Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 131 The Banquet at Luoshui (Part 1)
Wu Sansi deliberately avoided looking at Liu Jianjun, as if he were invisible.

Li Xian was not surprised at all.

Liu Jianjun has already explained it to him.

Previously, Wu Sansi provoked Liu Jianjun because he was on his mother's orders to test Liu Jianjun, but now his task is to present himself to the arriving guests like an exhibit, so his focus is naturally on himself.

To him, Liu Jianjun was nothing more than a lowly official in the Prince's mansion.

Liu Jianjun was unusually quiet today, following behind Li Xian with his head down and eyes downcast. Only when he occasionally glanced at the surrounding environment and people did his eyes become sharp as knives.

Upon entering the main hall of the restaurant, just as Liu Jianjun had predicted, it was packed with guests.

Li Xian glanced around and saw many familiar or unfamiliar faces. These were all his mother's trusted confidants, each with a reserved yet undisguised smug smile.

Even the newly appointed prime minister, Wu Chengsi, arrived.

In addition, there were indeed some officials who appeared to be of low rank and looked somewhat reserved or even uneasy, scattered in various places. They were probably the neutral ones who had been brought in to "testify".

"His Highness Prince Pei has arrived!" the master of ceremonies announced.

In an instant, all eyes in the hall focused on them. Curiosity, scrutiny, awe, flattery, apprehension... a mixture of emotions mingled together.

Lee Hyun-nung clearly felt that he had become the focus of everyone's attention.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his discomfort, and tried to maintain a slightly arrogant yet somewhat resentful princely demeanor, as if he were under house arrest and feeling frustrated.

Wu Sansi led him to the seat of honor, while he himself sat at the lower seat.

The banquet officially began, with the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments filling the air, and fine wines and delicacies being served in a continuous stream.

Wu Sansi raised his glass first, his voice booming: "The reason for this humble banquet today is firstly to apologize for my rash actions yesterday, which offended Your Highness and Chief Secretary Liu! I hope Your Highness will forgive me!"

His words sounded grand and dignified, but he never mentioned the specifics of the "collision."

Li Xian picked up his wine cup, smiled faintly, but the smile did not reach his eyes: "Minister Xia, you are too kind. A little misunderstanding, let it go. It's just that I, the chief secretary, am timid and can't stand being frightened. I hope that you, Minister Xia, and everyone else will help me in the future."

His gaze slowly swept over the confidants of Empress Wu present. "Don't joke with him like this anymore."

These words carried a subtle warning, and this was the only thing Li Xian could do for Liu Jianjun at this stage.

The people present weren't stupid, and they all laughed and tried to smooth things over: "Your Highness is joking, how could we dare?"

Liu Jianjun didn't say anything, but just took a big gulp of wine from the flask.

What followed was a long and hypocritical social gathering, with Wu Sansi and others taking turns to offer toasts, mostly praising Empress Wu's wisdom and expressing their relief that the Yangzhou rebellion was about to be quelled. Occasionally, they would also inquire about Li Xian's life in Chang'an with apparent concern.

Following Liu Jianjun's prior instructions, Li Xian answered flawlessly: he showered his mother with flattery, while describing himself as living a leisurely life of doing nothing, walking dogs and fighting cocks, occasionally complaining about the stifling atmosphere in Luoyang and wanting to return to Chang'an to be with the princess as soon as possible.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere seemed quite lively.

In reality, the banquet had already been divided into two distinct factions. Wu Zetian's faction gathered together to talk and flatter, while the neutral officials sat alone in their respective seats, as if they were detached from the matter.

As for Li Xian and Liu Jianjun...

The two of them were merely "exhibits" at the banquet; once the exhibition was over, they were no longer needed.

This was a silent disdain, but Li Xian did not feel aggrieved, because this was what Liu Jianjun and he wanted.

Li Xian found it meaningless; he couldn't win over these people, so he might as well stay in the State Guest House and relax.

But Liu Jianjun suddenly leaned over, nudged Li Xian with his shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Xianzi, look over there." Li Xian looked over and saw that Liu Jianjun was pointing to a man in a green official robe, who should be a low-ranking official of the seventh rank.

Li Xian asked curiously, "Is this person a neutral party member?"

"I just overheard Wu Sansi and the others talking. This person is called Zhou Xing. He is now, but he won't be for long."

Li Xian was puzzled.

"Why are you only focused on drinking at the banquet?" Liu Jianjun glared at Li Xian.

Li Xian thought to himself, "Didn't you tell me that all I could do after I came here was eat and drink?"

But then, Liu Jianjun continued, "I just heard Wu Chengsi and the others say that your mother plans to build a huge copper box to listen to the opinions of the people... You know what a copper box is, right? It's basically a locked box where people can submit anonymous reports."

Li Xian nodded irritably: "Of course I know, so what? Isn't this a good thing?"

"What a fart!"

Liu Jianjun rolled his eyes and said, "A letter of denunciation! At the very least, one has to be literate to write, right? Your mother's creation of this thing is an extremely foolish thing to do. How many people in the whole world can read and write? This thing will inevitably become a tool for the gentry to control speech."

Li Xian thought to himself, "That makes sense."

"What does this have to do with Zhou Xing?"

“Wu Sansi and the others didn’t keep Zhou Xing’s name out of the way. I noticed that Zhou Xing’s eyes lit up when he heard the news. I guess he’s up to something bad…” Liu Jianjun paused and said, “To be honest, I wanted to trip up Zhou Xing, but I’m worried that if Zhou Xing is gone, there will be Wang Xing, Zhao Xing or something like that.”

At this point, Liu Jianjun sighed and said something Li Xian couldn't understand: "Damn it, history really is a great torrent. Only those who survive are truly successful. I wonder if I, Liu Jianjun, will be remembered for eternity..."

"If I had known, I would have asked that kid Wang Bo to write a poem for me. A six-foot-tall, dark-faced man is a name, isn't he?"

Li Xian chuckled and said, "You actually have such a deep obsession with being remembered in history?"

"of course!"

Liu Jianjun said matter-of-factly, "If you go back a few years, Zhuge Liang is good enough to be remembered in history, isn't he? He single-handedly turned the surname Zhuge into a synonym for a wise man!" Then, pointing to the Luo River outside the window, he said, "Cao Zhi is good enough to be remembered in history, isn't he? His 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River' made Xie Lingyun lament that all the talents in the world are like a bushel of grain, and Cao Zijian alone possesses eight-tenths of it!"

Then he added, "His father, Cao Cao, is certainly worthy of being remembered in history, all by his own strength... well, let's not talk about that for now."

Then he concluded: "Anyway, I have to make sure future generations remember me, otherwise wouldn't my trip have been in vain?"

Li Xian chuckled and said, "If your name is truly recorded in history, it should include the fact that you frequented brothels every day to pay off your debts with poems!"

Liu Jianjun's face froze. After thinking for a moment, he said with a serious expression, "Oh no, it really is possible!"

Li Xian was amused by his appearance.

How could history books record such an absurd little thing?

Just then, a minor official approached, smiling obsequiously, and said, "His Highness Prince Pei and Chief Secretary Liu were talking about this, and I think I'm sure I'll leave my mark on history!"

Liu Jianjun asked in surprise, "Oh? What did you do?"

The man held his head high and puffed out his chest: "That method of using copper boxes was presented to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager by this humble official!"

……

(End of this chapter)