Speaking One's Language

The first event on the agenda was the Emperor's address. For 4th rank officials and even us, the members of the harem, the opportunity to see the Emperor in person was very rare. After ensuring the hall was quiet and in order, an eunuch standing at the side gave the cue for the Emperor to begin. Lu Qing Yu had a thick scroll in front of him, which he read off of in his loud outdoors voice. The Novgorod Diplomatic Ball was not only a gala to welcome the envoys but an opportunity to catch up and summarise the year.

Lu Qing Yu began by welcoming all attendees of the ball, dedicating a portion to the envoys and thanking them for making the journey here. He summarised the latest key achievements of the Yuan An people as well as the hopes for the ball, including fostering diplomatic relations and improving trade and exchange of ideas. There was also a very long general speech portion that had to be read out for every such diplomatic ball.

The envoys were seated on the second highest platform, some distance away from the 3 of us. Noble Concubine Ju was the closest in proximity, to her horror. Only after Lu Qing Yu finished his address could the translator, the mysterious man who sat beside them relay to them the contents of his speech. Because the speech was very long, and Lu Qing Yu intended for them to understand the good intentions in the address before the festivities commenced, there was a brief period where the whole hall was silent save for the choppy translation and the clinking of tea cups as it was the only refreshment we were allowed to touch before the feast started.

Eunuch Song Chu, Lu Qing Yu's right-hand eunuch was the de facto master of ceremonies and toggled the intervals between each performance and event on the agenda, never stopping to take a bite. The first performance was the qin, played by 8 noble ladies and featured a composition supposedly favoured by the past emperor, Lu Qing Yu's father. After the qin was recitation of poetry by noble young masters, which was cut short due to the concern that some of the meaning might be lost in translation and the envoys might feel excluded.

At controlled intervals, food was slowly rolled out to the tables, beginning with the Emperor and ending with the 4th rank official tables. I noted that food was served in bite sized portions and in tiny, ornate plates meant for only 1 serving, instead of in a large platter initially then distributed openly like in modern Huaxia events. There was a broad range of provincial specialties served, in order to demonstrate "the taste of Yuan An" to the foreigners and find something that suited their palate.

There were mild and non-greasy dishes with a mellow fragrance from the southern provinces, bold, pungent and spicy dishes featuring heavy doses of peppercorn from the central provinces, sweet and precise gourmet dishes with colourful presentation from the coastal provinces, fresh, crispy and seasonal food from other coastal provinces, exotic delicacies with a mild sweet and sour taste from the mountains and the sea, sautéed and stir-fried spicy food from rich agricultural provinces, stewed, oily food incorporating wild plants and animals from provinces near the mountains, and lastly braised, salty and crispy food from the northern provinces. Together, they made up the 8 great cuisines of Huaxia.

As the poetry came to a close, lithe, graceful dancers in vibrant, colourful dresses entered the stage.

"Gentlemen, do you like the ball?" Lu Qing Yu asked. "Very nice. Yuan An Country is vast and rich." The tallest envoy said. He had a barrel chest and knots in his heavy, frizzly red beard, as well as thick eyebrows. His ruddy complexion and his loud laugh made him seem very good-natured. From when they walked in, I estimated him to be at least 1.95m, at least 2 or 3 heads taller than most of the people here.

"This is indeed a magnificent place. Tsar Nicoli will be happy to hear we are well received." The envoy with dark, bushy hair said. He was slightly plump with meaty limbs and had a face full of freckles. Although he was of a reasonable, healthy statute by modern standards, he still towered and imposed over everyone here. "Yuan An has vast terrain, just like Novgorod, right? My native Angles does not have such terrain." the blond said. The blond was balding slightly, had a thick mustache and a generous beer belly.

"Angles?" Lu Qing Yu asked.

"Angles." the translator repeated, with much difficulty.

The translator clearly hadn't heard this word before. He translated it literally to the Huaxia language, making no sense at all. Throughout the short conversation, I noticed his translation was a bit rough around the edges and mispronounced. How the blond managed to get to Novgorod from Angles must be a very interesting story.

The translator looked troubled as the conversation moved at a rapid pace. "Yes, I moved to Novgorod some years ago and eventually took up court." he continued. The translator translated this part, but Lu Qing Yu still looked confused over the missing information. What was Angles?

I too pondered over the word. What was Angles? After having heard this much, I was certain Novgorod was likely a different place than the Slavic tribes that occupied that place in modern history, but I could still make a bit of sense of the conversation based off of the Russian I knew. It was likely somewhat related, but I was fuzzy on the details since I wasn't yet sure if Yuan An was a forgotten dynasty, or if I had been transported to a whole different world altogether.

Drawing on my meager knowledge of the northern territories as well as his accent, Angles wasn't likely to be a Slavic country. That would mean Angles was further west. Maybe it was...

Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Angles, west of Persia and the Indies, am I right? It's a wonderful place." I said in my modern Russian, leaning over Noble Concubine Ju's seat.

The small group of 5 turned to look at me, all conversation forgotten.

Noble Concubine Ju in particular, was startled and tried to make herself as small as possible. "Yes, my lady! Have you heard of it?" he asked, his face lighting up. Probably no one here heard of Angles yet. "Where in Angles are you from?" I continued. "Glevum." he spluttered in English by mistake. Despite his thick middle English accent, I could still somewhat understand his meaning. "Ah, I mean Glevum." he said in Norse, nodding to the men.

Despite having no idea what or where Glevum was, I concluded it was some province of Angles. "No problem. Glevum! How did you come to be in Novgorod?" I asked in English. I was doubtful if he would understand me, since modern English was very far off from middle English, and even more so old English, which was likely more accurate for this time period.

The Anglesman waved it off and started to tell me about how he had been on his travels and got stranded in Novgorod over the morbid winter and got rescued by some Norse, who fed him and nursed him back to health. Over time, he came to like the place and picked up a trade and stayed there.

When the Angles came to Novgorod to build relations, the court asked for translators and he went up as he hadn't seen any Anglesmen for many years and longed to meet other from Angles. He displayed his brilliance and got a referral to join minor Novgorod politics then worked his way up.

"So it's been 20 years? That's amazing. To be in a foreign land for so long." I said. "Indeed, but Novgorod is my home now. The news from my family eventually stopped due to the Persian civil war and I've long lost contact." he said, looking downcast.

"Do you have family in Novgorod?" I asked. "Yes!" he pulled out a clunky pendant from below his collar and pried it open, revealing a miniature painting of a woman with a rosy complexion dressed in Novgorod robes. "This is my wife, Luca. We've been married for 10 years now." he beamed proudly.

While we were chatting, the two Norse looked like they wanted to interject, but couldn't, while the translator got redder and redder. I glanced at the translator. I heard he had been staying in the palace for the past 2 weeks receiving care and finery to prepare him for this ball. But underneath the clean and groomed appearance and fine clothes, his hands were rough and callused and signs of sun exposure could be seen. Clearly, he had been living rough for a while. He was probably a nomad.

"Pretty lady, will you tell us what you're talking about too?" the redhead asked kindly. Right! We had been conversing entirely in English.

The Anglesman turned. "Vladimir! This lady speaks tongues!" he proclaimed in amazement. "We know, Artur." the brunette pointed out.

"Emperor, you didn't introduce us to the ladies sitting on this row yet! I didn't know they had such talents." Vladimir, the redhead said, turning to the flabbergasted Lu Qing Yu. Lu Qing Yu shot a glare at the stunned translator. He translated. Lu Qing Yu smiled.

"These are my concubines, so they are sitting here near me. According to Huaxia imperial tradition, only the Emperor and his legal wife sits on the first step. If a foreign King visits, he can also sit on the first step. All other wives sit below the Emperor." he said. "Oh, like second wives." Vladimir nodded in understanding, causing his beard to nearly dip into the food.

"You have 3 second wives?" he added. "Err no, these are my concubines." he waved to the second and third row as well. "Emperor! You're hogging all these pretty ladies for yourself!" Vladimir said, laughing. Despite the joke being lost in translation and having the potential to offend, Lu Qing Yu still laughed along awkwardly. Advisor Yi Rong, who had been quiet at the side this whole time, finally had something to say.

"Translator, explain the concept of concubines to them." Advisor Yi Rong instructed. The translator stuttered and stammered his way through the explanation, while the envoys looked more and more lost upon hearing his explanation. They turned to me in unison.

"In Huaxia, noble families and the imperial families usually take concubines as producing a male heir is tantamount to solidifying one's standing in the family, carrying on the family name and title, and distributing inheritance. The larger the noble family, the more the concubines typically. For the imperial family like the Emperor, where the Emperor's heirs typically fight for the throne or assume important positions, it is important to have as many heirs as possible. An Emperor typically has between 20 to a few hundred concubines at the same time, and 1 legal wife, his Empress. So we are all concubines as he has not taken a legal wife." I explained.

After this, they still had some questions. Why were males preferred? Why did people still use this practice? Wasn't a few hundred concubines too much? The Norse were very frank. It was a good thing only the translator and I could understand them, and it was just barely for me. "Well, the Emperor has obligations to the many noble houses of the country by blood ties, diplomacy or official relations. To maintain control, favour a noble clan or tie the imperial family to them, he has to marry concubines even if he doesn't personally like them due to official obligations."

As it went, they became even more curious about Huaxia. We spent the next 2 hours like this back and forth. The translator would do his job and translate, and for more difficult terms or due to his lack of cultural knowledge, I would chip in. Most of the time, they liked to talk directly to me. Before long, not just Lu Qing Yu, Advisor Yi Rong and the concubines noticed this. Even the ministers seated below looked up curiously at the chattering of a feminine voice and were shocked to see this scene.

Advisor Yi Rong eventually just handed me a script while he and Lu Qing Yu busied themselves trying to talk to the envoys through the translator. In it were a list of questions and information they wanted to get from them. I see. So they wanted to ask, but didn't get a chance to. No problem. I solved the problem by doing as asked, in as natural a way as I could get. Behind the folding screen, scribes scribbled furiously, jotting down the content of our conversation for record keeping purposes.

Chatting like this, the entertainment and festivities of the ball was utterly lost on us. At the end of the ball, the envoys descended the platform to greet and meet important officials and engage in some small talk. "Lady Ling, come with us." Gostislav, the brunette suggested. The other 2 turned in unison, agreeing. "Yes, come here."

I glanced at Lu Qing Yu. While unexpected, having more Huaxia people who were able to bond with the envoys was an auspicious and prideful affair, so he consented. I tagged along and had to spend the rest of the evening going about with them greeting people. Unfortunately, I was not familiar with practically everyone, but the little book Qiu Ci managed to find for me and prompting from Advisor Yi Rong (to greet them first) managed to salvage the situation. When it was impossible, I feigned memory loss.

It was rather awkward, however, to meet Ling Yue's father, Protector General of the East, who had specifically come in for this occasion. I would have some explaining to do. The ball ended at 2am. After dodging the initial questioning and admiration, I was briefed on the contents of the negotiations. For the next few weeks, I would have to be on call to assist with negotiations (and also for charm offensive, I suspect).