The Brilliant Pavilion was a newly opened restaurant in Capital Luoyang. Its location was superb, its doors thronged with customers, and it was said to belong to the Cui Family.
Those who dined here were either rich or noble. Even many high-ranking court officials regularly patronized it. With an empress and a Chancellor at court, the Cui Family enjoyed the height of imperial favor, and many people hoped to forge ties with them.
Inside the Star-Plucking Pavilion, glass lamps bathed the gold-threaded curtains in the colors of sunset clouds. Silver cloud patterns on Gu Qingzhou's dark brocade robe flickered in the candlelight. Fan Dazhi lifted his head from a plate of crystal pork knuckle, the grease at the corners of his mouth reflecting the twelve branching lamps, and muttered, "Brother Gu... it's not just the food that's good here. The wine is wonderful too-the best I've ever tasted! A hundred times better than what my dad brews!"
Before his words had faded, a scarlet-clad procession of serving maids filed in, their delicate hands bearing gilded food boxes, their wrists adorned with Vermilion Bird bracelets specially made by the Cui Family.
Gu Qingzhou flicked his emerald cup with a finger and said, "One cup of this Jade Dew Brew costs as much as a year's taxes from a hundred households in the Shu Region."
His eyes lowered. The amber wine rippled in his cup, seeming to reflect the toil-worn old farmers of the Shu Region. Beside him, Zhuge Guagua was so startled by his words that he nearly dropped his cup.
"I've already petitioned His Majesty to let me serve in the Ministry of Works..." Gu Qingzhou held a blue-and-white porcelain lid, gently turning it against his teacup. "On my way back from Langzhong, I passed through Tong Pass. Flooding along