Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

 The Real Deal

    The melodious and mellow music suddenly became halting and irregular, the serene stream of music drying up, the bowstrings’ plucking no longer smooth.

    Under the illumination of the hundreds of silver candles, the crowd went completely silent in a split second as innumerable eyes gazed at Yaoying, spellbound.

    Yaoying was calm, and her slender hand lifted the cup of wine in front of the emperor’s seat, “Today, everyone is present: the young and the old are all gathered, heroes and masters, warriors of all tribes here to mingle. This child wishes the Great Wei a prosperous time and a prosperous year and that the Huanghe is clear and the sea is calm1.”

    Finishing speaking, she dipped her fingernails in the wine and lightly flicked it a few times at the guests, then raised her cup in a toast and drank it in one gulp.

    The warming wine entered her throat, and a ring of faint redness appeared around the corners of her brimming-with-water eyes. The spring color rippled, brightening the entire room.

    The civil and military officials leaning against the screen on the second floor were still staring at her in awe, but the leaders of the Hu tribes were already excited and exclaiming. Standing up and raising their wine bowls, they saluted Li De and shouted congratulations.

    In response, all the people at the banquet straightened up in succession, bowing to the ground and shouting long live His Majesty.

    Crown Prince Li Xuanzhen, seated in the second seat, also put down his wine cup after a moment of blankness and joined the others in saluting.

    Li De glanced at Yaoying, then acknowledged everyone’s regards with a smile.

    The atmosphere of the banquet was at its peak at this moment.

    Yaoying, who had set off the pride of the youths in the room, did not linger. Her skirt dragging behind her and followed by maids and slaves around her, she slowly disappeared behind the golden lacquered screen and ascended to the second floor.

    Everyone’s line of sight in the hall followed her for a long time. Until her beautiful silhouette disappeared behind the brocade muslin hanging screens fluttering in the wind, their necks were still stretched out to gaze at her.

    The music played cheerfully again.

    The crowd whispered to each other, discussing in high spirits.

    The various chiefs and princes of the Hu tribes did not attempt to hide their amazement at all and asked the attendants around them, “Was that noble daughter the rumored Seventh Princess?”

    The attendants nodded their heads.

    The chiefs exchanged a dawning look of realization: indeed, she was a remarkable beauty. No wonder Old Yelu was willing to give Liangzhou as a betrothal gift, even knowing that the Murong, He, and Ashina tribes that were now occupying Liangzhou were not easy to deal with.

        On the second floor, the imperial concubines, court ladies, and noble daughters looked at Yaoying who, in the candle flame, looked like a goddess, with complicated expressions on their faces.

    Without looking around, Yaoying walked to the window, sat down, and poured herself a cup of wine.

    With Li Zhongqian absent, no one dared to control the wine that she was not allowed to touch.

    To the side, Zheng Biyu, the Crown Princess, sighed. Looking downstairs, she found Li Xuanzhen had gotten up and was leaving his seat, walking in the direction of the back hall under the guidance of a palace maid.

    What was he going to do in the back hall?

    Without waiting for her to think deeper, a maid came up to her side and whispered, “Madam, Princess Fukang has disappeared!”

    Zheng Biyu blanked for a moment and put down her wine cup: “Disappeared?”

    The maid was panic-stricken: “Today, His Majesty ordered an imperial decree for the princess to attend the banquet. His Highness the Crown Prince sent someone to the princess’s residence, informing that the princess’ presence was necessary and that the seventh princess would be asking in front of everyone to be her substitute so that she did not have to be afraid. This slave was ordered to escort the princess into the palace, and waited for half a day but did not see the princess leave. This slave boldly entered the room to check, discovering that the princess secretly left through the back window at some point!”

    Zheng Biyu’s heart thudded.

    Right now, the seventh princess had not yet volunteered to be the replacement. Zhu Luyun and Tribal Chief Yelu’s marriage contract has not yet been broken, how could she have run away?

    Could it be that she did not believe that Li Xuanzhen had helped her find a solution and was afraid of getting married, so she ran away?

    The more Zheng Biyu thought about it, the more she felt her head ache. She instructed her maid: “Send all the guards to secretly investigate the princess’s whereabouts. The princess’s residence, the places where the princess often frequents, even the places where His Highness the Crown Prince often goes, look through them all carefully; do not miss a single one!”

    The maid nodded in response. Before she could get up to deliver the message, the sound of two wine cups abruptly falling to the ground rang out from downstairs.

    The sound of music had stopped at some point.

    The atmosphere was heavy and tense.

    Zheng Biyu hinted at the maid to be silent and perked an ear to listen.

    There was an awkward and dead silence on the platform. Amidst the sound of burning silver candles, a man’s inquiring voice came: “I heard that your distinguished empire’s Princess Fukang has no intention of marrying and has already fled! If the princess has no intention of marrying our Khan, why did she take the initiative to ask for marriage in the first place? We all wholeheartedly admire your distinguished country and desire to join hands with your clan, but your distinguished country’s princess tricks and insults our Khan like this! Since your distinguished country has broken its promise first, the Yelu tribe does not need to keep its promise. Our warriors will defend our Khan’s honor to the death! Please prepare your distinguished country to meet us on the battlefield!”

    After saying that, he dropped his wine bowl, turned on his heels, and left.

    The other tribal chiefs and princes immediately made a commotion, shouting and yelling, demanding to see Princess Fukang at once. Otherwise, they too would not dare to swear allegiance to the Wei empire.

    The court ladies on the platform were so frightened that they were uncontrollably shaking for a while.

    Zheng Biyu was so worried that she was sweating.

    The civil and military officials on the platform looked at each other in dismay, their faces even more ugly than those of the womenfolk.

    The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple reacted quickly. Rising from their seats, they stopped Tribal Chief Yelu and the princes, asking them to return to their seats.

    Tribal Chief Yelu, who was over sixty years old, had his long, white hair braided into thin braids and draped over his shoulders. His facial features were old and wrinkled, but his eyes were sharp as a falcon. He wiped his oily mouth and spoke in unskilled Chinese, saying faintly, “If we can see Princess Fukang tonight, Yelu tribe will naturally have nothing to say.”

    The officials tried their very best to persuade Tribal Chief Yelu, sending people to look for Princess Fukang and to urge her to enter the palace as soon as possible.

    The Jin Wu Wei reported: Princess Fukang had actually disappeared long ago. They had searched for her all afternoon but ended up empty-handed.

    The officials were angry and anxious, stamping their feet in hate.

    Several officials of the Hall of Government Affairs that knew that Zhu Luyun was missing looked at each other. They got up and left their seats, taking refuge behind the curtain pavilion.

    Not long after, Li De also found an excuse to retreat to the inner hall.

    The official of the Ministry of Rites reported the situation: “Princess Fukang disappeared without cause or reason. This official searched outside the palace all afternoon, but found no trace of the princess. I do not know where the Yelu tribe heard the news from.”

    Everyone was in an uproar.

    Several ministers who were close to the Eastern Palace immediately took a look around the room for the Crown Prince’s presence. Not seeing him, their hearts worriedly thumped: could Princess Fukang have been taken away by the Crown Prince?

    Prime Minister Zheng scowled coldly and said furiously: “Princess Fukang’s action this time was truly willful and capricious! She was the one who agreed to marry in public despite all dissuasion. Now, she is also the one who absconded in fear of marrying. Now that the Yelu tribe is calling for an attack on Chang’an, how will it end?”

    The assistant minister of the Shangshu said, “Maybe the princess simply went somewhere to have fun and forgot about today’s banquet….”

    Zheng Yu sneered: “Tonight’s banquet was originally intended to celebrate the joining of the tribes and the conclusion of the marriage contract between Tribal Chief Yelu and Princess Fukang. The Ministry of Rites sent someone to inform the princess yesterday, too. Princess did not go out for fun before, but chose today of all days to go?”

    The assistant minister was speechless.

    Everyone had their own opinions and quarreled for a while.

    Li De sat on a low couch, not saying a word.

    When the candle flame flickered, several Jin Wu Wei hurriedly stepped into the inner hall and presented a letter: “Your Majesty, Princess Fukang’s close attendant found a letter!”

    Li De took the offered letter and opened it. Sweeping it a glance, the corners of his mouth curled, and looked at the ministers, “Take a look.”

    Commander-in-Chief Pei was the first to go forward. Snatching the letter and reading it for a few moments, he became indignant: “Princess Fukang has really escaped!”

    Other ministers came forward to read the letter with him, and their brows were all furrowed.

    The letter was left by Zhu Luyun. She said she had nightmares every night and could not sleep or eat in peace, so she had to leave.

    Commander-in-Chief Pei cursed.

    Others heard him cursing vulgarly and coughed a few times, pretending not to hear.

    At this time, the official from the Ministry of Rites stumbled into the inner hall. Straightening the lapel of his headwrap that was messed up by the Hu people, he said, “Your Majesty, if Princess Fukang still does not show up, those Hu people will really turn chaotic!”

    Commander-in-Chief Pei loudly shouted, “How can a missing person show up?”

    The officials of the Ministry of Rites were at a loss.