Chapter 35: Journey to Chang’an
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“Your Highness, it seems you’re quite drunk,” Ziwan said, nudging Lü Luo. “Let’s have His Highness rest.”
Lü Luo nodded and went to help Xiao Ming to his feet.
Earlier, Xiao Ming hadn’t felt too drunk, but the lingering effects of the alcohol had caught up with him. After talking for a while, he began to feel dizzy and had to lean on Lü Luo as they returned to his chambers.
Ziwan also went downstairs. Seeing that Lü Luo had taken Xiao Ming back, she called over the servant responsible for transporting the Drunken Qingzhou wine and said, “Don’t rush to send the batch of Drunken Qingzhou distilled this time and the previous batch to the Qin family. We need to inscribe His Highness’s poem on the wine jars first.”
“Yes, Miss Ziwan,” the servant replied.
Ziwan then went to prepare brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Coincidentally, Lü Luo returned at that moment. Ziwan said, “The Qin family is leaving for Chang’an tomorrow, and His Highness is drunk. It seems we’ll have to copy the poem ourselves and paste it onto the wine jars.”
“Alright, since your handwriting is so beautiful, you write, and I’ll handle the pasting,” Lü Luo said with a playful smile.
Ziwan shot her a look. “You’re always so good at slacking off.”
With that, she handed Lü Luo a sheet of Chengxin paper. “This Chengxin paper was brought from Chang’an by Her Majesty. It’s extremely precious, so be careful when cutting it. His Highness said that pairing this paper with Drunken Qingzhou adds a certain… elegance.”
Lü Luo carefully took the paper. Chengxin paper was the most renowned paper in the Great Yu Kingdom, known for its smooth, jade-like texture and fine, glossy surface. Scholars and artists often used it for their most prized works.
With a look of concern, Lü Luo said, “His Highness is really something. How can such precious paper be pasted onto wine jars? It would be better to frame the poem written on it. And what does ‘elegance’ even mean?”