Hui Lanyu had accompanied Jiang Tingzhi into the palace and was waiting for him in a side hall. The palace banquet would begin in another hour, and the main hall of Taihe Hall was already bustling with people. Hui Lanyu looked over the furnishings from top to bottom, turning a tiny teacup over and over in his hands.
When Jiang Tingzhi returned, he immediately set down the cup and stood, bowing slightly. “My king, you’re back.”
The side hall held the Moqin people who had come with them, but the attendants were still young palace maids from Great Zhou. Jiang Tingzhi did not send them away. He lazily leaned back in his chair and answered, “Mm.”
Seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, a complete contrast to the murderous expression he had worn upon entering the palace, Hui Lanyu leaned over curiously. “You didn’t actually get what you wanted, did you? Or did the Great Zhou emperor give up on arranging a marriage for you?”
Jiang Tingzhi recalled Ling Jintang’s expression and Ji Huaiyu’s tone just now and found it rather amusing. “The Great Zhou emperor probably doesn’t want to arrange a marriage for me either.”
He leaned close to Hui Lanyu’s ear and said in Moqin, “Surrendering three cities and watching the beauty fall into another man’s arms, either one would be humiliating enough.”
Hearing the irreverent tone in his voice, Hui Lanyu grew even more eager to know what had happened that afternoon. Jiang Tingzhi refused to tell him, however, saying only that he would explain at the banquet. Hui Lanyu was so curious he was practically clawing at his own skin. The moment the banquet hour arrived, he hurried into the main hall.
Ji Huaiyu, however, arrived late. Ling Letong was seated among the women, craning her neck to look for her elder brother. She had entered the palace so early, so why had she not seen him anywhere?
After waiting another quarter of an hour, Hui Lanyu muttered that the Great Zhou emperor had no manners and was deliberately keeping them waiting. One glare from Jiang Tingzhi made him swallow the rest of his complaint, and he turned his eager gaze toward the cup of white kidney beans on the table.
“His Majesty has arrived!” Eunuch Yuan’s announcement finally rang out. The assembled officials rose and bowed. Jiang Tingzhi stood as well and saluted in the Moqin manner, though his eyes remained fixed on Ling Jintang, who had entered through a side door. For some reason, Ling Jintang had changed into another set of clothes and taken a seat at the far end.
The palace maids standing beside them filled their wine cups, and the music and dancing grew livelier. Eating as he spoke, Hui Lanyu said, “At least he didn’t launch into all that pointless ceremonial talk as soon as he arrived. Great Zhou has so many rules they make me tired. Waiting through an entire meal is enough to starve me to death.”
Jiang Tingzhi smiled. “How do you know he simply had no desire to say those polite things?”
He lifted his wine cup and raised it slightly toward Ling Jintang’s direction. Then he said to Hui Lanyu beside him, “If nothing unexpected happens, that will be your future wangfei.”
Hui Lanyu choked and stared at him in disbelief. “A man… he’s a man?”
Jiang Tingzhi said, “Is he not good-looking?”
Hui Lanyu swallowed two mouthfuls of wine and looked over through the graceful silhouettes of the dancers. Ling Jintang seemed to have little appetite. Whenever someone urged him to drink, he downed several cups in succession. In the candlelight, his lips looked as though they had been painted red, and a faint flush colored his face.
He looked away and stammered, “He is.”
Watching the officials around them come and go to toast him, Jiang Tingzhi said, “The Great Zhou emperor probably likes him too. But this man’s feelings are plain to see. I imagine he wants nothing to do with the emperor’s favor.”
Hui Lanyu asked, “How do you know?”
Jiang Tingzhi replied unhurriedly, “With a face like that, yet only holding a seventh-rank position, how could things have come to this if he had been a little more sensible?”
He added teasingly, “If he were willing to use his looks to serve someone, he could have stirred up the emperor’s heart in the inner palace, or at least shaken up the court.”
Just then, the dance ended. As the guests exchanged toasts, the atmosphere on both sides grew livelier. Hui Lanyu smiled ingratiatingly while making polite conversation with the others and said, “My king, you really do know a lot. You should read fewer of those storybooks.”
Jiang Tingzhi replied, “Weren’t you the one who wanted to read them and happened to drag me along?”
Hui Lanyu said, “Then, for the sake of that affection, why don’t you help your subordinate drink two cups?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Tingzhi refused. “I have no desire to deal with officials from the Ministry of Rites.”
Gritting his teeth, Hui Lanyu drank two more cups. At last, the man across from them was replaced by someone else. Fortunately, Jiang Tingzhi had brought more than ten people who could speak Han with him. Otherwise, with all the twists and turns in these exchanges, they might have been cheated again.
Perhaps because Jiang Tingzhi’s gaze kept drifting toward Ling Jintang, whether intentionally or not, Ling Jintang suddenly looked up and met his eyes. Then he smiled at him.
Beside him, Hui Lanyu seized Jiang Tingzhi’s arm like a civet cat whose tail had been stepped on. “He smiled at you! He smiled at you!”
Jiang Tingzhi was caught off guard as well. The tea blossom hidden in his sleeve nearly crumpled in his grip. Putting on a calm face, he said, “I saw.”
His eyes were sharp enough to hunt at night. He was not blind.
Jiang Tingzhi added, “He smiled at me this afternoon too.”
He thought, This man knows exactly how good-looking he is. He must be doing it on purpose.
Hui Lanyu looked at him in horror. “You didn’t agree to the marriage alliance, did you? He really is good-looking, but… but…”
He stammered, “Forget it. If you bring him home as your wangfei, it wouldn’t be so bad. He could make a perfectly good ornament for the Moqin royal family.”
Jiang Tingzhi turned Hui Lanyu’s face toward Ji Huaiyu and made him look at the emperor’s expression.
“The emperor cannot bear to part with him. What do you think?” The smile gradually faded from Jiang Tingzhi’s face, replaced by a wolfish wildness. “Whether one person is worth three cities is beside the point for now. What matters is that this has left the Great Zhou emperor at a disadvantage. He may not dwell on the cities for long, but this person… he will probably remember him for a very long time.”
“Besides, a marriage alliance may not keep the peace for very long. If something happens to the person who marries into our kingdom, or else…”
He did not finish, but Hui Lanyu already understood what he meant. The Wolf King never compromised lightly, unless doing so benefited him.
Given enough time, the person sent over in the marriage alliance could even become a pretext for Moqin to go to war with Great Zhou.
With a bright smile, Jiang Tingzhi raised his wine cup to Ji Huaiyu and continued, “Besides, when a beauty offers you flowers, how could you possibly refuse?”
Throughout the banquet, everyone maintained a courteous and harmonious facade. After all, the Moqin people were no longer pressing them at every turn. Yet the marriage alliance was still never brought into the open. Ling Feng looked at the emperor seated in the place of honor, drinking as though he were drowning his sorrows, and could not help feeling worried.
When the banquet ended, Ling Jintang left with his father and sister. Eunuch Yuan, who usually asked him to stay behind at times like this, did not follow them either. Ling Jintang let out a quiet sigh of relief. The anxiety that had gripped him all day finally loosened completely. He moved a little closer to Ling Letong’s side, frowned, and said in a low voice, “Yun Jiao, help me.”