Outside the tent, the moon shone bright among scattered stars. The lingering glow of lights across the city outlined a splendid, exotic scene found only beyond the frontier.
Two elderly musicians of refined bearing played a three-stringed instrument and a small drum beside the tent.
Ding, dong, dong~~
Six veiled beauties danced across the red-and-gold carpet. Gauze fluttered and flowing sleeves swayed, lending the brightly lit tent an air of dreamlike extravagance.
Fan Qinghe had changed into her High Priest Garment, red gauze over a pale gold lining. Her hair was arranged in a solemn style, with two gold hairpins inserted at an angle behind her head. She sat upright behind the main table, her expression far more proper and serious than usual.
Ye Jingtang sat behind a small table on the right, with exquisite dishes and a painted porcelain wine pot before him, watching the singing and dancing attentively.
Niao Niao, however, had no interest in watching beauties dance. A round head poked out from behind the little table, snatching a piece of meat whenever no one was looking. Whenever someone glanced over, Niao Niao would bob and sway, pretending to hum along.
Fan Qinghe had ordered Perfected Person Xuanji off to bed, but naturally she refused and followed Ye Jingtang without being asked. Now she was even sitting beside him, periodically filling his cup and placing it in his hand-not out of wifely consideration, but because Ye Jingtang had no particular craving for wine, while hugging a wine pot and drinking alone in public would hardly look respectable. She therefore urged him to raise his cup in toasts, giving her a perfectly reasonable excuse to drink along.
As a result, the sound of exchanged toasts never ceased inside the tent. Before long, however, the Dongming Tribe elders seated