Spring Purification Celebration (Part Two)*
Halfway through the banquet, fallen flowers started drifting along the bubbling stream, creating more beauty than could be taken in.
Everyone looked in the direction that the flower petals had come from. Standing next to Emperor Ning were some palace maids holding baskets full of flower petals, and they were scattering them into the stream, creating something resembling a fairy’s world.
Emperor Ning smiled and said to Xun Chi: “Deity of Medicine, just sitting around at a banquet is quite boring. Naturally, we must seek to do something fun. We wanted to imitate the spring purification celebration. What do you think?”
Xun Chi saw that everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared. Happy, he nodded.
Accompanying these children to play around a little was not difficult.
Spring purification celebration?
The people below began commenting on this trick. It was only now that they realized why Emperor Ning had decided to host the spring banquet next to the stream.
Was this little stream not the setting of the spring purification celebration?
Emperor Ning cleared his throat, “We shall place a cup of wine on a lotus leaf, and whomever the cup stops before must compose a poem. What does everyone think?”
The people present were among the noblest of people in Eastern Ling. Without commenting on their other talents, something as minor as reciting poetry was possible.
If they could show off their talents in front of Emperor Ning, they might be able to obtain an opportunity to get promoted. As a result, everyone was eager to have this chance.
Gu HuaiJiang cupped his hands and said with a smile: “Isn’t Your Majesty troubling this subject? This subject only knows how to fight on the battlefield. How could I possibly understand poetry?”
“Stop being so modest. Do you think that We don’t know you well? Aside from martial arts, you’ve always taught your soldiers that they must put some effort into studying. How could you yourself not have an understanding? Moreover, you’ve prepared yourself amply. We are not afraid of you making some mistake!”
Emperor Ning laughed loudly then ordered for the lotus leaf to be placed in the stream, and he personally placed the cup of wine on the leaf.
Letting go, the large and vibrant green leaf slowly drifted along the surface of the stream.
The stream flowed peacefully during the spring, and the lotus leaf drifted slowly along the surface, starting from in front of Xun Chi and passing by Gu ShuBai and the others without any sign of stopping.
When it drifted in front of Yin JiYao, it spun around before stopping.
Everyone present turned to look at Yin JiYao.
Everyone knew that Yin Yan had a daughter, but there were not many who had seen Yin JiYao. On the rare occasion that she did attend an imperial banquet, she maintained an incredibly low profile.
If not for the wine cup stopping in front of her, it was possible that nobody would have noticed her.
Emperor Ning looked downstream, “It’s young miss Yin who won, isn’t that right?”
Yin JiYao hastily stood up, seemingly a little reserved, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl is Yin JiYao.”
Emperor Ning looked her over and noticed that she had a slender figure and a shy bearing. She looked like a sickly girl from a small family.
Yin Yan had raised Yin Shuo to be natural and easy to talk to, so why did he raise his daughter like this?
He smiled kindly, afraid of scaring Yin JiYao, “Young miss Yin does not seem to come into the palace very often. Did you come to last year’s Mid-Autumn banquet? We do not recall seeing you perform anything.”
Yin JiYao bowed, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl did come to last year’s Mid-Autumn banquet but was not feeling well at the time, thus this humble girl had no ability to perform for Your Majesty. I hope that Your Majesty understands.”
Yin Shuo also stood up and said: “That’s right, Your Majesty. This subject’s younger sister has always been frail, and the doctors have said that she must not exert herself too much. Moreover, she has very rarely gone out and has few talents. Even if she could force herself to compose a poem, it would be shameful. Would it not be better to fine her a cup of wine?”
Yin JiYao lightly bit her bottom lip.
Ever since she was little, Yin Shuo and Yin Yan have forbidden her from going out and forbade her from expressing herself in front of others for fear of her true identity being uncovered.
But even if she was a daughter of a concubine, what of it? Were daughters of concubines really that unfit to be seen?
This time, she did not want to listen to Yin Shuo’s orders.
“Your Majesty, though this humble girl is not very talented, I am even weaker to wine. For the sake of my health, even if I must put on a poor display, this humble girl will do my best to compose a poem.”
Yin Shuo looked at her in disbelief.
Yin JiYao lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze, but she resolutely bit her lip and did not give up.
It seemed that she had set her mind on showing off her talents.
Yin Shuo suddenly smiled, the corners of his lips twitching upward. Looking from afar, it was just a smile, but upon closer inspection, the smile did not reach his eyes.
He lowered his voice, “Little sister has grown up. You have gained some independence. This is a good thing.”
After saying this, he smiled to Emperor Ning and sat back down with the fake smile still on his face.
Emperor Ning said: “Then young miss Yin, please begin.”
Yin JiYao quickly said: “With complicated feelings we meet again, trembling in the arms of a lover while tears are wiped away. After the somberness comes mutual understanding, unable to bear the enmity under the clear moonlight.”*
She already appeared frail, and now that she recited such a somber and sorrowful poem, it was particularly moving.
Even Gu JiuGe could not help but look in her direction. In the past, he knew that she was talented but did not know that she was also able to improvise so quickly.
He had looked down on her too much.
Emperor Ning smiled and clapped, “Good, it was well composed. It must have been difficult to compose such a good poem without any flaws. It’s just that if We have not misunderstood, the poem is about the feelings of farewell, yes?”
Could it be that this young miss Yin had a man whom she was thinking of, and she was using this poem to express it?
Yin JiYao subconsciously glanced in Gu JiuGe’s direction then quickly retracted her gaze; however, there were quite a few people who saw this subconscious action.
Her face turned slightly red, and she bowed in salute, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl is just thinking of my late mother and my father who recently left. There is no other reason.”
When she brought up her mother, Yin Shuo’s expression slightly changed.
Yin JiYao knew that she had misspoken. Fearing that it would lead to wild speculation on the batter, she hastily picked up the cup of wine from the stream, “Today was meant to be a joyous day, thus this humble girl should not have come up with such a depressing poem. This humble girl will drink a cup as punishment!”
After saying this, she down the cup of wine. After sitting back down, she held her chest and gently coughed.
*TN: The spring purification celebration is a gathering around a winding stream and drinking from it to wash away any bad omens.
*TN: The poem is one written by Nalan Xingde.
Spring Purification Celebration (Part Two)*
Halfway through the banquet, fallen flowers started drifting along the bubbling stream, creating more beauty than could be taken in.
Everyone looked in the direction that the flower petals had come from. Standing next to Emperor Ning were some palace maids holding baskets full of flower petals, and they were scattering them into the stream, creating something resembling a fairy’s world.
Emperor Ning smiled and said to Xun Chi: “Deity of Medicine, just sitting around at a banquet is quite boring. Naturally, we must seek to do something fun. We wanted to imitate the spring purification celebration. What do you think?”
Xun Chi saw that everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared. Happy, he nodded.
Accompanying these children to play around a little was not difficult.
Spring purification celebration?
The people below began commenting on this trick. It was only now that they realized why Emperor Ning had decided to host the spring banquet next to the stream.
Was this little stream not the setting of the spring purification celebration?
Emperor Ning cleared his throat, “We shall place a cup of wine on a lotus leaf, and whomever the cup stops before must compose a poem. What does everyone think?”
The people present were among the noblest of people in Eastern Ling. Without commenting on their other talents, something as minor as reciting poetry was possible.
If they could show off their talents in front of Emperor Ning, they might be able to obtain an opportunity to get promoted. As a result, everyone was eager to have this chance.
Gu HuaiJiang cupped his hands and said with a smile: “Isn’t Your Majesty troubling this subject? This subject only knows how to fight on the battlefield. How could I possibly understand poetry?”
“Stop being so modest. Do you think that We don’t know you well? Aside from martial arts, you’ve always taught your soldiers that they must put some effort into studying. How could you yourself not have an understanding? Moreover, you’ve prepared yourself amply. We are not afraid of you making some mistake!”
Emperor Ning laughed loudly then ordered for the lotus leaf to be placed in the stream, and he personally placed the cup of wine on the leaf.
Letting go, the large and vibrant green leaf slowly drifted along the surface of the stream.
The stream flowed peacefully during the spring, and the lotus leaf drifted slowly along the surface, starting from in front of Xun Chi and passing by Gu ShuBai and the others without any sign of stopping.
When it drifted in front of Yin JiYao, it spun around before stopping.
Everyone present turned to look at Yin JiYao.
Everyone knew that Yin Yan had a daughter, but there were not many who had seen Yin JiYao. On the rare occasion that she did attend an imperial banquet, she maintained an incredibly low profile.
If not for the wine cup stopping in front of her, it was possible that nobody would have noticed her.
Emperor Ning looked downstream, “It’s young miss Yin who won, isn’t that right?”
Yin JiYao hastily stood up, seemingly a little reserved, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl is Yin JiYao.”
Emperor Ning looked her over and noticed that she had a slender figure and a shy bearing. She looked like a sickly girl from a small family.
Yin Yan had raised Yin Shuo to be natural and easy to talk to, so why did he raise his daughter like this?
He smiled kindly, afraid of scaring Yin JiYao, “Young miss Yin does not seem to come into the palace very often. Did you come to last year’s Mid-Autumn banquet? We do not recall seeing you perform anything.”
Yin JiYao bowed, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl did come to last year’s Mid-Autumn banquet but was not feeling well at the time, thus this humble girl had no ability to perform for Your Majesty. I hope that Your Majesty understands.”
Yin Shuo also stood up and said: “That’s right, Your Majesty. This subject’s younger sister has always been frail, and the doctors have said that she must not exert herself too much. Moreover, she has very rarely gone out and has few talents. Even if she could force herself to compose a poem, it would be shameful. Would it not be better to fine her a cup of wine?”
Yin JiYao lightly bit her bottom lip.
Ever since she was little, Yin Shuo and Yin Yan have forbidden her from going out and forbade her from expressing herself in front of others for fear of her true identity being uncovered.
But even if she was a daughter of a concubine, what of it? Were daughters of concubines really that unfit to be seen?
This time, she did not want to listen to Yin Shuo’s orders.
“Your Majesty, though this humble girl is not very talented, I am even weaker to wine. For the sake of my health, even if I must put on a poor display, this humble girl will do my best to compose a poem.”
Yin Shuo looked at her in disbelief.
Yin JiYao lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze, but she resolutely bit her lip and did not give up.
It seemed that she had set her mind on showing off her talents.
Yin Shuo suddenly smiled, the corners of his lips twitching upward. Looking from afar, it was just a smile, but upon closer inspection, the smile did not reach his eyes.
He lowered his voice, “Little sister has grown up. You have gained some independence. This is a good thing.”
After saying this, he smiled to Emperor Ning and sat back down with the fake smile still on his face.
Emperor Ning said: “Then young miss Yin, please begin.”
Yin JiYao quickly said: “With complicated feelings we meet again, trembling in the arms of a lover while tears are wiped away. After the somberness comes mutual understanding, unable to bear the enmity under the clear moonlight.”*
She already appeared frail, and now that she recited such a somber and sorrowful poem, it was particularly moving.
Even Gu JiuGe could not help but look in her direction. In the past, he knew that she was talented but did not know that she was also able to improvise so quickly.
He had looked down on her too much.
Emperor Ning smiled and clapped, “Good, it was well composed. It must have been difficult to compose such a good poem without any flaws. It’s just that if We have not misunderstood, the poem is about the feelings of farewell, yes?”
Could it be that this young miss Yin had a man whom she was thinking of, and she was using this poem to express it?
Yin JiYao subconsciously glanced in Gu JiuGe’s direction then quickly retracted her gaze; however, there were quite a few people who saw this subconscious action.
Her face turned slightly red, and she bowed in salute, “Replying to Your Majesty, this humble girl is just thinking of my late mother and my father who recently left. There is no other reason.”
When she brought up her mother, Yin Shuo’s expression slightly changed.
Yin JiYao knew that she had misspoken. Fearing that it would lead to wild speculation on the batter, she hastily picked up the cup of wine from the stream, “Today was meant to be a joyous day, thus this humble girl should not have come up with such a depressing poem. This humble girl will drink a cup as punishment!”
After saying this, she down the cup of wine. After sitting back down, she held her chest and gently coughed.
*TN: The spring purification celebration is a gathering around a winding stream and drinking from it to wash away any bad omens.
*TN: The poem is one written by Nalan Xingde.
