GTB Chapter 61
by VolareThe Emperor walked to the dragon throne, raised his hand slightly towards the people below, “Esteemed subjects, rise. Today, let us, ruler and subjects, rejoice together. No need for excessive formalities.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” After the crowd thanked him in unison, they returned to their seats.
Then, the sound of the *qin* resonated in the arena, and graceful dancers entered, marking the official start of the banquet.
“Chuer, your mother sees that the Seventh Prince doesn’t seem as dissolute and frivolous as the rumors suggest. He certainly is as handsome as the rumors say.”
Madam Ye had been observing Shí Yan since he entered the arena. After all, since Chuer’s attempted elopement, and since she learned that the Emperor would bestow a marriage between Chuer and the Seventh Prince today, she felt that Shí Yan was her future son-in-law.
She felt that this Seventh Prince seemed different from what she had heard. He didn’t have much of an air of frivolity about him.
“Mother, you think he’s good after just one glance?” Jiang Jiuchu felt that her mother was just bewitched by the Seventh Prince’s face.
After all, her mother was obsessed with appearances. Back then, her father was a penniless scholar, but he caught her mother’s eye with just his face.
“It’s not that I think he’s good, but I haven’t seen anything bad about him yet.”
Madam Ye said, a confident look surfacing on her face, “Don’t underestimate your mother. As they say, appearance reflects the heart. Your mother still has some ability to judge people.”
“Back then, when your mother chose your father, your grandmother was vehemently opposed. She insisted that poor scholars would either be poor scholars for life, or they would rise to prominence and then be unable to resist temptation and abandon their wives.”
Madam Ye said, turning her head to glance at Jiang Yuan beside her. Jiang Yuan, who was eavesdropping, happened to meet her gaze. In an instant, sweet memories overflowed from their eyes.
Madam Ye withdrew her gaze embarrassedly and leaned closer to her daughter, “Look at your father now…”
Jiang Jiuchu was overwhelmed by her parents’ eye contact and said directly, “Mother, you don’t need to say anything. Your eye contact just now has surpassed all words. Your daughter understands.”
She picked up a piece of pastry and stuffed it into her mouth, wanting to ask what her mother, who was so good at judging people, thought of Brother Fu.
But then she thought about it. Whether in the beginning or now, her parents’ reasons for rejecting Brother Fu never seemed to be because Brother Fu wasn’t good enough.
The music faded, a dance ended, and the center of the arena was immediately empty.
Seeing this, the Emperor raised the wine glass in front of him and gestured to both sides, “A toast to all my esteemed subjects.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years.” Everyone raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.
The Emperor put down his wine glass and said with a smile, “According to past practice, the new *tan hua* will compose a poem for today’s banquet as the opening talent.”
He said, looking at Gu Changxuan, “Scholar Gu, please begin!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Gu Changxuan had heard of this custom long ago and had already composed a poem.
Eunuchs and palace maids quickly brought over tables and long desks, with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones placed on them. Gu Changxuan stepped forward and sat down, writing freely. Soon, he put down the brush and blew on the ink.
A palace maid hurriedly presented the poem to Eunuch De beside the Emperor. Eunuch De began to read it aloud according to usual practice.
Spring warmth, banquet of guests, intoxicated by wine,
Hundred flowers bloom, fragrant and alluring.
Lake ripples, reflecting beautiful colors,
Ruler’s prosperity, subjects’ affection, a glorious banquet.
After listening, the Emperor laughed and said, “Well done, well done. Scholar Gu’s poem is very fitting. Reward him.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward.” Gu Changxuan respectfully bowed and returned to his seat.
Then, the Empress’s voice came from the arena, “Let’s begin the talent flower toss!”
As soon as the Empress finished speaking, four or five palace maids came up with trays, and on their trays were freshly picked flowers, including roses, crabapples, azaleas, and so on.
The palace maids placed ten flowers in front of each young man present. After the five judges of *qin*, chess, calligraphy, and painting had evaluated, the young gentlemen present would toss the flowers in front of them to their favorite talent.
This was also the young men indirectly expressing their feelings. After all, they were more often choosing people rather than talent.
If one received both the judges’ evaluation and the flower toss as the first place, then one would be the best in the field. The four most talented women in Kyoto were selected in this way and had been the champions for three consecutive years.
Jiang Jiuchu saw that the flowers in the hands of the little palace maids were only placed in front of the tables of those young gentlemen. She seemed to understand what Ji Shutíng meant by the flower toss.
Thinking, wouldn’t it be quite embarrassing if she didn’t receive any?
She leaned over Madam Ye and looked at the table next door, seeing that her brother also had flowers in front of him. She wondered, can even married men be tossed flowers?
“Mother, this isn’t something everyone has to show, right?” She leaned close to Madam Ye and couldn’t help but ask in a low voice. She didn’t want to participate in this ‘special’ talent show.
“Probably! Mother doesn’t really understand either.” Madam Ye was also stunned by this operation. What kind of hundred flowers banquet was this? It was clearly a matchmaking banquet.
As the mother and daughter were talking, an elegant and refined girl walked out, sat in front of the *qin* table, and lightly caressed the strings with her slender fingers. The sound of the *qin* was lingering and dispersed with the wind.
After a song ended, she received two flowers from the young gentlemen.
Jiang Jiuchu saw the eyes of the two gentlemen when they sent the flowers, which were obviously filled with hostility.
It seemed that this hundred flowers banquet was indeed quite interesting. This was much more interesting than simply enjoying flowers and listening to music.
More than an hour later, Jiang Jiuchu had watched two or three rounds of *qin*, chess, calligraphy, painting, and dance.
It seemed that every girl who came on stage would receive at least one flower. Of course, the ones who received the most flowers were the last four, who were Ji Shutíng and the four talented women she had mentioned, Fan Yuwan, Zhou Xiandan, Li Zhirou, and He Yuyao.
However, to her surprise, Ji Shutíng actually stood up at the very end.
Jiang Jiuchu looked at Ji Shutíng, who walked to the painting table and sat down, as if she suddenly thought of something, and couldn’t help but look towards the new *tan hua* on the opposite side.
It seemed that Ji Shutíng had come prepared for this Scholar Gu. However, she hadn’t paid attention to him just now. She wondered if this Scholar Gu had sent flowers to other girls?
She squinted her eyes and counted the flowers in front of Gu Changxuan. It seemed that there were still ten flowers, and he hadn’t tossed out a single flower. It seemed that he hadn’t found anyone he liked. It seemed that Shutíng still had a good chance.
A little more than a quarter of an hour later, Ji Shutíng put down her brush and handed the painting in front of her to the palace maid next to her.
As usual, the palace maid presented the painting to the five judges, who finally rated it as second class, which was a very good result.
Jiang Jiuchu hurriedly looked towards Gu Changxuan, but she didn’t see him intend to get up and send flowers.
Alas! She sighed in her heart. It seemed that this Scholar Gu was still cold-hearted. Shutíng admired him, but she was afraid that her wish would be difficult to fulfill.
Perhaps her gaze was too frequent, Gu Changxuan seemed to sense something and raised his eyes to look at her. After their eyes met, Jiang Jiuchu smiled awkwardly and quickly turned her gaze away.
But she accidentally bumped into a pair of deep and cold eyes. Her heart skipped a beat, and then she was overjoyed. She thought, did the Seventh Prince recognize her?
Looking at his eyes, he must have recognized her and loathed her. The more Jiang Jiuchu thought about it, the more confident she became, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but show a hint of smugness.
Ji Shutíng, who was in the arena, thanked the three gentlemen who sent her flowers, and then returned to her seat in disappointment.
Thinking, the day she threw the purse at him, he raised his head and saw her. He should have recognized her. Since he knew her feelings, such a good opportunity, but he didn’t send her flowers, which clearly meant that he was not interested in her.
At this time, the Empress Dowager’s majestic but kind voice came from above, “Are there any other young ladies who want to come up and show off their talents?”
After she finished speaking and saw that no one answered for a long time, she directly looked in Jiang Jiuchu’s direction and asked, “Is Jiang Yuan’s daughter present?”