Xie Jingrun's wine glass fell to the table with a "thud," and his narrow eyes looked at the dancing girls in the room, unable to see anyone else.
Seeing this, Changlin calmly straightened the wine cup. Fortunately, everyone present was focused on the scene; otherwise, they would have been utterly astonished to see His Highness in such a state.
Emperor Zhaojing and the Empress Dowager were equally surprised. They never expected that Rong Qingqing, who claimed that she knew nothing, could dance such a beautiful dance. Of course, the konghou played by Shangguan Yanran was also extremely beautiful.
The two worked together seamlessly, their chemistry as if they had rehearsed countless times.
Princess Huaiyin narrowed her eyes, somewhat disbelieving what she was seeing.
Isn't Rong Qingqing a good-for-nothing? How come she can dance?
Feng Xin clapped her hands and praised loudly without reservation: "Qingqing's dance is so beautiful. I have never seen such beautiful dance moves before. Yanran's harp playing is also very melodious."
Hua Yin, who was sitting to the side, hadn't paid much attention to Shangguan Yanran and Rong Qingqing, but because she was closer to Xie Jingrun, she could clearly see the tenderness that flashed across Xie Jingrun's usually cold and stern face, as well as the undisguised amazement and joy in his eyes...
She bit her lip. Did her cousin... like his stepmother?
She had heard of Rong Qingqing.
In fact, she knew everything about the people and things around her cousin.
Although she was sent to live in the south at a young age because of her poor health, she never stopped trying to find out about her cousin.
In the past, Feng Xin always clung to her cousin, and she could ignore her because her cousin didn't like her. But now, after Feng Xin and her cousin became siblings, Rong Qingqing has come along.
She knew about Rong Qingqing because she was Xie Tianlin's widow and lived under the same roof as her cousin, so she had someone inquire about her.
She hadn't really taken Rong Qingqing seriously, but the undisguised joy in her cousin's eyes made her very uncomfortable, like a thorn stuck in her throat, making her restless.
She can dance too, and she's just as good as Rong Qingqing.
If she had known her cousin liked watching dancing, she should have danced just now...
Hua Yin bit her lip, feeling a sense of resentment rising in her heart.
She disliked the presence of unrelated women around her cousin, and she disliked even more the women who received his attention.
Just as Huayin was lost in thought, the sound of the konghou stopped.
The plum garden was quiet and still, without a sound.
Everyone seemed to have been paralyzed by acupuncture.
Shangguan Yanran thought it was because she played poorly or Qingqing danced poorly, and she looked at Rong Qingqing nervously.
Rong Qingqing gave her a reassuring look.
Sure enough, applause erupted in the plum garden the next moment.
At first, there were only a few scattered claps, but later, when the noble ladies saw that the emperor and empress dowager were clapping, they could only join in the applause, even though they were jealous.
Hua Yin felt even more choked up when she saw Xie Jingrun clapping as well.
The fact that her cousin, a man of such temperament, would clap made her even more alarmed.
When she was playing the piano, her cousin didn't even glance at her.
Thinking of this, her face turned even paler.
Rong Qingqing took the cloak handed to her by the palace maid and was about to put it on when she suddenly sensed an unfriendly gaze falling on her. She looked up by instinct and met Hua Yin's eyes.
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