Without the ability to cut through the Inner City, the trip around the Outer City to reach the Golden Mist Ward took close to two hours, even by carriage. Populated by some of the most affluent and well-established cultivation families from the early days of the construction of what had become the Outer City, the Golden Mist Ward had been poetically named for the low fog that rolled off the Silver Sword Lake in the early morning certain times of the year.
On the right day, the combination of low rolling fog and soft morning sunlight turned the mist into a rich golden hue and gave the towering buildings of the ward the appearance that they rose out of literal clouds of gold. In truth, the phenomenon occurred less than a dozen times a year and it had become less common as the city continued to expand and taller buildings blocked the misty wind rolling off the lake but the locals held to the name despite the changing times.
Since this was an introductory banquet, the hosting Fang Family faced the difficult challenge of setting an appropriate tone to welcome the woman who could be a future daughter-in-law. Because the Fang and Su families lacked any longstanding connections, whether business arrangements or previous marriages between family members, it would have been inappropriate to move directly to a formal arranged marriage and a betrothal announcement.
With the lesser significance of the banquet, it didn't make sense for this to become a grand event hosted at the Fang family manor and attended by many members of both families. Instead, they had booked out the Drifting Silk Pavilion, an upscale venue that catered to wealthy members of the younger generation among cultivation families. Outside of Su Yao and Fang Lin's parents, there wouldn't be any members of the older generation in attendance tonight, so the choice seemed reasonable.
Outside, the venue had been decorated with lanterns in a wide assortment of colors that would burn long into the night as attendees wandered about the manicured gardens or idled by the fountains constructed to resemble natural waterfalls. Soft music could be heard in many areas of the venue though the performers themselves were largely hidden from view. The music, like the immaculate landscaping, was intended to compliment the guests and contribute to the environment but not to be the focus of anyone's attention. If there were performances meant to be entertainment for guests, they would surely take place in the main hall.
"How many of your friends are coming to the banquet tonight?" Wu Ling asked Su Yao as they approached the luxurious venue.
"Only five including you and cousin Xiang," she said, wringing her hands nervously. "No one from school. I tried to invite as many of my friends who had already awakened as possible since all of the friends Fang Lin will be bringing are already cultivators. In fact, most of them are either middle or even late-stage Brawlers and Initiates," she said.
At the moment, while she hadn't given it much throught before, Su Yao was truly grateful that her cousin had become a late-stage Brawler recently. She might still not reach the same heights as Fan Chaoyang, the dazzling swordsman she'd originally set her sights on, but at least Su Xiang and Fan Chaoyang were in the same realm. If she weren't, then Fang Lin's group would completely overshadow her own!
"Do you know how many he's invited?" Su Xiang asked, hoping that there wasn't a significant mismatch in the lineup tonight. It wouldn't do for her younger cousin to feel pressured by the crowd tonight.
"He said he was only bringing five of his friends, so the numbers should at least be even," the young woman responded nervously. "You don't think they'll think less of me for not having awakened yet do you?"
"Of course they won't sweetie," Zou Suyin reassured her daughter. "I hadn't awakened when I met your father and look at how things turned out. Right now, Fang Lin is five years older than you and most of the people he knows have either awakened or had their last chance when they turned twenty. You on the other hand still have several years left to blossom."
"It only seems like a large gap at the moment," Su Yao's mother said, speaking from personal experience. "Twenty years from now, when you're both cultivators, this little period of a gap will feel trivial, and a hundred years later you won't even remember it."
"I hope so," Su Yao said, forcing down her nervousness by imagining the sound of a single zither note being played and held like she'd been taught in school. The visualization helped and by the time they were ready to step out of the carriage she'd become the poised young lady that the Pure Virtue Musician's Hall had taught her to be.
Meanwhile, inside a small sitting room to the side of the main hall, a slender young lord in lavish golden robes sprawled across a comfortable chair drinking wine with a small collection of his friends. As the host, Fang Lin had arrived well before the appointed hour but after touring the venue with his parents he'd found himself incredibly bored until the three gentlemen accompanying him in drinking had arrived.
"Do you really think she's going to be as pretty in person as she is in the painting?" Zhang Buyan asked, leaning over the table to grab a jug of wine with thick meaty fingers. Despite the refined orange and gold robes the young man wore, little could conceal his bear-like physique and the close-cropped beard covering his lantern-shaped jaw only added to the feeling of physical might the young Brawler radiated.
"If she isn't, then will Brother Zhang take care of the offending painter for me?" Fang Lin asked with a smile. "Evidently, Su Yao is so happy about the person who painted her portrait that she invited him along with her tonight. If it turns out he's painted a falsehood, can I count on Brother Zhang's fists to find justice for me?"