The Banquet (1)
In the old days, a joyous celebration like this was customarily spread across several days of feasting. And if the occasion happened to be an imperial wedding, it would run for three days at the very least.
It was a kind of political spectacle, really — a display to show the world that the imperial house still stood strong, and to parade its authority before every eye in the realm.
Processions of musicians, hired with money from the imperial coffers, wound their way through every corner of Luoyang playing merry tunes.
"Hm? What's all this about?"
"They say Her Majesty has held her wedding ceremony."
"Ah, I see."
Even the commoners who hadn't yet heard the details nodded along as they watched the musicians play their instruments. The musicians were pleased, having been paid handsomely in advance; the people were pleased to enjoy festive music for free — music they would normally have had to pay to hear. A fair bargain all around.
And naturally, every crowd has its share of people brimming over with high spirits.
"Oh, this is wonderful! My body's moving all on its own!"
"And I was bored stiff lately anyway — perfect timing!"
A few of the more leisured commoners trailed after the processions, dancing in broad daylight without a shred of shame. It was only natural that the spectacle would snowball as time went on; by the end, some were shaking their bodies to the beat without the faintest idea why the music was even playing.
...Honestly, though, I suspected the poor musicians forced to perform all day long would be worn down to the bone. Earning a living truly is hard work, whatever the trade.
The good news for the people didn't stop there, either.
"Our gracious elder is providing free meals in celebration of Her Majesty the Empress's joyous occasion! Please, have a bite before you go!"
Several wealthy families dug into the family fortune to lend a hand to the festive celebration.
"...Free food, you say?"
"Can't pass that up."
The moment word spread that a noble's granary had opened, people swarmed in from every direction and gorged themselves without restraint. Losing all reason at the word free — some things never change, past or present.
Were they scheming to raise their own standing under cover of the occasion? The names of those nobles reached even my ears, so at the very least they'd succeeded in making themselves known. Surely there were loyal subjects whose only wish was to celebrate the Empress's wedding in earnest — but there were bound to be just as many nobles staging such displays in hopes that a good name would spread.
Not that I mean to call that a bad thing. People have always conducted their affairs amid a tangle of interests; that is simply how the world works, isn't it?
Though I imagine the high-and-mighty grandees — the sort you could shake out upside down without a speck of dust falling — would be far more likely to rage at the very suggestion that calculation, rather than pure loyalty, drove their generosity...
Pedantic to the bone, every last one of them. If Sima Yi heard this, she'd no doubt curse them out as uselessly fussy old fossils.
I set the headache-inducing complications aside before my imagination could run any further.
Returning to the matter at hand — from the common people's point of view, it was nothing but good fortune all around. Joyous dance parties breaking out on every street, and delicious free food on top of it. Needless to say, the streets rang with praises for the Empress, and public sentiment brightened considerably.
All of this unfolded on the first day of the wedding festivities, while the Empress and I were napping with Yaongi after our first round together.
"...Hwahyeon?"
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
"It's growing dark out, and We seem to have... recovered somewhat..."
With those words, the Empress gazed up at me, cheeks tinged with embarrassment.
"Shall we not... go another round...?"
"..."
"Eep—?!"
Confronted with an expression I never once saw in public, I passed yet another night of wild abandon.
The Empress lasted considerably longer than she had in the daytime. Apparently the double-digit count she'd already burned through before the main event made quite the difference — or, failing that, perhaps she was simply beginning to accumulate experience.
Of course, no one can exert themselves like that on an empty stomach, so I was also granted the honor of sharing a meal at the Empress's own table. Witnessing firsthand the imperial dining ritual I'd only ever read about stirred strangely fresh feelings.
It fell far short of the Manchu–Han Imperial Feast said to have begun in the Qing dynasty, but to guard against poisoning, the kitchens had prepared mountains of dishes that no one would ever actually eat. The sight of the Empress selecting her meal from that sprawling spread, while a minister took on the role of royal food-taster — much like the tasting ladies of the Joseon court — sampling each dish several times over before it was served, was refreshingly novel.
"Here, you have this one."
"..."
Handing me, of all things, the very dish you just tasted — I had my doubts about that part.
And yet amid it all, her uncanny knack for picking out precisely the foods I loved was pure Empress. Lord Liu Yu, who had reported every detail of my preferences to Her Majesty, really should have been here to witness this...
What surprised me more, though, was that none of the surrounding court ladies or ministers seemed startled by the Empress's behavior in the slightest.
A question nagging at me, I spoke with careful courtesy.
"How could I possibly presume to share a table with Your Majesty?"
"Hmm? Is that a problem?"
"It is. I beg you to withdraw the command."
Hearing this, the Empress turned her head — food still in hand — toward the assembled ministers.
"Let whoever dares quibble with Our word, prattling on about rites and regulations, step forward this instant."
...That was a rather terrifying thing to say.
The moment the Empress's gaze swept over them, the ministers broke out in cold sweat, ducking their heads in a frantic scramble to avoid meeting her eyes. Even I, who knew her temperament in broad strokes, felt the menace — Heaven only knew what it was like for those who waited on her up close every single day.
Having confirmed that not a soul would open their mouth, the Empress turned back to me.
"No one objects, then. In that case, there is no problem at all."
"...It is an honor, Your Majesty."
Caught in the ministers' furtive, desperate stares, I had no choice but to accept the invitation to share her table.
The dishes produced in the imperial palace were unquestionably delicious. In this era, merchant vessels occasionally crossed over from India to trade, so spices had found their way into the imperial tribute as well. Granted, they cost an absolutely astronomical price — but then again, human beings are animals that go mad for stimulating flavors, are we not? And I'd heard that steep as the prices were, the traders were delighted when offered goods that could only be obtained in China.
"Heh heh. I do love watching you eat."
Smiling, the Empress kept passing dish after dish my way without pause.
...Though the increasingly conspicuous stream of dishes famed for being "good for men" was surely no trick of my imagination. Where did she find the confidence, fainting dead away every single time after barely lasting a round?
Thus ended that fevered night. The next day, I threw myself into a flurry of activity preparing for the grand banquet — the true centerpiece of the schedule.
It was to be a banquet of enormous scale, drawing every civil and military official in Luoyang. Her Majesty had clipped away all the needlessly cumbersome ceremonial formalities, but an event of this magnitude was simply unavoidable.
Its purpose, I was told, was to proclaim before every official that the wedding had been properly solemnized — that the Empress and I were now fully joined as one and the same side. Making that plain, supposedly, would curb the quarrels among subordinates who wasted their strength checking and balancing each other's factions.
And it was no lie. Now that the marriage was official, any child born between the Empress and me was guaranteed to be the next sovereign. The imperial house, with its legitimacy, and the military, with its armed might, had merged into a single complete whole — a power that no faction could now outrank.
So this was why people arranged political marriages.
If these grand banquets spanning the next several days concluded without a hitch, I figured I would be free of worries on the home front at last.
"Hmmm, hm..."
The Empress — who had fainted once again in the night before waking — studied me up and down, making some inscrutable sound. Watching her, I asked with a puzzled look.
"Your Majesty. Is there some problem with me?"
"No, nothing of the sort."
The Empress answered with firm certainty.
"I was merely gazing at you because you are so terribly handsome, that is all."
"..."
Faced with that utterly sincere expression — without a whisper of a lie in it — I kept my silence.
That, I suspect, is what they call being blinded by love.
A first love stretching back to her childhood had finally come true, so the haze had settled over her eyes — and settled deep. There was Seo Yeo, whose gaze drifted to my face like iron to a magnet; there was Lü Bu, who flushed scarlet in an instant telling me not to seduce her. Romantics. Far, far too many of them.
Left to her own devices, the Empress looked ready to stare at my face until the end of time, so I had no choice but to open my mouth.
"...The banquet will begin soon, Your Majesty. We must be on our way."
"Heh. Very well."
The Empress flashed me a bright smile.
"Ah — before that, might I ask one small favor of you?"
"A favor, Your Majesty?"
What on earth could she need to ask a favor for?
At the bewildered look on my face, the Empress leaned close and whispered into my ear, her voice faintly flushed with heat.
"Before we leave this room, call me by my courtesy name. Just once."
"...?"
"Grant me that much, and I shall spend this whole day in joy."
Did that really qualify as asking a favor?
It was hardly a difficult request, so I obliged her without a moment's deliberation.
"Bolian."
"...Mmnh."
The instant she heard it, the Empress's face flared crimson, and she spoke in a voice brimming with delight.
"How strange. My heart is pounding, and I cannot think why."
With that, she reached out and clasped my hand in hers.
"Never forget it. You are everything to Us."
"...Your Majesty."
The moment had turned warm and tingly in a way I couldn't quite name.
"Ae-ong."
Yaongi opened her mouth and let out a cry, as if to say, weren't we pressed for time?
...Ah. Right. Yaongi was here.