Fragrance House was shut down, and Man Yao was able to easily take away Chen Yu, while the rumors about Prince Li heading to Moonlight Tea Garden spread like wildfire. These past few days, Heavenly Lake was unusually bustling making Man Yao extremely happy that she didn’t have to do any promotions. There were so many people who wanted to take a look at what this extremely favored son of the Emperor’s looked like, and there were many imperial relatives and nobility who wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to this esteemed wangye.
Three days later, the shore of Xicheng’s Heavenly Lake was filled with people, creating a dam around Moonlight Tea Garden. When the prefect of Jingcheng became oawayre of this matter, he hurried to arrange a hundred soldiers to guard the area to prevent chaos and also to protect Prince Li’s safety.
The moonlight tonight was extremely bright, reflecting off of the lake surface. When Zongzheng Wuyou and the Ninth Prince arrived, Moonlight Tea Garden had just opened their doors, announcing that they would only receive twenty customers each day. The crowd began to clamor, and those who were wanting to cause a ruckus were suppressed by the guards. Under the sounds of everyone kneeling onto the ground, Zongzheng Wuyou finally entered the gates of Moonlight Tea Garden.
There was only one lamp dimly lighting up the long and narrow hallway. The light didn’t do much to illuminate the way, and the ceiling of the hallway was low, making one feel a sort of pressure as they walked through.
The Ninth Prince furrowed his eyebrows, “I heard that all of the architectural firms in Jingcheng were involved in creating this tea garden. Originally, I was wondering how impressive it would be, but in the end it’s not even comparable to a regular teahouse on the street. At least those teahouses wouldn’t be so dark the moment you enter…” When the two reached the end of the hallway and turned a corner, the Ninth Prince’s words died in hsi throat. Unconsciously widening his eyes, he stared blankly at the unusual scenery before him.
It was a spacious indoor garden. In the garden were willow trees rising above the mist, pruned into the shape of an umbrella, and they surrounded a blooming cherry blossom tree. A touch of red within the sea of green, it was quite eye-catching when saw from far away. A stream of clear water ran through the willow trees, and there were multiple finely crafted translucent lotus lamps floating on the water. With the gentle breeze blowing through, the lotus lamps drifted along the stream, leaving shallow ripples in their wake.
Colored lamps were hung in the air, the light bouncing off the water to reflect off of the silver rooftop of the garden, eventually shooting out different colors of light to illuminate the garden. In an instant, the silver ripples of the garden looked as if Heaven’s silver river was flowing backgrounds, creating an unspeakably beautiful scene.
Tapping the folding fan against his palm, the Ninth Prince gasped in surprise, “Wonderful! How wonderful! I couldn’t have imagined that such a view would be at the end of that dark and gloomy hallway.”
Zongzheng Wuyou paused his footsteps, “This is the designer’s ingenuity.”
When one’s mind would be accustomed to that dark and narrow hallway, only to be met with this silver water garden, it would create an even greater contrast. Zongzheng Wuyou closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, only feeling that there was a slightly fragrant smell in the air that entered his body, causing him to feel refreshed. Raising his foot, he stepped onto the white brick pathway inlaid with small stones, feeling very relaxed. Man Yao personally welcomed them in, giving them the proper greeting, “Your Highnesses, welcome, please come inside!”
Zongzheng Wuyou nodded, and the two followed her to a glass table underneath the peach blossom tree and sat down. The Ninth Prince impatiently asked her, “I heard that you personally designed this garden?”
Man Yao smiled, “Yes, Your Highness.”
The Ninth Prince’s eyes glittered and he praised her, “It’s very beautiful.” Towards beautiful people or things, he would never be stingy with his compliments.
Man Yao sincerely replied, “Many thanks for Ninth Prince’s compliment!” This is a design that she was finally able to fulfill, and to able to receive such affirmation and praise naturally made her happy.
Ninth Prince: “It’s as beautiful as you are.”
Man Yao paused and instinctively looked at Zongzheng Wuyou. In front of this man who wavered between being a god or a devil, whether they were men or women, who would have the ability to be called “beautiful”? She lightly laughed and slightly bent her waist, reach her hand out to press a button on the glass table. A ‘kacha’ sound was heard, and one of the silver mirrors on the garden’s roof moved to the side to produce a circular hole, revealing the clear moon in the middle as the hole gradually expanded.
The moonlight was like water, instantly pouring down to envelop the three people sitting at the glass table to bask in its light, giving each person a very subtle feeling—tonight’s moon, was very bright.
Zongzheng Wuyou was in a daze. Looking over to the white-robed man who was bathed in the moonlight, he only saw his lips curling into a faint smile and those bright eyes shining with brilliance. He suddenly felt that this moonlight as well as the silver ripples of this garden all paled in comparison to this person’s face.
The Ninth Prince clapped his hands and laughed, “Wonderful! No wonder it’s called Moonlight Tea Garden, and is only open at night. Very good! You are a genius, that’s right, what’s your name?”
Man Yao was just about to answer when she heard him say “Ah” and then continue speaking, “Let me think, this garden is full of colored glass, water, moon…then I’ll call you Liu Yue, Liu Yue…Seventh Brother, don’t you think this name suits him very well?”
Zongzheng Wuyou revealed a rare laugh, his eyes glittering as he looked at her, and his voice was as clear as the sounds of nature, “En, eyes like colored glass, person as beautiful as the moon, this woman truly fits it!”
Man Yao was startled, ‘eyes like colored glass, person as beautiful as the moon’, was Zongzheng Wuyou talking about her? But…’this woman fits it’? She raised her hand to rub at her fake adam’s apple, it was made very realistically, she shouldn’t have been found out right? She lightly laughed, “Prince Li is joking.”
Zongzheng Wuyou hooked up his lips and and gave a smile full of meaning, no longer looking at her. There was a mist circling in the air around them, settling down like smoke. In the center of the garden was a circular stage with light gauze hanging above it, fluttering in the breeze, giving off a gentle feeling of beauty. In the middle of the gauzy curtain, the woman’s fingertips curved as the melodic notes of the instrument drifted over like waves throughout the quiet garden.
Man Yao handed over an exquisite menu. Zongzheng Wuyou took a couple looks at it and indifferently asked, “Only these?”
Man Yao twitched and replied, “Your Highness, pretty much all the tea that people under the heavens drink are located here. Is there not a single one that suits Your Highness’ tastes?”
Zongzheng Wuyou raised his eyes to look at her, “If it was something that could be drunk at a teahouse, why would benwang bother making this trip to your Moonlight Tea Garden?”
Man Yao wasn’t annoyed and smiled instead, “That’s not quite true. The way of tea is not just about evaluating tea itself, but also the process of steeping tea, the environment when evaluating tea, as well as the mood one has when tasting tea. Zaixia wanted Your Highness to prepare your mood, may I ask if Your Highness has done so?”
A natural and peaceful environment can aid in evaluating the way of tea. Out of habit, Zongzheng Wuyou squinted his phoenix eyes to look at her, “What benwang wants is something that is not available elsewhere, something unique.”
Contemplating, Man Yao hesitantly replied, “I do have something like that, it’s just that I’m afraid that if this is Your Highness’ first time tasting it…you won’t be used to it.”
Zongzheng Wuyou’s gaze brightened and immediately ordered, “Bring it here.”
Man Yao brought over a menu containing flower teas and milk teas. This world was still considered to be pretty open-minded, many wives and young misses from important families like to drink tea while resting outside, so she wanted to try promoting these. Who knew that these teas would come in handy during her first day of business.
Zongzheng Wuyou flipped through the menu, reading it more closely this time. After quite a while, he raised his head, “Are there any others? If not, then for these…I want one of each.”
Man Yao froze, there were at least twenty different types of tea on that menu! Seeing how Zongzheng Wuyou didn’t seem to have any expression on his face, but his gaze was quite serious, it didn’t seem like he was playing around. But to order things like this, it didn’t seem like he wanted to drink tea just to drink tea, but more like he was trying to find something.