Xi Chen cocked his head.

"You don't need to follow me. We could split up when we're out of the palace."

Xi Chen frowned. "Are you proposing that I sneak you out?"

"Don't look at me like that. You know that I'd still sneak out without your help." Ye An shrugged which made Xi Chen shake his head disbelievingly. He thought that the emperor had mellowed down recently with regards to sneaking out of the palace. Apparently, he was wrong.

"May I know why you're sneaking out this time, Your Imperial Majesty?"

"Oh, just to do this and that."

Xi Chen was put off by the emperor's vague answer. "Nevermind then. I won't go out tonight." Xi Chen declared.

"Alright, alright. Fine. I just wanted to check up on the inn that the Northerners are staying at and see how they are. Before you say anything, I know that they'll be attending the banquet later but I believe you and I both know that people act differently when they know that they're being watched."

Xi Chen stared into Ye An's eyes.

"And also maybe have a little bit of fun outside the palace." Ye An added in a small voice, tearing her eyes away from the lieutenant guiltily.

Xi Chen sighed. "Alright, I'll help you."

Before Ye An could show her gratitude, Xi Chen continued, his usual gentle tone uncharacteristically bossy. "But make sure you're not out of my sight the entire night."

Without her even noticing, Ye An's heart fluttered delicately for a nanosecond at the lieutenant's words. She cleared her throat before responding. "But wouldn't you be meeting your friend? I doubt that the Northerners would mingle with our soldiers during their downtime."

"You're probably right. Then, we'll just have to observe the Northerners first before I meet up with Ah Lin."

"Fine, that sounds like a plan."

The rest of Ye An's day passed by monotonously. She was off to the East Palace an hour earlier than usual to change for the banquet. In an hour, the Northerners and the soldiers would arrive at the Heavenly Gates and be escorted to the central square of the Imperial Palace. Since tonight was predicted to be a clear night, Ye An thought that it was a good idea to have the banquet outdoors as there were quite a number of people who would be attending and the dining hall might not be able to comfortably house everyone.

Back at the emperor's chambers, the servants were helping Ye An dress in the emperor's black ceremonial robe that was exquisitely embellished with golden threads. One side of the robe was folded over the other, with a wide piece of cloth sashed over her waist to hold both sides of the fabric together. The summer was slowly coming to an end. During the day, it was still swelteringly hot but the temperature could fluctuate drastically in the absence of the summer sun. Due to the banquet being an outdoor event, an outer robe of a thicker material was thrown over the robe that Ye An already had on. This outer robe was unfastened so that Ye An could easily take it off if she ever chose to.

On her head, the emperor's beaded crown was fastened to the hair that was gathered on top of her head. Soon, Ye An was ready and it was time to head out to the banquet.

When she stepped out of her residence, the lieutenant was nowhere to be seen. He informed her earlier that he would be scoping out the central square to assess the security of the banquet area and mentioned that he would be waiting for her there.

Therefore, Ye An would be traveling with only her servants and the grand eunuch this time. Ye An climbed into the palanquin that was prepared to take her to the banquet and they were soon on their way. With the sheet of organza gone from the palanquin, good riddance, Ye An could take in the scenery of the setting orange sun. The palanquin arrived at the square as the last rays of sunlight warmly grazed Ye An's face, bringing in the night.

At Ye An's arrival, the grand eunuch declared. "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor has arrived!"

It was a declaration that made everyone present stand from their seats. They bowed as Ye An descended the palanquin and walked on a red carpet that pointed towards the temporary platform that was erected for this occasion. The Empress Mother was already seated on the platform, with General Shao at the foot of the platform on her side. On the opposite side of the general, Xi Chen was standing calmly, waiting for her to reach him.

As she reached the foot of the platform, Xi Chen bowed and quietly greeted. "Your Imperial Majesty." To which Ye An nodded in acknowledgment before stepping up onto the platform.

The floor of the platform was made of wood but was covered with gold-colored silk. This platform was wider than the platform in the Throne Hall to accommodate a dining table in front of the emperor's seat that was placed in the middle of the platform. As she settled into her seat, Ye An noticed that the Empress Mother's side of the platform was slightly lower and she also had a dining table in front of her but it was noticeably smaller.

"Your Imperial Majesty. I see that you have also decided to reveal your face to the barbarians." The Empress Mother remarked sharply.

"Your Majesty, I see no point in covering up my face when they would be seeing it during the hunt tomorrow anyway." Ye An replied in disdain before turning her eyes away from the Empress Mother, effectively cutting off their conversation.

Sweeping her sight across the square, she saw that individual dining tables were laid out in a semi-circle facing the emperor on both sides of the red carpet of which she walked on to reach the platform. The low tables were each accompanied by individual cushion seats for everyone in attendance. Since the square was not wide enough, some of the tables were placed behind those of the initial semi-circle. From the top, one could see the lines radiating out from the royal platform. Streams of vivid-colored banners were used also to decorate the area with the banners emanating from the roof over Ye An's head to all corners of the semi-circle. On the edges of the square, guards on duty were all neatly lined up.

On her right, there were court officials in their neat and well-pressed uniforms. In contrast, the Northerners seated on her left looked out of place with their mishmash of thick clothing and fur shawls. Right across the platform, between these two vastly different parties, were the soldiers from the northern border who also had slightly thicker outfits than the locals but could still blend into the people of the capital if they wished to do so.

At the foot of the platform where General Shao and Xi Chen were standing earlier, there were also tables and cushion seats for the two most powerful men in the military in which they were now seated at.

"Welcome, gentlemen. And I extend the warmest welcome to the Northerners." Ye An smiled at the floor as her voice traveled clearly through the light breeze in the night air.

Sze Chang was the only court official who was placed on the Northerners' side to act as a translator for Ye An. As Ye An continued with her speech, Sze Chang relayed the emperor's message to the Northerners in their local tongue.

"I am honored to have you as my guests for tonight." Ye An continued. "And now, let the feast begin!"

Just as she ended her speech, servants started trickling in to serve dinner. Food was served in dainty portions on elegant china plates; while Ye An's favorite jasmine tea was served alongside the food. Liquor was to be served slightly later when the night has had time to mature a little bit more.

"Your Imperial Majesty, Chieftain Burat would like to thank you for the invitation. As a token of gratitude, he would like to present you with a gift." Sze Chang bowed to Ye An which prompted the dour Northerner who was beside him to nod at her. Chieftain Burat was the North's longest-reigning leader. He had been a chieftain since before the late Great Emperor Lee Gang came to the throne. The chieftain had grey hair that was streaked with white and braided into a half updo, while his peppery beard that came to his chest was braided into a pair of neat braids. Even with his grey hair as a testament of his age, the chieftain still looked like he was in the prime of his health.

"Oh? Tell him that I would be honored to receive a gift from him." Ye An replied courteously.

Sze Chang translated the emperor's gratitude to the leader of all tribes in the North and took the gift box from him before presenting it to the emperor. The grand eunuch took the gift box and brought it to Ye An who opened the box to a pair of sheepskin boots. The grand eunuch's eyes widened in shock when he saw the gift. As Ye An took the item out for survey, it was met with gasps of shock among the court officials and the soldiers from the northern border.

"Couldn't find a better present from the barren lands of the North, eh?"

"How dare they present His Imperial Majesty with shoes?? Is it an intentional message, saying that they will bring evil to this country?"

*Writer's note: Shoes (鞋, xié) and evil (邪, xié) have the same pronunciation in mandarin. To gift shoes also implies the "gifting" of evil spirits to the receiver.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Inviting the Northerners here was a bad call."

Ye An was silenced momentarily, thinking about how she should respond. If she made a fuss here and found out that it was unintentional, it would have dire consequences on the already tense relationship between both countries. The tension in the air was ripping at the cloudless night sky. Ye An passed the gift to the grand eunuch before continuing.

"Well, thank you for the gift. They seem to be made from sheepskin of the best quality. I will definitely use it well during the coming colder months." Ye An gave her best genuine smile of gratitude to the chieftain.

While this interaction was happening, the food was all laid out and everyone present quickly started on their dinner.

Ye An bounced back and turned to her right to ask Minister Wu. "I believe there's also a series of performances while we have our meals?"

Before Minister Wu could reply, throngs of men entered the square while carrying large drums on their backs.

"Ah, there they are." Ye An commented as she watched the men set up their drums in a circle facing the audience while she took a bite of steamed halibut.

The leader started the drum performance with a couple of sharp, short raps on the bearing edge of the drum. Soon, the warm timbre of large drums blanketed the square. The hypnotic drumbeats came in rolls of patterns ranging from deep rhythms to rapid bursts, pulling and pushing at the emotions of the listeners. When the drum performance ended, Ye An was already on the third or fourth dish out of the ten dishes that was displayed on her table.

For the next performance, a refined woman who was carrying her guzheng entered the square and sat down in the center facing the platform Ye An and the Empress Mother were seated at. Her fingers started plucking on the chords elegantly, the delicate music coming out of her fingertips seemingly blessing the cool night air.

As the music reached its crescendo, more women entered, this time dancers in light dresses of vibrant colors that ranged from yellow to orange to red, mimicking the rich petals of wildflowers as they floated gracefully into the scene. The dancers surrounded the woman in the center as ribbons streamed out from their sleeves in large arcs and swirled according to the peaks and valleys of the tune played by the guzheng player in the center. Everyone watching, including Ye An, was entranced by the synchronicity between the dancers' movements and the musician's melody.

All too soon, the second performance also ended. It was time for some liquor. Servants stepped in to pour the alcoholic beverage for all of the banquet attendees. Ye An never had an affinity with alcohol. She had never encountered any alcohol that she truly enjoyed. But today was a special occasion so she didn't refuse when the grand eunuch offered to pour her some liquor after tasting it himself to ensure that it wasn't poisoned. However, Ye An insisted on having only a cup since she didn't want to walk into the Annual Hunt tomorrow feeling like her head was cracked into two.

As they drank their liquor, the third and last performance started. It was the traditional sword dance.

Men dressed in dark attire each bore a long sword by their sides. As they entered the square, they arranged themselves into a neat formation of 4X3 with approximately a meter between them before brandishing their swords. The deep timbre of drums emanated from the edges of the square, played by the drum players from the earlier performance. Drumbeats accompanied each precise movement of the sword dancers who manage to seamlessly connect the clear-cut movements of the martial art with graceful dances. There was a pregnant pause in the air as everyone who was watching seemingly held their breath as they were mesmerized by the performance.

Before long, the banquet had reached its end and Ye An stood up to address the men on the floor who hastily stood up as well at the sight of the standing emperor.

"Gentlemen, thank you for joining me here tonight and I wish everyone who would be participating in tomorrow's event the best of luck!" Ye An's voice rang out in graciously.

Then she turned to face Chieftain Burat. "I also look forward to having a formal meeting with you after the event for the formation of our new friendship, Chieftain Burat."

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty." The court officials and soldiers replied in unison and bowed while the Northerners merely bowed.

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