After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

The girls in Zuihuanlou were puzzled as to why this poor scholar was so devoted to Zhitao. In fact, Zhitao herself didn't know what to say.

The scholar would occasionally tip the table, although the amount was not much, but considering the tight budget, it was already a huge amount. But every time the scholar came, he would only order a pot of wine and a plate of peanuts. He liked to sit by the window, drinking while watching the hustle and bustle of life downstairs.

There was no violation of the rules from beginning to end.

Although Zhitao was young, she was not ignorant. Men who came to Zuihuanlou to spend money would not really come just to drink a pot of wine, see the scenery, or find a girl to talk to, right? She looked ordinary and had a dull personality. Hong's mother also said that if she still couldn't find customers willing to spend money on her, then Zuihuanlou would not support such an idle person like her. So she went to find Xiaorou, the girl with the most business recently, thinking of learning a few tricks of "fox charmer skills" to keep the scholar first and then seek a career.

Unexpectedly, Xiaorou only gave her a small cup of sake, and told her to use chopsticks to add a little sake to the scholar's wine when he came over, and that would guarantee the job would be done. She also repeatedly warned her not to use too much.

She guessed that it was not a good thing, and hesitated again and again, but still could not resist the fear of being homeless in the future. When she saw the scholar appear, she asked someone to prepare drinks in advance, changed her clothes and put on rouge. She was not used to putting on rouge, and at first she couldn't put it on well. It was dark and light, like the mask on the stage, ugly and ridiculous.

And a little pitiful.

I washed and wiped it again, and I didn't even know how many times I had wiped it, but I still felt it was not satisfactory - it must be because it really didn't look that good, otherwise the scholar who would occasionally smile and talk to me in the past, wouldn't even glance at me today, and he didn't even take a sip of the wine glass, just staring out the window like an old monk in meditation, and I didn't know who was outside the window.

"Young Master..." The woman who used to sit quietly beside him now seemed particularly uneasy and as if sitting on pins and needles. "Young Master... are you in a bad mood today? Zhitao, Zhitao can be your confidant..." After she finished speaking, she raised her eyes and glanced at the plain-looking young man. With the candlelight shining on his face, he no longer looked as uneasy as he was in the crowd. His slightly gentle facial features seemed a little unfamiliar.

The young man looked over with his lips slightly curled, then shook his head, "Nothing."

This young man is quite good-looking... Zhitao blushed, but for some reason, the blush soon faded away. She avoided his gaze and urged him to drink, "If you don't want to talk, I won't ask. I will just drink with you. How about that?"

Zhitao put on rouge today. Her rouge was not top-grade, but it had a strong fragrance, like a mixture of many kinds of pollen. Yuan Ge touched the tip of his nose, raised the corner of his mouth in an ambiguous way, and handed over the wine glass that he had been holding for so long, "Okay, then today... let's not go home until we are drunk."

Zhitao didn't take it, but just smiled and refused, "That's the master's wine glass, how can I be so presumptuous? I can just use my own wine glass." After that, she poured herself a full glass, raised her head and drank it all in one gulp, coughing repeatedly, her face flushed red, and tears came out of her eyes. It can be seen that she really can't drink.

Yuan Ge already understood in his heart that this lovesickness... was not put into the wine jug, but into the glass of wine in his hand.

She came almost every other day, sometimes with her "jealous lover", sometimes alone, and every time she came she would look for Zhitao, not because she looked like an old friend, but because she was a simple girl who was not experienced in the world and was easy to target. However, the simple girl was very vigilant, and she didn't say a word for so many days. I thought she would have to waste some time, but I didn't expect to meet two people today.

The little girl looked obedient, but I didn't expect that she really had this thing in her hand... Yuan Ge was really excited.

The scholar smiled softly, leaned forward slightly, patted the other person's shoulder, and said softly, "Why are you drinking so quickly? It's as if I'm punishing you. This wine, you have to taste it sip by sip to appreciate its artistic conception, just like this beauty, you have to get close to her little by little to feel all the fun, right?"

The palm fell on his shoulder, and Zhitao's whole body suddenly tensed up.

Yuan Ge seemed to be unaware of it. He put his hand on the other person's shoulder and placed the wine glass in front of him. He said gently but forcefully, "Come on, try it. Taste it one sip at a time and savor the various flavors carefully."

The color on Zhitao's face had completely drained away, and there was no trace of shyness left. Xiaorou told her to put the stuff in the wine pot, but she was afraid that the drug was not strong enough and that she was not attractive enough, so she suddenly became wicked and not only increased the dosage, but also put it all in the glass of wine in front of her.

She didn't know what would happen after drinking the wine. She only knew that there was only so much wine at the moment. If she drank it all, what would happen to the scholar?

Zhitao's calves were shaking with nervousness. This was the first time for her to do such a thing as a grown-up girl getting into a bridal sedan. She was already nervous, and now that she was about to make a mistake, she could no longer hold back. Her heart was already beating like a pounding drum in her chest, and her voice was trembling, "I, I, I will use my own wine glass, and you, you will drink too..."

The hand reaching for the wine glass was held down.

The scholar had a pair of slender hands, more beautiful than those of a girl, with skin whiter than snow and as delicate as jade, a pair of pampered hands. His fingertips were slightly cool, and when they fell on the back of her hand, they aroused a shudder.

"No problem." The scholar's smiling eyes were so charming, and his deliberately lowered voice was low and gentle. He said, "It's just exchanging a cup. What's the big deal? I think there is no need to be so distant between Sister Zhitao and me... or... did sister add something else to the glass of wine she gave me?" The last tone rose slightly, and it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, as if there was a small hook that hooked people again and again.

Zhitao shuddered suddenly and denied it quickly, "No, it's not true! I, I drank just now, how could there be anything else? I, I said I wanted to drink with you because I saw that you were in a bad mood, how could you misunderstand me like this..." She imitated the coquettish look of the girls in her memory, but now she only imitated the look of "this place is boundless".

"Really..." The scholar withdrew his hand, leaned back in his chair and smiled lazily, "I don't feel like drinking today, but I am interested in watching Sister Zhitao drink... Sister, how about you drink this glass of wine together with the wine in the jug?"

The word "sister" rolled between her teeth, and there was a hint of charm in the words when they came out of her mouth.

Zhitao just felt a chill all over her body... She looked at the glass of wine as if she was looking at some ferocious beast, and the young man opposite was like a goblin in the skin of a scholar, as if as long as she dared to say "no", the goblin would eat her alive.

In the flickering candlelight, she raised the glass of wine with trembling fingertips...