Chapter 503: Take this punch from me, Chai Zhengzheng! [Thank you! Thank you again! Owed]

Inside the great hall,

Only the chief and deputy envoys of the Northern Liao and Jin Kingdom delegations were qualified to sit within, using pure gold *zhi* (wine bowls with curved handles), just like the high-ranking nobles and officials.

Other Jin Kingdom nobles and Northern Liao aristocratic youths who followed, such as Zhao Weigan and Han Honglie,

could only, like the low-ranking civil and military officials of the Great Zhou,

sit in the verandas on both sides outside the hall and use silver *zhi*.

When Xu Zaijing and the others marched out of the colorful canopy in formation,

in the verandas on both sides, whether it was the Great Zhou civil and military officials or this group of Jin Kingdom military nobles and Northern Liao aristocratic youths, all were attracted by the momentum and attire of the group, and they performed a gaze of respect.

When the music began to play in the colorful canopy,

Xu Zaijing and the hundred-plus people began to hum in low voices, and the strong men in the army blew the horns used on the battlefield with all their might,

in the verandas,

some people brought their silver wine bowls to their lips but forgot to sip,

some had their chopsticks stop over the dishes without picking up food,

and others stopped chewing while they had food in their mouths,

all listening intently to the singing coming from the hall.

When the song ended,

Zhao Weigan, Han Honglie, and the others sitting in the verandas applauded just like the Jin Kingdom nobles.

As the applause subsided slightly,

the Northern Liao aristocratic youths looked at each other, their eyes full of unclear expressions. Zhao Weigan held up his wine bowl and said softly:

"Zhang Zhang Sanlang, in previous years of such celebrations in the Great Zhou, were there often such unison songs?"

Liu Jun, Liu Zhang Sanlang, looked at the dishes on the table and said: "If such a vigorous unison song had been heard by the elders in the family, they would certainly have written it down or told us juniors about it!"

"But—"

Saying this, Liu Zhang Sanlang shook his head.

Han Honglie, who was to the side, said: "Previously, the Great Zhou's conquests of Bai Gao mostly didn't take advantage, and there were no feats of destroying a nation, so how could such a unison song appear."

The others nodded one after another, and looked at the Jin Kingdom delegation not far away with some resentment: 'If it weren't for the Jin Kingdom causing trouble in the east of Northern Liao, the Great Zhou would never have recovered its lost territory so easily.'

At this moment,

a rustling sound of walking came from the square in front of the hall, and from time to time, the crisp voices of girls could be heard.

Inside the hall,

Xu Zaijing and the others, who had finished the unison song, walked to the vicinity of the Emperor in order of their military rank.

The Emperor looked at the crowd not far away, nodded with a face full of smiles, and said: "I originally thought you were going to sing a song similar to the previous one, but I didn't expect it to be very good!"

"I heard this was your idea again, kid?"

The second sentence was directed at Xu Zaijing in front.

Xu Zaijing bowed and cupped his hands: "Replying to Your Majesty, yes! I was also... moved by the occasion!"

The Emperor continued to nod with a smile:

"Good! Reward them well after you go down."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The great eunuch to the side bowed and responded.

"We, your subjects, take our leave."

Cao Yi, who was standing on one side of Xu Zaijing, was the first to bow and cup his hands in a salute.

"We, your subjects, take our leave!"

Afterwards, the hundred-plus people bowed and shouted in unison, and under the gaze of the Emperor and the various dukes, marquises, and earls, they slowly retreated outwards.

When they arrived at the entrance of the hall,

the speed at which the team went out slowed down, as if there was some 'congestion' ahead.

Xu Zaijing, who was walking at the end, felt a gaze. When he turned his head, he saw Rulan, who was sitting behind Wang Ruofu, smiling and waving at him.

After Xu Zaijing nodded to the Sheng family to show his respects, he followed the pace of the people in front.

After exiting the hall door,

only then did he discover that in front of their team, there was a group of more than four hundred girls, larger in scale than their team, lining up outside the hall.

Most of these girls were fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing flower crowns and colorful dresses with cinched waists, dressed very flamboyantly. Being able to participate in the grand ceremony in the palace, their appearance and posture had been carefully selected, and all were beauties.

Especially the four girls holding colorful sticks standing at the very front of the four rows of girls, who had the demeanor of beauties chosen from ten thousand.

Seeing Xu Zaijing and the others walk out of the hall, the girls lost their usual shyness, standing in the crowd of girls and looking at them wantonly.

There were even bold girls who pointed at Di Jing and the others from time to time and covered their mouths to laugh.

You must know, this fellow Di Jing was born quite handsome.

In the team of Xu Zaijing and the others,

there were guards and officers who were usually uninhibited,

but at this moment, feeling the ocean of girls, the gazes of hundreds of girls, especially those of the four girls holding colorful sticks at the very front,

they all looked a bit shy, awkward, and embarrassed.

The girls at the very front of these four rows had the best demeanor. When they saw Di Jing,

two of them just wanted to speak,

but their gazes swept to Xu Zaijing, who was walking at the very end, and these two immediately closed their mouths.

When Xu Zaijing approached, three of the four girls shouted in crisp and pleasant voices: "Young Master, Qiyun Tower's Chun Nu, offers her respects."

"Young Master, your servant from Feiyun Terrace, Lin Xiange, offers her respects."

"Young Master, your servant from Qianchun Tower, Li Qiange, offers her respects."

Hearing the voices of the three girls, the Western Army soldiers walking in front turned their heads one after another to look at Xu Zaijing, and some even laughed and teased.

Xu Zaijing, listening to the voices of the three girls introducing themselves, also nodded with a smile, quite caught off guard.

The girls in the four rows behind, hearing the most outstanding girls in front introduce themselves, all looked at Xu Zaijing curiously.

When Xu Zaijing looked over, this group of girls laughed softly one after another, and some bold ones said softly: "Young Master, which family are you from?"

"Yes, Young Master, where do you live?"

Hearing these questions,

among this group of Western Army captains, someone said: "That is the Fifth Young Master of the Marquis Yongyi's Mansion!"

"Ah?"

"Hey~"

Hearing this, the girls sighed one after another, either with regret or disbelief.

If it were an ordinary military captain, they might still have a chance to 'get close to the fragrance' and enter the door as a concubine or something!

But for this young master of the Marquis's mansion, they were afraid they couldn't even get close to the threshold.

When Xu Zaijing walked out,

the girls outside the hall were also led by the four girls holding colorful sticks into the grand ceremony.

Music with a brisk rhythm began to play in the colorful canopy.

The Western Army comrade walking in front of Xu Zaijing turned his head and said: "Fifth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, where are these girls from?"

Looking back at the graceful figures of the girls entering the hall one after another,

Xu Zaijing said: "They should be the outstanding girls from the families of musicians and courtesans in the east and west wards of the city."

"Oh."

"After the grand ceremony ends in the afternoon, these girls will leave at the Nanmen of the Imperial City." Xu Zaijing continued.

"Oh!"

Hearing this, the crowd began to whisper to each other.

Returning to the colorful canopy in the square outside the hall,

after taking off their armor, washing their faces, and changing into formal attire, everyone walked to their seats one after another.

When Xu Zaijing walked to his position in the corner of the hall,

Gu Tingye and Rong Xian were already sitting nearby.

Seeing Xu Zaijing sit down,

Rong Xian to the side hurriedly leaned over, pointed to a girl dancing in the hall not far away, and said:

"Jing Ge'er, where is that one from?"

Xu Zaijing turned his head: "Why ask me?"

Rong Xian: "I... tsk! I asked them a few sentences before, but before they could speak, I went to perform..."

Xu Zaijing shook his head: "That one didn't talk to me."

"Ah?"

At this time,

an eunuch walked over, stooping, and said to Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye: "Second Young Master Gu, Fifth Young Master Xu, the Sixth Young Master of the Liang family invites the two of you to go to the Xuande Gate for a chat in the afternoon."

Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye nodded with a smile: "Sorry to trouble you, eunuch."

"You two are too polite."

"Liang!"

Rong Xian to the side curled his lips and said.

Gu Tingye: "Are you going?"

"Going!"

After watching the performance for a while,

the hundreds of girls who had just entered the hall lined up and slowly 'floated' out again.

Rong Xian and Gu Tingye turned their necks until they couldn't see the girls anymore before turning them back.

The sumo performance had already ended.

At the end of the Wei hour (3:00 PM),

female officials walked in holding baskets of blooming precious fresh flowers.

They stopped near the tables from time to time, letting everyone choose for themselves, and the fresh flowers chosen by the people in the hall were pinned to their temples one after another.

After the Emperor and Empress raised their last glass of wine together,

the officials inside and outside the hall and the foreign envoys rose and left one after another.

Xu Zaijing also stood up and walked out from the side door of the great hall with Gu Tingye and Rong Xian.

Just after exiting the hall door,

he saw more than a dozen female officials standing outside the hall, holding flower baskets in their hands. The flowers in these baskets were bright and colorful, very beautiful.

Near the main entrance of the great hall, an official's wife was looking at the flower basket with an appreciative face and said:

"How much for a branch of these flowers?"

"Replying to you, Madam, these flowers were picked from the East Imperial Garden and are priced at fifty *guan*."

"Good, I'll take it."

Listening to the words of that official's wife,

Gu Tingye asked suspiciously: "Can these flowers be bought?"

Rong Xian nodded: "Naturally!"

When speaking, Rong Xian also had an expression of 'you don't even know this', which made Gu Tingye feel embarrassed for a while.

Xu Zaijing nodded to the side, walked to the female official closest to him, and also bought a basket of fresh flowers.

Just as they were about to wait for their respective families,

Liang Han also walked over carrying a basket of flowers and said to Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye: "Let's go! I told the two wives when I came, let's go to Pan Tower at the Nanmen for a chat together."

Hearing this,

Xu Zaijing looked at his parents.

Seeing his father, Xu Minghua, nod at him, only then did he walk towards the palace gate with the others.

After exiting the Xihua Gate,

in the open space under the palace wall marked by roadblocks for parking carriages and horses,

Xu Zaijing handed the basket of flowers to the three little maids waiting by the carriage: "You guys pin them and play, I'm going with them!"

"Thank you, Young Master!"

After the three maids took the flower basket, they bowed and smiled by the carriage.

Looking at Xu Zaijing, who was also pinning flowers, Qingcao smiled and said: "Young Master, the way you pin flowers today makes you look really good!"

Xu Zaijing stroked the fresh flower pinned in his hair and smiled: "That's right, this is an imperial gift, how could it not look good? Remember to leave two branches for your Sister Seeing Hua Qing!"

"Yes, Young Master!" The three maids smiled and looked at Qingyun, who was smiling and nodding repeatedly to the side.

After speaking,

Xu Zaijing prepared to ride his horse and walk out with Qingyun,

but because there were so many officials and nobles today, they couldn't wait at the palace gate for their own carriages to pick them up, and were all walking towards their own carriages together.

So the road suddenly became crowded.

Xu Zaijing rode his horse a few steps, then had to stop to let the crowd walking by in front pass.

And because Xu Zaijing arrived early, the place where the carriages were located was close to the entrance, but when going out, he couldn't go against the flow, but had to go directly to the exit.

The Chai and Rong families arrived a bit late,

so their carriages were naturally parked closer to the exit.

Therefore,

just as Xu Zaijing dismounted and was walking while leading his horse, he saw the Chai family members on the side.

"Yo, Jing Ge'er, you came out early enough, your mother is still behind!"

Madam Chai, who was beside the Chai family master, looked at Xu Zaijing with a smile and said.

Xu Zaijing nodded with a smile: "Madam, I am going to the Nanmen with Second Young Master and the others for a chat, I have already told my mother."

"Oh!"

After Madam Chai nodded, she looked at Xu Zaijing, who was wearing light-colored inner clothes, a light green outer robe, pinning a red flower, and leading a shiny black horse, and said: "This child, pinning this red flower, really looks good."

Saying this, Madam Chai looked at her husband for consultation.

The Chai family master nodded repeatedly.

"Madam, you flatter me."

Xu Zaijing replied with some embarrassment on his face.

Afterwards, Xu Zaijing looked at Chai Jin and Chai Bo behind the Chai couple, nodded and said: "Are you two big brothers just off duty?"

Saying this, Xu Zaijing nodded again towards Chai Zhengzheng, who was walking between the Chai brothers and looking at him sideways.

Chai Jin, who had a tired look on his face, nodded and said: "Jing Ge'er, I heard that unison song today from the palace wall, it was very good!"

Xu Zaijing hurriedly cupped his hands again and said: "Thank you for the praise, Big Brother Jin, it was all practiced hard by everyone together."

When the two were talking, the Chai couple walked forward a few steps quickly, letting their three children walk parallel to Xu Zaijing.

Chai Jin nodded, looked back, and then patted Xu Zaijing on the shoulder with a smile and walked back, as if he had met an acquaintance.

Chai Zhengzheng in the middle was naturally exposed to Xu Zaijing's side.

Chai Bo on the other side also smiled and looked back, making way for the people behind him, naturally squeezing Chai Zhengzheng towards the middle.

After a while, Chai Jin caught up again, but didn't return to Xu Zaijing's side, but walked to the outer side of his younger brother.

Chai Zhengzheng had to move towards Xu Zaijing's side again.

"Jing Ge'er, are you going to Madam Wu's Chrysanthemum Appreciation Party next month?"

Chai Jin asked, turning his head.

Xu Zaijing, who was walking side by side with Chai Zhengzheng, looked at the same-colored flower pinned on the girl's head beside him with the corner of his eye, smelled the scent that he didn't know was flower fragrance or something else, and smiled: "I should be going."

"Let's talk then, you tell us about your time in the Northwest."

Xu Zaijing nodded with a smile: "Good."

Chai Zhengzheng, who was beside Xu Zaijing, listened to their conversation while feeling beautiful inside, her cheeks a little hot, walking while looking straight ahead.

Although she was looking straight ahead, she was using the corner of her eye to pay full attention to the person beside her who was leading a tall horse like a wall, paying attention to whether he was looking at her, whether his gaze had swept over.

What she was thinking in her heart was, if this person beside her spoke to her, how should she answer,

'Should I smile first?'

'Look at his eyes... no, no, that's too rude, better look at his clothes, or the flower pinned?'

This made her a little distracted.

'Why did Brother stop talking?'

'Hmm?'

"Cough!!!"

A familiar coughing sound came, startling Chai Zhengzheng awake, and she hurriedly looked around:

On one side of her was still a tall black horse like a wall,

but on the other side... the two older brothers were nowhere to be seen!

The parents walking in front didn't know when they had turned to their own carriage either!!!

Chai Zhengzheng immediately stopped her steps,

she only felt as if her face was on fire,

not caring to look at Xu Zaijing, Chai Zhengzheng lowered her head, bowed, and hurriedly turned to walk towards her own carriage.

Arriving beside her older brother a few steps away,

Chai Zhengzheng resentfully and very forcefully patted her second brother, Chai Bo,

and when she wanted to forcefully punch her big brother, Chai Jin, who was laughing,

"Jing Ge'er is looking over." Chai Bo whispered.

Chai Zhengzheng immediately hid her fist, turned her head seemingly unintentionally, and looked at the distance with the corner of her eye.

A moment later,

looking at the person who didn't turn his head at all,

Chai Zhengzheng waved her fist even harder.

"Pa!"

"Hiss! Chai Zhengzheng, you really can bring yourself to do it!"

(End of chapter)