Yun Chu (4)

As pipes and strings filled the air, Yun Chu was pouring wine for the imperial censor.

In Immortals' Drunken Arrival's main hall, waves of music rolled together with the scent of wine. A twelve-string pipa played the melody of "Rainbow Skirt," only for it to be kneaded into scattered fragments by the guests' laughter and revelry.

The imperial censor sat at the seat of honor, his fingertips circling the rim of his wine cup as his gaze settled on her lowered lashes. His tone carried a touch of frivolity. "Miss Wei Zi's clever hands are unmatched at playing the qin and painting. The wine you pour must surely be especially fragrant and mellow as well."

Yun Chu smiled along without speaking. She bent her knees and inclined her head, tilting the pot so amber wine flowed slowly into the cup, not a drop too much or too little.

As she withdrew her hand and set down the wine pot, the corner of her eye caught sight of a private room diagonally across from her—its bamboo curtain was half-raised, revealing several extravagantly dressed dandies within. At their feet knelt a figure in a brocade robe. The robe was the fashionable sapphire blue of the day, yet it was clearly a size too large. Its collar hung crookedly from his shoulders, its cuffs bunched in folds, as though it had been picked up from some old-clothes stall.

The man hunched over with his head bowed very low, holding a silver wine cup in both hands as he carefully brought it toward the leading dandy's boots to lick away the spilled wine. The dandy deliberately raised his foot, the toe of his boot brushing across the man's chin. Wine splashed over half his face, but he did not dare dodge. He only hurriedly