“I don’t want you to be a bystander, understand?” An Honghan gently stroked the little sable’s fur, avoiding touching the burns on its back. “You are raised by me, so you must stand on my side.”
The domineering words came out of An Honghan's mouth.
Xi Xizhi couldn't find a way to refute him. She couldn't possibly eat his food, sleep in his bed, and then help others attack him, could she?
"Chirp chirp..." Xi Xizhi raised her right forelimb and mumbled a long string of words as if making an oath.
Anyway, the meaning is similar to "We absolutely support you"!
An Honghan raised the corner of his mouth and said with satisfaction, "Very good, at least you've lived up to the months I've raised you."
Xi Xizhi humbly accepted the instruction, abandoning her amused demeanor and sitting properly like a watchdog, her two front paws on the ground and her rear end slumped on the table. This action immediately caused the two palace maids beside her to giggle continuously.
An Honghan turned to look at the palace maids with a cold face. The two maids immediately stopped smiling, their smiles freezing on their faces, and finally turning into expressions of fear as they shrank back.
Fearing that An Honghan would hold the palace maids accountable for their mistakes, Xi Xizhi, while sitting upright, patted An Honghan with her paw, as if to say, "It's alright, it's alright, don't bother with them."
An Honghan did not delve any further into the matter. After all, tonight was a banquet to welcome the Crown Prince of Luyun Kingdom, and he did not want to focus his attention on unimportant people.
"Since His Highness the Crown Prince has already made preparations, I cannot spoil everyone's enjoyment. My Fengze Kingdom has plenty of dancers; I am sure they will satisfy His Highness." An Honghan's words, revealing neither his joy nor anger, reached everyone's ears.
Dongfang Youyu smiled and said, "His Majesty should need some time to prepare. How about we have our dancers from the Lvyun Kingdom perform first?"
Since Dongfang Youyu dared to say that, he must be absolutely certain of success.
Everyone could hear the provocation in his words, but Fengze Kingdom was a great power and could not refuse their request. Otherwise, if word got out, people would think that Fengze Kingdom was afraid of Luyun Kingdom.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. An Honghan remained calm and composed, giving Lin En a wink, signaling him to quickly arrange for a few decent dancers to go on stage. Since the other side had come to Fengze Kingdom's territory to provoke them, they could only win, not lose.
Xi Xizhi wasn't thinking about that many things. She was purely supporting An Honghan 'through connections', hoping he would win in the end. She slapped his hand hard with her paw to cheer him on, and chirped twice.
Dongfang Youyu waved to the outside, and a group of beauties immediately entered the outer hall. They were dressed in exotic costumes, heavily made up, and flamboyantly dressed. Their gauze dresses revealed their half-exposed breasts and sexy curves, which were perfectly displayed in front of everyone.
As soon as they appeared, many men's eyes were drawn to them.
Xi Xizhi turned to look at An Honghan, and seeing that he remained expressionless, her mood improved slightly. Even if he was a ruthless wolf, he wasn't a lecherous one. At least she hadn't seen him staring intently at the dancer's breasts like other men.
"Dance your best for me! If you dance well, I will reward you handsomely!" Dongfang Youyu slowly stood up, waving his folding fan as he spoke encouraging words.
All the dancers chuckled and bowed slightly, saying, "Yes, Your Highness."
The musicians from Fengze Kingdom were removed from the scene, and the musicians from Lüyun Kingdom were replaced by musicians from their own country.
The sounds of silk and bamboo instruments slowly rose, and the melodious zither music tinkled like dripping water. The ministers' eyes turned to the ten dancers, whose movements were extremely graceful, swaying their waists as they began to dance.
Xi Xizhi stared wide-eyed, occasionally blinking her eyelids.
Tsk, it's actually quite pretty.
An Honghan recognized the dance they were performing at a glance, his face quickly darkening as he said, "It's 'Phoenixes Flying Together'."
His words caused an uproar among the ministers below, who stared in astonishment at the ten dancers, utterly unable to believe it. A climax erupted in the Flowing Cloud Palace, with all the ministers whispering and discussing amongst themselves.
"It's truly like phoenixes soaring together! Look... how fluid their movements are, and their costumes are exactly as rumored."
"It was done in one go, with fluid movements, and carried the graceful air of a phoenix."
"I haven't seen such a beautiful dance in a long time..."
"Didn't they say that the phoenix's flight has long since disappeared, and no one can leap it anymore?"
Even though Xi Xizhi had never heard of this dance before, judging from the reactions of An Honghan and the ministers, she could guess that the dance must have a significant origin.
“No one has dared to dance this dance for over ten years. Dongfang Youyu has really put a lot of effort into this banquet.” An Honghan picked up his wine and drank it down expressionlessly.
Xi Xizhi tried to guess his thoughts, but how confident was An Honghan really? She couldn't tell from his expression.
Suddenly, Lynn emerged from the other side of the steps, approached An Honghan with a panicked expression, and whispered, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."
Xi Xizhi's ears perked up; something was up!
An Honghan had long anticipated that this was not a simple matter, and said in a deep voice, "Speak."
The word was spoken with firm and resonant force. At the same time, he told Xi Xizhi that An Honghan was in a bad mood.
"Your Majesty, I just went to the music academy. Recently, the dancers have been suffering from vomiting and diarrhea or twisting their ankles. Almost all of them have minor injuries and cannot perform."
It's strange that this happened. How could all one or two hundred people in the entire brothel be injured?
An Honghan sneered, "Dongfang Youyu is truly meticulous; he actually managed to go this far."
Xi Xizhi turned her body and continued to look down. The group of dancers, with their long, fiery red skirts trailing behind them, leaped and danced. Every time they jumped, their skirts fluttered, symbolizing the tail feathers of a phoenix.
Xi Xizhi felt a strange sensation. She hadn't felt this way when the dance had just begun, but as it approached its climax, the feeling of incongruity grew stronger.
Xi Xizhi thought for a moment and, if she had to describe it, it would be a hybrid of two different things.
Their movements were too gentle, failing to highlight the noble air that belongs to the phoenix. The phoenix, clearly the king of birds, should be proud and noble, but in the performance of these dancers, it was reduced to a mere plaything for others' amusement.
Xi Xizhi's gaze shifted to Dongfang Youyu, her expression turning solemn. She thought to herself, "Dongfang Youyu is really going to any lengths to win. He even went so far as to destroy the brothel. He's really good at stirring up trouble."
They openly proposed a competition between the two countries, making it sound very impressive, but behind the scenes, they engaged in some underhanded tactics.
An Honghan frowned deeply. "Can we still find them?"
Every so often, the palace would recruit a group of dancers from the common people, and these dancers were always top-notch in their skills.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com