On the night of my second visit to Chang'an, the moonlight was at its peak. I found a drunken Yuchi Qing at th…
On the night of my second visit to Chang'an, the moonlight was at its peak. I found a drunken Yuchi Qing at the tavern. He no longer remembered me, only muttering incessantly. Interestingly, when drunk, even his speech became much more candid.
"The first time my younger brother and I saw Chang'an's moon… it was just like this! The moonlight was like honey wine, flowing all over the streets as if it were a river… I said, 'Oh no, oh no, little brother, how come the people of Chang'an drink by the street?'… My brother said I was drunk. We sat by the honey wine river… hic… He played the bili for me, waiting for me to sober up. My brother plays the bili so well…"
I couldn't help but interrupt him: "How could anyone in the world play the bili better than you?"
"Haha… you've mistaken me for someone else too, haven't you? Just like the others… My bili playing… is just so-so! My brother plays better. As for me… I'm still better at drinking. Speaking of which, where's that Chang'an man who can drink three hundred cups at once? Call him out to drink! Chang'an has hundreds of taverns with thousands of floors, let's drink every cellar dry!"
"… You mean you have a younger brother who is more skilled at the bili than you?"
I was nearly driven mad. I had heard Yuchi Qing play the bili and had to admit defeat. But if he had a brother who played even better, I, Wang Manu, might never dare show my face back in Youzhou again.
"No, no, I am… I am the elder sister… Elder sister has drunk herself unconscious… I need to play the bili while waiting for her to wake up… She collapsed drunk on a Chang'an street, I have to stay here guarding her…"
He asked me blankly: "I've played for so long, my pipe broke… Where is my elder sister?"
"...Yuchi Qing, you're drunk."
I let out a long sigh of relief. I knew he had a twin sister who reportedly died quite young. So there wasn't a younger brother more brilliant than him, just a drunkard talking nonsense.
Hearing my words, the drunkard suddenly clapped his hands happily again,
"Yes, I'm drunk!… Brother, brother, play one more tune for me, and I'll sober up…"