Chapter 10 Who will pity me when my beauty fades and my fragrance disappears
Tang You, Chen Yuyan and others were seated at the front of the banquet table. They hadn't noticed the commotion at the door yet. They were gathered together in a sleazy manner. They all looked decent, but the content of their conversation was not very serious.
"There are so many beauties at the banquet today, Brother Tang, which one do you like?" Chen Yuyan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile.
Tang You chuckled: "I like them all."
"Brother Tang, one should not be too greedy." Another man in green clothes continued.
"I'm a playboy, not greedy." Tang You said seriously, "I just like beautiful beauties. They are all beautiful, so I like them all. What can I do?"
This made Chen Yuyan and the others laugh in anger. They grabbed things nearby and threw them at him. Tang You was chased by them and dodged, running around the seat several times.
"Tang You, stop right there! If you have the guts, stop right there!"
"You don't care about our brotherhood at all. You eat the meat and drink the soup, and we lick the bowl?"
Amidst the noise, Xie Fei and Xi Wen came slowly over. Tang You, who was out of breath from being chased, had his eyes shining. He approached Xie Fei with a shameless face and complained first: "Brother Fei, look, they actually teamed up to bully me."
The people who followed him glared at Tang You fiercely when they heard his words: "You deserve it. Who told you to be such a jerk?"
Tang You was about to retort, but Xie Fei glanced at him and said calmly, "Okay, the banquet is about to start. Xiwen and I will go to our seats first."
"Oh, Brother Fei, you actually brought your family with you?" Tang You said as he leaned over to look at Xiwen who was hiding behind Xie Fei.
When Xiwen heard the word "family", her face started to turn red. Now several pairs of eyes were looking at her, and she covered her face with her hands out of shame.
Xie Fei slightly turned sideways to block the sight of several people, and used his hand to block Tang You's head, looking at him and said: "Xiwen is delicate, don't scare her."
Tang You looked at Chen Yuyan and the others unhappily and asked, "Do I look scary?"
The few people nodded in tacit understanding, and then started a new round of chasing each other.
When Tang You and the others returned to their seats after making enough noise, a male voice came from the chairman's seat: "The eldest prince, the second prince, the fifth prince, and the ninth prince have arrived--"
Everyone stood up and saluted. The four princes took their seats one by one. The eldest prince smiled and motioned for everyone to take their seats.
The banquet began, and the servants held pots of chrysanthemums of various shapes and colors and placed them around the courtyard. Suddenly, the delicate fragrance of chrysanthemums filled the entire garden.
The flowers in the front were basically common bonsai chrysanthemums, marigolds, calendulas, tricolor chrysanthemums and other ordinary chrysanthemums, while the servants walking at the end carefully carried the chrysanthemums and placed them in the center of the banquet. Everyone stretched their necks curiously, and the next moment they immediately widened their eyes in shock. They turned out to be extremely precious Green Peony, Black Lotus, Phoenix Feathers and West Lake Willow Moon. These were chrysanthemums that were priceless.
"Thank you all for coming to the chrysanthemum viewing banquet. To express my gratitude, I have specially sent people to search for these pots of peerless chrysanthemums. Please enjoy them to your heart's content." The eldest prince said with a smile, raising his glass.
Everyone agreed and drank the wine. The second prince raised his lips and smiled, "Brother, just admiring chrysanthemums is a bit too boring. The ladies present are all proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Why don't we hold a competition?"
"This is a good idea, but I don't know what the stakes should be?" The fifth prince clapped his hands in agreement.
The second prince's eyes sparkled, and he said, "Let's take these four pots of precious chrysanthemums as a reward. Big brother, are you willing to give them up?"
"Why not?" The eldest prince said calmly, and then asked everyone, "What do you think, ladies?"
The purpose of the young ladies present here to attend the banquet is to become famous in the capital. Besides, the guests at today's banquet are either sons of aristocratic families or talented people from humble backgrounds, and there are even four princes who have not yet married. Each of these men has a promising future. If you want to win their favor, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
All the young ladies tacitly agreed, except Xiwen, who was concentrating on looking at the four pots of chrysanthemums in the center of the courtyard, especially the pot of green peony. Its outer petals were light green, and the dark green heart petals curled upwards, as green as jade, crystal clear, and dazzling.
At the same time, Chen Bing'er, who was far away, frowned as she looked at the young ladies who were ready to perform their talents.
She had lived in the countryside since she was born, and was only good at rough work such as fetching water, cooking, washing clothes and chopping wood. As for playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and other lady skills, she knew nothing about them. Although she began to learn after arriving in Beijing, she had only studied for a short period of half a month. How could she compare with these young ladies who had studied hard since childhood? She was afraid that she would be laughed at, and she just hoped not to implicate Brother Liang...
A simple stage was quickly set up in the middle of the banquet. Miss Li from the Minister of Rites' family volunteered to perform first. She played the flute in a melodious and charming way. Next came the daughter of the Minister of Revenue Jiang's family. She performed a graceful dance with a slender waist and graceful steps. Miss Lu from a noble family played a wonderful pipa piece. Miss Liu, a lady from the Left Prime Minister's mansion, was so good at painting that she even attracted beautiful butterflies!
It was such a rare opportunity, and these young ladies all showed off their best skills. Everyone was dazzled and applauded. For a moment, it was hard to tell who was better.
Just when everyone was hesitating, Tang You's eyes fell on Xie Fei and Xi Wen. He smiled and said, "Prince, Princess Anping hasn't performed yet!"
As he said that, he glanced at Xie Fei flatteringly and said, "Brother Fei, let your princess play a song. I have long heard that Princess Anping is a great pianist. Unfortunately, I missed the Queen Mother's birthday banquet last time. This time, please satisfy me and let me enjoy the feast for my ears."
Xie Fei put down the wine glass in his hand and said lightly: "I don't care, as long as Xiwen is willing." As he said that, he turned his head to look at Xiwen beside him.
Xiwen raised her little face slightly, her clear eyes full of desire. She pursed her lips and said hesitantly: "I, I like that pot of green peonies..."
"Then go ahead, I'm here, don't be afraid." Xie Fei nodded and said with a faint smile.
Xiwen nodded in surprise, smiled unconsciously, and said in a light tone: "Then I will show my ugliness."
As she spoke, she stood up and walked to the stage, lightly brushed her sleeves, and leisurely sat down in front of the piano. A pair of slender, snow-white fingers rested on the strings and gently plucked them.
The sound of the piano was as clear as spring water, and the sound was gentle and lingering, just like the meeting of mountain streams, and then like the singing of a yellow oriole. As the fingers gradually quickened their speed, the sound of the piano became clearer and more ethereal, and then became lingering and sad. While playing, Xiwen suddenly looked up at Xie Fei, and their eyes met in the air. Xie Fei's eyes were focused and affectionate. In an instant, Xiwen felt that everything around them no longer existed, and there were only the two of them left.
As everyone watched the two people's affectionate appearance, they felt that the sound of the piano was even more intoxicating, as if it were a graceful and elegant fairy entangled between the two.
After the song ended, everyone was still intoxicated by it. When Xiwen returned to her seat, everyone woke up from their dream and cast their eyes of admiration and admiration at Xiwen: "Princess Anping's piano skills are really superb. We can't even compare to her."
"This song should only exist in heaven, how often can it be heard in the world? Today I can say that I have truly experienced it!"
Everyone started discussing excitedly. Xiwen lowered her head shyly. Her white hands were fiddling with the handkerchief under the table. Her fair cheeks had already turned red, and even her neck and ears were stained with a hint of red.
Xie Fei glanced at the petite girl beside him, his cold eyes tinged with a smile, and he said calmly: "You play well."
His voice was so low that Xiwen almost thought she was hallucinating. She raised her head blankly and met his eyes as he lowered his head and smiled. Her heart suddenly felt numb and she blushed and stammered, "Thank you very much for the compliment..."
The ladies' performances, which they tried their best, ultimately failed to help Xiwen. Although they admitted that Princess Anping's piano skills were unmatched, they were unwilling to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Just as the ladies were frowning and thinking of countermeasures, Miss Li, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, happened to see Chen Bing'er with a faint sneer on her face. She was furious and said in a cold voice: "Miss Chen looks so confident. Could it be that she has a better talent? Why not perform it for everyone to appreciate?"
The banquet that was just so lively suddenly became quiet. During the stalemate, Chen Bing'er frowned and said, "Miss Li, Bing'er was born in the countryside and is not good at music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you."
Miss Li's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she couldn't help but feel happy. She thought that you are not good at it. Since Princess Anping's song is so beautiful, you can set us off. She immediately smiled and said, "Miss Chen, there is no need to be modest. Since you have caught the eye of Lord Liang, you must have something extraordinary. Please give us some advice and perform for us."
While the two were talking, the other young ladies also figured out the trick and started to invite them. Liang Shao had seen Xiwen and Xie Fei flirting with each other while playing the piano, and he was already unhappy. Now, regardless of Chen Bing'er's embarrassment, he said in a rush, "Bing'er, just go and perform one."
Liang Shao had a good idea. He thought that as long as a woman was a woman, she would have one or two talents to show off. However, he didn't know that Chen Bing'er was lucky to have enough food and clothing, so she didn't have the spare money to learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting, not to mention that there would be no masters of skills in the countryside. So even if she had money, she could not learn such high skills as the women in Beijing.
Chen Bing'er had no choice but to get up and go to the stage. She was surrounded by malicious glances from the rich ladies waiting to laugh at her. She hesitated for a while amidst the urging of the crowd, then she steeled herself and sang a folk song from her hometown.
In fact, this song was sung quite well, especially Chen Bing'er's voice which is lovable in itself. However, the skills of these rich girls have been honed through thousands of years of hard work. It is conceivable that a song like Chen Bing'er's that is so bland is really not worthy of being sung on stage.
As soon as she started singing a few lines, the young men and women couldn't help laughing. Gradually, the laughter became louder and louder. Chen Bing'er's face turned red, and her throat seemed to be blocked and she couldn't make a sound. Her trembling mouth slowly pursed, and the hands hidden in her sleeves were clenched into fists, with blue veins bulging on the back of her hands.
Holding back tears, Chen Bing'er spoke again. After she finished singing, she staggered back to her seat step by step. Liang Shaohu beside her had his eyes wide open and his face ashen. Seeing Chen Bing'er's pale face, he not only did not comfort her, but turned his head away in annoyance.
The author has something to say:
I want to watch Gonjiam, but I'm afraid. Is there any cutie who has seen it and can help me to dethrone/sekheng?
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