Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 473 Li Xi is drunk and mistakes Gu Shiyi for Guo Fengmin

After Li Xi returned home, he carefully recalled his earlier conversation with Guo Fengmin, and a sense of unease gradually grew in his heart. Did he really say something wrong? Once this thought arose, it spread like a weed in his mind.

For the next few days, Li Xi felt restless, like an ant on the hot pan. He decided to go to the Guo residence in person to explain the situation to Guo Fengmin and try to salvage the situation. However, whether Guo Fengmin was still feigning illness or had fully recovered, she always avoided seeing Li Xi.

Li Xi suddenly realized that Guo Fengmin had deliberately tested him, but unfortunately, he had failed. Ever since returning from Guo's residence that day without success, Li Xi felt like he had lost his soul, mired in depression. To relieve his sorrow, he even turned to alcohol, often getting drunk.

All of this naturally escaped the attention of Concubine Xiao, who had been watching him closely. Seeing Li Xi so depressed, Concubine Xiao felt deeply distressed and sent someone to bring him to the palace. There, Concubine Xiao painstakingly counseled and taught Li Xi, helping him to regain his confidence and courage.

Meanwhile, Guo Fengmin secretly wept upon learning how the Li family had become so dejected because of her situation. Deep down, she had never wanted to marry into the royal family, though she might have hesitated before. Now, this situation had completely dispelled her desire.

About ten days later, an important notice suddenly appeared across the country. The notice called for the selection of unmarried women of suitable age from all over the country to serve as the consort of the Prince of Nanyang. This news caused an immediate uproar, with countless young women dreaming of becoming the consort of the Prince.

However, Guo Fengmin was completely calm at this moment. Although a hint of sadness inevitably crossed her heart, she did not burst into tears like the other women. Instead, she resolutely gave up the opportunity to participate in the selection process, citing her illness and long-standing condition.

Of course, Guo Fengmin was not chosen, but Li Chu and Dugu Jingyao were still very concerned about who the Li family would finally choose as the princess. After all, they were in a hostile relationship, and they didn't want to choose someone who had a good relationship with them as the princess, so that they would not be soft-hearted when the critical moment came.

About half a month later, the selection of the princess was finally completed, and Li Guangbi's legitimate daughter Li Yuru was chosen as the princess.

In fact, Li Yuru was not willing to marry into the royal family, so she did not take every step seriously. Concubine Xiao was determined to find a wife with military power for the Li family, so she set her sights on Li Guangbi's daughter, Feng Changqing's niece. But a niece is not as good as a biological daughter after all, so in the end she found ways to get Li Yuru into the palace selection.

She could act recklessly and not take it seriously before, but when the palace selection took place, the emperor, the empress, and Concubine Xiao were all present, so she had no choice but to follow the procedures. Finally, with Concubine Xiao's strong recommendation, Li Yuru became the Princess of Nanyang County.

Li Xi didn't care who it was. After all, as long as it wasn't Guo Fengmin, everyone else was the same. He would just try his best to treat them with respect.

However, at the request of the Li family, only a princess was chosen for him, and neither a concubine nor a lady was chosen.

On the day chosen by the Princess of Nanyang, Li Wanqing's Mingyue Bookstore sent the news to the Prince of Guangping's Mansion as soon as she received it. Li Chu happened to be walking with Dugu Jingyao in the mansion, so Li Wanqing came to the garden with the news.

Li Wanqing bowed politely and said, "Your Highness, the Princess greets you."

Li Chu supported Dugu Jingyao with one hand and raised his other hand slightly and said, "Get up. But has the Princess of Nanyang been chosen?"

Li Wanqing nodded slightly, then handed Li Chu a piece of paper and said, "Your Highness, the results are on the paper."

Feng Shengyi took the note and handed it to Li Chu. Dugu Jingyao also leaned over to read it. It said, "The Princess of Nanyang County is Li Yuru, the daughter of Li Guangbi. No Liangdi or Ruren has been selected."

After seeing the result, the two looked at each other, and Li Chu said: "Well, the prince and the princess know about it. If you have nothing else, you can go back and rest."

Li Wanqing smiled bitterly in her heart, but remained calm on the surface. She said, "Yes, Your Highness, but today is the day I go to the store to check the accounts..."

Li Chu and Dugu Jingyao naturally understood the implication of her words, so Li Chu said, "Well, then go ahead."

After Li Wanqing bowed and said goodbye, Li Chu helped Dugu Jingyao back to Wangyuexuan. After they sat down in the inner room of Wangyuexuan, Dugu Jingyao sighed: "Alas, in the end, a Yue family member with military power was chosen for the Li family."

Li Chu's face was calm as he said calmly, "This is normal. The only family that can check and balance me is the Li family. That's why my father tacitly agreed to choose a Yue family member with military power for him. Although the military power of the two families is not at the same level, one is close to Chang'an, while the other is far away."

Dugu Jingyao rubbed her belly and said, "Alas, the royal family is still too complicated. I worry about you and our child's future. It's so tiring to always worry about them. I suddenly miss the carefree days in Yunnan."

Li Chu looked at Dugu Jingyao with some heartache and said, "Ayao, I'm sorry, I... I can't give you the life you want, and our child..."

Dugu Jingyao shook her head and said, "Don't say that. Marrying you was my choice. Since I chose you, we will advance and retreat together."

Li Chu felt a surge of warmth in his heart when he heard this. He said, "Thank you, Ayao. I'm lucky to have you. Now that we have a child, I will do my best to protect you!"

Dugu Jingyao looked at Li Chu and nodded, saying, "We are husband and wife, there is no need to talk about thank you or not."

But that night, Li Xi went out to the restaurant to get drunk again. On the way back, he ran into Gu Shiyi, who rarely went out. Gu Shiyi had rarely gone out since she lost face that time.

However, that incident happened a long time ago, and now basically no one talks about it, so she can go out normally, but she usually still wears a veil when she goes out.

It just so happened that she hadn't been to Tianxiang Tower for a long time, so she went there for the last time today. Who knew that when she was walking in, she met Li Xi, who was drunk and needed to be supported, but he didn't want anyone to support him. He was muttering, "I'm not drunk, I can walk by myself." As he said that, he bumped into Gu Shiyi.

Gu Shiyi was caught off guard and her shoulder hurt. Fortunately, the maid behind her supported her. She was very angry and said, "How can you walk like that? I'm such a big man, can't you see?"

The servant beside Li Xi apologized: "I'm sorry, young lady, our prince was drunk and didn't stand steadily, so he bumped into you."

When Gu Shiyi heard the word "Your Highness", she looked up at the staggering man. She recognized Li Xi and asked, "Is it His Highness the Prince of Nanyang? Why is he so drunk?"

The servant said, "This...this servant has no idea. Maybe he drank a few more cups because he was happy about the princess selection today."

Hearing this, Gu Shiyi also thought of it. Today was the day for the Nanyang County Prince to select a concubine. When she thought of this, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart: Oh, that stupid thing she did back then, she didn't have the chance to be selected as a concubine. Even this time, her father didn't let her participate in the Nanyang County Prince's selection of a concubine. Her dream of flying up to the tree and becoming a phoenix could not be realized.

Looking at Li Xi in front of her, an idea suddenly occurred to her, so she said to the servant, "His Highness the Prince of Nanyang is already so drunk, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to go back. This is in public, and if someone with ulterior motives spreads the news to the Emperor, it won't be good for His Highness either. Isn't there a private room upstairs? Let His Highness rest for a while and leave when he sobers up."

The servant saw Li Xi in this state, and with so many people watching, he felt it was not a good idea, so he said, "Thank you, young lady. May I ask who you are?"

Gu Shiyi smiled and said, "You're welcome. I'm the daughter of Lord Gu, the Minister of Justice."

The servant then bowed and said, "Thank you, Miss Gu." Then he coaxed Li Xi to have two more drinks, and Li Xi followed them upstairs obediently.

As they went upstairs to the "Warm Winter" private room on the third floor, a waiter came over and asked, "Does this lady have a reservation?"

The maid beside Gu Shiyi said, "He has made an appointment. His surname is Gu. He has booked a private room."

The waiter went to the front desk and looked through the registration list. He found that it was indeed there, so he greeted her with a smile: "Miss, this is Jinqiu on the 3rd floor. Please follow me."

Gu Shiyi nodded slightly and followed the waiter up to the third floor. Coincidentally, it was the private room next to Jinqiu and Li Xi's. She felt even happier now.

After entering the private room and ordering some food and drinks, the waiter went to prepare them.

Gu Shiyi quietly called the maid next to her and whispered, "Xiaoyan, do me a favor."

Xiaoyan was a maid, so she said, "Miss, you are embarrassing me. I am your maid, so how can I help you? Just give me your orders."

Gu Shiyi asked her to lean over and Xiaoyan's expression was as if she had been struck by lightning. She knelt down and said, "Miss, this is not okay. If the master knew about this, he would beat me to death."

Seeing Xiaoyan like this, Gu Shiyi glanced at her with disdain and said, "What are you afraid of? I'm not afraid either. Besides, as long as this is done, why should I be afraid of my father?"

Xiaoyan was still hesitant, so Gu Shiyi asked her directly: "Are you going to do it or not?"

Xiaoyan thought, instead of being scolded by the young lady and beaten to death by the master, it would be better to help the young lady and take a gamble herself. If the young lady can get married, then she can live a better life.

So she hardened her heart, knelt down and said, "I will do it!"

Gu Shiyi nodded with satisfaction and said, "Good Xiaoyan, if this goes through, I will take you with me."

Soon the waiter arrived, and Gu Shiyi asked, "Hey, young man, do we have any hangover soup?"

The waiter smiled and said, "Yes, yes, if you need it, I'll prepare it right away."

Gu Shiyi nodded slightly and said, "Thank you very much, little brother."

Soon, the hangover soup was served. Gu Shiyi gestured to Xiaoyan to give the waiter some change. The waiter took the change and said happily, "Thank you, Miss. Please call me if you need anything."

Gu Shiyi just nodded and said nothing.

In order to make up her mind, Gu Shiyi drank several glasses of wine, and then asked Xiaoyan to bring her sobering soup and go to the "Warm Winter" private room.

Because Li Xi was temporarily appeased, the servant stayed outside.

The servant recognized Gu Shiyi and Xiaoyan as the two people he had just met downstairs, so he asked politely, "Miss Gu, what can I do for you?"

Gu Shiyi smiled and said, "Nothing much. I just saw that Your Highness was so drunk, so I asked for a bowl of hangover soup. I wonder if Your Highness would like it?"

The servant was indeed stunned, because in the past, when he got drunk, he would stay at home and be taken care of by the maids, so he was really negligent. He didn't expect that Miss Gu would really be like a timely rain.

The servant smiled and said, "Oh, thank you very much, Miss Gu, for reminding me." Then he was about to take the hangover soup from Xiaoyan.

But Gu Shiyi said, "Look, you even forgot about this. It shows that you are careless. How about this, I go in to see His Highness, feed him some sobering soup, and then come out?"

The servant was also very conflicted. After all, a man and a woman were alone in the same room, and the prince had just chosen his princess, and he was already in the same room with another woman. This was not a good idea.

The servant said, "You'd better leave it to me. I'm used to it. Besides, if the news gets out that you two are alone in the same room, it will damage your reputation, which is not good."

Gu Shiyi seemed to have made up her mind and said, "How about this? If you are afraid of damaging my reputation, why not let my maid go? It just so happens that I need to go to the toilet. When you come back, just go back to the room and wait for me." After that, she left.

The servant thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll trouble you, young lady."

Xiaoyan then naturally entered the private room of the Warm Winter, and the servant followed her in. Xiaoyan said, "Young man, are you afraid that I might do something to His Highness? You have to keep an eye on him."

Although the servant thought so, he still said, "How can that be possible?"

"Xiaoyan" said: "Forget it, as a servant, you should protect your master. In this case, just watch me feed him here."

After saying that, "Xiaoyan" picked up the hangover soup, blew on it, and brought it to Li Xi's mouth with a spoon.

Unexpectedly, Li Xi might find it unpalatable and knocked over the bowl of hangover soup. He even sat up and said, "I don't drink this stuff. I want to drink wine."

The servant said, "Your Highness, please stop drinking. It would be terrible if the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine found out."

But Li Xi didn't listen to what he said. He looked at the person in front of him and saw that it was a woman. He was delighted and stepped forward to hold "Xiaoyan"'s wrist and said, "Fengmin, I knew you couldn't bear to leave me."

The servant thought something was wrong, thinking His Highness had mistaken someone. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Oh, Your Highness, you've made a mistake. This isn't Miss Guo, this is Miss Gu's maid."

Li Xi was drunk at the moment and didn't care about these things. He just thought it was Guo Fengmin, so he directly pulled off the veil of "Xiaoyan". He first saw that it was not Guo Fengmin, but shook his head because of dizziness. When he looked at the person in front of him again, it turned into Guo Fengmin again.

Without saying a word, he hugged her in his arms and said, "Feng Min, I know you are angry with me. Can you please stop being angry?" This was exactly what Xiaoyan, also known as Gu Shiyi, wanted.

The servant wanted to separate the two, but was scolded by Li Xi. He had no choice but to think, she was just a slave, it was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines, at worst he could just take her in as a concubine in the future, so he got up and left the private room in shame.

Li Xi let go of the person in front of him and said, "Feng Min, I like you. If you forgive me, I will tell my father that I want to marry you as my princess!"

Gu Shiyi was really jealous, but she couldn't care less about it now, so she said, "Your Highness, you are wrong, I am not Miss Guo." As she said that, she was about to pull her hand away and turned to leave.

But at this time, Li Xi was drunk and had no rationality left. Seeing "Feng Min" in front of him was about to leave, he pulled her back and kissed her.

At first, Gu Shiyi was a little scared. After all, it was her first time. She pushed him away a few times, but Li Xi's kiss became deeper and deeper. Gradually, as she had just drunk some wine, she also fell into his trap.

The two of them quickly rolled onto the bed. Li Xi was afraid that she would feel pain, so he was very gentle at first, but gradually the two of them became more and more intense. Li Xi might have been drunk and tired, so he fell asleep. Gu Shiyi was also tormented by him quite a bit.

She deliberately left her jade pendant on the bed, then put on her clothes, put on a veil and left the private room.