Chapter 14: The Flower Blooms and Should Be Picked

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  The Tang Dynasty's Prince's Mansion had a strict personnel system. The largest official under the prince was the third-grade Wang Fu, equivalent to the prince's teacher, generally held concurrently by senior officials in the imperial court and not working in the prince's mansion. Next were the Longshi and Sima who led the officials and generals of the prince's mansion, as well as several dozen civil officials such as Gan, Shu, Ji Shi, Can Jun, and Zhu Bo. The private army of the prince's mansion generally had nearly a thousand men, led by the Zheng Fu Jun and Fu Jun, with Xiaowei, Lü Shuai Dui Zheng and other military officers below them.

  Although small, it has all the vital organs.

  Qin Mubai, this seventh-grade Dongge sacrifice wine not only has a low official position, but also has a dispensable function, and can be regarded as a small official who eats idle rice. It's no wonder that even the gatekeeper, Qi Qi, a seventh-grade school lieutenant, doesn't take him seriously.

  The one who was in charge of the Wu Wang Fu at that time was a scribe named Zhou, an old man over 50 years old with a sleepy and apathetic expression. He watched as each official from the palace signed their name on the register, yawned, and left. Without even greeting the newly arrived Qin Mu Bai or assigning him any tasks or duties.

  Qin Mubai found the office of Dongge Sacrificial Wine himself, showed his official token and introduced himself. Three attendants came to greet him. One was in charge of the official kitchen for banquets and procurement, one managed the musicians and performers in the mansion, and another specialized in musical instruments and furniture such as tables and chairs.

  Dong Ge is a ceremonial wine officer, this is really an official who can't be more boring and redundant.

  Qin Mubai ordered his subordinates to go about their business, and secretly shook his head.

  Go find Li Ke.

  King Wu was still fast asleep. The guards at the gate did not report to him, but instead drove Qin Mu Bai far away and made him wait outside the garden.

  At first, Qin Mubai was not in a hurry. After waiting patiently outside the garden for a long time, he finally saw the door of Wu Wang's bedroom open, and two women walked out under the escort of maidservants.

  It seems that it was the palace maid who served Li Ke last night. Looking at these two women, their appearance and figure are not bad, and they can be considered beautiful. Li Ke is indeed a man who knows how to enjoy himself.

  "Ah…… Ha!" Li Ke stretched out his lazy waist and walked out of the house, his eyes were good, and he glanced at Qin Mu Bai outside the garden. He burst into loud laughter: "Haha, Mu Bai has arrived today, why don't you quickly come in and sit down to chat?"

  "As you wish." Qin Mubai bowed his hands and smiled, walking over. Li Ke burst out laughing and came forward to pull his hand, suddenly turning serious and shouting at the guards by the door: "From now on, do not be lazy or unreasonable towards Qin Jiu!"

  "The younger generation will obey orders." The officers and soldiers all saluted with their fists, and the look in their eyes towards Qin Mu Bai had changed.

  "Ah, Qin Mubai, you've finally arrived! Haha, I'm so bored being cooped up in the palace all day, it's suffocating. Now that you're here, it's much better, at least there's someone to talk to." Li Ke seemed genuinely excited, not giving Qin Mubai a chance to speak, and rattled off a string of words before clapping his hands, "Someone, bring tea!"

  A team of maidservants and menservants swarmed in, setting down various utensils in the hall. Qin Mubai didn't recognize several of them. The golden hollow small furnace tripod, like a jade roller for medicine, like a gold turtle as big as a palm, slender silver chopsticks connected by fine chains... Only recognized that set of green celadon tea utensils with blue and white patterns.

  This is what it means to drink tea, with so many strange and unusual things, how can there be no tea leaves?

  "Mu Bai, why didn't you bring Si Mei?" Before Qin Mu Bai could speak, Li Ke had already gotten straight to the point.

  Qin Mubai smiled: "It seems that today's tea can't be drunk after all?"

  "Cough... Little Wang didn't mean it that way. Hmm, Fourth Sister has always been the one who loves drinking tea the most." Li Ke chuckled self-deprecatingly and rubbed his hands together, saying, "The Bi Ruan Ming Yue from Anzhou is a great tea! A top-grade tribute tea. Fourth Sister will definitely like it."

  Just then, two beautiful women with faces as lovely as peaches and slender figures, after curtsying, knelt down in front of the tea set. An eunuch used a delicate copper scoop to bring over a heap of burning charcoal, using silver chopsticks to place it piece by piece into the small golden stove. The two beauties each raised their jade-like hands, placing a small porcelain vase filled with water onto the brazier, while the other lifted the lid of the golden turtle-shaped teapot, taking out a fragrant tea cake and grinding it finely in a jade mortar.

  Every gesture is extremely elegant and beautiful.

  This is the exquisite tea art and high-end tea utensils of the Tang Dynasty nobility. Not to mention how precious this tea leaves are, even these silver chopsticks used to clip charcoal fire are exquisitely beautiful and must be valuable.

  "We will enjoy it." Qin Mu Bai smiled and said.

  Li Ke chuckled: "What can I do now except enjoy myself? The Emperor ordered me to shut the door and reflect on my own, nothing else can be done."

  "It should be okay to ride horses and shoot arrows in the backyard of the royal palace."

  "Of course." Li Ke clapped his hands, "The marksmanship of the officials in the mansion is really mediocre. Now that you're here, I have a partner and an opponent. Finish your tea, let's go to the backyard for archery!"

  "I'd be happy to accompany you." Qin Mubai responded, but in his heart he was thinking: I need to find an appropriate opportunity to get him to change my job, preferably a military officer, even if it's a lower rank. Being the Eastern Pavilion's Ceremonial Wine Officer is really too boring. Archery is my true profession, and being from a military family is my label, who would be happy doing something like managing a reception hall?!

  After drinking tea for nearly an hour, the Tang Dynasty's tea ceremony can be said to be profound and intricate. Qin Mubai also gained a new experience from it. Not to mention that brewing tea is a meticulous and delicate process, even the act of drinking itself holds many nuances.

  Years later, envoys from the land of Japan came to Tang China to learn this art, and they took away only a fraction of its skin, which became their so-called "Way of Tea".

  All the high-ranking officials in the palace were summoned by Li Ke to the archery range in the backyard. Among the nobles of the Tang Dynasty, it was popular to compete with each other in archery skills, and those who excelled in this art always had a sense of superiority over others.

  "Today, we'll compete in archery." Li Ke announced the rules. "One person, one target, ten arrows each. Whoever hits the most red hearts wins. The top three winners will each receive a bolt of silk, and the last three losers will be penalized with three cups of wine. Let's begin."

  After that, Li Ke walked up first, drew his bow and shot arrows in a row, hitting nine red stars out of ten. The surrounding area was filled with cheers. His archery skills were indeed impressive, and it seemed that the rumors about Li Ke's exceptional martial arts skills were not false.

  A group of imperial military academy students gathered together, chatting and laughing, taking turns to shoot arrows. Their skills varied greatly, with the best only hitting six red stars, overall their level was indeed mediocre.

  Qin Mubai's eyes landed on the Fan XiaoWei who had blocked his way at the entrance of the Wu Wang Fu. Watching him shoot, he hit six red stars and drew a chorus of cheers. He also wore a self-satisfied smile, seemingly one of the top among the generals.

  "This Wang Fu school lieutenant is indeed easy to become." Qin Mu Bai said casually, just in time for Li Ke not far away to hear.

  "Huh? What does Mu Bai mean by that?" Li Ke heard this and smiled knowingly, "You seem not too pleased to be the Dongge Festival wine server?"

  "I didn't think so." Qin Mubai smiled and walked forward with his bow. The officers looked at him suspiciously, whispering to each other in private.

  "New here? Looks familiar."

  "Isn't this Dongge's wine-pouring ceremony for the pipa player? Could it be that he can also shoot arrows?"

  Just then, amidst all the chatter, Qin Mu Bai swiftly shot off ten arrows in quick succession.

  Got eight red stars, one less than Li Ke.

  What an astonishing sight!

  "Who would have thought! The pipa player is also a skilled archer!"

  "Indeed worthy of being the Gatekeeper Tiger's son! Tsk tsk!"

  Li Ke smiled on the side, clapping his hands: "Everyone come over. I'll introduce you first. This is Qin Mubai, the third son of General Qin Xiangbai of Wing State and the newly appointed Dongge Sacrificial Wine Officer."

  Li Ke paused for a moment: "This king's bosom friend."

  The generals and officers all changed their expressions, neatly clasped their fists and bowed: "We have seen Qin Ziju."

  "Hmm. I just heard your discussion. Since you are the Gate Tiger, with such excellent archery skills, being a Dongge Sacrificial Wine is really underutilizing your talent." Li Ke leisurely beckoned to that Fan School Lieutenant with his finger, "You, step forward."

  Mo will be there. Fan Xiao Wei suddenly felt a sense of unease and stood up, with some trepidation he bowed with his fists clasped together, in his heart he had an ominous feeling.

  "You go and take the post of Dongge Sacrificial Wine, Qin Mubai will come to replace your position as Neizheng Colonel. You two, switch." Li Ke said lightly.

  "Ah?......" Fan Xiao Wei was stunned on the spot.

  "Do you have an opinion?" Li Ke looked at him with a frown, and Fan Xiao Wei's face turned pale as he hastily made a fist and bowed: "Your subordinate... Ah no, your humble servant thanks Your Highness for the kindness!"

  "Thank you, Your Highness." Qin Mu Bai bowed his hands in gratitude and exchanged a smile with Li Ke, the two of them understanding each other without needing to say anything.

  Li Ke is indeed meticulous and quite righteous. Leading soldiers is much more interesting than leading a group of cooks. The Tang Dynasty values martial arts and attaches importance to military achievements, the status of soldiers is not comparable to that of the head of the imperial workshop.

  But it was just a sentence from Li Ke, and Fan Xiao Wei changed from a majestic prince's mansion guard to a humble eastern pavilion sacrifice wine, the suffocation in his heart couldn't be mentioned. But Li Ke's words were golden rules in this prince's mansion, and Qin Mu Bai was Li Ke's "bosom friend", he could only swallow his teeth.

  Regret it, regret this morning, why did I inexplicably slack off on Qin Mu Bai? Damn it...

  Fan Xie Wei stole a few glances at Qin Mu Bai, his eyes filled with a hint of resentment and grievance. The other officials instantly looked at Qin Mu Bai with new eyes - although he was still a seventh-grade official, his status had suddenly soared to an unprecedented height in the hearts of the people, leaving them far behind.

  The arrow was over, and the generals dispersed one after another. Qin Mubai smiled and bowed to Li Ke: "Thank you."

  "What's the big deal, what's there to thank?" Li Ke smiled lightly. "At first, I invited you to be the Dongge Sacrificial Wine Officer just as a temporary measure. I knew very well that this official position didn't suit your status. As for the officials in the Wangfu, those below fifth rank can be decided by me myself. You'll start as a seventh-rank Xiawei, and after some time, I'll promote you to fifth-rank Dianjun, with all 800 soldiers in the Wangfu under your command. If Qin Shubao's son came and didn't lead troops, outsiders would laugh at me for being jealous of talent and unable to use people."

  "I can only thank you then. But let's wait until I've made some achievements before we talk about it, otherwise it would be hard to convince others." Qin Mu Bai said with a smile. In his heart, he also knew that Li Ke was doing this perhaps out of consideration for their past relationship, but more likely he was trying to curry favor with Qin Shu Bao, and the main target was actually Qin Shuang Er.

  If it's just relying on this little skirt relationship to climb up, although it's easy, it's obviously not a glorious thing. Moreover, if Qin Shubao still doesn't allow this marriage, then I'll be even more embarrassed.

  Li Ke's excessive enthusiasm and special care, on the other hand, made Qin Mu Bai feel a little uncomfortable. It seems that being an official in the Wu Wang Fu is not a long-term plan, and it is difficult to get rid of the embarrassing suspicion of relying on skirt ties.

  "There's no need to be so polite between us!" Li Ke smiled indifferently, patted Qin Mu Bai's shoulder and walked forward. The servant led two horses over, he elegantly jumped onto the horse, and laughed on the horseback: "Come on, let's have a shooting competition."

  "Obedience is better than respect." Qin Mu Bai jumped onto the saddle and sat down, both of them holding a cavalry bow and galloping away.

  Compared to the longbow used by infantry, the horn bow is slightly shorter, but its body is harder and more solid, requiring greater strength to shoot. Horsemanship has always been the most difficult part of archery. In the Tang army, those who excel in horsemanship are incorporated into the Yueqi team, which is the most precious and fierce team, and is the vanguard that breaks through enemy lines in battle.

  It's like in modern society, many people can play basketball, but those who can dunk are a minority.

  Qin Mubai and Li Ke are now competing in a dunk contest.

  Although the foundation of archery is stronger than Li Ke by more than a star, Qin Mubai's days of practicing horseback riding and shooting are not long. With the coordination of horsemanship to shoot, he is indeed not much stronger than Li Ke. Even if he uses all his strength, it will be a tie with Li Ke in archery.

  "Hah! Only someone like you, Mu Bai, is worthy of being my opponent!" Li Ke laughed loudly on horseback. Qin Mu Bai reined in his horse beside him, just about to speak, when suddenly he noticed a flash of green and white by the wall, followed by a loud thud as something fell to the ground.

  The two of them fixed their eyes on it and saw that it was a colored ball with a floral pattern and silk tassels.

  "Someone kicked it over from next door, is someone playing cuju?" Li Ke patted the horse and went forward to pick up the colorful ball, and put it in front of his nose for a sniff, "It has a fragrance. A woman's kickball."

  The style of playing cuju in the Tang Dynasty was quite unique, with an emphasis on who could kick the ball higher and farther. Just then, a colorful ball came flying over from the neighboring courtyard.

  At this time, next door also responded with a burst of chattering female voices.

  "Oh no, I've kicked it over! What's going to happen? That's the Wu King's mansion!"

  "Who's going to pick it up? Who's going to pick it up?"

  "It's still a good thing if we're not blamed by King Wu, let's hope there's no one in the backyard of the palace at this time!"

  Li Ke smiled mysteriously and said, "Mu Bai, do you think I should blame them, or kick them back, or maybe we can just go over there and practice our ball skills with them?"

  "This doesn't need to be chosen, does it? You've already said 'or' in such a familiar way." Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh. This Li Ke was obviously a charming rogue.

  "Good advice. Let's go." Li Ke didn't say another word, turned over and mounted his horse, ready to leave.

  "It's good that 'climbing over the wall' is not an option for you. Which household is next door?"

  "It doesn't matter which household, I just remember that there lived several beautiful sisters, famous far and wide." Li Ke was nonchalant as he patted his horse to move forward, "Hurry up, if we keep the beauty waiting for too long, it will be a great disappointment."

  "It sounds like you've got a date with someone... A talented person. Someone who, like me, is cursed with peach blossoms." Qin Mu Bai smiled, curving up the corners of his mouth, and followed on horseback with a pleased expression.

  The flower is in full bloom and should be picked.

  Proactively creating such encounters was something Qin Mu Bai had always been interested in. This time, he happened to run into Li Ke, someone who shared similar interests and was also incredibly powerful.

  .??，！