The Noble Woman's Guide On How to Tease One's Husband

16-20

Chapter 16 – Attending the Banquet 

Due to the short distance, the Emperor's question was clearly heard by Ye Huaiyang. She looked obtusely at the whereabouts of Chu Jinglan. Even with the shadowy obstruction of several heavy gauzes and the outlines of the contours were blurred, she still stubbornly looked over until she heard Chu Jinglan's reply.

"It's nothing. I just thought the decorative setting is ingenious."

"It turned out to be so." The Emperor smiled faintly yet it seemed to be hidden behind an indistinguishable dense fog, "We[1]think so too. After all, Younger Brother is unmarried, thus would not have looked over there and be concerned about any family womenfolk."

"Imperial Elder Brother is jesting." The corners of Chu Jinglan's mouth raised slightly as he lowered his head to drink some wine and stopped talking.

Ye Huaiyang retracted her gaze just when a palace maid came serving the dishes. Chinawares of all sizes filled up the table. There was whitebait thick soup, Longjing bamboo fungi, braised deer tendon and all sorts of rare delicacies which could be said was a feast for the eyes. Ye Huaiyang however merely drank several sips of soup and left the other dishes untouched, seemingly having no appetite.

"It seems the dishes in the palace are not to Miss Ye's taste."

A soft voice was heard from the left. Ye Huaiyang turned to look. Bai Zhixuan was staring at her quietly, her eyes were like an abyssal pool of water.

It was finally here.

She sneered inwardly. How could there be such a coincidence. The imperial harem was divided into rankings. On the top were the Queen Mother and the Empress, next would be the four imperial concubines then followed by ladies of honorary titles that were conferred by imperial mandate and noble ladies. There were so many people yet by chance, she was seated next to Bai Zhixuan with a two-foot high steps separation in between. Others would be utterly envious, saying she had a noble status to get such special honor but no one knew the sinister motives behind it.

"Isn't Imperial Concubine the same too?"

"Bengong is excessively fond of drinking." Bai Zhixuan smiled. A wine cup was held between the scarlet-red painted fingers, raised up as an invitation to her from a distance. "Miss Ye might as well give it a try. This is the sweet dew of Qinhuai which has been preserved for many years by the Imperial Chef."

This action of hers aroused a lot of the womenfolk's attention that successively pried with probing and curious eyes. Under these conditions, Ye Huaiyang naturally would not be able to decline. She responded softly a moment later, "Thank you, Niang-niang."

She raised the wine cup and slowly finished the wine.

Another gentle and soft voice suddenly came from the seat of honor which appeared with a remote sense of distance.

"Seeing that younger sister had not touched the dishes, Bengong thought younger sister was feeling unwell. Who would have thought younger sister is actually drinking together with Miss Ye. Both of you do be mindful of getting drunk as this is a decade-old wine."

A ray of light flashed passed Bai Zhixuan's eyes before she immediately turned towards the Empress and said, "Miss Ye's contribution to the women school cannot go unnoticed. Chenqie[2] is full of admiration and could only honor it with wine. This wine is strong but compared with the things that Miss Ye's put up, a cup of wine is just slightly too little. Am I right, Elder sister?"

The Empress smiled after hearing what was said, hence raising her sleeves, she invited everyone for a drink, "If that's the case, let's all drink a cup too."

The womenfolk responded together. At this moment, only the sound of liquor fluid slowly flowing out from the wine flask was heard. Ye Huaiyang looked profoundly at Bai zhixuan and again she emptied the wine in the cup.

As expected, once the Empress and the Imperial Concubine started, others would successively follow suit, hoping to take this opportunity to be on friendly terms with Ye family. Ye Huaiyang couldn't refuse and drank several more cups of this yellow wine. Beads of sweat gradually covered her forehead. After going through this stage with difficulty, the cold voice of Bai Zhixuan once again drifted to her ears.

"How's the flavor of the wine? Did Miss Ye manage to savor it?"