something was off.
"Did you think she was acting weird?" Evan Xiao asked.
"Yeah!" Grace replied.
"She put something in the Sobering Soup."
Grace: "Huh?"
"Love Potion," Evan Xiao said.
"Seriously?"
"If you don't believe me, come here."
Grace walked over, and Evan Xiao leaned in, saying, "There's still some soup on my lips. Want to taste it?"
Grace: "..."
Of course she wasn't going to taste it.
If there was no Love Potion, she'd have fallen for this wolf's trick.
If there was, wouldn't she be poisoned?
She wasn't like Evan Xiao, who was immune to all poisons.
She took out her Violet Spirit Bamboo chopsticks and tested the residue on Evan Xiao's lips and mouth.
"Ha! That maid has some nerve!" Grace said, looking at the yellow stain on the chopsticks. "No wonder she was dragging her feet and wouldn't leave! She was waiting for you to get poisoned, huh?"
She glanced sideways at Evan Xiao. "If she knew the General was immune to all poisons, she'd probably die of frustration!"