Scholar Banquet

After visiting her grandmother, QiuLan went back to her room.

{...I should build up my friendship with my grandmother so I can live better and more peacefully in this mansion...)

"Miss!" yelled Ming'er.

"What now?"

"The palace is holding a banquet, " said Ming'er.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"A maid informed me that the master wants to take you to a banquet in the palace. Even the princes are there!" said Ming'er.

"Do I have to?" asked QiuLan.

"Yes. You have to, " said Ming'er.

"Fine, I'll go, " said QiuLan.

{...I wonder what would happen...}

QiuLan walked out of the mansion and saw four carriages. Li Wei opened the carriage curtain and said, "Get on one of them." QiuLan nodded and opened one of the carriage curtains. YaHui was in it.

"Hurry up! We don't have all day! Don't sit with me! Sit in another carriage!" yelled YaHui. QiuLan rolled her eyes and walked into the fourth carriage.

After a few minutes, they arrived.

"Do you have an invitation card?" asked a soldier. Li Wei gave him the invitation card. "You may go in, " said the soldier.

They went in and there was another soldier.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" asked the soldier. Li Wei shook his head.

"I have." Li ZhanTing (QiuLan's half-brother) put down his sword on the table. "When the banquet is done, please come here to get your sword, " said the soldier. "Ok."

"Isn't a hairpin considered a weapon?" asked QiuLan. "Yes, but you can still wear it, " said the soldier.

YaHui sneered. "It's the first time you ever been to a banquet in the palace. So you better not ruin our reputation, " said YaHui.

QiuLan ignored YaHui and kept on asking questions. "Can I bring poison?" asked QiuLan. "Of course not!" said the soldier. "Can I bring a knife?" asked QiuLan. "No."

"Are you done?! The main point is that you can't bring anything that has a high chance that can harm his majesty or anyone else!" yelled YaHui. "A hairpin has a high chance of killing his majesty, " said QiuLan.

{...I like pissing her off...}

"We already said that you can bring a hairpin! Get the deal over with and let's go, " yelled YaHui. "You can go in first since you are so impatient. I still have things to do, " said QiuLan. I don't even want to wait for you. I'm going to go in without you," said YaHui. "You may go. I'm going to wait for QiuYing, " said Li Wei.

YaHui and concubine Zhang started walking towards the banquet hall.

"What else do you have to do?" asked Li Wei.

QiuLan got her waist pendant and put it on the table. "How's that a weapon?" asked ZhanTing. QiuLan pressed the middle of the pendant and a blade appeared. "Cool, " said ZhanTing. QiuLan went into her pocket and got out two little bottles of poison. "Is that poison?" asked ZhanTing. QiuLan nodded.

"Why did you bring poison to a banquet?" asked Li Wei. "To protect me from danger when something bad happens. You'll never know when something would happen, " said QiuLan.

QiuLan put down the bottles of poison on the table. "You would remember that these things are mine, right?" asked QiuLan. "Of course, " said the soldier. "That's good, " said QiuLan.

"Let's go, " said QiuLan. The three of them walked to the banquet hall and found YaHui and concubine Zhang. They went to them and sat at the table next to them.

A eunuch walked up to his majesty and whispered something. His majesty nodded.

{...What are they talking about?...}

"Everyone has arrived! So let's begin the banquet!" said his majesty.

Music started playing. Dancers walked out of the sides and started dancing. People started talking to each other.

{...What a headache...}

QiuLan started eating the food that was on her table.

{...Yummy. The food is so good!...}

QiuLan ate and ate until she was full.

YaHui was staring at the second prince while Huang Shu was staring at the fourth prince.

{...These girls are working very hard to grab attention and become queen or a princess...}

QiuLan stared back at her table and saw that there were fruits. QiuLan began to eat.

{...I haven't eaten fruits for a long time. This is what a good, easy life is supposed to be..}

"Let's begin the scholar's competition. Every young lady or gentlemen has to join," said his majesty.

"I'm going to beat everyone!" said YaHui. "What is this game about?" asked QiuLan. "Someone would start saying a theme and another person would use the last word of the phrase to make another theme, " said YaHui. "That's not hard, " said QiuLan. "To you, it might be hard, " said YaHui with a sneer.

{...Should I show my talent or not? I would just stick to the normal phrases..}

"I would start!" said YaHui with a smile.

"Hard work helps you reach your goals, " said YaHui. "Goals are needed by everyone, " said the fourth prince. "Everyone should always think before they act, " said QiuLan. "Act kindly without seeking for advantages, " said the second prince. "Advantages are never easy to get."...

After half an hour:

"General Li. His majesty is asking for you, " said Eunuch Peng. Li Wei walked to where his majesty was sitting.

"Your children are well educated, " said his majesty. "Thank you, your majesty, " said Li Wei.

"YaHui and QiuYing are beautiful and smart. ZhanTing is smart, strong, and handsome. "I'm flattered," said Li Wei.

"The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running, " said the second prince.

"Alright! It's about time. The banquet now ends, " said Eunuch Peng.

{...Finally, I can go to sleep. I'm so tired...}

QiuYing lowered her head and followed Li Wei. She was about to go on the carriage until she remembered something.

{...Damn it! I was so sleepy that I forgot to get my stuff. I better go get it...}

QiuYing went back and she saw the second prince. QiuYing ignored him and speed walked to go back to get her stuff.

"Hey, you!" yelled the second prince. QiuYing looked back at him. "Did you not notice me?" asked the second prince. "Nope. I thought you were a bird or a cat, " said QiuYing. "But I am a bigger animal than a bird or a cat." "It's nighttime. So I can't see you. I just heard some noises. I am in a hurry so I have to go," said QiuYing.

QiuYing walked away to get her stuff. On her way there she saw ZhanTing. "I got your stuff. Here you go, " said ZhanTing. "Thanks."

{...I shouldn't have worried. But it's alright...}

QiuYing grabbed the two bottles and her waist pendant.

{...Someone opened the bottles when I left...}

They walked back to their carriages and went back to the Li mansion.

On the other hand:

"Emperor," said Eunuch Li

"Yes?"

"This is the report of the weapons brought to the palace."

The emperor looked at the list and saw that QiuYing brought the most weapons to the palace.

"She brought a lot of weapons. Why bring so many weapons to the palace?" asked the emperor. "Based on the soldiers, she said that she brought them to protect herself from danger," said Eunuch Li. "There are palace guards for a reason," said the emperor. "Well, this is her first time coming to a banquet," said Eunuch Li.

"Did you let the Poison Master take a look at the poison?" asked the emperor. "Yes." "What did he say?" "He smiled and gave the bottle back to me," said Eunuch Li. "Nothing else?" "Nothing else."

{...Strange...}