With the major matter settled, everyone present could finally relax and enjoy the lotus pond under the moonlight.
Across the lotus pond and flower grove came the clear, melodious sound of a flute. After listening for a while, Wen Ruhai said in surprise: “This is the new composition ‘East Mountain Moon’ that Hao Dongshan, the head instructor at Yingtian Prefecture’s music academy, just composed. Could the flute player be Hao Dongshan himself?”
Hao Dongshan was then known as the foremost flute master in the nation, serving at the music academy. He shouldn’t have had the opportunity to come to Quanzhou, should he?
Meng Jianqing said in a low voice, “It is Hao Dongshan. Before leaving Yingtian, I heard he requested leave from the music academy to come to Quanzhou specifically to play a piece at Long Yin’s daughter’s birthday banquet. Of course, the Long family must have paid the music academy sufficient hiring fees.”
Wen Ruhai understood: “So tonight is—”
Meng Jianqing said, “Tonight is Long Yan’s eighteenth birthday.”
Wen Ruhai couldn’t help but sigh: “Such a grand affair.”
To have Hao Dongshan come to play the flute.
But an even grander spectacle was yet to come.
When the piece ended, the candlelight over the lotus pond had somehow all been extinguished. Under the dim starry sky, brilliant fireworks suddenly soared up, displaying countless bird shapes in the night sky, with a vermilion phoenix in the center, representing the meaning of “a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix.” As this display of fireworks disappeared, another burst up—”flowers surrounding peonies.” Wen Ruhai counted them one by one: next came “Tianfei bestowing blessings,” “Dragon Palace competing treasures,” “flowing clouds and bats,” “endless longevity symbols,” “Penglai immortal mountain,” “ten thousand li cloud sails,” “dragon maiden worshipping Guanyin,” “flying celestials circling Kunlun,” “twin dragons playing with a pearl,” “three stars holding the moon,” “money tree,” “treasure basin,” “chaotic rain striking green lotus,” “chrysanthemums covering the ground with gold,” “Magu presenting longevity,” and “dragon and phoenix bringing auspiciousness.” Exactly eighteen varieties.
Such magnificent fireworks would be rare even during the Lantern Festival at Yingtian Prefecture.
Wen Ruhai exclaimed in admiration: “Such fireworks must mostly come from the He family of Zhangzhou. I’ve only seen the ‘hundred birds paying homage to phoenix’ type before. Tonight has truly opened my eyes.”
What he didn’t voice was his amazement that when it came to entertainment and luxury, probably no second person in this world understood the subtleties as deeply as this daughter of the Long family.
Meng Jianqing suddenly asked: “Why was the last one ‘dragon and phoenix bringing auspiciousness’?”
Wen Ruhai was startled.
By this time, they had all noticed that the accompanying sons and nephews of each sea merchant family looked quite young and handsome. However, their expressions all showed some degree of nervousness.
This was not only Long Yan’s birthday banquet but probably also a grand gathering for selecting her husband.
The Long family had no elders, so Long Yan’s choice of husband was entirely her own decision. Now that her three-year mourning period was complete, it was no wonder the various Quanzhou sea merchant families were all watching covetously. Meng Jianqing couldn’t help but smile to himself.
As the fireworks faded and candlelight returned, the young man from the Pu family beside Pu Jian was the first to stand up. Holding a brocade box about a foot high, he turned toward Long Yan, bowed slightly, and said: “Miss Long, this is a mutton-fat jade Guanyin that my mother sends you. It has been specially taken to Mount Putuo to be blessed. Mother hopes this Guanyin can protect Miss Long with both fortune and longevity, and a lifetime of peace.”
Long family attendants immediately received it with both hands and passed it over. Long Yan also stood up and received it with both hands, placing it on the table before her. She gently opened the brocade box and lifted out the flawless jade Guanyin. This somewhat surprised both Wen Ruhai and Meng Jianqing. Opening gifts on the spot—wasn’t this rather impolite?
But they immediately understood this wasn’t an ordinary birthday gift, which was why everyone needed to see it.
Long Yan smiled and said to the Pu family young man: “Thank you for Aunt Pu’s thoughtfulness.”
Behind Long Yan, a treasure shelf made of sandalwood had appeared at some point. An attendant carefully placed the jade Guanyin in the center compartment of the treasure shelf.
This gift from the Pu family might not be the most precious or most to Long Yan’s taste, but no matter what, Long Yan wouldn’t move the Guanyin statue to a corner. This showed the Pu family’s thoughtfulness.
The gifts from the following families all competed in novelty and ingenuity, exhausting every scheme. One family sent a priceless pearl an inch in diameter, which seemed even larger and more lustrous than the Hepu treasure pearl that was presented as tribute last year. Prefect Wang was fine, but it left someone like Wen Ruhai, who had never seen such a scene before, stupefied. Meng Jianqing privately pondered that even the Hongwu Emperor’s birthday probably didn’t have such extravagance. When the Hongwu Emperor learned of this scene, what would he think? Would he feel the Long family was too extravagant, even violating protocol, or would he just laugh it off and sigh that this money-spending daughter of the Long family would sooner or later squander their golden mountains and silver seas?
The last to present a birthday gift was a young man from the Chen family. When he stood up, Meng Jianqing suddenly felt his heart stir slightly.
Where did this warning come from?
That Chen family young man, perhaps due to the Chen family’s recent suppression, didn’t have the arrogant confidence of other sea merchant sons. His movements contained the caution and composure of someone who observed expressions and read situations. What he presented was a small ship model made of pure gold—this was indeed in the Chen family’s character.
Long Yan placed the ship model on the long table before her and pulled the silk-thin cables. The sails could be raised. When she gently touched a sail, that thin sail immediately began spinning around the mast. When she turned the winch, long chains slowly lifted the anchor hook. And when she moved the rudder, the ship’s bow immediately began turning slowly on the mirror-smooth table.
Sounds of amazement filled the gathering.
Long Yan knew that with the Chen family’s skill, the ship model was not just for looking.
Such exquisite craftsmanship moved even Long Yan, who had seen all manner of treasures.
Long Yan’s expression at this moment was like that of a curious young girl, trying to discover every secret in this little ship model, and each secret brought her a small surprise, especially in places where everyone thought it impossible to achieve the same functionality as a real ship.
Meng Jianqing glanced at the Chen family’s young man, knowing that perhaps only this kind of unexpected gift could truly surprise and move her. Whose idea was this gift from the Chen family? Could it be this reserved Chen family young man? Or was there someone else with greater wisdom?
Long Yan was opening the windows one by one. The cabin furnishings were meticulous in every detail, following the pattern of real seagoing vessels.
Just as she was about to lift the deck to examine the hold, Meng Jianqing’s heart suddenly jumped. The vague warning from earlier suddenly became unmistakably clear.
But before he could shout a warning, Long Yan had already lifted the deck, then cried out “Snake!” and fell backward.
A golden shadow shot out from the cabin like an arrow.
From the shadows behind Long Yan, a black figure simultaneously leaped out. His right hand flicked, and three bone-piercing nails shot toward the rapidly moving golden snake. The snake’s serpentine speed was extremely fast—two bone-piercing nails missed, and the third hit the snake’s tail. Meng Jianqing also leaped up at the same time, throwing out a small knife that struck the snake’s body.
After the figure behind Long Yan shot the bone-piercing nails, obviously confident they wouldn’t miss, he had already bent down to treat Long Yan’s wound and suck out the snake venom. The Yun siblings rushed to Long Yan’s sides to stand guard, one left and one right.
But when the nail and knife struck the snake’s body, there was only a clanging sound like metal striking stone, as if the small snake were invulnerable to weapons.
The faces of Meng Jianqing and the Yun siblings couldn’t help but change.
In just this instant, it looked like the small snake would escape the Lotus Viewing Pavilion, dive into the water, and become impossible to track. And without catching this strange little snake, they probably couldn’t find the right antidote.
As Yun Yanran lunged toward the snake, Meng Jianqing shouted and had already drawn his blade and leaped up. Passing over Yun Yanran, he stepped on his shoulder with his left foot, borrowing this push for even greater speed. He finally managed to intercept the snake before it escaped the pavilion. With a mountain-splitting strike, he severed both the snake’s head and half a white marble slab. The snake’s body remained on the pavilion, still writhing incessantly. The marble slab fell into the water, but the severed snake head flew up, baring its fangs in mid-air, still seeming alive. Meng Jianqing’s heart chilled as he twisted and struck out, deflecting the snake’s head to fly horizontally away. It struck a stone pillar of the pavilion and bounced back over the pavilion. Those in the path of the snake’s head cried out in alarm and scattered. Meng Jianqing’s left hand flashed up—a small knife came from behind to arrive first, deflecting the snake head that had nearly hit Prefect Wang to change direction again. With a “ding,” it stuck in a corridor pillar along with the knife.
Wen Ruhai caught his breath and, unable to suppress his curiosity, walked forward to bend down and examine the snake’s head closely. Just as Meng Jianqing shouted, “Don’t get close,” the knife that had pierced the snake’s head from below, having insufficient momentum after penetrating the stone-hard snake skin, was inserted too shallowly into the wooden pillar and fell together with the snake head, landing squarely on Wen Ruhai’s left forearm.
Wen Ruhai screamed and jumped up.
The snake’s head, though dead, wouldn’t release its grip, biting tightly onto his left arm.
Meng Jianqing immediately flew back, grabbing a large candle and dripping hot wax down. The snake head instinctively contracted from the burning, and Meng Jianqing’s right hand flashed. He flicked the snake head away with his blade and backhanded it into the ice in the jade vessel at the center of the pavilion.
Wen Ruhai’s face was deathly pale, fearing he would collapse at any moment. What a pity that his aspirations had no chance to be realized…
Long Yan softly called out, “Snake gallbladder.”
Meng Jianqing turned to see that Yun Yanran had now grasped the snake’s body. With a squeeze of his hands, the snake’s gallbladder emerged. Yun Yanjiao immediately took it and fed it into Long Yan’s mouth without hesitation.
But even if Yun Yanran knew Wen Ruhai was also poisoned, he couldn’t be expected to save that gallbladder for him.
To Yun Yanran, how could Wen Ruhai’s importance compare to Long Yan’s?
Meng Jianqing turned and said in a low voice: “Open your mouth!”
Wen Ruhai’s mind was completely blank. He opened his mouth stupidly, and a pill was already stuffed inside, rolling down his throat.
Meng Jianqing thought to himself that the Rejuvenation Pills he brought each time always ended up being used on others—he didn’t know if this was good or bad.
For this banquet, Meng Jianqing had only brought two guards, both left to keep watch outside the pavilion. Without waiting for his instructions, the two men now rushed over and took turns sucking the poisonous blood from the wound on Wen Ruhai’s left arm. Meng Jianqing nodded approvingly. It wasn’t in vain that he had brought these men for so long—they were discerning and knew how to act.
Long Yan had now swallowed the snake’s gallbladder. With eyes closed, she said in a low voice: “Snake blood!”
Yun Yanjiao immediately grabbed the still slightly writhing snake body from her brother’s hands and squeezed snake blood into Long Yan’s wound.
Long Yan seemed to know exactly how to deal with this type of snake poison. This thought occurred simultaneously to the Yun siblings and Meng Jianqing.
The Long family servants were clever—they had already quickly fetched more than ten types of snake medicines stored in the Long family’s warehouse. Long Yan personally selected one type for herself and Wen Ruhai to apply.
Meng Jianqing bandaged Wen Ruhai’s wound and saw that his complexion was still pale with a greenish tinge, causing him to frown. The Rejuvenation Pill’s medicinal power should have already taken effect—why was he still like this? Could that golden snake be so poisonous that even the Rejuvenation Pill couldn’t immediately neutralize the toxicity remaining after it had bitten Long Yan?
The incident happened so suddenly that Prefect Wang only now came to his senses. He stood up and said sternly, “Chen Yongxing, Chen Liuru, how dare you!”
The bewildered guests present were awakened by Prefect Wang’s shout. Prefect Wang’s accompanying bailiffs immediately stepped forward and seized Chen Yongxing and the Chen family young man.