Manly Lady ✓

55.

Cold night.

✿

ANXIETY is gnawing on Yan Gen, making him unable to enjoy the banquet. He feels like there are so many eyes staring at him at the right side where the Royal family is seated. He doesn't have the courage to look back at their direction again after making eye contact with Zhu Deming.

      Most of the people's attention are focused on Qiu Yue, only the pleasant sound of zither and flute can be heard as they watched her twirl around, moving her body like an expert seductress, the music became resonant in their silence.

      The men looked at her with open admiration and desire in their eyes, women on the other hand have a look of disdain, a few of them gaze at her in admiration of her dance.

      If Qiu Yue is Zhu Deming's person, then the meaning of his action couldn't be anymore clearer. He intends to have someone in the back palace as his backing, a spy to be precise and the perfect candidate for that is Qiu Yue, who's not only a beauty but talented in four arts and is definitely not a beginner when it comes to matters between men and women.

    A girl who can easily entice the emperor. In the original novel, she was overlooked by the emperor because of Wei Zhilan who was busy seducing Zhu Mingli, unfortunately for her, her seduction worked on another man.

      The Empress who is seating right next to the emperor wore an ugly expression, seeing that his majesty couldn't get his eyes off the girl on the stage, “Bring the girl to me after the banquet” he told his eunuch “as you wish, your majesty”

       Across from where the Wei clan is seated is the family of Prime Minister Li, Yan Gen immediately spotted the white lotus flower female lead, Li Mei, as well as her pretty cousin, Li Xia. These two obviously don't get along with each other but the other family members let them seat near each other. Li Xia has an irritated expression, it was apparent from the frown forming between her delicate eyebrows, nonetheless her beautiful face brighten up at the sight of Yan Gen. She smiled, lightly waving her hand at him.

     Li Mei looked at his way too and slightly smiled. Yan Gen gulped, suddenly feeling edgy. All of the main characters are present in one place, including him, the villainess of the story. This isn't a good sign. Something big will happen when they're all gathered in one place.

      Could it be that he can't escape from his terrible fate? One can tell that the events changed when Qiu Yue showed up, and she was never mentioned in the story. She was probably a small character in the story. Perhaps she was mentioned as the beautiful dancer but she was unable to make any great changes. Looking at it now, it seems that the role of Wei Zhilan attracting the emperor was passed on to her. Hers however was deliberate, willingly making a sacrifice.

      When the entertainment was over and the aristocrats started mingling with each other. Yan Gen was contemplating whether to stay on his seat or escape out of the banquet hall. He saw Li Xia making her way to him and thought that it isn't bad to have her as a company, she doesn't have a big role and was rarely mentioned in the novel. Moreover, she is Wei Zhilan's loyal lackey, so she might helped him in some ways.

      Nobles won't fail to show off their talents when they're in a special occasion, such as writing calligraphy and composing poems. Even humble scholars will blend in with them in hopes that they might attract the attention of the Emperor to get an official position or a high ranking official to support them in order to get promoted.

      Noble Women are also expected to join in with them to gain a good reputation to attract a good marriage partner, and for those who already have a ‘good reputation’ like Wei Zhilan, someone will definitely mention her name to compose a poem or write a calligraphy. Yan Gen is confident in his calligraphy, as for composing poems... aye, he is hopeless when it comes to that, he can only came up with corny lines.

     Thus upon someone brought the topic of composing poems, he immediately became alert and told Meigui that he has to go to relieve himself. He doesn't want to put himself in an embarrassing situation, he quietly retreated and told Li Xia the same who already reached his spot. The lovely young girl told him to come back soon and walked back to her family members in disappointment.
    
     The cold night air immediately hit his whole body when he stepped outside of the banquet hall, making him shiver though he's wearing layers of clothes. He hugged himself and looked around. Outside the hall, it was also brightly lit, letting all of the outsiders know that a grandiose festivity is currently being held inside. Few servants ran around at the side and front of the banquet hall, running around for an errand. There are currently no nobles or royalties in sight based on the plain clothes of the people outside.

    Breathing in the cold air, Yan Gen felt refreshed, far from the suffocating air inside the hall. He rubbed his soft small hands together and breathed on it. He looked back at the hall. It was too late now to retrieve Baihe to accompany him here or told Wei Yuu who was busy mingling with those high ranking officials where he is.

     At the very least, he was finally out of the same room with the main characters. Li Mei, being the innocent female lead, she will expectedly meet trouble in there and her two knights in shining armors will undoubtedly rescue her from distress. As for him, he doesn't have a female lead halo, he'll meet death soon if he mess with Li Mei or if he gets into big trouble.

     As much as he wants to escape out of this predicament, no one is allowed to go out of the palace and go home unless the Emperor dismiss them himself.

     Following the vermilion railings surrounding the banquet hall, Yan Gen leisurely walked.

     He ended up at the back of the hall and walked down the jade steps, following the limestone path. After walking for a while, he was lead to a huge garden that has a river. The river is an artificial stream in the palace, about four feet wide and has railings made of white stones. Yan Gen doesn't know how long it is, it stretched for as far as he can see.

     This huge garden that has an artificial stream is used for special occasions such as tea party, the emperor's consorts would also frequently gather here.

     Under the enchanting moonlight, the river look dazzling. Glittering like crystals. Yan Gen slowly made his way to the river until he reached the railings. Both of his tender white hands gripped the cold white stone. The white stone railings have elaborated design of carved spirals upon closer look. He look down at the water and a breath taking young girl came in sight.

    Aye, this is his beautiful reflection. Yan Gen touched his face admiringly as the girl reflecting on the river did the same. No matter how much Yan Gen look at his reflection, he would always be in awe of the beauty he's possessing. He traced his reddish luscious lips, his blushing delicate cheeks, his protruding small nose, his cat like seductive eyes, and lastly, his perfectly drawn dark eyebrows.

      “You'll fall in the river if you keep on leaning to the railings like that” A magnetic cold voice sounded in the silence of the garden and Yan Gen almost fell in the river. He cursed the person who suddenly called out to him.

Sorry for the long wait. I became busy again since our second sem started so Manly Lady became impossible for me to finish this month. I apologize for getting your hopes up. There's approximately twenty chapters left for me to write.

Votes and Comments are highly appreciated :)

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