Anyone who stood up the moment the tempo changed was likely attending the Peach Blossom Banquet for the first time, making them well-versed in Lord Zhao’s rules.
Neither Gu Jianshen nor Wen Qizheng stood up to welcome him. They merely cast a cold glance his way, laden with a distinct sense of disgust.
That particular look from Wen Qizheng caused Jiang Ning to slightly revise her opinion of him. Could it be that his playboy persona was all an act? Was he actually deeply contemptuous of Lord Zhao’s antics deep down?
Yet, the very next moment, Wen Qizheng turned around and began groping the waist of the beauty beside him.
Jiang Ning instantly realized she had been mistaken. They were all cut from the same cloth—a bunch of degenerate lechers.
Once Lord Zhao took his seat, he raised his cup, exchanged a few polite pleasantries as an opening remark, and quickly shifted his focus to Gu Jianshen.
“Lord Gu is young, promising, and truly a pillar of our nation. Since this is your first time attending my Peach Blossom Banquet, you must enjoy yourself to the fullest.”
Gu Jianshen raised his cup and drained it in a single gulp, which served as his acknowledgment of Lord Zhao. He couldn’t even be bothered to offer any polite counter-remarks.
Having been publicly slighted, Lord Zhao felt a flicker of displeasure, but he kept his composure and turned to exchange pleasantries with others.
Meanwhile, Lord Zhao’s confidants began trying to coerce Gu Jianshen into drinking under the guise of offering toasts.
However, having spent years immersed in military camps, Gu Jianshen naturally exuded a chilling aura of slaughter. With his immense presence and powerful deterrent force, those men turned tail and scurried away in embarrassment almost immediately after offering their very first cup.
“This humble concubine will now dance to entertain you all, my lords.”
The next segment of the banquet involved the accompanying beauties showcasing their talents.
To put it bluntly, it was an opportunity for them to display themselves so that other officials could pick and choose.
If one’s companion beauty was selected, corresponding rewards—whether money or a boost in career prospects—would follow. Those eager to climb the social ladder viewed this Peach Blossom Banquet as a prime opportunity to bridge the gap with influential figures.
As for what the ultimate fate of those beauties would be, they didn’t care in the slightest.
Throughout the process, Jiang Ning felt heavily oppressed. They were all treated like livestock waiting to be slaughtered, and she was one of those very livestock.
“Lord Gu, I wonder what talents your companion possesses?”
Jiang Ning’s heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, her turn had come.
Although Lord Zhao was smiling amicably, his smile failed to reach his eyes, making him look deeply chilling.
“She is very clumsy and knows no talents.”
Gu Jianshen’s voice was cold and detached, yet it carried an oppressive weight that made anyone hesitate to question further.
Timely and cooperative, Jiang Ning flung herself into Gu Jianshen’s arms, declaring through her actions that she belonged to him alone.
Uncharacteristically, Gu Jianshen cooperated this time. Instead of dodging her advance, he raised an arm to wrap it around her shoulders, marking his territory.
At that moment, Wen Qizheng pulled the beauty beside him to her feet and chimed in, “My lords, just look at what kind of woman this is. She might be decent at washing clothes and cooking, but let’s skip the talent performances. If she dared to go up there and twist around, I’d feel my eyes were being sullied. Why don’t you let my little beauty sing a grand song instead to entertain everyone?”
Lord Zhao remarked, “Isn’t this Lady Qingyi, the top courtesan of the Crimson Pavilion? Lady Qingyi is renowned for her singing. Everyone, you must listen and appreciate it properly.”
Lady Qingyi stepped forward to perform and sing.
Jiang Ning could be considered to have dodged a bullet.
Leaning against Gu Jianshen’s chest, she listened to the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart, and gradually, a sense of safety washed over her.
After the song concluded, Lady Qingyi returned to Wen Qizheng’s side.
Lord Zhao then announced the final grand finale performer: his own female companion.
Word had it that this woman possessed exceptional bed skills and unique secret techniques. A few individuals at the banquet with specialized fetishes had come specifically for her.
As the music struck up, a masked woman emerged from the main entrance, moving in a graceful, seductive dance to the rhythm.
“Take a close look at her. Do you know her?”
A soft whisper came from right above Jiang Ning’s head. Jiang Ning stared intently at the woman. Her height and figure were quite similar to her own, and she seemed to possess an attractive appearance, but as for whether she was someone she knew—
Without removing the mask, she genuinely couldn’t tell.
“Wow—”
Someone let out a gasp of surprise, which was immediately followed by an increasing wave of gasps and exclamations from the crowd.
As the woman swayed her body, the clothes on her back began to peel away piece by piece. With every single garment removed, the cheers grew more fervent, and a few men even whistled loudly.
The woman didn’t stop stripping until her upper body was left wearing only a red silk chest binder, while her lower body was clad in a simple pair of under-trousers.
By this point, the woman’s plump, curvaceous figure was exposed without reservation under the gazes of everyone present.
The woman raised her hands to remove the mask from her face, and Jiang Ning kept her eyes glued fixedly to her features.
In an instant, the mask slipped away, revealing the woman’s true face.
Jiang Ning froze. She knew this person!
Clutching Gu Jianshen’s arm, Jiang Ning blurted out, “That’s my cousin, Jiang Yuan霜!”
At the same time, numerous hazy and fragmented images flashed through her mind, though she didn’t have time to process them yet.
Gu Jianshen reacted even more violently than Jiang Ning. He sprang up so abruptly that Jiang Ning, who had been resting against his chest, was nearly knocked flying.
“A cinnabar mole!”
Gazing over, Jiang Ning saw that Jiang Yuan霜 had turned her back toward them, and right there on her shoulder was indeed a prominent cinnabar mole.
Following that, Jiang Ning watched as Gu Jianshen bolted forward at lightning speed, shedding his outer robe with astonishing swiftness. The moment he reached Jiang Yuan霜, he immediately wrapped his outer robe around her exposed, bare body.
Jiang Yuan霜 cast a glance at Gu Jianshen, smoothly collapsed right into his embrace, clutched the front lapels of his robe, and wept with tear-filled, misty eyes: “My Lord, please save me—”
Gu Jianshen loosely circled his arm around Jiang Yuan霜’s waist, his face etched with intense fury as he declared, “This woman, I’m taking her.”
The scene of a hero saving a damsel in distress was so striking that Jiang Ning could hardly bear to watch. She couldn’t help but suspect that Gu Jianshen’s true purpose in bringing her here all along had been to rescue this very woman.
How did Gu Jianshen even know Jiang Yuan霜?
And how on earth had Jiang Yuan霜 ended up in the capital city?
“Silly girl, you’re about to be abandoned.”
Wen Qizheng’s voice drifted over, and Jiang Ning instantly shot a glare loaded with daggers right at him.
Embracing a beauty with one arm, Wen Qizheng met her gaze and scoffed, “It’s only natural for him to dump you. Just look at your face and your figure—people would actually believe you if you told them you were a man.”
Because the chest-binding cloth had been pulled agonizingly tight, Jiang Ning’s chest looked completely flat, and her facial features appeared utterly ordinary. It was entirely plausible for someone to mistake her for a man in drag.
Jiang Ning rolled her eyes in response.
Wen Qizheng continued, “Now look at the woman Lord Gu just claimed. Her looks aren’t the absolute top tier, and she lacks refined talents, relying only on stripping to catch people’s eyes. Still, her figure is miles better than yours.”
Coming from a rural background, Jiang Yuan霜 naturally had few opportunities to learn the arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and flowers, so she indeed lacked refined talents. Her stripping earlier clearly hadn’t been of her own free will either; she must have been coerced by that corrupt scoundrel, Lord Zhao.
Jiang Ning rolled her eyes at him once more.
As it turned out, Wen Qizheng’s prediction hit the mark. At that exact moment, Lord Zhao stepped forward and piped up, “If Lord Gu wishes to take her away, it’s not entirely out of the question. However, it must conform to the rules.”
The rule was simple: First, exchange beauties.
If Gu Jianshen wanted to take away one beauty, he had to leave behind another.
Yet, given Jiang Ning’s current appearance, nine out of ten people present found her unappealing. They would never consent to Gu Jianshen trading such a high-end, top-tier skilled woman for someone utterly unremarkable.
Clatter—
Three blocks of solid gold bricks were violently tossed onto the table right in front of Jiang Ning, startling her so badly she almost cried out in shock.
It was the fat man who had been staring at her the entire evening. He looked at her with the arrogant, possessive gaze of someone viewing an item that already belonged to him, studying her with vulgar, leering intensity.