Chapter 107 Gathering

When Princess Bailian arrived at the Dongping royal palace, another set of ceremonies began. In the Taihui Hall within the palace, Chang Hongquan, representing Chunnan and the bride's family, handed Chang Ling over to Tan Xiaopei, followed by another round of carefully designed questions and answers. Afterwards, Tan Xiaopei would take Chang Ling to meet the Dongping Queen, Zhuo Xiu, with whom Tan Xiaopei shared a deep affection. After paying respects to the Queen, Chang Ling would officially be considered part of the family. Subsequently, Chang Ling would be led by the palace maids on a tour of the Dongping royal palace and informed of the basic rules, eventually settling in the independent Yun Dan Courtyard to await the grand banquet that evening.

At the banquet, Tan Xiaopei and Chang Hongquan would naturally deliver another round of speeches. Then, the bride, Chang Ling, would appear at the banquet, separated by a curtain, to offer a toast to everyone. After that, Chang Ling would simply space out in the Yun Dan Courtyard, while also cultivating feelings of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and so on, waiting for Tan Xiaopei, who would inevitably be drunk that day, to be escorted into the Yun Dan Courtyard.

Princess Bailian, after all, was a princess cultivated by a great power known for its flourishing governance. At her considerable age, she was long past the age where she would make mistakes due to nervousness. Throughout the entire day's ordeal, there were no missteps; she performed flawlessly. Her spoiled nature was naturally not revealed to anyone, while her beautiful appearance and sensible demeanor were fully displayed. Those unfamiliar with Princess Bailian's history would probably be fooled by her.

Ye Tao, despite his rising fame, still wasn't qualified to attend a banquet of this caliber. Tan Weixin, although her status was more than sufficient, never attended such large-scale banquets, regardless of the occasion. While others were raising their glasses and exchanging pleasantries, they hid in a warm pavilion within the princess's mansion, drinking tea and enjoying exquisite pastries, their tastes extremely light. But this atmosphere was much better than the hustle and bustle of the grand banquet in the royal palace. At least, those participating preferred this atmosphere. Tan Weixin, who couldn't let her heart beat too fast, felt this way. Ye Tao, whose mind was always filled with various thoughts, felt this way. And Liu Xiangyuan, who originally came from a brothel and was now hired by Tan Weixin as a guzheng instructor, felt this way even more. Banquets, from a very young age, were like a nightmare, filled with fear and discomfort, yet they always seemed to happen...

Liu Xiangyuan gently plucked at the guzheng in her hands, entertaining the harmonious and strange couple before her. It was hard to say what piece she was playing; it was more like when she was free and bored, she would pick up the guzheng and play whatever came to mind, somewhere between practice and performance. Liu Xiangyuan was relaxed and at ease, and the two listening casually also felt that it was quite nice.

Although the atmosphere was so pleasant, the topic of conversation between Ye Tao and Tan Weixin seemed extremely boring to others. They were actually discussing the five thousand flags lining Suzaku Avenue that had been such a sensation during the entire day's ceremony. The idea had come so suddenly, and the entire flag-making process had been as tense as a battle. Some details, of course, wouldn't be known to others, such as how some flags were still being sent out from the hastily built dyeing workshop until the early hours of the morning, and were hung directly on the flagpoles while still warm. And upon closer inspection, some of the content on the five thousand different flags was, after all, repeated. Perhaps it was because the design draft hadn't been approved, or perhaps something went wrong during the production of the designed draft. In any case, it was still a flaw.

Tan Weixin naturally didn't care about these imperfections. She understood better than anyone how much effort Ye Tao had put in to deliver these things on time with guaranteed quality, while managing this work. The unfamiliar dyeing process was already enough to make one's head spin, not to mention the design, finalization, and coordination of opinions from various parties for the thousands of flags, and the reasonable allocation of design and production forces among the limited personnel to ensure that the progress on both sides was synchronized, as well as creating a relaxed and free environment for the designers amidst the repetitive and monotonous work, using various methods to maintain the creativity and excitement of the staff... In this era, was there anyone else who could do these things?

Sometimes, Tan Weixin couldn't help but feel that her trust and reliance on Ye Tao had become somewhat blind. Ye Tao had indeed never disappointed her, but she had seen all the efforts Ye Tao had made. Ye Tao, who was already slender, had lost several more pounds since coming to Danyang. Tan Weixin felt that it was time for Ye Tao to take a good rest, even if there was still such a large task as "Iron City" during this rest period.

Just as Tan Weixin was happily listening to the extremely interesting things that had happened one after another during the entire production process, a guy who shouldn't have been in this place at this time appeared. The two looked strangely at Tan Weishi, who should have been cherished and praised by everyone at the banquet, pouting and looking unhappy. Tan Weishi scurried into the warm pavilion, buried herself in a pile of soft cushions on the comfortable recliner, and began to space out. That appearance, combined with Tan Weishi's usual clingy cuteness, really made people couldn't help but smile.

Tan Weixin sighed softly, moved over, sat next to Tan Weishi, put her small, soft body in her arms, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Ye Tao didn't sit either. His attitude towards Tan Weishi was very different from Tan Weixin's. When Tan Weixin was doting on her sister, she might more or less consider something else, such as wanting to cultivate Tan Weishi's own ideas and abilities in a very maternal way. But Ye Tao was completely doting on this cute little sister. Of course, the relationship between these two didn't seem like this on the surface. Sometimes Tan Weishi would follow Ye Tao to the workshops, the construction site of Iron City, the Yi Zhan Lou, and other places to play, and they were always arguing at the same time. Privately, Tan Weishi threatened countless times to go to the King and Queen and let slip the title of "brother-in-law" to Ye Tao, and publicly or privately, patting Tan Weishi's head and saying, "Little children should be good," became a weapon that often made Tan Weishi speechless.

Looking at Tan Weishi's appearance, Ye Tao squatted in front of her, gently held her hands, and asked in an extremely doting tone, "What's wrong? Little princess. Tell me, and I'll go vent your anger."

In Tan Weishi's eyes, tears were swirling, but they hadn't fallen down because of Tan Weishi's efforts. Tan Weishi said with a sob, "Chang Huaiyin doesn't want to be friends with me anymore."