Feast for a King

Meng Mei barely saw the procession to the dining hall due to the fact that Meng Guoyao didn't put her down for the entire walk. Madam Meirong tried to persuade him once or twice but he wouldn't hear a word of it.

So instead of seeing all of the hard work that had gone into preparing for Meng Guoyao's arrival, Meng Mei just got a face full of robes.

Thankfully Meng Guoyao finally put her down when they reached the dining hall. She was set back on the ground a little more rumpled than she had been a few minutes ago.

Madam Meirong took pity on her and spent a few moments readjusting all of her accessories. Once she was sure that Meng Mei was sufficiently presentable again she patted her shoulder and moved away.

“Let us feast!” Madam Meirong ordered with a clap.

The Meng family took up their usual spots at the table, along with the addition of Meng Guoyao who sat in-between Meng Mei and Madam Meirong.

The dishes were already spread out over the table so they all started filling up their plates. As she was reaching out for a slice of pork she glanced across the table at Meng Yong. He’d barely put anything on his plate but he looked like he was about to burst.

“A-die! A-die! Tell us about the night hunts you went on with Zhong-zongzhu!” Meng Yong suddenly called out, slamming his hands down on the table. Meng Mei jumped at the loud noise while Meng Weiyuan let out an aggreived sigh. Meng Yong practically had stars shining in hie eyes as he stared at his father.

“Meng Yong!” Madam Meirong scolded as her husband burst into another fit of laughter.

“So eager!” Meng Guoyao chuckled as he put an entire pork leg on his plate. “Well where should I start? Oh! There was this—-”

He was about to continue when Madam Meirong shot him a withering look. Thankfully he took notice of her expression and shut his mouth.

“Ah, Yong’er you know night hunt talks aren’t appropriate for the dinner table.” He shot a nervous look at Madam Meirong as he spoke. He only relaxed again when she gave him an approving nod.

“But A-die!” Meng Yong whined, slumping back down onto his cushion.

“Ah-ah! A young master doesn’t argue!” Meng Guoyao scolded lightly, “We can discuss my night hunts once everyone has finished eating.”

Meng Yong pouted and started sullenly picking out food to put on his plate.

“Lao-gong, aren’t you curious how your children have been in your absence?” Madam Meirong asked pointedly.

“Oh! Yes! Do tell me what has happened while I was gone!”

“Weiyuan, tell your father of your recent accomplishments.” Madam Meirong directed, giving Meng Weiyuan a long look. Meng Weiyuan straightened in his seat. It was the most tense Meng Mei had ever seen him.

Obeidiently Meng Weiyuan launched into a report on his most recent escapades. He had rarely been home this past week so Meng Mei wasn’t surprised to hear just how many things he’d been up to. He was mindful to keep his ancedotes on the night hunts he particpated in brief after wintessing Madam Meirong’s displeasure.

“I will be embarking on a trip soon to investiagte reports of an abundance of yao energy in the east of our lands. The priests of the nearby temple have offered their assistance in the matter.” Meng Weiyuan reported tonelessly. “After I reach a resolution there I will attend the spirit conference hosted by Jinhaipai.”

“Send the sect leader my regards.”

Meng Mei glanced at Meng Guoyao in shock. Meng Weiyuan had spent mutliple minutes recounting a long list of accomplishments and just announced his intentions to be absent from Libaogong for an unknown amount of time and all Meng Guoyao had to say was that?

Seriously, what had Meng Weiyuan done to get himself demoted?

“Make sure to mention when you are leaving, I will help you pack.” Madam Meirong responded after it was clear Meng Guoyao had nothing else to say.

“Thank you a-niang.” Meng Weiyuan dipped his head in gratitude. His eyes had firmly fixed themselves on the plate before him the second he stopped talking. To Meng Mei, it looked like he was only seconds away from collapsing.

Madam Meirong gazed at him with poorly concealed pity before shifting her attention to Meng Yong.

“Meng Yong, you share next. Be mindful to follow your brother’s example when it comes to speaking of your night hunts.”

Meng Yong’s eyes darted to Meng Weiyuan for a second. He looked like he wanted to say something but he stopped himself when he looked back at Meng Guoyao and Madam Meirong.

Slowly he starte recounting his recent activities. He spoke mostly of his sword classes and the new techniques he had learned. He followed Meng Weiyuan’s example by shortening the stories of his few night hunts. He didn’t have quite as much to share as Meng Weiyuan so he even snuck in the story of learning weiqi with Meng Mei.

“We’ll have to play!” Meng Guoyao responded brightly. “I need to see how much you two managed to learn!”

Meng Yong smiled but didn’t say anything. Meng Mei noticed that his eyes darted back over to look at Meng Weiyuan once again.

“Meng Xiāng has just been keeping up with her classes.” Madam Meirong reported for her. “Her teachers have said that she is still an excellent student.”

“Good!” Meng Guoyao beamed in pride. “How is your swordsmanship coming along?”

Meng Mei froze under the sudden weight of his attention. How was she supposed to answer that? She’d failed to prove that she could handle the swordsmanship classes in her last lesson with Guang-laoshi.

“Um…I’m still racticing movement with Guang-laoshi.” She reported with a cringe. Meng Guoyao’s expression fell a little with that news. Clearly he had hoped that Meng Mei would’ve made some progress while he had been gone.

“Everyone moves at their own pace. All that matters is that you are truly ready to wield a sword when the time comes.” He reassured her.

“Yes a-die.” Meng Mei sighed, feeling a little chastened. She’d done the best she could in the short amount of time she’d been Meng Xiāng! It wasn’t her fault that swordsmanship was low on her list of priorities.

“Well it seems everyone has been busy while I was gone!” Meng Guoyao’s expression recovered from his disapointment. “I’m glad to hear that Libaogong continued to thrive as I spent time negotiating with Zhong-zhongzhu.”

“Speaking of, how did that go dear?” Madam Meirong asked as she motioned for a servant to come refill her drink.

“Same as always. YuHu wants new trade deals with our merchants, we want assurances that we still make a profit. We want permisson to hunt in more forests, YuHu wants to make sure we don’t take their game as well.” Meng Guoyao laughed heartily, “And inbetween negotiations Shoushan and I spent our time hunting beasts.”

“I assume that means that Zhong-zhongzhu and his family were all in good health?” Madam Meirong hummed.

“Indeed! Madam Zhong is still teaching the herbalist classes and the two children are running around almost as much as our own!” He assured her. “In fact, Shoushan extended an offer to me just in case you wanted to see for yourself.”

“Oh?” Madam Meirong asked with a perfectlly arched eyebrow. “And what would that offer be?”

“He’s asked if we would like us to join him and his family on their annual hunting retreat!”

Meng Mei froze.

The special event side quest flashed through her mind. One of the pivotial moments in Lai Huang’s life had been a hunting retreat where he had been harrassed. Could it be…?

“Oh how kind. However—”

“Wait!” Meng Mei interrupted what she was sure was going to Madam Meirong’s dismissal. “I want to go!”