As the moon sinks into the sun, no matter who is brooding and sleepless that night, Xiaose has to put her mind on hold when she enters the house and dress up for the banquet.
Emperor Li Yanzhen of the Xia Dynasty has always been well versed in the matter of elegance, and this open-air banquet was set up with even greater care: there were falling heroes in the shengge and string music, the dancers were showing their postures, the fragrance of the dust attracted colorful butterflies, and there were also jade cups. Fine wine, lead the water to flow.
The seats of Taiwei and Censor are divided into two as usual. Chu Mingyun nodded with one hand and met Su Shiyu's casual gaze, but saw that he just smiled lightly, and then closed his eyes and drank, no different from before.
There was no turbulence, not even a trace of displeasure. If it weren't for the way he turned his head and didn't want to look at him, he remembered clearly, Chu Mingyun would have mistakenly thought that last night was just a dream of his drunkenness. I don't know if Su Shiyu was thinking of 'don't mind' again, so he didn't react like this. Chu Mingyun took off the wine cup that was slowly stopping in front of him in the floating water, and couldn't help frowning slightly.
When the song stopped, Le Ji didn't have time to pick up the strings, and suddenly someone sighed heavily in the gap, making the sigh quite clear.
Everyone looked at the seat of the Xiongnu envoy in unison.
Li Yanzhen also looked over and asked, "Why does the ninth prince sigh, is it because he is dissatisfied with the reception?"
Yuwen Falcon stood up and bowed to Li Yanzhen before saying: "His Majesty the Emperor has a generous hospitality, why would you feel dissatisfied." He glanced at the people in the seat, and sighed again: "I just think that your country's atmosphere is really different from our Xiongnu. It's too far away, and it's inevitable to feel a little emotional."
"Feeling?" Li Yanzhen was inexplicable, "Would you like to hear it?"
"We are visiting for the first time, and we don't really understand your customs and rules, but I think it's not interesting to taste too much food and wine, and singing and dancing all day is quite boring. Originally invited by His Majesty the Emperor to participate in the spring hunting, I thought that I can finally see what you guys look like on horseback and archery, and I plan to find a powerful character to compete with each other. I just didn’t expect it to be a feast here.” Yuwen Falcon laughed and said again, “I just watched it carefully. Look, I found that everyone here is very gentle, and they don't look like people who are proficient in riding and archery. Presumably because the country is stable, there is no need to understand these crude skills. Like us, everyone needs to make a living. Learning these hard things is really enviable in comparison.”
The words were compliments, but the tone was sarcastic. Yuwen Falcon's voice fell, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled down.
Chu Mingyun turned his head to look, "If His Royal Highness wants to find someone to discuss, I can accompany you."
Yuwen Falcon waved his hand and said with a smile: "Who knows the reputation of General Chu's iron and blood on the battlefield? Even if I consciously master bow and arrow, but after all, I have never been on the battlefield, I want to find someone to learn from and have fun, but I can only compare with you. It's boring if you lose."
"Since you don't dare to compare, what's the use of you saying this?" Chu Mingyun said coldly.
"I don't dare to compare with you, I admit it, there is no shame in it." Yuwen Falcon did not change his face, "That's why I sighed, except for General Chu, there is no one else here, it's really boring."
Daxia now has a well-known ethos of Chongwen and Qingwu. Even though the words of the Xiongnu prince were clearly provocative, they just hit the sore spot, making them unable to refute.
Chu Mingyun was already impatient, "You can't finish, if..."
"His Royal Highness said there is some truth." Su Shiyu suddenly interrupted him and stood up, "Master Chu is in a high position, and it would be too much trouble if you have to take care of such trivial matters in person."
Chu Mingyun turned his head to look over, Su Shiyu glanced at him, then turned his gaze back to Yuwen Falcon, and said with a faint smile: "Then how does His Royal Highness look at me? Although I am a civil servant, I am also very good at riding and archery. I have some interest, so I can just take this opportunity to experience it, how about this?"
Yuwen Falcon looked at this handsome and elegant young man, and said, "Lord Censor's gentle appearance, I'm afraid others will say that I bullied you."
"I really don't understand what His Royal Highness said. Master Chu, you think you can't win, and I think you are too weak. Such a refusal," Su Shiyu narrowed his eyes and smiled lightly: "Is it possible that I just plan In the battle of words, do you actually have no intention of competing seriously?"
"Are you questioning me?" The smile on Yuwen Falcon's face faded.
"Don't dare." Su Shiyu said, "You didn't say it just now, it's just for entertainment, why should you care about winning or losing."
Having said that, everyone knows that this will not be a simple private test, and it will inevitably involve the face of the family and the country.
There was a faint voice of discussion in the field, and Li Yanzhen couldn't help but persuade him, "Forget it, a few jokes, why do you really have to fight tit for tat."
"His Majesty the Emperor has misunderstood," Yuwen Falcon said hurriedly. "Competitions are common and have no other meaning. Since Lord Censor has already agreed, it would be really bad if you go back on it."
"This..." Li Yanzhen looked at Su Shiyu worriedly, but the other party gave him a reassuring smile, and then asked Yuwen Falcon, "What does His Royal Highness want to compete with?"
"I won't make it difficult for you to go hunting on horseback, just shoot arrows, how about it?"
He smiled in response.
Su Shiyu took the longbow presented, a look of nostalgia in his eyes was fleeting, then turned his head and called out to Chu Mingyun, who was standing not far away, "Master Chu, please come and teach me how to make the bow. ."
Chu Mingyun walked to his side, glanced roughly, and then pulled the corners of his lips into a smile, "Master Su's gesture is wrong, it's really well-organized."
Su Shiyu didn't answer, lowered his voice and said, "Wait for the Xiongnu prince to shoot arrows, be careful not to let him go to His Majesty's side."
"Move the left hand further up." Chu Mingyun looked down at his hand and tightened the bowstring for him.
Su Shiyu didn't move his hands, looked sideways at Chu Mingyun, "Master Chu?"
Chu Mingyun raised his eyes, met his gaze, and suddenly smiled, "Kiss me and I'll keep an eye out for you."
"..." Su Shiyu looked at him.
"Master Su," Chu Mingyun lowered his eyelashes and said slowly, "I will be embarrassed if you look at me so frankly."
"...Really?" Su Shiyu asked.
Chu Mingyun sighed and asked, "Since you have this intention, it's okay to kiss twice."
Su Shiyu couldn't help laughing out loud, helpless, "Master Chu..."
"Okay, I see." Chu Mingyun looked at the smile line on the corner of his lips, thought for a moment, suddenly grabbed Su Shiyu's wrist with one hand, and wrapped him in his arms from behind, "It's still easy. ."
Su Shiyu was stunned, and was about to break free.
"Don't move." Chu Mingyun took his hands, pressed him into his arms, put his head to his ear and smiled lowly, and said slowly, "What are you hiding? There are so many people around, you Are you afraid that I won't force you to kiss you one more time?"
Su Shiyu didn't want to say anything, but he couldn't say anything at the end. Fortunately, they stood in a remote place and did not attract much attention, so the unspeakable greed quietly grew, and he kept his eyebrows low and no longer broke free.
Chu Mingyun rested his chin on his shoulder, and his breath brushed across his face. The sandalwood in his smile made his scalp tingle, so he could only let Chu Mingyun pull his hand to straighten the longbow, and then let go. Drive him back to the side.
Su Shiyu couldn't help looking sideways at Chu Mingyun, he had returned to his original position, and when he looked up, he was looking at Su Shiyu. Chu Mingyun pulled the corner of his mouth a little to reveal a smile, raised his plain white fingers and touched his lips, and winked meaningfully at Su Shiyu.
"..." Su Shiyu pretended not to see and moved his gaze to Li Yanzhen in the distance.
At this moment, the archery target has been set far away, and Yuwen Falcon is no longer polite when standing in the field. The Xiongnu delegation stood up and applauded, and even Daxia's seat couldn't help but sigh a few times, saying that this prince's arrogance really has some capital.
Li Yanzhen looked at Su Shiyu more and more worriedly, but Su Shiyu raised his hand to stop him before he could speak. He nodded to Li Yanzhen, turned around and walked over.
Drawing the bow and arrow, Su Shiyu tightened the string little by little, his shoulders and arms stretched out strong lines, and his eyes were rare undisguised sharpness.
With a mistake between the fingers, the sharp arrow roared out, swiping the previous arrow with the momentum of breaking the air and piercing the cloud, and steadily plunged into the bullseye position, but it was slightly more deviated than Yuwen Falcon's arrow.
Su Shiyu turned around lightly and handed the bow to the attendant.
The Xiongnu embassy already had a happy expression on their faces. Although the officials in Daxia felt regretful, they felt that it was not easy for the imperial censor, so they said nothing, and the whole audience was silent.
Chu Mingyun, still staring at the archery target, suddenly laughed softly.
There was a cracking sound, the arrow feather in the center was broken, and it fell to the grass all over the ground.
Yuwen Falcon's face suddenly became ugly, Su Shiyu stopped beside him and smiled lightly: "It's a lot easier than I expected."
"You...!" He turned his head sharply to look, but Su Shiyu had already stepped back to his seat. He looked at the thin figure, remembering what Chu Mingyun said in Su Shiyu's ear, and frowned fiercely. , his palms clenched into fists.
This banquet did not allow the courtiers and family members to accompany them to the banquet, so Lu Qinghe waited outside early, just waiting for the banquet to dissipate.
She put in a lot of hard work last night, reading through the books, her eyes widened, and then she realized that she couldn't really be of any help. After thinking about it, Lu Qinghe decided to create a chance for the two of them to be alone. As the so-called tryst is too much - well, no matter what kind of tryst it is, there should be more communication.
There is a peach forest in the back mountain, and the flowers are blooming just right. She had invited Su Shiyu to go there long before the banquet. Su Shiyu probably felt that his attitude was really rude last night, so he agreed without much refusal. And Chu Mingyun... She didn't see this adult at all in the morning, so she had to wait here.
While thinking about it, there was a hoarse compliment, and the music stopped. Lu Qinghe saw Chu Mingyun among the scattered people, and while covering his face to avoid Lu Shi's line of sight, he greeted him, "Captain. Lord, stay!"
Chu Mingyun stopped in response and turned his head to look, "It's you again?"
"...It's me." Lu Qinghe put down his hand and laughed, "I wonder if the captain is free..."
"No time." Chu Mingyun said.
"I just want to invite the adults to go to the back mountain peach forest for a while, and there will be no delay..."
"Don't go."
"... Why did your lord refuse so decisively?"
"Is there anything else?" Chu Mingyun looked at her casually.
Lu Qinghe said, "...No."
Seeing that Chu Mingyun was about to leave, she hurriedly said, "Master Su is in the back mountain!"
Chu Mingyun moved for a while, looked back and said, "Oh—?"
"Don't dare to deceive the adults." Lu Qinghe said sincerely.
Chu Mingyun turned around slowly, "What are you thinking of?"
"Don't dare," Lu Qinghe shook his head, looked at Chu Mingyun's unintelligible expression, took a deep breath and said, "I only wish I could help adults one or two."
Chu Mingyun looked at her silently, and suddenly chuckled: "You are very like a person."
Lu Qinghe was surprised, "Who?"
Chu Mingyun retracted his gaze and raised his eyebrows slightly, "Maybe it's not normal for women who have been practicing martial arts for many years and love to wear red clothes."
Lu Qinghe was stunned, and before she could react, Chu Mingyun turned around and left. The wind blew behind him, and the branches were full of prosperity, and flowers fell like rain.