Transmigration: Of Mysteries and Songs

Chapter 145 Burnt Ends: Autumnal Feast

It was a joke but Feng Luodi blushed immediately, her face the colour of beetroot. Qi Jianqiu looked curiously at her. “Is it very hot? Why is your face so red?”

“Qi Jianqiu, you are such an idiot!” Feng Luodi held her face and forced herself to calm down. She then smiled and said, “Jianqiu, what did you say when you came in just now?”

Qi Jianqiu remembered her purpose for coming and quickly sat down and held Feng Luodi’s hand. She said angrily, “That guy Qingjia, he was busy preparing for our wedding behind my back. Isn’t he getting a bit overboard?”

Feng Luodi’s face twitched. That was the burden of being in a relationship. “That means that you are free to do what you like. Isn’t that good?”

Qi Jianqiu pouted and gulped down a cup of tea. “I’m part of the marriage as well! If he can settle everything on his own, then what am I here for? What happens if the table he ordered is ugly? What happens if the food is horrible? What happens if he invites people that I don’t like?”

Qi Jianqiu started exaggerating and caused Scarlet and Jet to laugh. Qi Jianqiu gave them a weak glare and looked at Feng Luodi helplessly. Feng Luodi took a deep breath and smiled at Qi Jianqiu. Qi Jianqiu moved backwards awkwardly and almost fell from her chair.

“Luo… Luodi, what are you staring at me for?”

Feng Luodi slowly replied, “Jianqiu, I think that you are too free!”

Qi Jianqiu shrunk her neck and hugged her legs as she raised them up. She muttered, “Of course. I didn’t get to meet him much for these few days and even if I did see him, he would be busy and didn’t have any time for me.

“Feng Luodi wanted to put in some good words for Gan Qingjia when Qi Jianqiu added, “I came to Feng residence to find you before this but you were at Situ’s residence, dating. Hmph!”

Feng Luodi swallowed her words and started drinking her tea. She ignored Qi Jianqiu. This little girl, hmph.

Qi Jianqiu let out her frustrations and felt much better. She said to Scalet, “Scarlet, can you bring some food over? I’m really hungry.”

“Yes, young miss.” Scarlet smiled and ran off to get some food.

Jet happily asked, “Young Miss Qi, do you want to try some flower tea?”

“Flower tea?” Qi Jianqiu’s eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously. “Definitely.”

Jet bowed and left, the courtyard immediately quietening down. Purple petals danced through the air, birds chirping among the trees. Qi Jianqiu grabbed a petal and exclaimed, “this is so pretty. Luodi, I would be really happy if I can see you, Qingjia and Father every day.”

Feng Luodi was heating the tea up on the small stove and her actions paused for a while. Then, she changed the topic casually. “You will have to go for the Autumn Feast this year. Have you decided how you are going to interact with everyone?”

Qi Jianqiu got depressed again. “My father and sister asked me the same question too. The Emperor chose a good date for Gan Qingjia and my wedding and we would have to thank him on that day.” Qi Jianqiu commented, “Getting married is so tiring.”

Feng Luodi replied without a thought, “Your husband should be the one complaining.”

Qi Jianqiu squinted her eyes. “Don’t laugh at me, you have to attend the Feast this year as well. Hah!” Qi Jiaqiu gave a burst of evil laughter.

Feng Luodi was stunned. “Wasn’t it supposed to be up to me?”

“Yes,” Qi Jianqiu gloated, “but you got famous this year. Many officials are curious about the lady who stole the heart of the Duke of Anping. You have also shown your face to the Emperor. If you don’t go, he might blame your father.”

“How did it ever get so complicated?” Feng Luodi felt a bit irritated, “What kind of girl am I? I am just a girl with a weird personality, one that can play the zither well. What’s there to see?”

Qi Jianqiu shrugged, “That is only your opinion. You spoke without any hesitation in front of the Emperor and is on good terms with the Four Masters of Chang'an. Also, your zither skills are amazing and you are the boss of Autumnal Ombre. Every single one of these qualities would differentiate you from the crowd.”

“However,” Qi Jianqiu smirked, “I feel that what people admired about you the most is the fact that the Duke of Anping fell in love with you.”

Feng Luodi’s gaze turned cold. “Love is unpredictable. Situ and I didn’t get together because of our status. If the other people like to gossip, let them. Don’t tell me about it.”

Qi Jianqiu was shocked by her reaction. “Luodi, are you angry? This is the first time you are so serious.”

Feng Luodi expression got more gentle and she kept quiet.

Qi Jianqiu tried to salvage the situation, “don’t worry, no one would tell you anything. If anyone troubles you, there will be a bunch of people teaching him a lesson.”

Qi Jianqiu puffed her chest out. “I will teach the person a lesson too.”

Feng Luodi smiled, but she knew how serious the situation was. She didn’t need Situ to do such things for her. She needed to have the ability to protect herself, protect her mother and to help Situ.

Scarlet and Fei returned with the food and flower tea. Qi Jianqiu got engrossed eating and left Feng Luodi alone, deep in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Autumnal Feast arrived a few days later. Chamberlain Feng went off first. As the family of an official, Feng Luodi and Second Lady would go in later. The Emperor sat on the highest platform along with his concubines and the Princes. Three steps below, the officials sat together. Their families sat below them. The Xuan Dynasty has a strict rank system. Because of this system, the officials of higher ranks wouldn’t lose their position and the low-ranked officials had a hard time climbing up. This ossified the whole system and policies were hard to implement. The rise of Gan Qingjia broke this rank system. Most of the officials knew that the Emperor wanted to change the system and also, they knew that tonight would be the highlight of the show. Thus, they went with the flow and followed what the Emperor wanted.

According to the rank system, Feng Luodi could not sit with Qi Jianqiu. However, both their tables were surrounded by many ladies from different families. They appeared to be greeting them, but were actually trying to weasel information out of them. Feng Luodi was tired from attending to them but the Second Lady replied each of their greetings with a smile and Feng Luodi had no choice but to continue smiling. Her gaze fell on the handsome and mighty Situ. Even from this distance, she could feel his displeasure. There were many officials smiling around him, even more than the Princes.

Feng Luo smiled. She was already together with him and they didn’t have much time left to spend together. What was there to worry about?

Feng Luodi started to relax. She started talking to the ladies with a bit more sincerity. They had their own situation to face. Since she would be leaving, she would not allow any gossips to harm him.

Meanwhile, many officials came to propose a toast to Situ and took the opportunity before the Emperor arrived to congratulate him for his recovery. These people would then unintentionally mention their daughters and how they were of a suitable age to get married. Although everyone knew that Situ had someone he loved, it was normal for a man in that era to have a few wives and concubines. After all, who would mind having another pretty lady in their house?

Situ’s gaze was cold and he just nodded without saying anything while taking just a few sips of wine. Although this was a rare opportunity for them to taste the imperial wine, to Situ, it couldn’t be compared to the homebrew perry he had with Feng Luodi as they sat among the flowers of The Painting of Ten Miles.

Thinking about Luodi, Situ smiled. He had not seen her for three days since they last parted. He finally knew her love for him but she didn’t want to marry him.

“Sigh, I thought that I can see the Four Masters of Chang'an today. However, Master Moyin is sick and unable to come to the Feast. That is such a pity.” An official wearing a purple robe lamented. The rest of the officials agreed.

Situ’s eyes turned cold again as he shifted his gaze towards Jiang Moyin’s seat. His eyes met with the Censor-in-chief. The Censor-in-chief was peaceful and elegant as usual. His face wore a gentle smile like the blooming flower in Spring and he nodded at Situ. Situ nodded back and continued listening to the officials talking among themselves. There were many people who still followed old General Situ.

Gan Qingjia knew Situ well and understood that he had enough of the officials. He casually walked towards these officials and successfully directed their attention away. While all the officials were greeting each other, Gan Qingjia patted Situ on his shoulder and pointed with his mouth.

Situ looked towards that direction and saw Feng Luodi with an elegant smile on her face. She stood out among the other ladies. Situ remembered what happened that night and his smile became more gentle. He started thinking about how to get some time alone with Feng Luodi later.

After a while, the imperial attendant shouted, “His Majesty has arrived!”

The officials and their families knelt on the floor and paid their respects to the Emperor. The Emperor asked them to rise and spoke some words before asking everyone to continue having fun. It was a rare chance for the officials and their families to savour the imperial cuisines. Even Qi Jianqiu and Feng Luodi couldn’t find any fault in the cuisines happily devoured the dishes. After she finished eating, she would go back with the Second Lady and the day would end.

However, halfway through the meal, the Emperor started announcing things.

The first thing he did was to express concern for Situ’s health. All the officials lamented at how much the Emperor doted and trusted the Duke of Anping. Situ bowed from his seat.

“My thanks for your concern, your Majesty. My body is recovering well.”

The Emperor laughed and commented that he was indeed the General famous for his prowess. He then continued, “I didn’t have the time to visit you while you were injured. How about this, you can go to my Imperial Vault and choose any item that you like. I will grant you that as my gift for your recovery.”

The entire crowd fell silent like the surface of a calm lake, peaceful on the top but tumultuous with dark currents underneath the surface.

The items in the imperial storehouse were all offered to the Emperor from the different countries. They were offered to the Emperor and, to some extent, was an extension of the Emperor’s status and honour.