Chapter 175: Ji Ge's Birthday (Part Two)

In Fang Chongyong's mind, the royal birthday banquet should be dull and oppressive.

The hall is divided into several tables, with different guests seated at their assigned places, not to overstep the rules.

Inside the banquet hall, everyone wears a false smile, sitting at a table with acquaintances or strangers, carefully weighing what to say and what not to say, while constantly watching for anyone eavesdropping nearby.

The food tastes like chewing wax, yet they eat the delicacies and sip various fine wines. Then they listen to Ji Ge's admonitions; the bold compose a poem, the flattering offer compliments.

After eating, everyone returns to their own homes, finds their own mothers, drops onto a bed to sleep, or goes to the latrine to vomit their fill.

However, on the day the banquet began, after Fang Chongyong had witnessed Ji Ge's extravagance and the realm of an artist, he was completely stunned!

In Xingqing Palace, a quarter of the grounds were set aside, with a flowing banquet laid out and a stage erected; the overall backdrop colors were primarily red, gold, and white. The Ministry of Works sent specialists who, using the palace's original structure as a blueprint, built new scenery, decorating the venue splendidly, full of Daoist elegance yet not lacking royal luxury.

The banquet opens each night and disperses at dawn, with lantern wheels and curtains reflecting each other, candlelight and golden light dazzling. Why say "every day"?

Because, according to rumor, Ji Ge is a devout Daoist who upholds the principle of "Nine Nine returns to One", this birthday banquet must last a full nine days!

As for why the banquet is held at night, it's simply because the lights are more dazzling, more artistic, and more to Ji Ge's taste. Other matters are beyond Ji Ge's consideration.

From the moment the palace gates open, dancers from the various wards of Chang'an appear, wearing diverse beautiful costumes, dancing on the prepared stage. The Pear Garden orchestra is divided into three groups; when one group tires of playing and singing, the next takes over.

Famous tunes from across the lands are performed in succession, with ever‑changing styles; no two hours sound the same!

Daylight loses its luster, while night is adorned to resemble day!

Nobles, officials, and even Western merchants entering to eat number over a thousand each day! Coming and going, in and out, like a bustling market!

That dreamlike, ethereal elegance, yet brimming with noisy, bustling vulgarity, two contradictory airs somehow merge perfectly. Those who reach this place seem infected by the marvelous yet absurd atmosphere, becoming bewildered, unrestrained, arrogant, their true natures laid bare!

Ji Ge accepts all guests, very magnanimous. Anyone with an invitation, regardless of status, may enter Xingqing Palace's banquet hall. As for security, Ji Ge simply does not believe anyone would attempt to assassinate him at this critical moment.

Everything was handed over to Chen Xuanli to handle, with no special instructions.

Those attending the banquet not only do not fear royal power, but each cannot help but indulge themselves, flinging wine onto others—such scoundrels are everywhere, caring not at all that the fine wines are worth a fortune. Moreover, many are drunk, and at the slightest disagreement they start to "play" with each other.

These reckless troublemakers are ultimately only chased out of Xingqing Palace by on‑duty soldiers of the Dragon Martial Army, receiving no substantive punishment at all.

Fang Chongyong sees a young man in princely attire seize a graceful dancer about to leave Xingqing Palace and kiss her; the dancer, unreserved, flirts back, and the two, in full view of the crowd, kiss and caress as if they might burst into flame, a scene too indecent to behold.

Later inquiries reveal that the prince appears to be Li Longji's sixteenth son, Prince Yong Li Lin.

Nevertheless, even such licentiousness only makes Ji Ge laugh heartily; he sends Gao Lishi over to "lecture" Prince Yong a few times, then ignores him.

Xingqing Palace originally had a small pond, one zhang by one zhang and several chi deep, as an annex to the pavilions. It was recently drained, replated with stone slabs, and filled with white wine brewed from grapes grown in the Northern Garden; its fragrance can be smelled from afar.

Guests who wish to drink simply take a wine jug and pour for themselves inside!

Li Bai is also here; Fang Chongyong sees him drinking wine while reciting poetry with a few scholar‑type figures, though the distance makes the words unclear. From their expressions they all seem a bit smug, and Li Bai even takes off his boots.

"Alas! What a glorious Tang era!"

Seeing the guests immersed, as if in a frenzy, Fang Chongyong suddenly feels he is a superfluous person.

"Why do you wear a frown at my birthday banquet?"

From beside Fang Chongyong, Ji Ge's teasing voice rang out.

"Please, holy one, forgive my offense."

Fang Chongyong reflexively crossed his hands, bowed, and saluted.

"Eh? Where is that from? Today those who deliberately splash wine on others I do not blame, so why would I blame you? Hahaha!"

Li Longji, seeming in a very good mood, pretended to be displeased and waved his hand casually.

He had just performed on stage, playing the piece "Guangling San"; now he is excited. While performing, his hair bun was already undone, and Ji Ge swayed his head, drunk on the music, as if returning to his youthful days.

"A celebration for the whole world—this is the true universal celebration."

Li Longji is very satisfied with the sixtieth‑birthday banquet, for it shows him a vision of a mortal illusion.

Ji Ge just wants to see others laugh, because he now almost never laughs genuinely!

Only when he sees outsiders' joy does he, infected by that emotion, unconsciously feel joy himself.

Suddenly, Fang Chongyong sees Li Longji's smile freeze, his muscles tighten, and his complexion grow increasingly grim.

The constantly rotating lantern wheel casts light and shadow of varying colors onto the Tang Emperor's face, seeming to hint at his inner struggle.

Following Ji Ge's gaze, Fang Chongyong spots a young man and a young woman standing at a low table, eating and chatting merrily.

"Alang, let me tell you, the cherry custard at this banquet is the best—ice‑cold and sweet. Once I pick it up I can't stop eating."

The speaker is the newly appointed Princess Consort of Longevity Wei Sanniang. Beside her stands the former husband of Yang Yuhuan, Prince of Longevity Li Chang. Wei Sanniang seems to have inexhaustible vitality; she can, in her own way, stir the once‑dead‑heart Prince of Longevity and make him feel human joys and sorrows.

In terms of looks, Wei Sanniang is far from the dazzling beauty of Yang Yuhuan. Yet her optimism, vigor, and innate childlike liveliness surpass what Yang Yuhuan can claim.

Nourished by love, Wei Sanniang shines with a mysterious, soaring aura; every smile and frown is uniquely charming, and Li Longji has not seen such a woman in a long time.

Amid the world's countless hardships, such a woman seems oblivious, or even if she knows, she does not care, simply enjoying the present good days with her heart.

It is as if, even knowing tomorrow they will be penniless, today they still happily lift their bowls, sit at the table, and eat heartily.

"It's already autumn; eating cold foods is bad for the body and can cause illness."

Prince of Longevity Li Chang softly says this to Wei Sanniang.

"Although it truly is bad for the body, it is delicious. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, just a bite lifts my spirits."

"Come, Alang, don't hide; let me feed you! No hiding! Open your mouth!"

Wei Sanniang giggles, scoops a full spoonful of cherry custard from a white porcelain bowl, and crudely shoves it into Prince of Longevity Li Chang's mouth.

After he finishes, his teeth chatter from the cold.

The two stare wordlessly; Wei Sanniang's eyes flutter, she throws a flirtatious glance at the Prince, then both laugh heartily, clasp each other's hands as if no one else is there, feeling the happiness they share, completely unaware that a person nearby watches them intently.

Watching their departing silhouettes, Li Longji's heart is deeply pierced!

"Why can they be so carefree! The one who should be celebrating the sixtieth birthday is clearly me!"

"Why can Wei Sanniang's smile be so beautiful and sincere?"

"Li Chang, that useless man, why does he always have a good woman? And I, who possess the whole world, why have none?"

Ji Ge feels as if flames are burning in his lower body; in his fury, the part of his body that had long lost vigor suddenly stirs to life.

"Why has no woman ever laughed like this before me? Why do they seem like sprites, offering charm only to be exploited?"

Why is there not a single woman who truly cares whether this Tang Emperor lives well or not, lives happily or not?

Why?

Why is it like this?

Li Longji tightly clenched his fists, staring fixedly at the back of Prince of Longevity Li Chang, his eyes filled with jealousy and resentment.

He recalled when, in Lingzhou back then, he rode a tall horse, bringing Yang Yuhuan to ride alongside him on horseback; when they grew tired from riding, they coupled in the grass, wanton and unrestrained, full of wild vitality.

How carefree, how joyful those days were!

Yet compared to this scene before him, he felt that something was missing there, and he could not figure out what exactly it was.

But Ji Ge knew that in some respects, he had already lost to this son he despised most: Prince of Longevity Li Chang.

No amount of gold can buy my happiness; what exactly is happiness? With so many concubines in the harem, are these women merely tools for bearing children?

For a moment, Ji Ge's heart filled with complex and contradictory emotions—jealousy, envy, regret, remorse, sorrow—he just wanted to burst into loud laughter and then weep bitterly.

But his facial expression gradually grew indifferent, eventually becoming as calm as a dead pool of water.

"You say, am I not a lonely, widowed ruler?"

Li Longji suddenly sighed and asked, without even glancing at Fang Chongyong, merely staring at the distant, towering, constantly turning lantern wheel in a daze.

"The Sage possesses all under heaven; where does the talk of being a lonely, widowed ruler come from?"

Fang Chongyong replied with cupped hands, carefully and respectfully; he of course knew why Ji Ge was unhappy.

Because Ji Ge saw in Prince of Longevity Li Chang and Wei Sanniang something called "true love," something he had never possessed and which is a luxury for all emperors.

Back then in Hexi, Ana Ye repeatedly wore a worried look, and diligently put leather armor on Fang's young master, seeing him off to war and standing guard at the city gate.

Just like the "deep affection for the old sword" spoken of by a certain Western Han emperor!

Emperor Xuan of Han was fortunate; he at least still had an "old sword," so he did not get lost under absolute power's control; whereas Ji Ge's misfortune lies in that, although he has many concubines, he does not even have a single "old sword."

But these words cannot be spoken, at least not now. Fang Chongyong, who has lived two lives, clearly knows when to preserve himself with prudence.

Misfortune comes from the mouth; at any time, one must suppress one's desire to show off.

"You are still young; you don't understand many things. You simply do not know what I have in mind."

Li Longji wearily waved his hand and said.

"Please forgive me, Sage; it is my inadequacy as a humble servant."

Fang Chongyong said, performing a salute with clasped fists.

"Go on, eat and drink more; if you take a fancy to any singing girl or dancer, just bring her back to play. Here, you may enjoy yourself however you wish."

Li Longji said weakly, then turned and left.

"Even the most honest person, if his wife is taken away twice, he will go mad.

Don't push the honest person."

Fang Chongyong looked at Ji Ge's back, let out a light sigh, muttering to himself, not knowing how to complain.

Hopefully, this time Ji Ge can suppress his desires and not stir up trouble.

……

"I have heard that the lantern wheel inside Xingqing Palace is several tens of zhang high! And there is supposedly a wine pool and meat forest, with food and drink endless—is that really true?"

Ana Ye widened her eyes in curiosity, gazing intensely at Fang Chongyong as she asked. Her expression seemed to say: "Tomorrow is the last day; please take me to see it!"

"I have seen more than once dancing girls inside being groped on the buttocks and stripped of their clothes. For a beauty like you, if you go in, your clothes will be torn off in the time it takes to burn an incense stick—better to stay out of it."

Fang Chongyong weakly waved his hand, stuffed a segment of a tribute orange from Hangzhou Fuyang County into Ana Ye's small mouth, plugging it so she could not continue speaking.

"Does the Sage not care about these matters at all?"

Wang Yunxiu ate an orange while furrowing her brow and asking.

At this banquet, many mishaps occurred—for example, someone actually drowned in the wine pool! Also, a dancing girl was taken out of Xingqing Palace; the two parties had not agreed on payment, and later the girl ran to the Jingzhao Prefecture office to file a report.

As for the women being groped at the banquet, that was even more commonplace; in such a frenzied, licentious banquet atmosphere, many people clapped and cheered.

"Sage… the Sage is probably just busy."

Fang Chongyong sighed; from this banquet he saw an omen of the Tang dynasty's downfall, but if he spoke of it now, probably no one would believe him.

"The first imperial exam is in two days; do you have confidence you can pass, my dear?"

Wang Yunxiu looked at Fang Chongyong with a puzzled expression and asked.

This person, since the start of Li Longji's longevity banquet, has not opened a book at all.

"On the river, one basket; in the well, a black hole. Yellow dog with white spots, white dog with swellings."

"Writing poetry is not difficult at all; I can just spit it out."

Fang Chongyong said boastfully.

"Your blind confidence—really…"

Wang Yunxiu painfully rubbed her temples, already speechless toward Fang Chongyong.

"By the way, what's the name of your family's younger male cousin?"

Fang Chongyong suddenly asked Wang Yunxiu a strange question.

"The younger male cousin? Li Kui?"

Wang Yunxiu recalled who it was; this younger male cousin of hers loves holding office, but ever since the last imperial exam, when the emperor declared that no one would be selected and he failed to pass, the exam has seen no progress.

It can be said that he fails year after year and takes the exam year after year.

"Please have him come over for a meal tomorrow; I have something to tell him."

Fang Chongyong smiled slightly and said.

Let's release this chapter for now; the next chapter will begin the next arc, with updates to come slowly.

(End of chapter)