Yi Liang sat alone in the backyard, drinking from a wine pot. I found him after hearing the various thuds from the pot hitting the floor from my room's window. It was night, and everyone was asleep. There was only a week to the Crown Princess' birthday, but I had yet to find a way to insert myself into the celebrations. I couldn't sleep from thinking too hard.
I wrapped a coat around myself and left my room, shivering in the night wind. Yi Liang made no indication of seeing me as I walked up to him.
"Are you okay?" I asked. A stupid question that I regretted asking the moment it left my mouth. I sat down next to him, leaning against the back brick wall of Shen Li Gong. There were three small pots at his feet. I reached out and stopped him from downing the one in his hands.
"Yi Liang..." I said, but he tugged himself away from me and finished it to the last drop. Wary, I watched as he let out a deep sigh and drop the bottle on the floor. The pots smelled strongly of wine.
