Once all of the guests had finally arrived, Wu Ling returned to the waiting room with Su Yao and her close ones. Despite her teasing offer to stay and watch, Die Jiang took the serving girls she'd brought with her and returned to whatever business she'd had before Wu Ling's request interrupted them.
"Aesthete Wu," Zheng Qingye said hesitantly, having a difficult time meeting Wu Ling's eyes. "For what you did earlier. Thank you," she finished awkwardly, giving a slight bow.
"It's not a big deal, really," Wu Ling said. "The mistress of the house is an old acquaintance, it wasn't much of a bother to ask her for a favor of bringing a few girls to entertain Young Lord Fang Lin and his friends."
"Why do I find that hard to believe," the sharp-eyed archer Chu Dieyi said. "When you talked to that serving girl she looked positively spooked."
"She's probably just intimidated by her boss, sometimes, Senior Sister Die Jiang can be almost as intimidating as my Aunt Hyacinth," Wu Ling said in an attempt to play things down. "She's an Understudy after all, and a gardener. I don't think she'd actually turn a misbehaving staff member into mulch for her roses, but I've seen her make the threat," Wu Ling said with a light laugh.
"Never mind about how he did it," Su Yao said, stepping in between the other girls and Wu Ling. "Thank you for keeping everyone safe. Now, be a good sis-er, brother, and spill. What was Fang Lin like?" Su Yao asked, stepping uncomfortably close to Wu Ling and looking into his eyes as if they held the reflection of Fang Lin.
"Easy Sister Su Yao," Wu Ling said, holding up his hands helplessly. "We're about to go to the main hall, you'll see him for yourself soon enough. If you want to know my thoughts, I'll share them on the carriage ride home, but not until then."
"Mmmmm, you're no fun," the younger girl pouted. "Then let's go, everyone. I can't wait any more!"
In the main hall, little expense had been spared in decorating for a banquet to introduce the potential couple. Cushions of fine spirit silk were set out for every guest and gossamer drapes in Su family sapphire and Fang family gold fluttered gently on the breeze. The doors to the gardens outside had been left open to allow for a breathtaking view of the setting sun behind splashing waterfalls and blossoming plum trees.
Two long tables faced each other across the wide open hall providing plenty of room for entertainment during the banquet. As the hosts, Fang Lin's guests entered first, the collection of young lords sprawling in their seats with the same lack of decorum they'd displayed in the waiting room. Only Fan Chaoyang among them sat gracefully with the elegance expected of a disciple of the Pure Edge Sword Sect.
When Wu Ling entered along with Su Xiang and Su Yao's other friends, the spike of emotion rolling off the young lords felt like someone had dripped blood-red paint in the water to attract the gazes of crocodiles and vipers. Only Xiong Dahuo among them had eyes that sought out Su Xiang with bloody intent rather than thinly veiled lust but that was even more unsettling. What could motivate the saber cultivator to have any hostility toward Su Xiang?
Wu Ling didn't have much time to consider it as the doors opened again to admit two mature and seasoned cultivators. Fang Muchen dressed in elegant and elaborate robes that carried intricate patterns which Wu Ling suspected contained hidden formations. The elder Scholar carried himself with the pride and dignity befitting an Independent Scholar who stood near the summit of power in the Outer City. Every element of his appearance, from his tightly bound hair to perfectly shaped sword-like brows gave the perception of a man who kept everything in his power perfectly under control.
Fang Lin's mother, Ming Lee, presented herself in a way that was all too familiar to Wu Ling. From the sculpted bodice that highlighted her generous curves to the expensive strings of gemstones that hung heavily from her ears, the breathtaking vision of feminine grace all but shouted the truth of her existence to someone like Wu Ling. Ming Lee might have married one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the Outer City but that hadn't rescued her from the fate of becoming a caged bird. Fang Muchen had secured a prize that countless men would fight and perhaps die for and he displayed his victory the way hunters displayed the heads of beasts they'd slain.
Fang Lin, trailing behind his parents, had added a number of expensive-looking ornaments to his already impressive golden robes. Walking behind his father, Wu Ling saw the same unrestrained arrogance in his movements, the same tilt of his jaw that let him gaze down at the world around him, and the same unchallengeable pride that he'd carried when relaxing with fellow young lords. Seeing the difference between Ming Lee and Fang Lin in the presence of the head of the Fang family spoke volumes about how Fang Muchen managed his family to anyone with the eyes to see it.
Once the members of the Fang family had reached the center of the banquet hall the doors opened again to reveal Su Yao and her parents. As Su Jixin and Zou Suyin drew closer to the members of the Fang family, an invisible suppression seemed to slow their pace. It wasn't just the gap in cultivation or the fact that Su Yao was still mortal and had yet to awaken. As radiant as Su Yao had become in her sapphire robes with a large sapphire suspended from a golden chain on her forehead to mark her proud Three-Eyed Sapphire Serpent bloodline, she seemed to fade like a flickering candle flame the closer she came to Ming Lee.
"Su Yao," Fang Lin said, stepping forward to greet the nervous young woman. "I thought that no woman could be as beautiful in person as she appeared in Aesthete Wu's painting," he praised. "Clearly, the mistake was mine. That Aesthete Wu managed to capture eight parts in ten of your magnificence is surely an accomplishment but nothing could prepare me for just how captivating you are. Please, accept this token as an expression of my intentions," he said, offering a small jewelry box.
Within the small lacquered box, Su Yao found an elegant golden broach in the shape of a serpent coiled upon itself in an intricate knot. The serpent had been set with several small sapphires though its head was presented in profile and only held a single sapphire eye. Given the choice, Wu Ling would have altered the shape of the broach so the serpent faced forward, displaying all three eyes to make clear that it was a Three-Eyed Sapphire Serpent and that the gift had been prepared specifically for Su Yao. As is, the broach felt more like a generic serpent set with sapphires instead of a specific acknowledgment of Su Yao's bloodline.
"This broach holds a simple formation that can protect you from five strikes by late-stage Brawlers or a single strike from a Soldier," Fang Lin said with pride. "I hope it keeps you safe the way a beautiful treasure should be protected."
"Thank you, Young Lord Fang," Su Yao said, clutching the broach to her chest as though it was a priceless heirloom. "I'll treasure it as I treasure your protection," she said with a bright smile.