Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Night Feast Meets Again

Hibiscus Garden

It is said that the eighth day of the second month is a good day, a light rain in the morning washes the sky, the evening night falls, half of the dark clouds overhead are gone, the light golden moon is embedded in the dark blue night sky, scattered stars are embellished, if this piece of night cloth can be cut, it will be able to make a unique skirt.

The night banquet held for Li Tai, the king of Wei, was well arranged in the early morning in Fanglin Garden.

On both sides of the road into the garden, dozens of finely carved ladies and ladies sleeve stone lamps are all lit with new oil, its light road is white, and the palace ladies wearing one-color dresses hang their heads and lead the guests to walk in, listening to the faint sound of silk and bamboo orchestras, and you can see the brightly lit open-air hall in front of you from a distance.

At the end of the road, step on the 24-story narrow staircase, step on the smooth and visible jade floor, and the scene of singing and dancing is in front of you: there are two dance floors surrounded by teak low carved railings in the main hall, and two groups of dancing girls in the pool are jumping and jumping, one left and one right, respectively, close to the guests of the east and west banquets, and people will enjoy it closely.

The east and west two banquets each set up 36 sandalwood animal foot long case, six cases into a seat, each seat is spread with chestnut back gold and green three-color blanket, each case can accommodate more than three people to sit in a row, at this time there are still two quarters of an hour away from the banquet, the banquet has been more than half, every guest arrives, there are palace people in front of the twenty-four steps to report loudly, the guests are different according to their identities, some go through the two dance floors to the main banquet in the north to see, some directly enter the banquet, and there are also individual led by the palace to the main banquet to sit down.

On the main banquet, there were seven mahogany foot cases, Li Tai sat alone behind a case, the Xuanqing round-necked satin robe he was wearing was appropriately cut, seven feet high, and the purple gauze on his head was full of black hair, and the hundreds of pearls in the palace lined his face with handsomeness, attracting the guests who talked to each other in the hall to look at each other from afar, the people of Chang'an City knew that Wei Wangsheng was unusually handsome, and the hundred officials knew that his eyes were different, but he went deep and simple, not much better than the emperor in the palace, and it was rare to have the opportunity to see me, so it was inevitable to take a few more looks.

Gao Yang, who was dressed in a luxurious palace dress, pushed away Gong'e's support, sat down beside Li Tai with a wine glass, picked up the wine jug on his desk, raised his eyebrows and smiled at him, and said:

"Fourth brother, you only came back after two years of going out this time, but you had a good time, but you didn't bring me anything fun.

This pair of half-brothers and sisters are the children of Taizong's favorite, although Li Tai is cold and indifferent to Gao Yang, this delicate princess often does not know how to advance or retreat, but after all, she did not tear her face, after two years, when Gao Yang was so friendly when she saw each other, but I don't know if she has a grudge against Li Tai in her heart.

Li Tai saw that she filled the bottle, and her expression was cold and incompatible with the excitement in this hall, and no one knew what she felt in her heart, so she raised her hand and took the wine bottle and drank it.

Gao Yang got his face, and the smile on his face became thicker, so he said something about the affairs of the capital when he was not there, Li Tai was silent, and the two brothers and sisters looked like this, and in the eyes of the guests at the banquet, it was another understanding, only to say that there were rumors earlier that their brothers and sisters were not in harmony.

This reception banquet was organized by the emperor himself, and the royal driver could not come in person, and the crown prince and other princes could not come with him as usual. However, the officials of the DPRK and China are very able to understand the holy will, and those who receive invitations rarely do not prepare a generous gift and banquet. There are a lot of important figures, not to talk about the left and right banquets, let's just say that on the three tables on the left side of the main banquet, Fang Qiao, who was only awarded the title of Liang Guogong last year, and Gao Zhixian, the secretary of the Criminal Department, were talking about criminal law at the same table, and Du Chuke accompanied Yu Shinan, an old minister with silver hair, to talk about work and painting at a table.

"Shang Shu's left servant shoots the eldest grandson here—"

As soon as the eldest grandson Wuji entered the banquet, everyone turned their heads to look, but when they saw a man and two women behind him, their eyes fell on one of the women, and after a moment of silence, there was a commotion in the audience.

When it is Yanran's body, more than half a minute thick, butterfly bun and green winding, pink cheeks and apricot dress, cheeks and snow dyeing, moth eyebrows, bright eyes, pear vortex lips, such a beautiful woman is meticulously crafted, curling up, how can it be embarrassing?

"Tsk, I heard it before, and I was only exaggerated overnight, but now I see it, I think my eyes are shallow." During the banquet, the guests who saw the third lady of the eldest grandson family for the first time, most of them gave similar admiration, and everyone had a love for beauty, although they were not in harmony with the courtesy, but they couldn't help but look at it again.

There is the eldest grandson Xi, and a young couple behind the eldest grandson Wuji is very easily ignored, this pair is the grandson of Gao Shilian, who is known as the beauty of the family, Gao Zijian, and the eldest daughter of the eldest grandson's family, Changsun Xian.

Changsun Xi followed behind her father, holding Changsun Xian's arm, she was not unaware of the amazing eyes around her, but at this moment, her attention was all on Li Tai, who was about to go in front of her, with a smile on her delicate face, but her slightly trembling arm showed her excitement at the moment.

In two years, the nourishment is appropriate, and today's eldest grandson Xi is still vaguely still petite and lovely. The body is tall, the posture has become slender, far better than the development of peers, beauty is born on the one hand, plus she is under the guidance of the old aunt who has experience in the palace, the dietary life is almost harsh, so that when she is nearly fifteen years old, she has such a stunning appearance, and because of her talent, she has won the pursuit of countless literati in Beijing, among young people, the reputation is no less than some celebrities.

The eldest grandson Wuji took a look at Li Tai and Gao Yang, talked politely, and then walked towards his cousin Gao Zhixian's table, leaving Gao Zijian and the two eldest grandson sisters to sit on the other side.

"Fourth brother, it's been a long time." The eldest grandson Xian pulled the woman's hairstyle, which has changed a lot compared to two years, and the former softness faded away, and every word and smile carried the ability and neatness that only women can have, along with the impressive and lofty posture also disappeared, which I don't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.

Li Tai nodded, his gaze swept over the three of them, paused on Changsun Xi, then moved away again, and said, "Take a seat." ”

Changsun Xi had expected that he might have this attitude, although his heart was painful, but he didn't rush to get entangled like back then. But after they sat down with the eldest grandson, they poured a glass of wine, got up and went to the other side of Li Tai, called him, and when he turned his head, the Yingying jade bowl lightly held the bottom of the cup, his eyebrows flashed with subtle joy, and he said softly:

"Xi'er, congratulations to the fourth brother on his safe return, take a special drink-"

As he spoke, he brought the wine bottle to his lips, raised his head lightly, revealing a slender and seductive neck, slowly drank the wine in the cup, and showed the empty cup to Li Taiyi with his backhand, and the red lips stained with wine dew lightly opened:

"It's a matter of respect."

There is movement here, and the guests who are near the banquet on the left and right can see it all, and those with poor concentration will inevitably straighten their eyes, and secretly say that Li Tai is not shallow, and he has a lot of eyes to pay attention to the face of the eldest grandson Wuji, but he did not find anything abnormal.

Li Tai took the wine bottle handed over by Gao Yang's good deeds, drank it all in one go, and put the empty cup on the table. As a man, he was toasted by a woman, and the other party drank it first, if he didn't go back, he couldn't say anything, Changsun Xi saw him drink it simply, his heart was slightly sweet, his cheeks were flushed, and he asked Gao Yang for a wine jug, and his long eyelashes fanned a few times, and said:

"The fourth brother left Beijing the year before last, and he didn't say a word before leaving, we didn't even have a chance to see him off, so we needed another drink."

As she spoke, she was about to pour wine into Li Tai's bottle, but he clasped his palm on the mouth of the cup one step ahead of him, rubbing his fingers, she quickly retracted, and was hot in her ears, so she heard him say softly: "The banquet has not yet begun." ”

"Haha," Gao Yang interjected on the side: "It's rare to get together again, Xi'er, don't worry, wait for him to drink, come, let's go talk to your eldest sister, I haven't seen you in this palace for a while." ”

Sun Xi didn't refuse, he glanced at Li Tai with a red face and a pulse, then went to the seat next to Gao Yang and sat down, and sat down in the eyes of the eldest Sun Xian.

"Xi'er, don't drink so much if you drink too much, look, your face is red."

"Eldest sister," Changsun Xi scolded Changsun Xian, and then raised the wine glass to hide the smile on his face, as if unintentionally looking left and right for a moment, and said:

"Huh? Why don't you see Miss Dongfang and Miss Lu. ”

"The palace heard from the people of the Department of Internal Affairs that the Oriental Pearl didn't come because she was sick, anyway, she likes to stay in the house, and the door doesn't go out of the door, there's nothing strange about it, as for Miss Lu," Gao Yang called out "Miss Lu" emphatically, and said: "Who knows, if you don't mention it, the palace will only think that she is still outside and hasn't returned to Beijing." ”

"Regardless of whether she comes back or not, on this occasion, everyone who comes has a status and status, where can there be a mess of people, if you have some self-knowledge, you know that you shouldn't come," mentioning the jade, the smile on the face of the eldest grandson Xian disappeared, and he was playing with the fish crisp in a dish with an ivory chopstick in one hand, and raised his hand to point to the second empty table on the right side of the banquet of the guests in the distance, and said coldly:

"Although there is that relationship, but the banquet organized by the Department of Internal Affairs is not allowed to be exceeded, she has no grade and no rank, an orphan girl, she should sit there when she comes, fortunately, she is far away from us, and she will not be upset when she sees it."

"Xi'er, tell me what this person is doing," Gao Yang waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's talk about something interesting, this palace will tell you, this palace is in Kuixing Tower a few days ago."

The people at the main banquet laughed lightly, and the guests on the left and right banquets also chatted lively, some with vague words, and some with high talk without shying away.

"Brother Zhao, our bet, you lost, look at who is sitting on it, in the past two years, have you seen these people come out together at any banquet? This Wei Wangye, who has been walking for two years and came back in a big circle, is still the emperor's favorite prince. ”

"Hmph, you only have these people in your eyes, and you don't want more characters who didn't come - King Wei repaired the book, won the favor of the literati, but the martial artists didn't buy it, you look at it again, there are a few guests in this full house, there are a few people who have held the soldiers, that is, they have held the soldiers, and a few are facing him."

"It's—but there aren't many."

This conversation speaks to the minds of most of the people here, but few people dare to say it as carelessly as they do.