When the crown prince held out his wine cup, Gu Moran was stuffing a third piece of braised pork hock into his mouth.
He chewed the glistening meat twice, then looked up to see Gu Moyuan standing before him. His crown prince's ceremonial robes were perfectly neat, and the jade clasp on his belt gleamed coldly in the candlelight.
His wine cup was held perfectly steady, and so was his smile.
Gu Moran swallowed the meat and wiped the grease from his fingers with a handkerchief.
"Eldest brother, you came to toast me in person. Your little brother is overwhelmed by the honor."
He picked up his cup from the table and deliberately swayed as he stood, as though he were already a little drunk.
Gu Moyuan extended his cup.
"On your wedding day, third brother, how could I, your eldest brother, not come and say a few words?"
The two cups met with a crisp clink.
Gu Moran tipped his head back and drained his.
Gu Moyuan did the same, but instead of leaving after he set down his cup, he glanced to the side.
His gaze went toward the brides' table.
Six figures in red sat there, the gold embroidery on their robes dazzling in the candlelight.
"Third brother, you've really turned the capital upside down this time."
Gu Moyuan spoke just loudly enough for everyone within three zhang of the main table to hear.
"The chancellor's daughter, the grand commandant's daughter, the granddaughter of the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, the daughter of the Imperial Academy's chancellor, and a princess sent from the Northern Territory for a marriage alliance."
He counted them off on his fingers and stopped at the fifth.
He didn't raise a sixth finger.
But one corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"And the Flower-Between Pavilion's top courtesan."
He set those words apart from the others.
The first five were identities; the last was an origin.
The order itself was a warning blow.
"Half the factions at court have become your in-laws, third brother."
At those words, the chopsticks around the main table all stopped at once.
Chancellor Su Wenyuan's eyelid twitched.
Grand Commandant Lin Zhenshan's hand paused on his wine cup.
At the secondary table on the left, Consort Xian shifted her gaze from the crown prince to Gu Moran's face, then back again.
Gu Moran wore an expression everyone in the capital knew.
One eyebrow raised, his mouth stretched into a grin, his whole face said, "What are you talking about?"
"Eldest brother, what are you saying?"
He patted his chest, his voice three times louder than the crown prince's, loud enough to make the people at the next table turn and look.
"I'm just a lecher. What does that have to do with the court?"
He took another gulp of wine and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"My greatest ambition in life is to drink with beauties in my arms. Just hearing about court affairs gives me a headache. Eldest brother, you can put your mind completely at ease."
He gave the crown prince a thumbs-up.
"You're the one meant for great things, eldest brother!"
His words were too loud, too blunt, too lacking in guile.
So blunt that the old foxes around the table had no easy answer.
Gu Moyuan held his smile for two breaths.
"You jest, third brother."
Smiling, he stepped back, cupped his hands, and returned to the princes' table.
As he passed the second prince, Gu Mochen, their eyes met briefly.
Gu Mochen held his wine cup and gave the crown prince a slight nod.
After the crown prince had gone some distance, Gu Mochen lowered his head and took a sip of wine.
His gaze passed over the rim of his cup toward Gu Moran, lingered for a moment, then withdrew.
An adviser behind him leaned half a step forward. His lips had just moved when Gu Mochen tapped his wine cup lightly with his forefinger.
The adviser withdrew.
He said nothing.
Gu Moran saw it all.
He stuffed another piece of pork hock into his mouth and chewed until his lips were greasy, looking utterly uninvolved in the political undercurrents at the table.
But between bites, his gaze remained fixed on the system panel in the upper right corner.
[Analysis of Crown Prince Gu Moyuan's toast: a probe intended to publicly label the host as "seizing power through marriage alliances" and make the court officials wary of the host.]
Fine.
Let him slap on another label. Gu Moran had enough of them already; one more made no difference.
He put the panel away and glanced at the brides' table.
The scene there was ten times more interesting than the one at the main table.
Su Yao sat in the seat of honor, her back straight as a ruler. The bowls and dishes before her were arranged neatly, her chopsticks rested on their stand, and she hadn't touched a bite.
Beside her, Shen Ling'er poked the osmanthus cake in front of her, glanced at the other five, then poked it again.
Murong Xue was locked in a struggle with the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
She reached for her chopsticks and made two attempts to pick up an abalone, but it slipped away.
She tried twice more, and it slipped away again.
She tossed the chopsticks aside and grabbed it with her hand.
Clutching the whole abalone in her five fingers, she took a large bite.
Su Yao glanced over from the corner of her eye and pressed her lips together, but said nothing.
Shen Ling'er tilted her head, looked at the abalone in Murong Xue's hand, and smiled.
"Sister Murong, would you like me to teach you how to use chopsticks?"
Murong Xue glanced at her.
"No need. My hands work better than those two sticks."
"But using your hands will make them dirty."
"Wolves on the grasslands don't fuss over such things when they eat meat."
On the other side, Liu Ruyan sat quietly, holding a cup of wine. She neither drank it nor put it down, just held it there with her eyes lowered.
Beside her, Lin Qingdai sat with her arms crossed and her chair tilted back two inches. She hadn't eaten a bite or drunk a drop, and her face plainly said: I'm not happy, so nobody had better bother me.
Xie Wanqing sat at the very end, quietly doing one thing ever since the feast began.
Pouring tea.
She poured a cup for Su Yao, who didn't look at her.
She poured one for Shen Ling'er, who smiled and thanked her.
She poured one for Murong Xue, who picked it up, drained it in one gulp, and thumped the cup down on the table.
She poured one for Liu Ruyan, who gave a slight nod.
She poured one for Lin Qingdai, who clicked her tongue but accepted it and drank.
Five people, five cups of tea, five different reactions.
Xie Wanqing committed them all to memory, her expression unchanged from beginning to end.
Gu Moran watched from three tables away, tapping his chopsticks twice against the rim of his bowl.
The six women sat at the same table, harmonious on the surface but divided at heart.
But Shen Ling'er was making friends, while Xie Wanqing waited on everyone.
Those two took a different approach from the other four.
He picked up his fourth cup of wine and knocked it back.
The steward, Uncle Fu, leaned close and whispered, "Your Highness, slow down. That was your fourth cup."
"Not enough." Gu Moran belched. "It's my wedding day. I can't very well stop short of seven or eight cups."
He knocked back three more in succession. A flush spread across his face at just the right moment, and he slumped crookedly against the back of his chair, the very picture of a drunken wastrel.
But beneath the table, his hand clutched several handkerchiefs.
He had secretly spat four of the seven cups of wine into them.
The feast continued.
People came to toast him in wave after wave. Gu Moran refused none of them and drained every cup, repeating the same few pleasantries over and over.
"Oh, Lord Wang, you're too kind."
"Lord Li, you flatter me, you flatter me."
"Many thanks, many thanks. I'll treat you to a drink another day."
Every word was empty, and every word maintained his persona to perfection.
More than halfway through the feast, Noble Consort Chen rose from her seat at the head of the hall.
She walked over to the brides' table, and all six brides rose and bowed.
"Please, sit."
Noble Consort Chen's gaze passed over the six faces one by one, finally settling on Su Yao.
"Is the food not to your taste? Why haven't you touched your chopsticks?"
Su Yao answered with perfect composure.
"Mother Consort, I'm not very hungry."
Noble Consort Chen smiled and asked no more, turning to Shen Ling'er.
"Ling'er, at least, seems to be enjoying her food."
Shen Ling'er had half a piece of osmanthus cake in her mouth and mumbled, "Mother Consort, these cakes are delicious."
"Then have more."
She glanced at Murong Xue.
Murong Xue was still clutching the abalone, her fingers covered in grease.
Noble Consort Chen said nothing, merely having the palace maid behind her hand Murong Xue a handkerchief.
Murong Xue accepted it, wiped her hands, and tucked it into her sleeve.
Tucking a handkerchief used to wipe one's hands into one's sleeve was, according to the etiquette of the Central Plains, equivalent to accepting something from its owner, and counted as acknowledging her as an elder.
The corners of Noble Consort Chen's mouth curved up.
She paused when she reached Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan rose and bowed, her posture flawless.
Noble Consort Chen looked at her and spoke.
"The courtyards at the prince's residence are spacious. Go out and walk around more from now on."
Liu Ruyan's eyelashes fluttered.
"Yes. Thank you, Mother Consort."
Noble Consort Chen turned and returned to her seat at the head of the hall.
She neither stopped nor looked at Gu Moran as she passed his table, but in that instant, her lips moved slightly.
Gu Moran understood what she mouthed.
Two words: not bad.
By the time the feast ended, it was pitch-dark.
Three rows of lanterns hung outside the Hall of Heavenly Favor, stretching from its doors all the way to the palace gates, their flames lighting the entire road.
Guests walked out in twos and threes, some discussing the food, others talking about the six brides' looks.
Even more were chewing over the crown prince's words: "Half the factions at court have become your in-laws, third brother."
Four servants supported Gu Moran as he made his way out, unsteady on his feet and still muttering, "Another cup. I can still drink."
The six brides had already been escorted to their carriages by their respective maids.
The six carriages formed a line and set off from the Hall of Heavenly Favor, traveling across half the imperial city toward Prince Yi's Residence.
Their wheels rumbled over the flagstones.
The six carriages kept an even distance from one another, none hurrying or lagging behind.
But behind every curtain, a pair of eyes peered out through a gap.
Each looked in a different direction.
Su Yao looked at the moon.
Shen Ling'er looked at the roadside vendors.
Murong Xue looked at the soldiers patrolling atop the city walls.
Liu Ruyan looked at the pedestrians on the street.
Lin Qingdai looked at her own fist.
Xie Wanqing looked at the back of the carriage ahead.
When they returned to the residence, Gu Moran stood on the stone steps in the front courtyard and watched the six carriages come to a stop in turn.
Supported by their respective maids, the six brides entered six separate courtyards.
The Clear Frost Courtyard, the Green Vine Courtyard, the Azure Wolf Courtyard, the Misty Waters Courtyard, the Iron Plum Courtyard, and the Tranquil Ink Courtyard.
The six courtyard gates closed one after another, and six red lanterns swayed above their respective entrances.
The steward, Uncle Fu, came over, rubbing his hands, his expression more bitter than if he'd eaten goldthread.
"Your Highness, tonight... which lady's chamber will you visit first?"
Gu Moran looked toward the six courtyards.
Six lanterns, six directions, six personalities, six negative numbers.
He patted Uncle Fu on the shoulder.
"Let's go to Su Yao's place first."
Uncle Fu retreated, nodding and bowing.
A notification from the system popped up in the upper-right corner of his vision.
[Friendly reminder: Su Yao's current favorability: -67. Emotional state: extremely resistant. The host is advised to prepare something for self-defense.]
Gu Moran glanced at the line of text and reached out to close the panel.
The night wind blew through the six courtyards, setting the red lanterns above the gates swaying nonstop.
He straightened his collar and headed toward Clear Frost Courtyard.