Longgu Buwang’s face turned green. If this were not the Qin palace, he would have roared long ago. Even though he knew that losing his temper would only make Song Chuyi more pleased with herself, holding it in was likely to cause internal injury.
After sitting for a short while, a maid led everyone to attend the palace banquet.
The buildings around the main palace hall were rather densely packed, so although snow was falling heavily outside, there was no wind, and it was not too cold. After coming out from the side hall, they wound through many twists and turns for the time it took to drink two cups of tea before finally arriving at the great hall where the banquet was being held.
“Envoys of the State of Wey have arrived,” a palace attendant announced in a loud voice outside the hall.
A maid led Zi Zhao, Ji Yu, and the others to stand together with the other guards and maids beneath the western wall of the great hall, while Longgu Buwang stood together with Song Chuyi.
All the Qin ministers had already arrived. Seeing Song Chuyi enter, some cupped their hands or nodded slightly in greeting.
Song Chuyi came from a small state and was also very young, and Longgu Buwang, who followed at her side, was likewise very young, so the others had little intention of cultivating ties with them. They were only all very curious in their hearts as to what exactly the ruler had summoned her privately for.
Curious as they were, out of fear of Ying Si’s authority, not a single one dared to casually inquire.
The wine and dishes had already been set out, and maids bustled about refilling the tea.
“Sir,” Longgu Buwang opened his mouth to speak, but Song Chuyi slightly raised her hand to stop him.
She leaned slightly toward him and said in a low voice, “Look around.”
Longgu Buwang turned his head and looked around, unexpectedly meeting many startled or probing gazes. He immediately understood why Song Chuyi had not let him speak. Those Qin ministers appeared to be chatting among themselves, but in fact all their attention was fixed on this side.
On the hall, the Duke of Qin had not given Song Chuyi a chance to show herself, and no one knew how she conducted herself. Longgu Buwang’s one address of “Sir” made many people have to reassess Song Chuyi.
They saw Longgu Buwang’s movement and knew that what they had been secretly paying attention to was already known to others, so they no longer deliberately concealed it.
Beside Song Chuyi, a square-faced senior official in his forties cupped his hands toward her and said with a smile, “I have long heard that the region of Wey produces many talented people. Seeing it today, the reputation is indeed well deserved. Your envoy, though so young, already serves as a teacher to others. Truly admirable and worthy of praise.”
“You overpraise me, my lord. The Master said: Among any three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher. The only reason I can be his teacher is none other than this,” Song Chuyi replied with a smile, returning the courtesy.
The man wanted to say more, when an inner attendant announced in a loud voice, “The ruler has arrived.”
Everyone straightened up.
Song Chuyi saw that Ying Si’s hair seemed to be wet and that his clothes had also been changed. She thought to herself: this Lord of Qin not only handles matters briskly, but even bathes briskly. Only, who knows… A faint, barely noticeable trace of mild mischief rose on Song Chuyi’s face.
Zi Zhao could not resist stealing a glance over. Her position was too far away, and the lighting near the main seat was poor, so she could only see a rough outline. Even so, she could conclude that the Lord of Qin was indeed, as Song Chuyi had said, a rarely seen handsome man in this world, but at the same time, that imposing aura and coldness also made Zi Zhao feel nothing interesting about him at all.
“Greetings, my lord,” all the ministers said, swinging their wide sleeves open and cupping their hands in a grand salute.
“You may rise,” Ying Si said, taking his seat and raising his hand slightly. The palace attendant immediately bowed and awaited orders.
“Begin,” he said.
The attendant answered “Yes” and rose, announcing in a loud voice, “The banquet begins. Let the music play.”
The musicians on both sides immediately began to perform, and stately elegant music rose leisurely. The first piece was a song. At this time, if envoys had gifts to present, they could begin; if not, all would enjoy the music together.
Song Chuyi stood up, cupped her hands in salute, and said, “To congratulate the Lord of Qin on your accession, my ruler has specially ordered me to bring three unparalleled treasures to present to the Lord of Qin.”
Three unparalleled treasures? Everyone cast attentive gazes over.
Longgu Buwang clapped his hands.
Ji Yu handed a exquisite jade box twenty centimeter long and ten centimeter wide to Zi Zhao. Zi Zhao’s body gave a slight tremble, and she hurriedly reached out to receive it. Gritting her teeth, she removed her veil, held the jade box with both hands, went around many seats, and with delicate steps walked from the very center to a place still five meters from the main seat. She bent her knees in salute, but did not, as in ordinary presentations, raise the box high above her head.
This was what Song Chuyi had instructed. If she raised it, it would tell everyone that what they were presenting was the thing inside the box, whereas if the box was held at abdomen level, most people’s eyes would gather on Zi Zhao herself.
“This is what the State of Wey wishes to present to the Lord of Qin,” Song Chuyi said.
Ying Si showed no excessive expression and looked toward Zi Zhao. “Come closer.”
That cold, utterly emotionless voice made Zi Zhao’s heart rise to her throat, so much so that she could hardly breathe. But she was, after all, a noble young woman. She had merely been overawed by Ying Si’s authority; for an occasion such as this, she was not nervous at all, and still maintained a calm and composed step as she walked forward a short distance and bent her knees two meters in front of Ying Si.
“Your honored envoy, do tell – what are these three unparalleled features of the gift?” a senior minister asked with a smile.
Song Chuyi said, “This is the legitimate daughter of a certain senior official’s household in our State of Wey. In appearance she is one in ten thousand; she is versed in the poetry and rites, understands music and dance, and is skilled at chess and painting. She is the peerless beauty of Wey. The jade box in her hands is made of a single piece of top-grade mutton-fat jade, translucent and warm, without the slightest flaw, carefully carved by skilled craftsmen for more than half a year – this is the second unparalleled feature. As for what is inside the box… there is no second like it in the world. This is the third unparalleled feature.”
Zi Zhao’s looks could not quite be called peerless beauty, but she was a noble daughter, versed in letters and knowing refined sensibilities, and rarely enough also this moving in appearance. A woman combining nobility, wisdom, and beauty was truly hard to find.
“Express my thanks to the Marquis of Wey on my behalf,” Ying Si said.
The meaning of these words was that the gift had been accepted.
A smile rose in Song Chuyi’s eyes, and cupping her hands and bowing, she said, “I will certainly convey it.”
Zi Zhao lowered her eyes, her gaze drifting faintly toward Song Chuyi, tears in her eyes. The Lord of Qin was certainly handsome, and she was naturally happy in her heart – a thousand times, ten thousand times better than serving a doddering old man. But compared with Song Chuyi’s gentleness and humor, the Lord of Qin was like a cold star at the edge of the sky or ice on a mountain peak that never melts for ten thousand years: too high, too cold, something one could only look up to and never touch. From the bottom of her heart she feared him.
A palace attendant came forward to lead Zi Zhao away.
It was not that Song Chuyi did not see Zi Zhao’s tears, but she could only sigh in her heart. If she were a man, in such circumstances she would never have presented Zi Zhao, and besides, the Lord of Qin’s impenetrable manner gave no sign that he had much interest in beauties. It was only that she was destined to be unable to respond to Zi Zhao’s feelings, and doing this could also be considered seeking a good home for Zi Zhao.
Once the gift had been presented, the banquet could be considered formally begun.
Songs and dances came forth. The beauties’ slender waists were delicate, and every raise of a hand and turn of the eyes was full of charm. Song Chuyi watched with brightening excitement.
When two pieces had finished, she raised the wine vessel and took a sip, then glanced at the main seat.
The lights there were dim. Ying Si, in a black splendid robe, leaned slantingly against the armrest, supporting his head with one hand, most of his face hidden in the darkness, quietly as if out of place amid this lively banquet.
Song Chuyi looked a few more times. She dared swear an oath: Ying Si was sleeping.
For most of the rest of the banquet, Song Chuyi glanced at him from time to time. For a full small half-hour, this person had not changed a single posture, and the ministers were all accustomed to it, because even when he was not sleeping, he was still like this.
As the banquet neared its end, the maidservant beside Ying Si came forward to fill his wine vessel with fine wine. He moved his body slightly, and seemed to have rested for a while before straightening up.
After the grand preceptor Gan Long said a few polite words, Ying Si raised his vessel, his voice carrying a faint hoarseness from sleep, “The joyful feast is about to end. Drink this vessel to the full.”
Everyone voiced their agreement one after another, then, slightly covering their faces with their wide sleeves, tilted their heads back and drank it all.
Song Chuyi cursed inwardly: truly, damn him, so good at saving effort. A great banquet – a few words at the beginning, a few words at the end, and the rest of the time he was actually sleeping. But judging the banquet alone, the food and drink were excellent, and there was fine dancing and music besides, so she had quite enjoyed herself.
When the banquet ended, everyone dispersed one after another.
Song Chuyi was talking with several senior officials, and occasionally could catch others’ discussions.
“Do you think it is time to fill out the ruler’s rear palace?”
“Yes, yes, we cannot let the Wey woman monopolize him.”
“That’s right. The ruler is already nineteen, and will be twenty in spring. It is time to establish a queen…”
Song Chuyi sighed inwardly: Mother oh, Ying Si’s rear palace is actually empty?
But on second thought, it was not strange. The rulers of Qin through the generations had rarely put their interest in filling out the rear palace. Because Ying Si had violated the new law in his youth, he had been exiled to the mountains and wilds for six or seven years, and only when Duke Xiao was about to die did they find him and bring him back to ascend the throne.
Looking at Ying Si’s methods and talents, presumably those years of exile had all been used to strive bitterly for self-improvement, and his noble status would not have allowed him to casually couple with some village girl in the wild. He had ascended the throne not long ago and was busy taking hold of power and executing Shang Yang. A man who could even fall asleep at a banquet – it would be strange if he could muster the interest to look for women.
Snow drifted and flew.
The lamp in Ying Si’s sleeping chamber was still lit.
Before the table, a man in a black robe leaned slantingly against the armrest, his slightly damp ink-black hair spread loose behind him, his long and powerful hand holding a bamboo slip. At this moment his appearance was not the stern, rigid look he showed outsiders, but rather lazy with a touch of fatigue.
The light from the brazier cast the expression on his handsome face into something ever more unfathomable. The warm color could not, however, melt away the coldness in his eyes.
How long he stayed in the same posture, no one knew, until an inner attendant came in and said, “My lord, it is already the hour of Zi (around 11PM). It is time to rest.”
“Yes,” Ying Si answered, then said, “Bring what the State of Wey presented today.”
The inner attendant was stunned for a moment. This late at night… it was not that he meant to seek out a woman for such business, was it? The thought flashed by, and the attendant bowed and asked, “Shall I bring all three treasures together?”
“The box,” Ying Si said, tying the bamboo slip shut and tossing it to the left side of the writing desk.
Having served closely for several months, the inner attendant had gradually grown familiar with the new ruler’s temperament. He looked very frightening, but in fact his temper was not especially bad – at least he had never vented his anger on servants like them. His words were very few, but very direct.
Still, the new ruler liked clever people. Those he was dissatisfied with were dismissed outright, and if anyone made a serious blunder, he would kill without the slightest mercy. Those who remained to this day were all unfailingly loyal.
Before long, the inner attendant presented the jade box.
Ying Si seemed not at all interested in this finely carved jade vessel. Instead, he opened the box directly, saw inside a bamboo slip volume and three rolls of sheepskin, and reached out to take them.
