Chapter 12 The Flower Banquet (V)

　　The one who came was He Mudan's distant cousin, Li Nympho. Unlike the He family, which has been a merchant for generations, the Li family is a representative of those who first became rich in business and then successfully transformed into the circle of officials, while Li Nympho is a representative of the official's children who blatantly love doing business and playing games and having fun. 　　Peony came here, never seen Li Nympho, but when he was seriously ill, but had received a number of gifts from him, there are exquisite small playthings, there are also exquisite delicious food, in memory, this man, in addition to the He family, to her is sincerely good. 　　And the matter of peace, since can not through the He family, she can not support, will fall on him. Previously, she was very anxious when she was late in seeing him, but now that she finally saw him, she could not help but be happy. 　　"Since it's peony viewing, how could I not come?" Li Nympho was smiling on her face, but there was no smile in her eyes. Without asking why Peony was sitting here alone, he pointed at Hu Xun Er, who was dancing vigorously, and said, "Looking down on the merchants? Hey, if there are no merchants, what do they eat, use and wear? Such a Hu Hu Huangle is worth only a hundred taels of silver, but what my brother brought today is worth a thousand or even ten thousand gold, you just wait and watch." 　　Peony laughed, "I was thinking about this, I would rather be that rich and comfortable merchant than that poor and starving official." 　　Li Nympho slapped his palm, "Well said!" Then beckoned the green-clothed boy who followed by his side, whispered a few words of command, the boy led the order and went. He himself lifted up his robe and sat down on one side of Peony's desk, asking Peony in a low voice how her body was doing. 　　On the other hand, Princess Qinghua's gaze never spared Peony, and when she saw Peony and Li Nympho pointing at Hu Hu Xun'er, she covered her mouth with a fan and leaned towards Liu Chang, saying softly: "See? She likes Hu Xun Er, so I will give her Hu Xun Er and tell her not to pester you anymore, what do you think?" 　　Liu Chang's eyebrows instantly raised and he gave the chopsticks in his hand a heavy thump, laughing coldly, "So I'm just like that lowly Hu Xun Er in your mind?" 　　Princess Qinghua suddenly realized that she had lost her words, but she didn't care much about it, smiled gently and slapped Liu Chang with a fan, and said in his ear: "You're overthinking it, I don't like you too much, so I blurted it out. What kind of position you have in my heart, you yourself should know the most clearly." 　　Liu Chang's face looked better, and when he raised his eyes to see Peony laughing and joking with Li Nympho, he couldn't help but hum heavily again. Seeing this, Princess Qing Hua "snapped" her fan on the several cases, and also grunted heavily with a sullen face. 　　At this time, the drums and strings stopped, Hu Xun Er finished the dance, proudly salute to the surrounding to ask for reward, the audience should have been rewarded, but the master did not reward, other people are not good to move. Liu Chang's face was expressionless, without any indication. 　　I did not think that Liu Chang would not give himself face, Qinghua County Lord was furious, and stared back at Liu Chang, who was drinking wine without saying a word, and did not even look at the uncertainty in the middle, with red eyes, not knowing whether to go up or down with a glance at Hu Xun'er. 　　Pan Rong saw the situation is not good, busy voice laughs: "Good dance! Reward a red damask and ten thousand dollars." His status is high, and the relationship with Liu Chang is good, but can not look at the eyes of Liu Chang act. 　　Liu Chang said lazily: "Reward a white silk." 　　The people Fang have said reward, Hu whirlpool busy kneeling on the ground to thank the reward. 　　After Hu Xun Er retired, the sound of silk and bamboo was suspended, Liu Chang asked Li Nympho: "Xingzhi, why are you late? Not only are you late, but you are also hiding there, are you afraid of being punished? Tell me, what should we do now?" 　　Li Nympho got up and laughed, "I had something to do, so I came a little late. I'll first punish three cups of wine, and then I'll make amends to everyone." After speaking, he poured the wine from the peony mat into the glazed cup served by the maidservant and drank three cups dryly. 　　Pan Rong laughed, "I haven't seen you for a while, but you're still as sharp as ever! What do you say to make amends, how is it good to make amends?" 　　Li Nympho smiled faintly, "I have a treasure that I guarantee no one here has seen before! Today, I'll give you all a treat, as a right to make amends." 　　What rare thing have you not seen before? Princess Qinghua said with slight disdain, "What is so rare?" On her face, she acted disdainfully, but in reality, she was also attracted by curiosity. 　　Pan Rong laughed with her palm and said, "Don't be so secretive, hurry up, I can't wait." 　　Li Nympho laughed, "Soon." Then he walked to the front of the musicians and whispered a few words of command. 　　Suddenly heard a burst of hoof beats, all the people are surprised to draw their necks towards, but see a pair of wearing colorful clothes, about twelve or thirteen years old, jade and snow lovely, look exactly the same twin smiles to lead a black and white, height and body type of the two horses to. That horse looks healthy and spiritual, dressed also extraordinarily exquisite, the mane at the back of the neck was gold and jade celluloid neatly, draped in five-colored silk, one stop to the green grass, but did not bury his head to eat grass, or made a frightened and timid appearance. 　　"What is this?" Princess Qing Hua covered her mouth with a fan and laughed gently, "Xing Zhi, are you planning to sell horses or people? I see that although your two horses are selling well, the last thing that is lacking in my mansion is horses. Might as well sell this pair of children to me, I can give a good price!" 　　Li Nympho faintly smiled, to all the music playboys dashingly hit a ringing finger, the sound of bells and drums together, the two horses will suddenly spirit, along with the melody of the music, or head, or tail, or stand, or walk horizontally, or turn around slowly, or in situ kicking and stepping airborne, gestures, the most rare is that the action is neat and tidy, not the slightest bit of chaos. 　　Different from when Hu Xun Er danced, all the people in the gallery held their breath and stared at the two horses with astonishment. Mother Lin, Yu'er, Yu He and the others were even more mesmerized. 　　Although Peony also thought it looked good, because she had seen too many horse shows in her previous life, she wasn't as amazed as they were, but she pretended to be amazed. Suddenly, she heard someone whisper in her ear, "I didn't realize that horses could dance to music." 　　Peony turned around, only to see Pan Rong's wife, Mrs. Bai, standing beside her with a faint smile and said, "You have a nice view here, can I sit with you?" 　　This was the first noblewoman to take the initiative to show her goodwill in today's banquet, Peony froze for a moment, and smiled without being overbearing, giving up half of her seat, "I am grateful that you don't mind, please have a seat." 　　Lady Bai elegantly sat down beside Peony, signaling her servant girl to fetch her cups, plates, bowls and other things. Then without speaking, she quietly watched the horse perform. 　　When the song ended, the horse immediately stopped with the sound. 　　In an instant, the shouts of approval came like a tidal wave, and Pan Rong's shout was the loudest: "Good, good, generous reward! Reward two ends of colored satin and one hundred thousand dollars!" 　　The two children smilingly led the horse forward to receive the reward, and every time someone offered property, they gently hit the horse with the whip, and the horse would bend its hind legs in a salute as a gesture of thanks. The horse would bend its hind legs in a salute as a gesture of thanks. This attracted even more wonder from the crowd. 　　Although Qinghua County Lord and Liu Chang also had a generous reward, their faces were not good. Qinghua county princess because just now they have no vision, said stupid words, deeply feel no face. Liu Chang, on the other hand, did not know what to think of, and looked at Li Nympho on the left and Peony on the right. However, seeing Peony's pale expression, not as excited as seeing Hu Xun Er just now, she lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, pointing to the male guest seat and said, "Xingzhi, your seat is there." 　　Li Nympho indifferently entered the seat, looked at Liu Chang and smiled, "I am really sorry for spoiling your good turf." 　　Liu Chang only laughed and did not say anything. 　　Pan Rong said, "Xingzhi, where did you get this baby from?" 　　Li Nympho said, "I went to Qinghai this time, I saw something rare on the way, and spent ten thousand gold to buy it from a Hu merchant. It's called the Dancing Horse, it feels pretty good, doesn't it?" 　　Pan Rong's eyes rolled, "I'll give you three times the price, will you let me have them?" Such a rare thing, if it was offered into the palace, wouldn't it be a great achievement? 　　As soon as he spoke, Liu Chang and Princess Qing Hua both guessed what his idea was, and almost at the same time, Liu Chang said, "Let me have them, and I'll give you five times the price!" 　　Qinghua County Head said, "Give it to me! I'll give you six times the price!" 　　The crowd at the table was staggered, but the three at the table were all playing as they wished, buying it at a high price and offering it to the palace, getting much more than what they paid for it. 　　Li Nympho laughed: "We all think this dance horse still see?" 　　The crowd nodded, Li Nympho said, "Then I am relieved." The crowd's hearts sank, and they heard him slowly say, "Such a rare thing, how can I dare to monopolize it or sell it for enjoyment? I'm not hiding it from you all, I'm going to offer it to the palace." 　　Pan Rong and the three of them suddenly had wonderful expressions, and Princess Qing Hua's mouth was even distorted with anger. Peony saw on the other side, but could not help but secretly laugh, this is clearly a flirtation. Li Nympho was simply unaware of the bad look in these three people's hearts, and raised the empty wine cup in front of him, saying, "Why don't you serve me wine?" 　　Mrs. White said lightly: "The world is all about profit, the world is all about profit, you see under the sky, everyone is pretty much the same. But it's just a matter of what will or won't be pretended." 　　If she had taken the initiative to sit down beside herself earlier as a gesture of goodwill, then saying this to herself now was an obvious consolation. A warm current flowed through Peony's heart, and she genuinely looked at Lady Bai with a smile. 　　However, she saw Pan Rong suddenly get up and head outside. A few moments later, she welcomed a tall, wheat-colored skinned man with a deep green robe in, personally guiding the man to sit down on the first seat at the men's table, and then smilingly said to Liu Chang and Princess Qinghua: "This is the friend I told you about, Jiang Changyang, Jiang Chengfeng. The two of us will be the ones to chopped fish with flying daggers later on!" 　　The crowd didn't look surprised, and immediately a maidservant carried up several cutting boards and knives and porcelain plates, as well as fresh carp that had already been packed. 　　The Marquis' son cut the sashimi himself? As expected, there were many rare things, and Peony narrowed her eyes with a smile.