As Expected of Fourth Brother's Wife
Yan Bai's hair was streaked with gray, but he looked hale and hearty. For once, he set aside his usual stern manner and broke into a cheerful smile.
Seeing that Yan Bai had said nothing, Duke Xu nodded his agreement to Lady Xu Wang's suggestion.
Beside them, Xu Yin pressed her lips together and said nothing.
The nails hidden in her sleeves dug red marks into her palms.
She had suggested the flying flower game to make Su Luoqian look foolish, yet Lady Xu Wang was only allowing unmarried young men and women to participate.
That shut Su Luoqian out entirely.
No, she had to think of another way.
Xu Yin was having a miserable time holding back her anger, while on the other side, Su Luoqian could not keep her eyes from curving with amusement.
Her beautiful eyes swept over the room, and she spotted Kong Cuilian seated several tables away in a lower place.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Her paternal aunt's daughter had really gone to a lot of trouble.
She had taken such pains to forge a connection with Xu Yin, only to find that the flying flower game would not even reach her.
Even from so far away, the fury in Kong Cuilian's eyes could find her with unerring precision.
She truly "hated her to the depths of her soul."
After Lady Xu Wang announced the rules, the steward revealed the prompt Yan Bai had just chosen.
"Hairpin."
As the Shuowen said: A ji is a hairpin.
The choice of character was quite fitting for today's coming-of-age ceremony.
Once the flying flower game began, the banquet grew noticeably livelier than before.
Yan Bai listened to the young men and women's answers, sometimes nodding in approval, sometimes knitting his brows slightly.
When it came to the Xu family's legitimate son, Xu Jia, and Xu Yin, all three answered fluently.
A smile of satisfaction lit Duke Xu's eyes.
After two rounds of the game, Xu Yin was beginning to struggle.
She counted silently in her head and felt that, when her turn came, she might not be able to think of any more poems.
At the thought, her eyes flickered with a hint of nervousness. When her gaze swept over Yan Bai among the male guests, a new idea suddenly sprang to mind.
Su Luoqian sat at the head table, her gaze resting unobtrusively on Xu Yin as she took in every one of her reactions.
Tsk.
Had the second Miss Xu come up with another scheme now that the first had failed?
Sure enough—
When this round of the flying flower game reached Xu Yin, she rose and curtsied to everyone.
"This humble girl is untalented. I am deeply honored to see that Grand Tutor Yan was invited today, and I was reminded of the Painting of a Walking Horse that the Grand Tutor once painted."
Rather than continue the game, Xu Yin had spoken as she pleased, catching everyone a little by surprise.
Duke Xu's brows drew together even more tightly.
Seeing his expression through the screen, Lady Xu Liu hurriedly tugged at Xu Yin's sleeve.
But Xu Yin had already begun, and there was no taking the words back now. Otherwise, she would be the one everyone laughed at.
She took a deep breath and suppressed the nervousness in her heart.
She thought that as long as she could get the better of Su Luoqian, her father would surely praise her after today's banquet.
Hearing Xu Yin mention the Painting of a Walking Horse, Su Luoqian narrowed her eyes slightly and searched her memory.
She seemed to have had the good fortune to see it once.
As she recalled, unlike the horses in most paintings, the Walking Horse was not depicted amid ten thousand galloping steeds in a magnificent spectacle.
Instead, it captured the spirit of an old horse in its twilight years, stooped with age yet still burning like a torch.
"I heard that the Grand Tutor searched high and low for a poem to inscribe on the Painting of a Walking Horse, but found none. Why not see whether anyone at today's banquet can satisfy him?"
At this point, Xu Yin abruptly changed tack. She suddenly looked at Su Luoqian and launched a direct attack.
"Prince Cheng'an was once Grand Tutor Yan's student. I imagine the Princess Consort of Cheng'an must be learned and gifted, with a mind full of poetry and books, to be a match for him."
As soon as she finished, every gaze in the dining hall fell on the figure in pale blue at the women's head table.
Some who loved a spectacle raised their brows, waiting to see Su Luoqian make a spectacle of herself.
Others with better sense shook their heads, struck by how outrageously the daughter Duke Xu had raised spoke.
Lady Xu Liu, sitting beside Xu Yin, was already on the verge of fainting.
Who on earth was it!
Who had taught her daughter to spout such nonsense and show such disregard for others?
Su Luoqian, however, did not much care.
Young Xu Yin's skills were far too shallow. She wore all her likes and dislikes on her face and did not even know when she was being used as someone else's spear.
In that case, she would play along.
A faint smile touched Su Luoqian's lips. She patted the indignant Qin Shuning beside her, signaling her not to be angry.
Tomorrow, today's coming-of-age banquet at the duke's residence would become a laughingstock in every street and alley of Yujing City.
On the other side of the screen, Yan Bai heard Xu Yin's words and knitted his brows tightly, seemingly in strong disapproval.
Duke Xu inwardly cried out that this was bad and rose, bringing his hand down on the table with a bang.
Just as he was about to speak, Su Luoqian had also risen and gently cut him off.
Her voice was soft and pleasant. "Today is an important banquet for the duke's residence, so naturally I have no reason to decline. Besides, this is Grand Tutor Yan's painting, so I shall offer my humble effort."
She turned slightly and curtsied to Yan Bai. After only a few moments' thought, she spoke.
"Silken reins and a jade bit guide the golden bridle; he seems a heavenly steed emerging from the palace steps.
A herd from the imperial stables flies like white silk; for three days, yellow dragons leap upon the Cloud Terrace.
Through a thousand autumns and ten thousand miles, he soars amid wind and rain; in the sixth month, snow scatters over the border city.
Since ancient times, Chang'an has known many pleasures; do not scorn the horse grown lean and frail on alfalfa."
The woman's voice rang clear and melodious, pleasing to the ear.
In the poem she offered, one could sense a vast, majestic force between the lines, appreciate the great virtue of a fine steed in its declining years, and even glimpse a trace of self-mockery and helplessness.
"Excellent!"
"What a line: 'Do not scorn the horse grown lean and frail on alfalfa.'"
The dining hall was very quiet, making Yan Bai's exclamation all the more conspicuous.
The old man was somewhat excited and stood up, but with the screen between them, he could only laugh cheerfully and say, "As expected of Fourth Brother's wife."
"He really did judge her right."
Under all heaven, apart from the reigning emperor, only the Grand Princess and Yan Bai addressed Lu Jingsi that way.
The old man's voice blazed like a torch, his presence resonant as a bell.
Su Luoqian smiled and bowed again in Yan Bai's direction with proper composure. "Thank you, Grand Tutor."
All the male and female guests at the banquet had taken in the Grand Tutor's reaction.
Quite a few noble young ladies and madams murmured among themselves.
"I didn't expect the Princess Consort of Cheng'an to possess real talent and learning."
"She's exceptionally beautiful, learned in poetry and books, and the daughter of the wealthiest man. If I were a man, I'd want to marry a woman like that too."
Others were still envious and unconvinced. "Hah, who knows what luck let her come up with that answer? She might not manage it a second time."
"If you had that luck, why didn't you answer?"
"Did you see the second Miss Xu? If you still refuse to accept it, you'll end up just like her."
"If I were the second Miss Xu, I'd be too ashamed to show my face now."
"..."
The whispers around her seemed to grow louder as they echoed in Xu Yin's ears. She glared at Su Luoqian with reddened eyes, the hatred in them almost turning into sharp swords to shoot at her.
She was the one who should have shone brilliantly at this banquet. She was the one who should have been praised.
She trembled with anger and wanted to say something more, but Lady Xu Liu had already pulled her away and taken her to an inner room nearby.
Lady Xu Wang and Xu Jia, who were also sitting nearby, had watched it all with cold eyes.
There was even a trace of disdainful mockery in Xu Jia's eyes.