Chapter 105: Music and Feast

  At this time, Yiyue stood up and, facing the Prince of Jingling with his hands clasped together, said loudly: "The banquet is about to begin, can you compose a poem?"

  Does he mean it's time for dinner and can we order songs?

  As a foreign guest, you can proactively ask the musicians to play a certain section of Shi Jing to celebrate, and express your own intentions and political ideas.

  This is prevalent among the vassals.

  The Duke of Jingling nodded and said, "Alright."

  "Good."

  After expressing his gratitude, he turned to the musicians at the corner of the hall and said loudly: "Please sing 'Zhou Nan - Tao Yao'."

  As soon as the voice drops, the music starts.

  The music this time, with a few points of lightness, a few points of grandeur, and a few points of spring's elegance, came floating in. In the music, a musician stood up and sang in a slow and strange rhythm: "The peach tree is luxuriant, its flowers are resplendent. Its branches stretch far and wide, suitable for a family to live in. The peach tree is luxuriant, with abundant fruit. Its branches stretch far and wide, suitable for a family to live in. The peach tree is luxuriant, its leaves dense and lush. Its branches stretch far and wide, suitable for the people of the household."

  This is the music that people like to play when sending off a bride. It tells the groom's family, with its repetitive and smooth rhythm, how beautiful their daughter-in-law is, as bright as a peach blossom, how excellent and good at giving birth she is, and how she can bring more wealth and dignity to his family.

  It is obvious that at this point in time, the Yue people sang this song to actually promote the marriage of the Princess of Yue to the Prince of Zheng.

  At the same time, they asked for a performance of this song to send off the bride under the circumstances that the Duke of Jingling had already refused the marriage.

  The music and singing started, and it was time to eat. Wei Luo listened for a moment, saw that someone had finally picked up their chopsticks, so she also quickly lowered her head, picked up her chopsticks and took some meat from the dishes on the table.

  The meat was cooked to perfection, and with one clip, a piece of golden, oily wild boar meat landed in her chopsticks. Wei Luo smelled the strong aroma of the meat and swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva, then quickly picked up her chopsticks and swallowed it down.

  As soon as the meat entered her mouth, she felt Jingling Gongzi's body slightly leaning back and closer to her. Then, his low, slightly mocking voice came, "Wei Luo, with such a strong emotion, how do you plan to deal with it?"

  Wei Luo was still savoring the big mouthful of meat, when he suddenly heard this question. He hastily swallowed three times and then twice more, before responding somewhat unclearly: "Young Master has his own judgment, Luo doesn't know either."

  Weiluo's response was indeed mediocre. Such matters originally belonged to the domain of the Duke of Jingling, and a guest like Weiluo could have refrained from participating.

  However, Wei Luo had just finished speaking when Jinling Gongzi let out a dissatisfied hum.

  He hummed and sat up straight in Wei Luo's stunned gaze, no longer paying attention to her.

  Wei Luo picked up the wine jug on the table, took a big gulp of wine, swished it around in her mouth, and swallowed. At this moment, the slightly sour and sweet taste was just right for rinsing her mouth.

  After swallowing the greasy oil in her mouth, she stared at the back of Jinling's head with a pair of bright black eyes. Under the bright light of the luxurious lamp, his long hair was tied up with a crown, emitting a shiny and oily luster. From her angle, only his extremely broad shoulders could be seen, as well as that side face which was in the dark and was incredibly handsome.

  Wei Luo stared at his profile for a while, unable to help but pout and utter a few meaningless monosyllables. She thought to herself: Could it be that sitting in such a position, one can't eat meat like this? He sounds dissatisfied with me.

  The melody repeated three times and then slowly faded away.

  The music faded away, and the grand hall became much quieter. Many nobles were gazing at the Marquis of Jingling with their eyes. Among these gazes, several Yuezhi women and those noblewomen on the right side were the most tense.

  Wei Luo glanced at the noblewomen, and except for Yu Nu, almost all of them were gazing longingly at Jing Ling Gongzi, their eyes filled with infatuation.

  She watched with great interest, looking left and right, sizing him up with relish.

  As she looked up, her gaze met a pair of large and charming eyes. It was an eighteen or nineteen-year-old beautiful and plump young woman. The young woman locked eyes with Wei Luo, then raised an eyebrow and flirtatiously batted her eyelashes at her several times. Wei Luo was initially startled, but then almost burst out laughing. She quickly lowered her head to avoid the suggestive gaze of this woman named Yu Niang.

  Among the crowd's anticipation, the young master of Jingling clapped his hands together with a "pa pa pa" sound. In the slow and clear applause, his smiling voice floated out, "Great music! You sang in perfect harmony."

  This is a praise of music workers.

  At this moment, those laborers simultaneously bowed their heads and knelt down to thank the young master for his praise.

  The Duke of Jingling turned his head and met a group of Yue people.

  His gaze swept over the face of Princess Yue, whose expression was full of deep feeling. His thin lips curled up slightly as he smiled faintly before turning to the envoy beside her and saying loudly: "However, this is a wedding song! This song should have been heard by Zhenling three years ago. Hearing it now, the meaning is not right!"

  As soon as the words fell, Princess Yue's face turned white as paper, and her body swayed, almost falling to one side. The various Vietnamese women behind her also showed disappointment and sadness on their faces.

  Including other Vietnamese people inside, their faces also looked ugly at this time.

  Among the dignitaries, a buzzing murmur of discussion also arose.

  It's clear that the words of Jingling Gongzi are a refusal, he is telling everyone that since the passing of Yu Gongzhu three years ago, the wedding song that belongs to him has not been played again. As for the current Yu Di Gongzhu, she does not meet his expectations and he is unwilling to keep her.

  This approach is quite inhumane.

  Generally speaking, a princess of such noble birth cannot be bestowed upon him by the king, and if she were to enter his palace voluntarily, it would mean that she has lowered her own status. What she is seeking is merely the position of one of his concubines. This position can be said to be one of his wives, but absolutely not a formal wife produced by careful marriage between two countries.

  It can even be said that once a noble princess such as herself enters his estate and becomes his person, she can no longer represent her home country. Now, she is merely a beautiful and noble woman seeking to be taken in by him.

  Nowadays, the beauty of Yu'e Gongzhu is flourishing, and everyone has taken it in their eyes. Her beauty and that of the accompanying maids are extremely rare in the entire Xin Tian, and they are indeed top-notch goods. However, with such beauty, the Jinling Gongzi remains unmoved, allowing the beauties to be heartbroken like this, really, a bit ruthless.

  Under the gaze of many people, amidst the buzzing discussions, the young master of Jingling lazily withdrew his gaze, and a calm expression returned to his handsome face.

  Wei Luo looked at his dark profile and thought: The Marquis of Yuanshang had married off both of his daughters, which was a sign of contempt towards him.

  The insult to himself didn't need to be mentioned, but what's even more outrageous is that the eldest princess was married off without him knowing beforehand. This kind of insult might make many men forget after seeing the beauty of the eldest princess, but Jingling Gongzi was different. He looked down on the world and wasn't lecherous, so he couldn't tolerate it and refused.

  Of course, maybe there's another meaning deeper down, but Wei Luo couldn't figure it out for the time being.

  As everyone fell silent, the Duke of Jingling burst out laughing. He raised his wine cup and swung it at the crowd, saying in a loud voice: "A good day with beautiful scenery, with wine and meat, how can we waste it? My little son behind me has already started rumbling with hunger, chomping away! Let's eat!"

  What did he say?

  He actually said, 'The little ones behind me have already rumbling in their bellies and are chomping at the bit.'

  Weiluo's mouth and eyes widened in shock as she stared at the back of Jingling Gongzi's head, while the nobles shifted their gaze from Yu Ren to Weiluo, accompanied by bursts of laughter, whispers, cheers, and clinking glasses.

  Wei Luo stared blankly at the joyful diners, looked down at the towering piles of food and wine on the tables, and suddenly realized that every time she moved her chopsticks, snickering sounds would come from the crowd. With another movement, someone else started snickering.

  At last, she blushed and her face turned bright red. After drinking a few mouthfuls of wine, Wei Luo put down her chopsticks and puffed out her chest, looking sulky.

  Ah, finally, Yue Ji has made it onto the subscription list! I'm so thrilled! This list is the most important one, it represents everyone's recognition of this book, and means that they like it and are willing to subscribe to it. Hehehe, I'm truly overjoyed.