ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 121

A few days later, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching. Li Zhizhi got up early and saw the Grand Princess sitting in the flower hall, holding an invitation in her hand. There was a thick stack beside her. Surprised, Li Zhizhi said, “Why are there so many?”

“This one is from the General of Wu Wei’s residence,” the Grand Princess raised the invitation in her hand and pointed to the others, saying, “These are from the Duke’s residence, the Marquis’ residence, the Prince Ning’s residence…”

Suddenly, she smiled and said, “Speaking of which, would you accompany me to Hui Xian Tower tonight? They’ve introduced a new wine, and we can try it.”

Li Zhizhi naturally agreed, “I’ll follow your arrangements.”

By evening, as the sun set, the Grand Princess took Li Zhizhi and rode to Hui Xian Tower. The carriage rumbled down the long street, and Li Zhizhi lifted the curtain to take a look outside. Because of the festival, the streets were particularly lively. The taverns on both sides were calling out about their new wine, and the crowds bustled with noise.

The Grand Princess noticed her observing and smiled, saying, “These are all ordinary wines. If we’re talking about new wine, Hui Xian Tower is unmatched. While other taverns’ new wines sell for three to five days, theirs only sells for one day and then it’s gone.”

By the time they arrived at Hui Xian Tower, the sky had darkened. Lanterns were hung in front of the tavern, and colorful paper decorations adorned the place. The most eye-catching was a large wine flag, over ten feet wide, with a giant character for “wine” written on it. The tavern’s entrance was crowded with carriages, nearly blocking the road. Li Zhizhi and the Grand Princess had to walk the rest of the way.

Once inside, a waiter led them to a private room on the second floor. As they went upstairs, Li Zhizhi suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to her in surprise, “Zhizhi!”

She turned to see a young girl in a goose-yellow outfit standing there, smiling and waving at her—it was Su Tangyu, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Li Zhizhi was also surprised. The Grand Princess noticed and smiled, saying, “You go chat with your friend first; I’ll head over.”

Li Zhizhi nodded, and once the Grand Princess left, she asked Su Tangyu, “Why are you here?”

“Hui Xian Tower has new wine today,” Su Tangyu replied with a smile, “Who in the capital wouldn’t come?”

She then suddenly sighed and said, a bit regretfully, “What a pity!”

“What’s wrong?”

Su Tangyu sighed and explained, “My second brother has been sick for the past few days; otherwise, he would have come today as well.”

Upon hearing this, Li Zhizhi grew concerned and asked, “Is the second young master alright?”

Su Tangyu replied, “It’s an old ailment. Every time the season changes, it’s the same. He wasn’t feeling well a few days ago, but he still attended that gathering. I tried to persuade him not to, but he wouldn’t listen…”

Li Zhizhi recalled that during the gathering, Su Qingshang seemed to have been coughing a lot. So, it turned out he wasn’t well. But if he was feeling unwell, why did he still attend? She thought back to his behavior that day—it seemed like he wasn’t particularly interested in the event.

While she was puzzled, Su Tangyu spoke again in a low voice, “Did you see that person when you came up?”

Li Zhizhi instinctively asked, “Who?”

Su Tangyu hesitated before furrowing her brows and said, “That… person.”

Seeing her expression, Li Zhizhi suddenly understood, “You mean Song Lingyun?”

Su Tangyu nodded, her face showing a hint of disgust as she said, “He came to my house a while ago, and my older brother had him thrown out. I thought he’d given up, but I saw him downstairs just now. He’s really like a ghost that won’t leave.”

Li Zhizhi was shocked, “Could it be that he’s still trying to pursue you…”

Su Tangyu bit her lower lip, nodded slightly, and said with a somewhat irritated tone, “I really don’t want to see him.”

Li Zhizhi, hearing this, comforted her with a few words and then said, “Just ignore him. Usually, don’t go anywhere alone, always take a few servants with you, just in case.”

Su Tangyu agreed. The two chatted for a while, and then Li Zhizhi suddenly noticed a group of people coming downstairs. The woman leading them wore a crimson dress, with her hair styled in a bun secured by a golden hairpin. Though beautiful, her eyes and brows exuded an air of arrogance.

In a low voice, Su Tangyu said, “That’s Xiao Man. She’s here too.”

Perhaps noticing the gaze from this side, Xiao Man suddenly looked up. Li Zhizhi didn’t avoid her gaze, and the two locked eyes across the railing. After a moment, Xiao Man suddenly smiled—a smile that could only be described as friendly.

Su Tangyu was taken aback and exclaimed, “Is that really Xiao Man? I’ve known her for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve seen her smile like that at someone…”

She couldn’t help but rub her arms and said, “It gives me the chills.”

Li Zhizhi chuckled and said, “I feel the same.”

There must be something strange when things go against the norm, especially with someone like Xiao Man, who is sweet-talking but treacherous. The more friendly she appeared, the more people should steer clear of her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Li Zhizhi spotted a somewhat familiar figure among the drinkers in the main hall. Dressed in a light moon-white brocade robe and holding a folding fan, who could it be if not Song Lingyun?

She reminded Su Tangyu, “You should head back to the private room.”

Su Tangyu followed her gaze, immediately took a step back, and whispered, “Alright, I’ll go now.”

After saying their goodbyes, Li Zhizhi headed toward the private room where the Grand Princess was. This Hui Xian Tower was quite large, with private rooms on both sides, some doors slightly ajar. Li Zhizhi spotted many familiar faces. As the Grand Princess had said, this new wine from Hui Xian Tower was quite famous, highly sought after by officials and dignitaries.

When Li Zhizhi arrived at the private room, the Grand Princess was looking at the menu. She had ordered many dishes to go with the wine, as well as various kinds of wine. Li Zhizhi couldn’t help but say, “Mother, just the two of us can’t finish all this, can we?”

With so much wine, wouldn’t they get drunk? Especially since she wasn’t very good at drinking.

The Grand Princess, however, smiled and said, “It’s your first time here, so we must enjoy ourselves. Besides, who said it’s just the two of us?”

Hearing this, Li Zhizhi was a bit surprised, “Besides us, who else is coming? Is it A’yang?”

The Grand Princess couldn’t help but laugh, “A’yang can’t even drink.”

Li Zhizhi instinctively thought of someone else, “Then it’s…?”

The Grand Princess raised her eyebrows slightly, her phoenix eyes narrowing. Li Zhizhi suddenly realized this expression looked very familiar—just like Xiao Yan’s—and her heart skipped a beat.

“Are you thinking of Xiao Wu?” The Grand Princess closed the menu, smiling, “There’s a Mid-Autumn banquet in the palace tonight. He and A’yang have to attend, so they can’t make it.”

A while later, Li Zhizhi found out that the person coming was Yang Jun, who was still dressed in her usual men’s attire. Upon entering, she immediately apologized, “I’m late. Please don’t hold it against me, Grand Princess.”

“No matter,” the Grand Princess said with a smile, “Have a seat. Why are you alone? Where’s your brother?”

Yang Jun giggled and replied, “He’s still on the road, arguing with someone. I was worried you’d be waiting too long, so I came ahead.”

“Arguing?” Li Zhizhi asked curiously, “What happened?”

Yang Jun slapped her thigh and said, “Right at the entrance of the restaurant, wasn’t that place crowded with many carriages? It was already too narrow, and someone was particularly rude, insisting we move our carriage to make room for him. He spoke very impolitely, and Yang Shen ended up arguing with them.”

Hearing this, the Grand Princess frowned and asked, “Who was so arrogant?”

Yang Jun thought for a moment and said, “I don’t really recognize him, but I remember he had a mole on his face, right in the philtrum area.”

Li Zhizhi immediately spoke up, “It was the heir of Prince Ning.”

The three of them waited a while longer, and even though the food and wine had already started arriving, Yang Shen still hadn’t shown up. Li Zhizhi then stood up and said, “Mother, I’ll go check on him, okay?”

The Grand Princess nodded, and Yang Jun quickly added, “I’ll go with you.”

The two of them left the private room together and headed downstairs. However, when they arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, they didn’t see Yang Shen anywhere. Li Zhizhi asked one of the staff members, who slapped his forehead and said, “Oh, you’re talking about that young master? He seemed to have gotten into an argument with someone, and when he couldn’t win, he was taken away.”

Li Zhizhi and Yang Jun exchanged glances, then asked the staff member carefully, “Where was he taken?”

The staff member didn’t know either and only mentioned that they went back inside the building, but he wasn’t sure which private room they went to. Li Zhizhi then found the manager and asked for the location of the room reserved by Prince Ning’s household. Yang Jun was a bit frustrated and said, “Yang Shen is so stubborn, always sticking to his principles. I’m afraid he’s in trouble now. If I had known this would happen, I should’ve let him go first.”

Li Zhizhi comforted her with a few words, but as she thought about Xiao Wen’s nature, her mood grew heavy. When they followed the restaurant staff to the private room and knocked on the door, Yang Shen was indeed inside. Not only that, but Xiao Wen, Li Suwan, and Xiao Man were also there.

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