The qin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument in some ways similar to the zither) master’s face was full of embarrassment at Yuwen Tong’s frosty, explicit comment as though it’d never occurred to him that Yuwen Tong, a marshal, would act so ungracefully. Even the King Duan had never expected that Yuwen Tong would make such a tactless remark. He pondered in confusion, ‘Just now Yuwen Tong clearly flicked a second glance at the qin master. Isn’t this the part where he expresses his appreciation of the qin master’s skills? Besides, this performance of Commencement of War was pretty good, if not superb.’
“I find your remark rather unfair, Marshal.” The young qin master straightened his back, an unyielding and somewhat aggrieved expression on his face. “Although I cannot hold a candle to soldiers and officers on the battlefield, comparing my performance of the tune with the sound of a war drum is as unfair as it is to compare me with you. It’s a total disregard for my many years’ hard work.”
“Yeah. You’re being over-demanding, Marshal. Not many qin masters could display a hint of the artistic conception of this tune in their performance,” a guest also said.
After hearing other people’s accusations of his lack of discernment, Yuwen Tong just replied, “I never said he didn’t work hard enough. I’m just stating the facts. You asked me, a boor who serves in the army and is used to the beats on war drums and the sound of bugles, to comment on the performance of this tune, and it’s a fact that to my ears, this performance is inferior to drumbeats. Isn’t it a little inappropriate for you, a group of literary men who greatly outnumber me, to lay criticism on me on this occasion?”
“Uh…”
Yuwen Tong’s words rendered the others speechless.
“Haha… You’ve got a point, Marshal.” The King Duan hurriedly made an attempt to smooth things over. “It turns out that we’re the vulgar ones. How about this – let the qin master drink a toast to you, and then all of us put this matter behind us.”
The qin master rose to his feet and drank a toast to Yuwen Tong.
The King Duan continued, “Decorating this side yard of mine took a lot of doing, and it’s barely worth a walk around. Sitting and drinking is a little boring. I suggest we go outside for a stroll. What do you think?”
Yuwen Tong made no reply.
The King Duan asked him, “What’s your opinion, Marshal?”
“Well, like I said, your banquet, your call.”
The King Duan smiled, “Marshal is as straightforward as always. Then please accompany me for a saunter, Marshal.”
The King Duan invited all guests to a sightseeing tour in the garden. The qin master seemed to be very much in favor with the King Duan and was also invited. The King Duan and Yuwen Tong were walking in front, the qin master following in their wake with the qin in his arms.
When they were crossing a bridge, the qin master tripped over something, let out a sudden yell and toppled towards Yuwen Tong, seeming to be about to fall off the bridge.
Normally, people beside him would reflexively try to help him, but –
There was no telling whether he did it intentionally or it was just a coincidence, but Yuwen Tong sidestepped with a nimble movement of his foot, leaving the qin master nothing to hold on to…
Plop!
The qin master, along with his qin, fell over the balustrade down into the lake with a big splash of water and cried in panic, “Help! Hel…Ugh…Help!”
Everybody else was stunned. After a while, someone reacted, hastily instructing servants to get down into the lake to save the man.
“Hurry! Help him!”
The King Duan looked from the qin master struggling in the lake to Yuwen Tong who was standing beside him and had a quite surprised look on his face as everybody else did. His lip twitched. Did Yuwen Tong move aside intentionally or unintentionally just now?
Eyes on the man splashing in the lake, Yuwen Tong said to the King Duan, “Well, so much for the stroll.”
The King Duan, “…”
…
While Yuwen Tong was at the banquet, Ling Zhang was in the Imperial College.
At noon, when the class was over, Miao Shiba walked inside. “Shall we go, Young Master?”
Ling Zhang gave a nod, looking at Yuwen Jin and the others.
Yuwen Jin had been scolded by the teacher during the class and looked despondent ever since, but the moment the class came to an end, he instantly perked up, leapt over and threw his arm around Ling Zhang’s shoulders. “Go, go, go. I’ve been waiting for this meal too long.”
Ji Feng and the others were standing on the side and all of them had bagged their stuff up.
Tao Yi and a couple of classmates of his were standing them a meal in the Taibai Tavern this day. The last time they’d gone to the Taibai Tavern to have a meal, someone had tried to poison Ling Zhang and they’d had to reschedule it. This time they’d still decided to go to the Taibai Tavern.
Sure enough on this occasion Wang Deguang was not present.
When they arrived at the Taibai Tavern, Tao Yi and the others whose school was closer to the place had already been waiting. The room they’d booked was on the third floor. Tao Yi craned out of a window and yelled, “Brother Zhang, here!”
Ling Zhang looked up at him, gave a smile and suddenly saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head aside and spotted a man standing beside the window of the room next door to the one Tao Yi was in, who seemed to have just walked to the window to look at him after hearing Tao Yi’s voice.
“Shit. Why is Jiang Yu also here? This is such bad luck!” Yuwen Jin also noticed him, his delighted face falling.
Ling Zhang hadn’t thought to run into Jiang Yu in this place either. Jiang Yu walked away from the window after seeing them. Ling Zhang also withdrew his gaze.
“Just pretend he’s not. Today we’re here to enjoy a sumptuous meal for which Tao Yi and his classmates are paying, so cheer up.”
It was only after hearing this that Yuwen Jin’s spirits rose again. Excitedly chirping, he marched Ling Zhang and the others onto the third floor into the private room booked by Tao Yi and his classmates.
“Eek, why are we missing one?” said Yuwen Jin, glancing around the room.
For an instant Tao Yi and the others appeared awkward. They all looked at Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang replied calmly, “Maybe he’s otherwise engaged and couldn’t make it.”
Tao Yi immediately agreed, “Yeah, Wang Deguang has left the capital city to help deal with some family matters.”
Yuwen Jin inclined his head, a suggestion of regret on his face. “I see.”
Ji Feng and Zhao Jiusi who were relatively observant detected something in this subtle atmosphere, but they both sensibly chose to keep quiet.
Before digging in, Tao Yi nervously started checking all the dishes and wine with great care. Clearly the incident that day had been traumatic for him.
Ling Zhang pulled a wry face and said, “Brother Tao.”
Tao Yi explained, “Alas, I’m just worried that some other fool might try to make trouble for us.”
Others were also experiencing a carry-over of fear. They not only didn’t laugh at Tao Yi but also carefully checked the dinnerware with him.
“This time around I sent an old trusted servant of mine to supervise them. He’d been keeping close watch on them all along,” said a student of the Oriental Rite Academy who was going to pay the bill.
He was the same student who’d paid for the last meal. On that day all the good dishes and wine were wasted, and this time he was determined not to let that kind of thing happen again.
Ling Zhang felt both touched and somewhat guilty. “I’m sorry you guys have to go through this. It’s all because of me.”
“You don’t have to apologize. We’re friends now, and this is not what friends are supposed to be like, is it?” said the man.
Ling Zhang smiled, “You’re right. I was being a little stagy.”
In order to thank his friends for their cautiousness, Ling Zhang drank a cup of wine in one gulp first.
“That’s the spirit!”
“Come on. Let’s drink a toast together.”
Two rounds of wine made the atmosphere in the room much more relaxed. Yuwen Jin and Ji Feng were always a guarantee of a party mood, and Tao Yi and his classmates had a gift for gab as well, so the noise of talk and laughter never stopped.
Seeing this, Ling Zhang felt that they definitely wouldn’t be able to make it back to the college to attend lessons in the afternoon, and he wondered what kind of punishments their teacher would mete out to them the next day.
Like Ling Zhang had expected, the meal lasted over two hours, and all their faces were scarlet from wine. Even Ling Zhang himself was somewhat drunk, feeling groggy, his mind much less clear.
“Next ti–time, let’s go to the manor of my family. I’ll treat you to some opera,” said Ji Feng, belching and hitting the table with his palm.
“It’s a deal. If you go back on your word, we’ll call you dog every time we see you,” said Tao Yi, pointing at Ji Feng’s nose.
Ji Feng pooh-poohed this remark, knocked Tao Yi’s finger aside and said, “A man’s word carries the weight of nine tripods. I’ve always been a man of my word.”
They were the only ones sitting. Others had low tolerance to alcohol and were sprawled face down on the table. Xun Huo was not only a timid rider but also a lousy drinker, groaning with his head on the table, red-faced, unable to open his eyes.
Zhao Turui reached out a hand to tap him on the face. “Hey. Seriously? You’re already so drunk?”
Xun Huo was too drunk to feel the tap.
Zhao Jiusi stopped Zhao Turui’s hand from patting Xun Huo’s face again. “Let him be.”
“All right. I think we’ve all had our fill. We’ll have trouble getting back home if we drink more wine. Let’s not worry our elders and just call it a day. We may drink again some other day.” Zhao Jiusi was relatively sober compared with the others and called for an end to the drinking.
Miao Shiba had worriedly entered the room when Ling Zhang had become a bit tipsy, and had been standing behind him keeping an eye on him. “It’s about time we got back as well, Young Master.”
Miao Shiba supported Ling Zhang to his feet. Others also stood up with the help of their respective study-servants (a boy serving in someone’s study) or attendants.
As luck would have it, when they walked out of the room, people in the next-door room were also exiting. Jiang Yu and a couple of gorgeously-clothed childes, who were also slightly pink in the face, seemed to have also drunk a lot of wine and were leaving.
Both groups were somewhat surprised to see each other. Yuwen Jin had got drunk and couldn’t think straight. At the sight of Jiang Yu, he pushed aside the servant supporting him, gave a jump and snapped pointing at Jiang Yu, “You annoying character, why do I keep running into you wherever I go? You’re such a haunting ghost!”
Jiang Yu furrowed his brows. Faces of the couple of people beside him also darkened.
This situation gave Ling Zhang a headache. He massaged his forehead, stepped forward to stop Yuwen Jin, and coaxed, “That’s enough. Let’s go back right now. If your father finds out you not only got drunk but also made trouble, he’ll definitely flog you after you return.”
On hearing Ling Zhang mention his father, Yuwen Jin subconsciously flinched, not daring say another word.
Jiang Yu, seeing that Yuwen Jin had backed down, had no intention of staying. He turned around and started walking away.
“You must have a death wish!”
All of a sudden, the door of the room on the opposite side was violently broken from inside and slumped to the ground into several pieces with an almighty clank, on which lay a man who seemed to have just been kicked, curling up in pain with his hands holding his stomach.
Ling Zhang and the others, drunk and happening to be walking by, were all taken aback by this unexpected event.
Apart from this, there also seemed to be a fight going on in the room. Clashes of swords and sabers could be heard.
Ling Zhang was instantly a lot more sober, a frown on his face. “Let’s get out of here. Hurry.”
No matter who it was that were brawling in there, it was none of their business. Judging from the way those people fought, they had all lost their marbles. Though these students had some kung fu skills, they were all drunk and could easily get hurt by accident.
Unfortunately, what he was worried about was already happening. After finishing his sentence, Ling Zhang urged Yuwen Jin forward, but before they’d gone two paces, a saber was hurled out of the room heading squarely for Yuwen Jin. Breaking out in a cold sweat, Ling Zhang hurriedly drew him back with great force, helping him dodged that shooting saber.
