Bab 61: Lu Ming Banquet
"Brother Mo, how's your recovery?" Tang Yu suddenly entered from the door.
"I'm fine, basically recovered." Mo Qingkuang stood up and put on his clothes.
"You're really amazing, coming up with such a method to win! How does your brain work so well?" Tang Yu was delighted, coming over to Mo Qingkuang and lightly punching his shoulder.
Mo Qingkuang laughed awkwardly, "Uh, that was just a spur of the moment thing. Haha."
"Brother Mo, since you've recovered, let's get ready to attend tonight's Lu Ming Banquet! As the martial champion, they can't do without you." Tang Yu smiled.
"Also, tomorrow there's the imperial tradition of riding through the streets. You'll be leading the way. Hmm, I wonder how many embroidered balls you'll receive then." Tang Yu sighed.
Kuang Qing was originally a talented youth who had turned the tide in the examination.
The only consolation for Tang Yu was that he was just average-looking.
But now that Mo Qingkuang (Kuang Qing) had revealed his true face, Tang Yu's last bit of confidence was shattered.
Good-looking, skilled in martial arts, and intelligent —how could others compete?
"Wait a minute, what Lu Ming Banquet? What riding through the streets? What's with the embroidered balls?" Mo Qingkuang was confused by Tang Yu's inexplicable words.
Tang Yu laughed and explained, "You're from the South, so it's normal not to know. On the night after each imperial examination, the court will host the Lu Ming Banquet to celebrate the top scorers. The next day, the top three in both the literary and martial exams will receive the emperor's gift of riding through the streets."
"Those young ladies in waiting will prepare embroidered balls and throw them to the ones they fancy. The embroidered ball will contain information about their family background and name. If you're interested, you can go to her house to propose."
Tang Yu narrated it all to Mo Qingkuang, thoroughly shocking this naive young master of a wealthy family from Tiannan City.
So this is how city folks play?
Seeing Mo Qingkuang's astonished expression, Tang Yu grinned, "Isn't it interesting? Let me tell you, my father was hit by my mother's embroidered ball! Even your future teacher, Principal Zheng, from the same generation, only married once and has no children."
"Wait, weren't they all called the Golden Generation, the top talents of their time? How can they be so indifferent to love?" Mo Qingkuang's mind was curious, suddenly asking.
"Well, what's wrong with that? The more top-tier talents, the less likely they are to be swayed by emotions. The leaders of an era like them usually won't let emotions affect their paths forward."
"That makes sense. For our generation, besides me, the martial champion, the second and third place are both women. Does that mean men also prepare embroidered balls to throw at them?" Mo Qingkuang nodded thoughtfully, his eyes suddenly shifting as he asked.
"Uh, I'm not sure about that. There are very few women who have entered the top three in each examination." Tang Yu shook his head, indicating his lack of knowledge.
At the same time, he felt a bit excited about the prospect of Ninth Princess and Gu Hongyi riding through the streets. It was bound to be an amusing event.
"Alright, what are you two conspiring about?" Gu Hongyi walked in from outside, seeing Mo Qingkuang and Tang Yu standing together, seemingly plotting something.
Mo Qingkuang's true face was revealed when she was with Han Yan'er. Honestly, she couldn't help but feel a bit moved.
However, Han Yan'er's feelings were quite clear, bringing Mo Qingkuang into her room. It wouldn't be appropriate for her to snatch him away.
Later, she learned about Mo Qingkuang's glorious deeds. Gu Hongyi was a straightforward girl. After knowing about Mo Qingkuang's past misdeeds, her admiration for him turned into disdain, and there was no more girlish excitement.
Gu Hongyi detested evildoers, and Mo Qingkuang's behavior of bullying men and women in his hometown, despite his outstanding talent, failed to win her favor.
But apart from Mo Qingkuang's past misdeeds, his recent performance was not bad, making him a suitable match.
Now it depended on whether Han Yan'er could overcome this internal conflict or if Mo Qingkuang, after undergoing a major transformation, could genuinely reform and become a better person.
"No, nothing." Tang Yu shook his head when Gu Hongyi asked. They were just discussing something important, and now this tigress had arrived. If she heard it, things might get noisy.
"Humph, stay away from him. Don't let him corrupt you." Gu Hongyi coldly snorted.
If this had been before, she might have thought Tang Yu would corrupt Mo Qingkuang. Now she felt that compared to the troublemaker from Tiannan City, Tang Yu was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
"Huh? What's going on?" Gu Hongyi's words confused Tang Yu. Mo Qingkuang would corrupt me?
"Where's Ninth Princess?" Mo Qingkuang didn't argue. He knew that his past misdeeds had been thoroughly investigated. Quickly changing the subject, he asked.
"Yes, just now I saw Ninth Princess coming out of the room." Tang Yu also asked.
"Ninth Princess left on her own earlier. Let's go." Gu Hongyi gave Mo Qingkuang a disdainful look.
"Alright."
***
The three of them finished preparing and arrived at a restaurant.
This restaurant was called the Scholar's Tower, the best in the entire Capital, second only to the imperial palace.
Adjacent to the Scholar's Tower was a beautiful lake named Scholar's Lake. During the imperial examinations, the lotus flowers in the lake would bloom splendidly, creating beautiful scenery.
With a tall tower and a beautiful lake, it was an excellent place to enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains.
Therefore, for a long time, the court had chosen the Scholar's Tower as the venue for the Lu Ming Banquet.
Today the Scholar's Tower welcomed the triennial grand event, the Lu Ming Banquet.
The Scholar's Tower was brightly lit, with over ten floors filled with distinguished guests. The top martial and literary candidates of this session, one hundred from each, would gather here.
In previous years, there were often sword dances by martial artists and literary scholars to entertain the guests.
There were also famous poems from each examination that spread throughout the world, and stunning sword dances that became popular for a time.
But this year, it was different from previous years. It had a central figure, the most prominent protagonist who stood out without question.
That was the Martial Champion, Mo Qingkuang, who turned the tides, outwitted Lin Yang of the Yuan Sword Sect, and upheld the empire's dignity.
Due to his presence, the attention this Lu Ming Banquet received rivalled that of the Golden Generation's Fu Qing and the other three geniuses a hundred years ago.
***
So...how about some power stones?
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone