Would You Like to Have A Drink - Chapter 6.1

Perhaps it was the reason for the heavy rain. Two days later, the weather became fine, and the sun was shining for thousands of miles. The east was just dimly lit, and the residents began to stir.

After Zong Luo woke up, he changed his clothes and tied his hair. He looked out of the window and just so happened to see a small servant holding the horse’s reins and watching over it outside, while boredly feeding it with horse grass. It seemed that he had been waiting for a long time.

Before Gu Ziyuan came, Zong Luo simply put down the window buckle, removed the ancient jade with black Kui pattern from the Qixing Long Yuan, and tied it to his waist.

Today was the opening of the Baijia Banquet. Last night, an imperial edict came stating that the venue of the banquet was specially changed to the palace. Since they were going to enter the palace, naturally, they couldn’t carry weapons and swords.

The Baijia Banquet was held every three years, and every time it would attract the attention of the world. If one could win the top spot in the Six Arts Competition, it would be no less than ten years of cold windows and no one would object, and one would become famous in one fell swoop. In the future, no matter which country you go to in the Great Wilderness, you can enjoy extremely high treatment.

(t/n: Ten years of cold windows, Chinese idiom, pinyin is shí nián hán chuāng, which means to describe hard study for many years)

As a big country, the Great Yuan would undeniably be thirsty for talents. It treated talented people with courtesy and gave them the honor of guests. To attach great importance to this Baijia Banquet, it was not surprising that they deliberately changed the venue.

“Brother Luo! Today’s a good day, have you finished dressing already?”

As Zong Luo wrapped the white silk, Gu Ziyuan knocked on the door.

The white silk that he wrapped around today was dipped in shadowless water, making him able to see some contours around him.

“Certainly.” Zong Luo replied casually. “How dare I forget the important matter entrusted by the elder medical sage?”

The two walked to the entrance of the courtyard, and carriages of other students from their station passed by one after another, and the noisy voices piled up together, making it very lively.

“Brother Luo didn’t go out yesterday, so I’m afraid you don’t know, but the hundred students who attended the Baijia Banquet this year can be described as hidden dragons and crouching tigers.”

Gu Ziyuan, who had been inquiring about the news for a day yesterday, was like one counting the treasures of one’s own family. “The Prime Minister of the Great Yuan is the master of the Legalist School, and now his disciples have also come to participate. Not to mention the Yin Yang School, even the strategists of the same lineage have sent a direct disciple. Many gambling houses have opened their bets, and the identity of the most popular candidate for the top of the Six Arts has not yet been determined. Such a grand event has not been seen in decades.”

(t/n: counting the treasures of one’s own family – Chinese idiom, pinyin is rú shǔ jiā zhēn, which means that it is like counting the treasures of one’s own family. It is usually used to describe someone who is very familiar with what they are talking about.)

Hearing Pei Qianxue’s name, Zong Luo was silent for a while. “The Qilin also chooses its master. The Great Yuan is unstoppable now, so naturally, talented scholars are anxious and very eager.”

Seeing his calmness, Gu Ziyuan couldn’t help but wonder. “Brother Luo is not anxious? Taoist Wuwei swordsmanship, Yin-Yang puppet art, Mohist non-political law… They all sound famous with infinite power, however, even the teahouse storytellers can’t tell who the leader of the martial arts is.”

Zong Luo smiled slightly, lifted the curtain of the carriage and boarded it. “What’s the hurry? Martial arts is the content of the last day. However, Ziyuan, since you want to participate in calligraphy, you should be more worried.”

Gu Ziyuan immediately stopped talking, his face inevitably filled with tension, and the hand holding the reins was a little absent-minded as he began practicing calligraphy and painting in his mind.

Not long after, the carriage stopped at the gate of the palace. One by one, the students either dismounted or disembarked to walk instead. The imperial guards in front of the palace checked them one by one, and only after confirming that they were not carrying weapons did they allow them to pass.

Zong Luo didn’t want to attract the attention of unrelated people, so he specially changed into an ordinary white robe, although it was not very useful. Along the way, because of the white silk on his face, he had gained the attention of many students.

After the interrogation was over, the guard looked at his back and whispered in a low voice.

“Just now, that young master seemed a little familiar…”

“The blind man with the white silk covering his eyes? He is indeed a bit familiar. How can such a gentle and elegant person end up with such a vicious disease?”

“I know why he looks familiar.”

One of the guards said hesitantly, “Do you remember that day last year when the Great Witch foresaw the phenomenon of the nine stars linked like beads in the sky? That young man in white was clearly carved out of the same mold as the third prince…”

As soon as these words came out, they thought of that dream in unison. The chief guard turned pale with fear. “To talk about the royal family is a crime punishable by beheading. Moreover, His Royal Highness has a notable reputation. How can we guess about it at will? Be careful of what you say!”

As soon as these words came out, everyone shut up and dared not say any more.

The Third Prince leads troops all year round, and most of the guards in the palace had never seen him in person, and only got a glimpse of his likeness in a dream last year.

Only the people in the Great Yuan dreamed of the Third Prince committing suicide; most of the students from other countries only heard about it. Even if some noticed the guards becoming oddly silent, they wouldn’t know the real reason behind it.

As for the other students, they were even more indifferent. A few even greeted Zong Luo.

Confucianism and Mohism were known as the world’s two great schools of thought and were likewise incompatible with each other.

The relationship between Legalism and Confucianism was also extremely poor. Confucianism had never been able to enter the Great Yuan because today’s Prime Minister of the Great Yuan was a master of Legalism. In the early years, when he was not yet the official prime minister, he wrote a full-fledged denunciation, criticizing the mainstream ideas of Confucianism as worthless.

Of course, not only Confucianism, but the relationships between other schools of thought were the same. Along the way, only Taoist students were big-hearted and greeted students everywhere. Although the relationship between Confucianism and Taoism was the same, most won’t reach out and hit a smiling person to save face.

(t/n: Reach out and don’t hit the smiling person – a Chinese saying, which means that after you admit your mistake, the other party can’t bear to hit someone. It means that when you raise your hand to hit the wrong party, the other party is already acknowledging their mistake with a smile on their face. At this time, you can’t bear it and feel embarrassed to hit others again.)

Walking to the front section open-air plaza of the palace, the eunuch who led the way stopped and stood respectfully to the side.

After a long time, the sound of “Your Majesty has arrived” came from the elevated palace entrance far away.

Emperor Yuan, dressed in a black dragon robe, walked slowly from inside the hall. The crown with 12 jade tassels hung down over his cold and harsh face. He was not angry yet arrogant. The students who were stared at directly by the deep black eyes behind the Mian Liu couldn’t help but tremble in their legs.

(t/n: Not angry and arrogant – to describe a person who is not angry, but still has a majestic temperament. Generally used to describe the aura of a leader who is in a high position or is upright and awe-inspiring.)

(t/n: Mian Liu – ceremonious hat of the emperor and high officials with jade tassels)

“Greetings to His Majesty.”

All the students clasped their fists and saluted.

They were all seeing this tyrant who was famous among the various nations for the first time.

Among these people, Zong Luo was the only one standing behind, with his head lowered, trying to reduce his sense of presence.

In his last life, he was sent to the frontier for two years without any explanation, and then died by an imperial decree ordering suicide.

Zong Luo thought that even if he saw his father again after a year, he should have hatred in his heart. But when he actually stood here, he was shocked to realize that his mood was so calm at the moment.

Perhaps he finally understood that he was never the one who was actually cared for.

The Third Prince was sent to Wei Kingdom as a hostage when he was less than one year old, and he returned to the Great Yuan when he was seventeen. In the middle, he was absent from blood relatives for more than ten years. The other princes had never seen him, this older brother in name. At ordinary times, he was more like a guest and a stranger to them, not to mention Emperor Yuan.

Afterwards, he had been fighting outside for years, spending little time together, and had not returned to the palace for several years.

Emperor Yuan seemed to be entrusting him with heavy responsibility, but no matter how beautifully Zong Luo won battles and how perfect he was, he never heard a single word of praise from him.

He did his best to excel, he admired his father, and loved his younger brothers, but he couldn’t compare to the youngest prince, Cheng Huanyuan, who acted coquettishly and like a spoiled child.

It was a well-known fact that Emperor Yuan favored the youngest ninth prince, and he would simply pluck the stars and the moon from the sky for him. The other princes also took advantage of the protection of an elder more or less when they were growing up. Only Zong Luo, standing in the huge palace, no matter how much he wanted to blend in, would always look like a person who stayed out of the way.

Fortunately, Zong Luo had taught and educated people before passing through the book, but he still fell into a trap, sank into it and lived two lives in vain, he thought to himself mockingly. However, now there was no need to duck his head to hide.

If he could see him like this, Emperor Yuan should be relieved.

As everyone knew, those who were sick could not inherit the throne.

After an unknown amount of time, the announcement of dismissal was heard and Zong Luo breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Emperor Yuan had the reputation of a tyrant, his handling of government affairs was unequivocal, and he was still able to review hundreds of wooden memorials every day when he was nearly fifty. It was already a great honor to be able to take the time to meet with the students. As for the next meeting with the Emperor… it should wait until the closing of the banquet in the coming year to award the document to the leader of the Six Arts.

The eunuch saluted everyone. “Please come with me. The Taoism discourse will be held in Lanting Waterside Pavilion over the next few days.”

According to the rules, five days prior to the banquet, each family was free to discuss Taoism.

No invitations were required for the banquet. From the generals of noble families down to the common people, as long as they could pass the question and answer, they could all participate in the banquet, which was usually the most lively few days.

Zong Luo followed Gu Ziyuan. In order to take care of him, all Confucian students consciously fell to the rear and followed. As soon as he walked near a river pavilion, which was not far from the palace, he heard the cry of a servant in front.

“Hurry up, let’s make way! Don’t bump into the nobles!”

Gu Ziyuan was about to pull Zong Luo back when he saw that the latter had already moved away from the path of the passing imperial carriage, so he lowered his hand and said in surprise, “It turned out to be the carriage of the princes of Great Yuan.”

Zong Luo said nothing.

Since the aristocrats could come, naturally the royal family members and their relatives would not miss it. What’s more… except for Gu Ziyuan, who had no such sense of perception, everyone knew that the struggle for the Crown Prince position had reached a white-hot stage.