Chapter 2408 - 2382: Forced to Drink

The topic was casually swept aside by everyone, and they began to laugh and joke, with quite a few people egging on to make Liu Huan drink.

Liu Huan was quite hearty, not refusing anyone, but Bai Shan and the others didn’t dare let him drink like this, so they asked Assistant General Nie and others to help, to block some drinks for Liu Huan.

Old Madam Liu observed this scene, frowning slightly, and instructed the old nanny in a low voice, "See how many young members of the clan have come, and let them come over to help their younger cousins and nephews, young people don’t know how to restrain themselves, drinking too much would be bad."

The old nanny agreed with a smile and went personally to find people.

Soon the young clan members of the Liu family were found, and they crowded around Liu Huan, "Our little brother is still young, I’ll drink half a cup for him, and let him drink the rest himself as a sign of respect."

"Let this nephew drink this cup for his uncle, he’s still young, wait until he’s married and then you can really make him drink."

Bai Shan and the others were dumbfounded, even Bai Dalang was surprised, and then turned to look at Bai Erlang and Bai Shan, wondering why he didn’t have such a team to block drinks at his wedding?

Bai Erlang and Bai Shan exchanged innocent glances with Bai Dalang.

The banquet hosted by the Minister of Revenue family certainly couldn’t be small in scale, many people came, some invited and some who came without an invitation.

Liu Huan certainly couldn’t only stay at their table, he was taken around to various tables by Minister Liu, and even though he had his clan brothers and nephews to help, he returned after making the rounds with bloodshot eyes—completely drunk.

Manbao handed him a hangover remedy sheet, "It’s quite effective, aside from being a bit hard to swallow, there are no other problems."

Despite being drunk, Liu Huan still retained some sense, he stashed away the remedy sheet into his chest, planning to give it to his grandfather later, he wouldn’t use it himself.

Drunk, just going back to sleep it off would do.

Many guests were openly and discreetly watching Liu Huan, after all, he was the protagonist today, and seeing him in such a state they sighed, "He’s really lucky, isn’t he?"

"Right, last year when Zhou Man left the capital, many were ready to laugh at them, thinking what kind of good remedy could they possibly find from the Western Regions? Even if they did find one, would people just hand it over because you asked?"

"Who knew they were so lucky, they really found a remedy and their journey wasn’t in vain, and they even encountered the emperor’s Western Expedition, following the army the entire way."

"Also, it was Guo Xiao’s incompetence, I heard they had even captured the Wang City of Kucha, but ended up losing it due to complacency and negligence."

"No wonder the emperor was so furious, not only did he lose his life, but also got stripped of his office."

"In the end, didn’t he get reinstated? The emperor even personally took charge of his funeral, saving his face."

"Those who battled alongside the emperor back then, whoever died didn’t get a funeral organized by the emperor? Even those who fought against the emperor and only surrendered after several battles didn’t get blamed, let alone Guo Xiao?"

"If you ask me, Liu Huan’s achievements today aren’t all due to luck, doesn’t his family background play a part?" someone said, "If he wasn’t Minister Liu’s grandson, could he have been ennobled as County Baron? Look at Zhou Man, she’s still the head of the envoy, not only did she have the foremost merit in finding the smallpox vaccine, she also played a key role in the siege, reportedly she and Bai Shan pretended to surrender and opened the city gates for General Ashina."

"And look, she was only promoted by one rank, without gaining even a bit of nobility."

"Isn’t it curious she’s here too, weren’t they saying the Imperial Hospital was doing inoculation experiments at the Imperial Ranch recently?"

"Doctor Xiao is here too, the Imperial Hospital and the Medical Bureau have been spending a lot recently, they’re probably here to use their connections, otherwise, it would be difficult to get funds later."

"The last time the Medical Bureau submitted a report asking for a huge sum, what do they plan to do with it?"

"I heard several local medical bureaus need to prepare medicine for summer epidemics, so they need funds from the capital’s Medical Bureau."

"Shouldn’t this be covered by the local county government’s budget? Why is the capital paying for it? How many prefectures and counties exist in Great Jin? If all of them request funds from the capital, how much does the national treasury have for them?"

"Also, I heard the Imperial Ranch requested another batch of people, but they had already picked all available convict slaves in the capital, and the emperor is having people search the Yongzhou area for convicts to distribute, as the demand for people increases, I wonder if they’ll ask us for people."

"Sending our household servants for inoculation, wouldn’t they bring smallpox back into our homes?"

Manbao’s ears perked up, vaguely hearing some discussions, out of curiosity she asked Keke to listen in, and hearing Keke’s emotionless recount of their words, Manbao angrily picked up a large meatball and bit into it hard, muttering, "What a bunch of fools!"

It’s common knowledge that people who recover from smallpox won’t infect others and won’t contract smallpox again, do they need me to educate them again?

Bai Shan turned to look at her, saw the broth clinging to her cheek, and because she had taken a big bite of the meatball, her whole little face puffed up, causing him to smile involuntarily. He took a handkerchief and casually wiped her face, softly asking, "Who made you angry?"

Manbao didn’t speak, but her gaze drifted towards the table where the gossip was coming from.

Bai Shan glanced over, recognizing several officials, all around the fourth rank, deputy heads of various departments.

This involved a lot of people, why would Manbao have a conflict with them?

No matter how much Bai Shan thought he couldn’t figure it out, and since he couldn’t, he decided not to dwell on it, planning to ask her later. So he reached out to grab her a meatball, laughing, "Eat more if you like it."

Bai Erlang, who was about to grab a meatball, silently put down his chopsticks, this was the last meatball, and he hadn’t eaten even one!

Bai Dalang grabbed him a chicken leg, persuading him, "Have a chicken leg."

Bai Erlang: "... Brother, I’m not a child anymore, eating a chicken leg in front of so many people, don’t I have any face left?"

Bai Dalang responded, "This chicken is roasted, with honey applied on the outside, so do you want it or not?"

Bai Erlang gritted his teeth, "I want it!"

But he didn’t use his hand, he just grabbed it with his chopsticks and ate it.

After almost finishing the food on the table, various adults began holding their wine cups, approaching, clearly, Liu Huan’s toast to each table wasn’t enough, he still had to sit and be repeatedly toasted.

Bai Shan and the others, having experienced the wedding scenes of Bai Dalang, Zhou Liulang, and others, had gained quite a bit of insight, so regardless of whether they could drink or not, they stood up to help block a couple of cups, then seized an opportunity, one person supporting Liu Huan’s arm, leading him to the backyard and saying when asked, "We’re sending him to change clothes, we’ll bring him back in a moment."

And so they dragged Liu Huan to the back.

Manbao pulled Zhou Liru to sneak along and, after carefully checking Liu Huan’s complexion, said, "Administer a hangover soup, otherwise he won’t be able to sleep tonight."

So Ji Yu went to fetch the hangover soup, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang placed him on a soft couch in the room, covering him with a quilt, while they bypassed the screen to sit in the small study by the window, exhaling a long sigh of relief, "The Liu family’s relatives and friends are too many."

Bai Erlang, slightly anxious, asked, "Brother, I’m about to hold my own banquet soon, will they make me drink like that too?"