Chapter 657: Attending the Banquet
Zhang Yuelu submitted the report to the Golden Tower Council via a rapid post talisman and awaited their response.
Although Qi Xuansu had not yet been officially reinstated because it was pending the Golden Tower Council’s reply, he was no longer strictly confined to the Taiping Inn or the Yuhuang Palace.
The investigation of Gao Mingyin’s death had already been transferred to Zhang Yuelu. Since he had not resumed his duties, he could not participate in investigations. Thus, this period became a rare moment of rest for Qi Xuansu. Now that he was no longer confined, he could freely move within the capital’s inner eight districts and outer four cities. He finally had time to attend to some personal matters.
On the second day of his partial freedom, Qi Xuansu received an invitation from his immediate superior, Shi Bingyun, who was also Zhang Yuelu’s martial aunt.
Shi Bingyun invited him and Zhang Yuelu to a banquet. However, considering her current role as the Golden Tower Council’s inspector over the Imperial Capital Daoist Capital, Zhang Yuelu deemed it inappropriate to be seen too close to both Qi Xuansu and Shi Bingyun. After all, Zhang Yuelu was under the scrutiny of many watchful eyes, and Qi Xuansu had yet to be formally reinstated. Thus, she politely declined the invitation using the excuse of needing to visit Yuhuang Palace’s Nether Prison.
Qi Xuansu understood Zhang Yuelu’s concerns, since Li Changge and the Mansion Master Li Ruoshui were watching closely. Thus, Qi Xuansu attended the banquet alone.
The banquet Shi Bingyun hosted was not far from the Taiping Inn by Penglai Pool. It was also located in the Haosheng Southeast District. However, it was a private residence.
Qi Xuansu had known since he first arrived in the Imperial Capital that the Haosheng Southeast District was a highly exclusive area. A large portion of the district was taken up by Penglai Pool, and the lakeside properties were divided among the influential elite. Some used the location as a summer retreat, while others used it to house their beautiful mistresses.
Qi Xuansu had also heard that those who could afford to keep mistresses here were not ordinary nobles. At the very least, they were marquises or third-rank officials. Naturally, the women housed here were not ordinary either. Their worth was not just in their beauty. They were also exceptionally skilled. A beautiful woman was commonplace, but a famous beauty renowned for her poetry and talent was rare. Perhaps the woman might also have a unique status in the Imperial Court or other institutions.
The Great Xuan Dynasty followed a one-wife-many-concubines system. Concubines were classified into high-ranking and low-ranking concubines. If a bride came with a proper dowry and a respectable background and only married as a concubine due to some unavoidable circumstance, such as her family’s fall from power, she was considered a high-ranking concubine. Though a high-ranking concubine still had to be obedient in front of the wife, she could not be insulted or beaten at will. If she bore a son who proved capable, she would rise in status accordingly.
All others, like maids promoted to concubines or ex-courtesans, remarried widows, and the like, were considered low-ranking concubines.