Chapter 21: The Back? Oh, I Forgot

The banquet in the Crown Prince’s residence was done in an individual seating arrangement.

The Crown Prince sat on the highest seat while the guests sat on the lower seats on both sides.

A table was placed in front of each of them.

The banquet officially began, but there were only a few people present.

Everybody present were young subjects of Great Zhou, and most of them were scholar-nobles who had just entered the court as officials, such as He Sui.

While they had no real power or authority in the royal court, one could not look down on the group here.

Once they gained enough experience working in the capital, it was extremely likely that they would become officials leading an entire department. At that time, they would truly be considered to have entered the ranks of authority in the Great Zhou.

In decades or maybe even in only 10 years, these people might be the ones in charge of the court.

Su Wen sat on the immediate left of the Crown Prince. After all, he was the main guest today.

After everyone had arrived, the Crown Prince raised his wine cup and laughed loudly. “Today, I invited all of you here to congratulate Brother Su Wen. My Royal Father has appointed him as the deputy garrison commander of the capital’s eastern district. From today onwards, he will also be our comrade. Everyone, let’s get to know each other better.”

Everyone raised their wine cups at the same time, but most of their gazes were filled with disdain.

These scholars were all very young at this time, and it was the time when they were full of passion and desire to repay their country. Many people were rather displeased with Su Changqing.

In their opinion, Su Changqing was the black sheep amongst the officials!

It was only because he was favored by the Zhou Emperor that he obtained his position.

After downing the wine in his cup, the crown prince smiled at Su Wen, “Didn’t Brother Wen say that he was hungry? There’s no need to stand on ceremony, just enjoy to your heart’s content. Today, we won’t leave until we’re drunk!”

Su Wen nodded and started eating.

The atmosphere of the banquet slowly heated up, but it was a little strange.

The crown prince was very enthusiastic towards everyone, especially Su Wen. However, for Su Wen, it was as if he was only interested in food. As for the other guests, they were all talking about poetry and the general trend of the world with each other, but none of them bothered to speak to Su Wen.

It was as if Su Wen was an outsider. Although he was the main guest of the banquet, he was being marginalized.

The more they drank, the more intoxicated they became.

The Crown Prince left his seat and sat beside Su Wen, encouraging him to drink cup after cup of wine.

After a bout of drinking, the Crown Prince held onto Su Wen’s shoulder and whispered, “Brother, do you see that? Even though Prime Minister Su has power over the entire court, he is still not popular among the younger generation. I’m afraid this is not a long-term solution.”

At this moment, Su Wen had also become a little loose on his tongue due to the liquor. He replied disdainfully, “With His Majesty’s grace, what are these people?”

The crown prince opened his intoxicated eyes and said in a daze, “Your Majesty might adore Prime Minister Su, but what about after a few decades?”

Su Wen smiled and said, “Don’t I still have Your Highness? As long as you are here, my Su family will always be safe.”

“Hahaha! You’re right, Brother.” The Crown Prince laughed even more happily.

It was unknown whether those two were really drunk or pretending to be, but at the banquet, there were indeed people who got dead drunk.

He Sui was one of them.

With the influence of alcohol, he stood up and said with a smile, “Speaking of the wealthy families of our Great Zhou, the Su family is the most famous. One family, three talents; but it’s strange that none of these three talents have come up with a famous poem. I wonder if they are deliberately hiding it? Or is it something else? Young Master Su, have you seen Prime Minister Su’s poems at home before? How about you tell us so that we can learn from them?”

He was venting his frustrations now. During the royal examinations back then, he had the upper hand in the field of poetry. But in terms of national strategy and policy, how could he compare to Su Yu, who had been influenced by Su Changqing since young?

In the end, the Zhou Emperor named Su Yu as the top scorer. This point had always left him unconvinced.

Today, he made use of the excuse of being intoxicated to provoke Su Wen.

His words were polite, but his intentions were not. If Su Wen did not handle this well, he would become a laughing stock in the capital.

Su Wen tilted his head and looked at He Sui before pointing at him and laughing maniacally. “I was wondering who it was, but after so long, it’s just Number Two. What’s your name again?”

“He Sui!” He Sui’s face turned dark. “Why is Young Master Su so forgetful?”

Su Wen smiled. “I’m sorry, I typically don’t remember people who placed second.”

He Sui felt as if his heart was being stabbed.

[Ding-dong. Congratulations on Host triggering an intense anger from He Sui. +100 Emotional Value]

Su Wen’s smile widened. This fellow had gotten angry.

He Sui gritted his teeth and said, “It doesn’t matter if Young Master Su remembers me or not. It’s just that I’ve heard of Minister Su’s great name for a long time, but I didn’t have the chance to meet him. I really want to witness his literacy talent. Would that be possible?”

Su Wen shook his head and said, “Poetry is just a minor path, my father has never paid much attention to it. The governance and stability of a country is what a true scholar should be learning. Hence, my family has but few poems at home.”

He Sui was overjoyed. In his opinion, Su Wen was just quibbling.

He Sui said with a smile, “Young Master Su, there’s a discrepancy in your words. The path of composing poems is the most fascinating. Not only are the words beautiful and resonant, they are also a method to hand down words and cultural heritage. While it is a minor path when compared to governing a country, it is nonetheless a major path in the literary world.”

“Minister Su is naturally well versed in the governance of the country, thus it is understandable that he might not have much knowledge in composing poems. After all, there’s a limit to one’s energy, thus there aren’t many who can be proficient at both paths.”

Su Wen touched his chin and smiled. “I see. Speaking of which, it’s a coincidence that you brought this up today. I have indeed read some of the poems that Father wrote.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Wen chanted in a clear voice. “If time could stop at the moment we first met, then there would not be abandonment and neglect.”[1]

When this sentence was spoken, the entire hall was stunned!

With just one sentence, the sorrowful atmosphere in the poem was vividly displayed.

That nostalgic feeling when one met their crushes for the first time surfaced in the hearts of everyone present.

Everyone present was well read and knowledgeable, but no one had ever written such a stunning sentence.

He Sui widened his mouth in shock. Just this sentence could already be considered a top tier poem.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Su Wen lowered his head and continued eating.

He Sui probed, “Young Master Su, what’s next?”

Su Wen did not even raise his head. “There’s no more.”

Another person couldn’t help but blurt out, “How could there not be?”

Su Wen smiled and said, “I happened to come across this in my father’s study when I was young. Now that so many years have passed, it’s already not bad for me to be able to remember this sentence. How could I remember everything?”

After hearing those words, the crowd present were shaken. They were even more unable to contain themselves from wanting to know what would happen next.

“Young Master Su, think carefully!”

“That’s right. How can such a good sentence not have an accompanying sentence?”

“Young Master Su, don’t rush. Think about it carefully!”

Even the Crown Prince spoke up to persuade him, “Brother Wen, think about it carefully. What exactly is the continuation?”

Su Wen shook his head and said, “I really can’t remember. Anyway, didn’t He Sui say that he wanted to take a look at my father’s poem? Be it a sentence or a poem, it still can be considered as having taken a look. As long as the meaning is similar, it’s fine.”

[Ding-dong. The host has received resentment from the Crown Prince. +10 Emotional Value]

[Ding-dong. The host has received resentment from the Wang Ru. +20 Emotional Value]

[Ding-dong. The host has received…]

To these scholars, a good poem was comparable to a peerless wine, but now they could only see the beginning but not the end.

It was as if modern people had seen a very good television drama or anime, but it only consisted of the first three episodes. This feeling was akin to having an itch in one’s heart and liver but was unable to scratch to relieve it, making one feel extremely unbearable.

“How could you have forgotten it?”

“Yeah, how could you forget such a thing?”

“Such a good poem, but you only remember one sentence. You’re really…. Young Master Su…”

[1] This is a very interesting poem, where it laments how our first impressions of others are often not representative of how they are really like, hence the abandonment and neglect that comes later when we discover their ‘true selves’..