Changqing's Last Echo

After a period of intensive rehearsals, the overall quality of "White Silk" has achieved a remarkable breakthrough.

First, there's A Qiu. After countless refinements and improvements, and with the tireless demonstrations and explanations from Xue Hongbi and Sun Neiren, her understanding of the "White Silk" dance has also made a qualitative breakthrough.

Xue Hongbi and Sun Neiren were both outstanding dancers of the previous dynasty. Although their skill level could not surpass that of A Qiu at this time, they had personally studied under Empress Shangguan, participated in the creation of the "White Silk" dance, and had experience shining on stage and being watched by the audience. They also had their own insights from playing the lead roles in the two scenes. Now, they were doing their best to impart their knowledge and skills.

Through this relentless and dedicated practice, A-Qiu made remarkable progress, undergoing a complete transformation.

When portraying women washing clothes, they are simple, touching, and charming.

When expressing the imagery of a goddess, one can transcend the mundane world as if riding the wind.

It is one person playing two roles, and it feels completely natural.

There is a scene of her singing while washing clothes and striking the water with bamboo clappers. At this time, Cui and Zhang are her female companions, one on the left and one on the right, one tall and one short, and their contrasting images are quite pleasing.

There are also scenes of her dancing on the water, like the goddess of the Luo River gracefully floating on clouds and water. At this time, Cui and Zhang, dressed as her fairy attendants, follow behind her, looking left and right, scattering flowers and hesitating, full of the innocent girl's longing and curiosity for the human world.

Meanwhile, the geisha who serve as the background performers become increasingly immersed in the "objectification" process with each rehearsal.

Some geisha depict a lotus flower in the water, stretching upwards with its roots and leaves, gracefully unfolding its leaves and closing its blossoms under the moonlight, possessing a mysterious and enigmatic magic of life.

Some geisha depict seagulls flying far away on the water, their wings spreading like the wind, gracefully traversing the distance, their movements and stillness full of vitality.

The troupes of dancers depict the ripples on the water's surface, shimmering like fish ripples and gently flowing like a breeze.

The billowing white veil, like wisps of smoke or a thin mist, transformed the entire stage into a dreamlike, ethereal, and mysterious space.

It is the spiritual homeland that every gentry family dreams of. It has the gentle elegance of women from Jiangnan that soothes the heart, as well as the ethereal beauty of goddesses that are unattainable, and the melancholy of something that seems near yet far.

No one knows how this sublimation is achieved silently and invisibly.

Before Xue Hongbi arrived, the dance troupe was lifeless, only knowing how to follow commands and move. Now, it seems to have a unified, living soul, with orderly, changing, and rhythmic forms of birth and death.

During this period, Consort Li and Zhao Lingying came twice to watch their rehearsals.

Zhao Lingying remained silent after each reading.

Zhao Lingying declined to comment on their alterations to Empress Wen's original version of "White Silk." She herself was not a professional in dance and music, and was open-minded enough not to comment on professional matters. However, A Qiu felt that the look in Zhao Lingying's eyes as she watched them from below the stage was melancholic and distant, as if she were looking through them into some place deep in time.

Consort Chen praised them highly. She said, "I never expected the dance troupe to reach such a level. The two instructors deserve great credit, and the success also depends on the unity and dedication of everyone in the dance troupe."

She nudged Zhao Lingying: "It has been said since ancient times that the student surpasses the teacher, and I also think that people today are not necessarily inferior to those of the past. Lingying, don't you think so?"

The usually quick-witted and eloquent Zhao Lingying seemed to awaken from a deep dream in the dance realm, and casually replied, "What?"

Consort Chen smiled and said softly, "I just said that if the 'White Silk' dance is a success, Lingying, you must write a poem to record this grand event."

A Qiu never expected that the dignified, elegant, and graceful Consort Chen would also play tricks on others, and these others were no ordinary people, but Zhao Lingying, the Lantai Ling, who was famous for his talent, sharp tongue, and shrewdness.

Being harsh and being shrewd seem to be two opposing qualities, but A Qiu found that these two qualities were perfectly integrated in Zhao Zhaorong, demonstrating her profound skill. In summary, she would be as harsh as possible to those whose status allowed her to be, while displaying her worldly and shrewd skills to those she could not afford to offend.

But at this moment, Zhao Lingying was neither harsh nor shrewd, but rather displayed a childlike bewilderment. However, that bewilderment only flashed across her beautiful face for a moment before she said, "Of course. This is also... a poem that I have owed for many years."

She should have written it back when the White Silk Dance was performed. She thought to herself. Back then, it was to conceal her talents. Now, with peace and prosperity reigning, high positions are for the virtuous, and there's no need for her to hide anything anymore.

As for A Qiu, the protagonist of "White Silk", she was exposed to the gaze of these two former Flying Phoenixes, whether she liked it or not.

Fortunately, Zhao Lingying focused more on the dance itself and didn't pay much attention to her as a person.

Consort Chen seemed to ignore her completely. In fact, A Qiu was sweating bullets, wondering if Consort Chen had recognized her as the girl who had fought with Chu Yuanyi that night at Qiwu Palace.

Consort Chen kept her back to the camera, indicating that she had never seen A Qiu.

However, whether she genuinely hadn't met him or pretended not to, at least in terms of attitude, it was clear that Consort Chen treated A-Qiu differently, maintaining a consistent approach of treating everyone equally. Even when she offered praise and commendation, she never overstepped A-Qiu's role as a dancer.

With the visits of Lady Pei, Consort Chen, and Consort Zhao from the former Flying Phoenix Four Guards, the dance troupe's influence within the Music Bureau gradually increased. The young and inexperienced dancers, however, were unaware of the difference, and Xue Hongbi, having only recently arrived, couldn't yet grasp the shift in popularity. But Consort Sun felt this most acutely.

Nowadays, when Yue Zheng and the stewards see her, they are all all smiles and have a fawning expression. Huang Chaoan has recently taken leave and has almost never shown his face. It is likely that he is guilty and afraid of meeting her, so he simply avoids her.

It seems that Zhao Zhaorong's loud declaration, "Anyone who interferes in and destroys 'White Silk' is going against me, Zhao Lingying!", which she sent out from afar and shook the entire Tangli Garden, was quite effective.

Zhao Lingying, the most cunning of the Four Flying Phoenix Guards in the past dynasty and the most talented woman in the imperial court, was only sometimes harsh or tactful towards her colleagues, but she could be described as ruthless towards her subordinates.

The Music Bureau's Zuobu, responsible for arranging the instruments for "Bai Zhu", racked its brains.

When the dance troupe rehearsed "White Silk," all the music masters from the sitting troupe came to observe. Their reactions were remarkably consistent with Zhao Lingying's.

First, they gasped, then held their breath in silence. Finally, they whispered to each other with grave expressions.

The final conclusion reached is that the production team must prioritize composing the music for "Shiroizuka" as their top priority this month. They absolutely cannot allow mediocre music to drag down the entire production of "Shiroizuka."

Moreover, an innovative and comprehensive soundtrack design is required.

Every day, a harp player, a flute player, and a pipa player would come to the troupe to provide music for the dancers. Although Xue Hongbi did not like the flute and pipa players, during the current practice phase, if the same musician played from morning to night, the musician's finger joints would probably become deformed after such a long practice period.

The musicians providing daily accompaniment are frequently changed and not fixed. Because of the thirty-six-person dance performance, the actual music for the palace banquet would not be provided by only one musician playing one instrument. The seating arrangement also needs to go through rehearsals, selections, and continuous trials to determine the final lineup of musicians for the performance.

In fact, dancers and musicians influence each other.

Infectious music can evoke emotions in people, and good dancers will naturally make various expressions and movements upon hearing it, mimicking the shapes and objects vividly.

Beautiful and evocative dance movements can also convey a different kind of rhythm and cadence to the musicians. When the musicians observe with their eyes and feel with their hearts, the music flowing from their hands will possess different qualities and temperaments.

Xue Hongbi secretly shook her head at all the musicians sent by the troupe. Now, under the supervision and discipline of her mistress, she no longer dared to show her emotions on her face or shout at the drop of a hat as she used to. However, it was quite obvious that she looked down on those musicians.

Firstly, as the rehearsals of "White Silk" deepened, its artistic level also rose higher. In her eyes, the current seated geisha were no longer worthy of their dance troupe.

Secondly, with such outstanding performances preceding her, Xue Hongbi naturally had something to compare it to. When she performed "Bai Zhu" back then, the main accompaniment music was Shi Changqing's xiao (vertical bamboo flute). And who was Shi Changqing? He was the best flute player in the palace of the previous dynasty, and his skill in playing both the Qiang flute of the Northern Dynasties and the flutes and xiao of the Southern Kingdoms reached a transcendent level. He was praised by his contemporaries as "the immortal of flutes".

When Xue Hongbi first took over the dance department, she could tell from its current state that she didn't expect anything fancy; just getting by would be good enough. Therefore, she racked her brains and came up with a plan to use the konghou (a type of Chinese harp) as accompaniment. She thought that surpassing it was impossible, but a different approach might be enough to get by and not seem too perfunctory.

By the time "Shiroizuka" had reached its current level of performance, the geisha's performances had surpassed those of previous generations. Therefore, according to her standards, the background music naturally could not be inferior to that of previous generations.

In fact, Lady Sun thought the same way, and even the most skilled musicians in the Music Bureau thought the same way.

But where could the Yuefu (a literary bureau) conjure up another Shi Changqing?

The current situation of the seated and standing music sections of the Music Bureau is better than that of the dance section. This is because the dance section has requirements for appearance and physical ability. Most dancers, once they are over twenty-five years old, can no longer control their muscles and joints as skillfully as they did when they were young, and their figures are no longer as light and graceful as swallows. Therefore, the age of dancers in the dance section is limited to between thirteen or fourteen and twenty years old. Apart from instructors, there are no older dancers from previous generations.

However, the art of musical instruments can be studied and refined throughout one's life. Naturally, during performances, young and beautiful musicians, even if their skills are not as outstanding, are more appealing than older, white-haired musicians. But the music bureau caters to noble families, officials, and celebrities, whose sentiments and tastes are refined and who do not judge people by their appearance. Therefore, many musicians from previous generations have been preserved and registered in the more technically demanding ensembles to continue their musical careers.

Even so, there is absolutely no one like Shi Changqing who can be called a national champion.

The so-called "rare and precious" refers to something extremely rare and precious in the world, almost like a mutation. It's not that if there are enough chickens, a phoenix will definitely appear, nor that if there are enough tigers and leopards, a qilin will appear.

Setting music for "Bai Zhu" became a major headache for everyone in the Music Bureau.

Early that morning, just as the dancers and A-Qiu arrived at the Xianglu Corridor to begin their morning practice, they saw the head musician of the seated troupe leading a young eunuch through the corridor.

The young eunuch was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with delicate features and a refined demeanor. If it weren't for his official eunuch attire, he would have been a handsome young man. He came with his master, walking unhurriedly and calmly, holding a bamboo flute in his hand, adorned with a lotus-shaped gold plaque and a green tassel jade cord.

Lady Sun glanced at the flute in the young eunuch's hand, her expression immediately turning serious. She asked the music master in a low voice, "This is... Lord An's apprentice?"