Long Sword and Jun Wu

Chapter 140: Thousand Years Feast
After Pei Min thought of a countermeasure, he went to ask Li Bai to help.

When Li Bai heard that the purpose was to accompany others to eat, drink and have fun, there was no reason for him to refuse. Anyway, his position in the Hanlin Academy was a sinecure, so he asked for leave immediately and happily went to accompany the guests with Pei Min.

The Zuo Jinwu Guards were not idle either. Except for those who were on duty, they were also pulled by Pei Min. They had just been trained by Pei Min yesterday and their legs were weak. How could they dare not disobey? They all followed Pei Min. Guo Ziyi was filled with remorse and kicked the person who wanted to file a complaint.

Pei Min went to the Honglu Temple again, found the ceremonial officer, took him with him, and made him responsible for all the expenses. Then a group of people came to the posthouse in a mighty manner and took the Khitan people away for food, drink and entertainment.

Li Bai was indeed an expert in this field. As soon as he saw the Khitan prince and princess and Murta, he became very familiar with them. After drinking, listening to music and watching dancing, they became very familiar with each other immediately. He and Li Tangu Murta drank with their arms around each other's shoulders. They were already friends for life and death and felt that they had met too late.

After Pei Min issued a strict order not to leave the Jinwu Guards, he would sneak away and return to the Liyuan to watch Gongsun Ling practice dancing. Every time Li Tingmu found out that Pei Min was missing, it was too late.

Gongsun Ling saw him sneaking back every day to accompany her. She didn't say anything, but she was very happy in her heart. She just pretended to be calm and coordinated with Ying Wuming on every detail.

Time slips by quietly, the autumn wind condenses dew, the new moon slowly fills with its soft yellow, hanging in the sky like a crescent eyebrow, and the Qianqiu Festival that has attracted much attention from all directions has finally arrived.

On the fifth day of August in the sixteenth year of Kaiyuan, the 1,000th birthday of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Daming Palace will usher in the busiest and most lively day of the year.

The palace servants got up at around 3:30 am to prepare, and some even stayed up all night, just to ensure that nothing went wrong that day.

Today was naturally a day off for court, but all the civil and military ministers and ladies in the court came to the palace one after another to pay their respects to the Emperor. The Emperor and Concubine Wu Huifei sat in the Xuanzheng Hall to accept congratulations from all officials.

After a short break at noon, envoys from various countries came to pay their respects and presented birthday gifts carefully prepared by their countries.

During the Kaiyuan Period, most of the barbarians in the four directions submitted to the Tang Dynasty. Even if they did not pay annual tribute, they still traded with each other and seemed to be at peace.

Pei Min was also arranged to accompany the emperor to protect him this time, watching the Turks, Uighurs, Bolor, Tocharians and other countries enter the hall one after another to congratulate the saint.

When the ceremonial officers sang the song "The Japanese envoys are coming into the palace to celebrate the birthday", Pei Min paid special attention to them, but he did not see Yamamoto Taro. He only saw a group of unfamiliar Japanese envoys coming into the palace to pay their respects.

Pei Min pondered, were those Japanese people doing this at the behest of the Japanese leader? Or were they doing it secretly?

He once privately mentioned to the emperor that the Japanese wanted to steal the Cang Min Sword and asked the Chu family to customize 10,000 famous swords, but the emperor didn't care much, thinking that the small country of Japan, poor and backward, would not make any waves. Pei Min had no choice but to be careful and pay attention to their movements.

When the Japanese envoys were about to leave Xuanzheng Hall after paying their respects, Pei Min whispered to Guo Ziyi beside him, "Send two reliable people to keep an eye on the Japanese delegation's every move."
Guo Ziyi was usually a bit arrogant, but he had great respect for Pei Min. After hearing this, he nodded immediately without asking the reason, and went down to order two people to keep an eye on them. He acted very efficiently.

After a long time, the envoys from various countries finished paying their respects and were taken to the Imperial Garden in Daming Palace to enjoy the scenery. Emperor Li Longji was also exhausted from the bombardment for most of the day, and was served by Concubine Wu Huifei and Gao Lishi to rest in the bedroom. Pei Min took advantage of the free time and wanted to sneak to the Pear Garden to see Gongsun Ling again, to cheer her up and tell her not to be too nervous. But as soon as he stepped out of Xuanzheng Hall, he was caught by Li Tingmu.

Li Tingmu came up and hooked Pei Min's arm, "Brother Pei Min, I've been waiting for you."
Pei Min subconsciously wanted to break free, but there was no way Li Tingmu would let him do that. He held on tightly and said, "These past few days, you only stayed with me for a while before leaving. Just now in the palace, I sent you glances many times, but you didn't respond to me. Now that I see you come out alone, I think you can accompany me. I don't care. You must accompany me today."
Li Tangu also joined in the fun, "Pei Yongshi, the Daming Palace of the Tang Dynasty is so majestic and magnificent, you must take us to have a good tour."
Pei Min looked at the ceremonial officer from the Honglu Temple behind them. The young ceremonial officer dared not say anything and could only lower his head and step aside.

Pei Min regretted so much that he even forgot to take a detour. It seemed that he couldn't escape today no matter what.

I don’t know what’s going on with Gongsun Ling.

"Let's go." Li Tingmu happily pulled Pei Min and left. He glanced at the little ceremonial officer and ordered fiercely: "Lead the way quickly, what are you standing there for?"

The young ceremonial officer nodded in agreement and hurried forward to lead them to visit the Daming Palace.

People were everywhere along the way, paying them respectful salutes. In this way, the news that Pei Min was holding the arm of the Khitan princess and touring the Daming Palace spread to every corner of the palace.

As the sky darkened, ministers arrived at the banquet hall one after another. In the past, large banquets were held in the Linde Hall, but this year, they were moved outside the Linde Hall, next to the Taiye Lake, with hundreds of tables densely packed in it.

In the center of the table, there was a stage for all the dancing and music tonight. In front of the stage was a high platform where the emperor, concubines, princes, princesses, and princes all sat.

The various envoy groups also finished their entertainment and were led by ceremonial officers to their seats. Some returned directly from the Taiye Lake and the Penglai Mountain in the lake, thus saving a lot of travel.

Pei Min had been pestered by Li Tingmu for a long time, and now he was finally able to get rid of him. He apologized to them: "I have to go back to the saint to protect him, and I can't accompany you anymore. Your Highnesses Prince and Princess, please forgive me." Although he apologized, he was actually very happy in his heart.

Li Tangu naturally wouldn't force him, and Li Tingmu pouted and had to let him go, "Then Brother Pei Min, let's drink together after the banquet."
Pei Min said "Sure, sure." But his feet were so fast that he ran faster than anyone else.

The guests were almost all seated, and many princes and dukes had also arrived at the main seats. The banquet table was full, and people had started chatting and drinking a few glasses of wine. Under the meticulous hospitality of the ceremonial officers of the Honglu Temple, envoys from various countries had also started laughing and talking, looking forward to tonight's feast.

Emperor Li Longji did not keep everyone waiting too long. Amid the eunuchs' singing, he slowly walked into the banquet and went up to the podium.

"May the Saint live forever." Everyone at the banquet knelt to welcome the emperor and shouted congratulations.

Li Longji walked onto the platform with a smile. He had an upright posture and steady steps. Even though he was over 40 years old, he was still radiant, clear-headed and dashing. The emperor's majestic demeanor impressed everyone below the stage.