White Fence Dream

Chapter 229: Strange Banquet
Crowds poured into the cabin, but unlike in the past, they did not rush to grab their favorite gambling tables, look for their favorite zither players and dancers, or go into the side rooms to recite poems and paint. Instead, they all gathered in the hall, staring at it intently.

Madam Deng Yun's sword dance had ended, and she floated away with the colorful silk. Before everyone could look away, high poles and ropes were erected in the hall. The next moment, five young men on the ground rose up, walking, rolling, and dancing on the ropes, with colorful silk and white gauze flowing like clouds. Standing below and looking up, it was as if one was peeking into the fairy palace.

For a moment, everyone looked intoxicated.

The maids came in and each of them was given a glass of fine wine.

Li Yu raised his glass and said, "We are celebrating today, please drink with us."

Everyone couldn't help but raise their glasses. Although they still didn't know where the joy came from, in this situation, who would care what Li Yu said? They all shouted congratulations, congratulations, and all sorts of blessings and drank the wine in one gulp.

Wang Tong was different from the others. He was not attracted by the wonderful rope skills in the arena. He only looked at Li Yu standing at the highest point, and then watched Zhou Jingyun slowly walk up the stairs towards him. He happily drank the wine, snatched it from the hand of someone beside him, and drank it again. He didn't know if he drank too much. In a trance, he seemed to see the woman standing next to Li Yu holding a child in her arms...

The child looked very small, delicate and pretty, with a small bun and a flower in his hair.

He knew this woman, who was Li Yu's favorite maid and was in charge of the brothel boat for Li Yu.

But what about the child?

This maid gave birth to a child?
Wang Tong couldn't help rubbing his eyes, and then he looked wide open, only to see that what the maid was holding in her arms was not a child, but a white porcelain Hu bottle.

A Hu bottle for storing wine.

Are you blind?

While he was stunned, he saw Zhou Jingyun approaching and nodding to Li Yu with a smile. The maid came closer with a Hu bottle in her arms, as if pouring wine for him.

Four young men were running and jumping on the suspended ropes, falling and bouncing in the hall, with white gauze fluttering, blocking the view.

Bai Li lifted the child in her arms and said with a smile, "Nannan, Nannan, look who's here?"

The girl looked around with wide eyes, seemingly not knowing where to look.

Zhou Jingyun also tried to focus his eyes on what Bai Li was holding, trying to tell himself that it was not a white porcelain vase, it was a child...

His vision was hazy, and the child and the Hu bottle kept changing.

"Try to think that it is Nannan, Nannan." Bai Li reminded with a smile.

Li Yu laughed beside him, he didn't have this confusion. Ah Li said that because he had a dreamless constitution, he was less affected when he was pulled into the dream.

So even though his vision was a little blurry, he could see that the person in Bai Li's arms was a child, not Hu Ping.

"Don't force yourself, Prince. Go back inside and take a look later." He said.

Zhou Jingyun smiled at him: "It doesn't matter, no matter what I see, she is still her."

After saying that, he reached out and took the "Hu Ping" from Bai Li's arms.

"It's her first time meeting so many people, don't be scared."

As he spoke, his vision changed, and the Hu Ping in his arms turned into a child. He quickly reached out and stroked the child's ears.

"Don't be afraid, Nannan. This is your hundred-day banquet."

Li Yu approached, looked at the child with a smile, and pointed to the hall: "Nannan, it looks good, doesn't it? Do you like it? There will be better ones later."

The young man standing on the rope in the hall threw out a string of glass beads, and the rapidly alternating glass beads formed a halo. Through the glass bead halo, Wang Tong who was standing on the first floor saw Li Yu standing shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Jingyun and pointing at the hall with a smile. Although the distance was far, as if in the clouds, Wang Tong could still clearly distinguish his lip language.

It looks good, doesn’t it? Do you like it? It’s specially prepared for you.

Zhou Jingyun looked into the hall and smiled faintly.

Although it is a bit strange that Prince Zhou is holding the Hu Ping in his arms, but... a good-looking person will look elegant and charming even if he is holding a branch.

"Great!" Wang Tong excitedly raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. "This is truly the appearance of an immortal. It is rare to see such a beautiful sight in the world."

There was a sudden silence behind him, and then a commotion. Wang Tong was a little annoyed. Who would ruin the atmosphere?

He subconsciously turned his head and saw seven or eight people rushing in, then separating on both sides, revealing a man in plain clothes behind them.

Wang Tong almost spit out the wine in his mouth.

unlucky.

How come Zhang Ze is also on the ship?
Zhang Ze didn't care about the surprised looks around him, nor did he look at everyone. He looked at the rope set up in the hall. At this time, the young man who threw the glass beads was hanging upside down and sliding down the rope. The glass beads fell into his arms like a meteor.

"Good!" he said slowly, clapping his hands.

……

……

Zhang Ze.

Zhou Jingyun and Li Yu looked over at the same time.

At the same time, Cai Songnian also walked quickly forward.

"He didn't go upstairs as a member of the Board of Supervisors," Cai Songnian whispered. "He went upstairs as a guest, and he meets the qualifications, so we can't stop him."

Li Yu nodded and smiled at Zhang Ze in the hall: "It's okay, come if you want, I'll go to greet you."

Zhou Jingyun turned around the moment he saw Zhang Ze coming in, handed the child to Bai Li, and whispered, "Take the child away first."

Bai Li took the child and said, "We are not the ones who should leave. This is our daughter's 100th day celebration."

As he said this, he looked at Zhang Ze in the hall and smiled.

"But if he comes, don't think he can leave so easily."

……

……

The boy on the rope fell to the ground, the high frame and the rope were put away, and no new performance appeared this time.

All eyes were focused on the door.

Zhang Ze looked at Li Yu who was walking over, and Zhou Jingyun behind him. "Your Highness and the Crown Prince are in good spirits." He said with a half-smile, "It wasn't enough to spend time together by the Taiye Lake yesterday, so we have to spend time together again tonight."

That's really unpleasant to hear.

Li Yu didn't seem to understand, and patted his chest and said, "Of course I'm in a good mood. It was a false alarm yesterday, and I almost got into trouble. I have to celebrate anyway." He looked at Zhou Jingyun beside him, "Prince Zhou was my lucky star yesterday, so he is naturally a guest of honor today."

Zhou Jingyun smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are too kind. It just happens that." After that, he looked at Zhang Ze and asked calmly, "Zhongcheng, are you not finished checking yet? After checking the building ship, do we still need to go to the princess's mansion?"

Using the princess to scare him? Zhang Ze smiled and said, "I'm not on duty today. I've heard of the fame of the Hualou Ship for a long time. Even the prince lingered there. I came to see it too."

Li Yu laughed out loud: "Great! What a rare guest! My boat really makes my humble home more glorious. Minister, please take a seat."

Zhang Ze did not refuse and followed Li Yu and Zhou Jingyun to the private room nearby. He looked around and saw men and women, young and old, maids and servants, all mixed together.

Zhang Ze took his seat and did not allow the maids on the boat to get close to him. The eight people he brought stood behind him.

These eight people looked like they were dressed in ordinary clothes, but four of them were wearing swords, and four of them were holding strange objects, including a fan made of unknown feathers, a carved bronze mirror, a palm-sized bronze plate, and one of them was holding a piece of white gauze.

Very weird and strange.

"I hope Your Highness will forgive me." He said to Li Yu, "I am not used to others getting close to me."

Li Yu smiled and said, "I know. The chancellor trusts me very much by only bringing these few people with him. According to your habit, everyone on my ship would have to be driven away."

Zhang Ze did not deny it either, and said with a smile: "No matter what, Your Highness is now the King of Chu, not the young master of the Shangguan family."

Li Yu didn't care about his impoliteness: "Since the Zhongcheng is here, let's continue." After saying that, he raised his hands and clapped.

Along with his clapping of hands, the originally quiet hall was suddenly filled with the sound of banging, which seemed to come from all directions.

The drums and music on the tower ship are exquisite, but you can only hear the sounds but not see the musicians.

"The sound of horse hooves is very realistic." A guest in the hall closed his eyes and listened, twirling his beard and commenting, "I seem to really see the horse stepping."

Someone nearby exclaimed, "It's not a resemblance, it's real."

What's true? The guest opened his eyes and looked, his eyes widened instantly, and he saw a horse suddenly rushed out from a corner of the hall.

This is a pure white horse, with gold threads, white ropes, and piles of pearls and gems on its body.

"What a good horse!" Many people in the hall exclaimed.

But good horses were not uncommon to the dandies in the hall, and the next moment someone shouted again.

"Horse, horse, answer the drum!"

In tune with the drums? This made many people in the hall look intently. Sure enough, they saw the rhythm of the horse's hooves in tune with the drums. Not only the drums, but also the sound of pianos and flutes rose in their ears, brisk and agile, and the horse's hooves also changed with it. Not only the horse's hooves, but also the horse's head shook and the horse's body rotated and moved...
“The horse is dancing!”

“Really dancing!”

"Ha, look, it can also hum!"

The originally quiet hall became lively. Compared with the beauty's dance, the horse dance was more shocking.

When Zhang Ze saw this scene, he remained calm and turned to look at his followers behind him.

The feather fan fluttered gently, the soft breeze caressed his face, the bronze mirror shone, and in the mirror was his familiar face, and the bronze plate touched lightly, making a crisp sound in his ears.

"Don't worry, Zhongcheng, everything is normal." The person holding the white gauze said softly.

It's not an illusion, it's a real white horse dancing.

Zhang Ze looked away at the white horse swaying to the music and clapped his hands, "Great, great, Your Highness the King of Chu really has everything here." He smiled at Li Yu and said, "Your Majesty's banquet doesn't even have such wonderful things."

These words were truly vicious. If they were to get out tomorrow, it would cause a lot of suspicion between Your Majesty and the King of Chu. Cai Songnian and other stewards looked over and clenched their hands that were hanging by their sides.

Li Yu just smiled and said, "These toys of mine are not presentable."

Zhang Ze looked at the dancing horses, the noisy crowd, and the brightly lit hall. Suddenly, he saw a woman standing on the third floor opposite with a smile on her face, holding a child in her arms...
She lifted the child up high, as if to let the child watch the dancing horses in the field, and swayed along with the drums and music. The little child was not sure whether he was attracted by the horse dance or was happy to be swayed, waving his arms and grinning...
child.

Zhang Ze felt a buzzing sound in his head, as if something was bursting out. He was about to stand up, but the woman holding the child looked over and smiled at him. Zhang Ze's eyes blurred, as if a white gauze fell, and his vision became blurry.

He could not feel the wind of the feather fan, hear the knocking of the bronze plate, or see the face in the bronze mirror.

He couldn't move, as if he was covered.

That woman!

That woman!

she!
Zhang Ze looked across. Her face was blurry yet clear. She was holding the child and looking at him with a smile.

"Zhang Ze is here."

Her voice rang out, distant yet clear above the noise and cheerful music in the hall.

"What made you want to come here?"

The colorful silk in the hall was flying, and the woman stepped on it, walking gracefully, step by step towards her.

“I am here too…”

She stepped onto the ground and sat beside him, holding the child.

"…Is it for our little princess's hundred-day celebration?"

Zhang Ze's head was able to turn. He slowly turned around and looked at the woman beside him. The woman raised her hand and seemed to remove the white veil. Her face became clearer from blurry. It was a young face. Before he could see clearly, the face was floating, rippling and melting, and another face emerged from underneath it.

Qiu Shui's eyes slowly opened and her cherry lips smiled slightly.

This is a familiar face.

She held the child in her arms on her lap, looked at Zhang Ze and raised her eyebrows.

"Zhang Ze, did you bring a gift?"

The banquet scene was taken from Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Qianqiu Banquet.