Chengping Palace was decorated gorgeously on this night. Deep red palace lanterns with tassels stretched from the front gate to both sides of the road. From a distance, it looked as if pearls were falling from the Milky Way. The flowers were particularly soft and gorgeous petals competed for beauty in the flowerbeds on both sides of the room, their beauty further illuminated by the lights.
Chengping Palace was not the inner court, but a palace given by the Emperor of Xiliang to the Regent. The magnificent structure, located next to the imperial city, covers a vast area, and it’s no less impressive than the imperial palace itself. The southern people are a tough and open-minded group, so the vibe is completely different from the much more serious and strict Tiansheng Palace. As they walked, passing the palace maids and eunuchs along the way, the only thing they did was to get out of the way and bow. From time to time, there was even giggling and laughter, like the light rippling on the clear water, which made one lose some restraint and feel more open.
The banquet was held in the main hall with hanging flower pavilions with dozens of tables lined up in a row. Feng Zhi Wei was naturally the first guest seated on the left. What was surprising was that Gu Nan Yi and Gu Zhi Xiao were actually arranged to sit next to her. This was obviously not proper or by the book, but it also showed that the Regent was well-informed, detail-oriented, and not one stuck on rules. Accepting the thoughtful gesture, Feng Zhi Wei smiled and raised her glass from a distance, expressing her gratitude to the Regent sitting above.
Meeting her gaze, the man sitting above returned a kindly smile and paused for a moment when his gaze fell on Gu Nan Yi before looking away.
The etiquette officer outside the hall welcomed the guests and the imperial musicians played in the front hall. After the guests and hosts sat down, the Regent smiled and raised his glass along with all the officials, making a toast to welcome in the envoys from Tiansheng who came from afar. Feng Zhi Wei returned the toast. After going through a lot of long official etiquette that felt like it might never end, the very impatient Master Gu and his daughter were finally rewarded by the arrival of the food.
The father and daughter buried their head down and ate voraciously, not caring at all if they should be eating thus in a feast such as this. Gu Zhi Xiao soon filled her belly in no time and started to wiggle restlessly in her father’s arms until she suddenly heard a “shish” sound.
Gu Zhi Xiao turned her head and saw a child’s head suddenly popping out and making faces at her from behind a hidden screen in the corner of the hall.
The eyes of the little miss of Gu family immediately lit up but instead of responding back, she turned her head somberly, ate a few more bites before saying to her father, “I am full, I need to go potty.”
The young master of the Gu family is the sort to be very focused in everything he does. Not giving any thought to the child voice “shish” sound he had heard, he kept on studying the strange looking bug dish while he casually put his daughter down. (Not sure why the author suddenly started to call Gu Nan Yi and Zhi Xiao by little miss or young master of…)
Since the time she could walk, Gu Zhi Xiao had always gone to the bathroom by herself. At first, she would be accompanied by a maid, but later, she didn’t even want that. Fortunately, she has never fallen into the toilet. Feng Zhi Wei and Gu Nan Yi had always been the sort to give free reign when it comes to child education so Gu Nan Yi had no plans to accompany his daughter to the toilet.
Noticing what the little girl wanted and worried that she would get lost in an unfamiliar place, Feng Zhi Wei had one of the maids follow Gu Zhi Xiao.
Gu Zhi Xiao walked out with the maid but before they made it very far, she suddenly pointed towards the left and said with shock, “Oh! Thief!”
The maid turned her head in surprise but saw nothing. By the time she turned her head back again, the little girl was gone.
Startled, the maid didn’t dare to raise a ruckus nor did she dare to go back into the feast hall to disturb such a grand occasion, so she could only beg a few of the maids to go search the huge palace slowly with her.
As she walked away, a small body slowly revealed herself under the railing of the corridor. The little lady of the Gu family crawled out with a smile and wrinkled her nose in the direction where the maid went off.
She didn’t run far at all but simply hid in the flower bed under the corridors. The maid did not expect the clever little girl to hide right under her nose and ended up getting tricked into leaving.
Proudly riding on the railing of the corridor, Gu Zhi Xiao shook her two short legs and stared off into the distance. Behind her, a chubby six or seven-year-old boy crawled out, stared at her admiringly with starry eyes, and said, “You are so smart.”
Gu Zhi Xiao pushed him away with disdain and said, “Dummy boy, what are you doing?”
The chubby kid wiped his snotty face with his sleeve, grinned, and said, “My master saw you and wanted to play with you, come with me?” He then came and pulled her sleeve.
“Who is your master?” Gu Zhi Xiao didn’t budge, snatched her sleeve back, and even brushed off some non-existent dust, “Tell him to come to find me, I won’t go.”
“You…you…you…” Suddenly, another baby voice came again. It sounded younger than the chubby boy, and his articulation was not very clear. “….dare!”
Gu Zhi Xiao turned her head around to see a little kid in a brocade robe standing behind her. The kid was about the same age as her. His eyes were round and black, as he tried hard to make them appear wider in an effort to stare at her fiercely “…you dare!”
Little Miss of Gu Family stared at the little bean and after a good moment, laughed.
“You you you you you you…….dare!” She imitated the child’s stuttering, “You you you you you you…….dare!”
“You you you you….dare!”
“You you you you you you…….” Gu Zhi Xiao made a face at the kid.
“You you you you you you…….” The kid’s tongue immediately started to get tangled.
Little Miss Gu laughed so hard she was rolling on the ground with her hand on her belly.
“You dare!”
“You dare!”
“You dare!”
The child’s face turned red with anger, but he kept on saying the same sentence over and over again. It seemed that it was the only sentence he could say fluently.
Gu Zhi Xiao was busy rolling around on the ground with laughter and didn’t notice that the little kid in the brocade robe’s face was turning redder and redder, and tears were about to fall from his eyes. Suddenly he let out “Ah!”, ran forward, and in a very practiced manner, raised his foot to step on her hand.
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While Gu Zhi Xiao was having a dispute with another child of her age, the banquet hall was swirling with undercurrents.
Quite displeased after suffering two losses at Feng Zhi Wei’s hand, the officials of Xiliang all wanted to find an opportunity to score a win against her tonight. With the Regent’s tacit approval, they first tried to coerce the envoy into drinking, hoping they would get drunk and make a fool of themselves. The result? The two deputy envoys and the general attendants were indeed very easy to get drunk. However, they drank and got drunk right away. Once they got drunk they fell asleep immediately. Not only did they not make a fool of themselves but now it is them who have to provide rooms for them to sleep in.
As for their main target Marquis Wei, the guy has such an incredible alcohol tolerance that makes one wonder if he is human. He truly can drink a thousand cups without falling down. (That thousand cups is a reference to a Chinese saying that describes someone’s excellent ability to hold their liquor.) Hundred plus officials came to toast him, and he not only drank until his cup was dry but also calmly returned the toast. He was not satisfied with just a double toast, but wanted to do the “Three Yangs Bring Good Fortune”. After the “Three Yangs Bring Good Fortune”, he was still not satisfied and wanted to do a “Everything Goes as You Wish”. By the time they had finished the “Everything Goes as You Wish” toast, the room was spinning round and round. But then this Marquis Wei still wanted you to do a “Five Blessings” toast with him until that unfortunate Xiliang Official finally collapsed to the ground.
After five or six officials all went the same way as the first official, the remaining officials no longer dared to go up for a toast. Marquis Wei stood in the middle of the hall, holding the wine glass high, and turned a full round. All the officials shrank their heads in panic while wailing inwardly —- the heaven is unfair! It’s one thing they can’t out talk him, but now, they can’t even out drink him!
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Thank you, Ninja for another great translation. You manage to convey a lively with political undertone banquet. I wonder what is going to happen next. Is there any significance when GNY is addressed as young master and little miss Gu? I have a hard time liking miss Gu, she is too much for me.
It’s a term of endearment from the author. No real meaning other than lightening the mood for a particular scene.