I practiced the dance moves repeatedly in the room with light tapping steps. Fortunately, I felt a sense of touch when I stood up, and completed the song "Autumn Water Filling" smoothly. However, because I was not familiar with it, it was far from the "stunning" described in the article.
I rubbed my hair frizzily. It was so difficult!
It's not that I'm afraid I won't dance well. I have a feeling. If I keep practicing like this, I won't have any problem showing off my skills at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. But I'm worried about showing off my skills! Firstly, I don't know the extent of the favor described in the book, and secondly, this "Autumn Water Filling" is truly not an ordinary dance.
"Autumn Waters" means "secretly sending autumnal glances, eyes full of smiles." While the outward appearance is the dancing form, the essence lies in the allure of the eyes. The graceful movements of the limbs and the elegant dance are merely a facade of outward splendor. To truly bring this dance to life, the eyebrows must convey a sense of expression, the eyes must be filled with affection, and between each pause, the gaze must be directed towards the audience.
To put it bluntly, when you get tired of dancing, just throw a few flirtatious glances!
The original owner in the book had long been famous for her dancing skills. Her performance of "Autumn Water Filling" at her birthday banquet made everyone stunned. The most important thing was that the dance had eight pauses, and she looked at the emperor eight times!
Every time I practice and think of this plot, I feel like a mouthful of blood is about to gush out. Eight times, sister, who can withstand this?
Let's not talk about how the emperor felt, but just imagining myself looking at him with loving eyes eight times gave me goosebumps all over my body. So, I absolutely would not let this happen.
However, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet was so grand and lively that if one was perfunctory, it might not just result in goosebumps, but could result in the loss of one's head.
This world is not worth it, it’s too difficult!
Seeing me growing increasingly haggard, Xiao Cui advised me not to practice so hard, saying that His Majesty would surely be amazed by my current state. Hearing this, I trembled even more, not knowing whether to take a step or not, so I simply slumped down on the wooden board.
"My lady, what's wrong with you?" Xiao Cui hurried over to support me. "Although His Majesty hasn't been to Chenshuang Pavilion recently, it's probably just because he's been busy with government affairs, because he hasn't even visited the entire harem. My lady, don't worry about it!"
Yes, he hadn't come to the harem since the last time he saw Song Heng in the Cining Palace. It felt like he was back to the way he was at the beginning. I guessed that there was some new development with the heroine, so I stopped paying attention and just buried myself in dancing practice every day, occasionally being invited by the concubines for a few cups of tea.
I came right away. Concubine Shu sent someone to invite me to a gathering. After my last experience at the Cining Palace, I actually thought it was quite relaxing to just eat some sunflower seeds and listen to them chatter. So I decided not to go against their wishes and went with an empty stomach.
After greeting them familiarly and sitting down to drink tea and eat cakes, he began to listen to them talk about interesting things from their hometowns and secrets of the palace. When he was halfway through biting the lotus cake, one of the concubines suddenly mentioned Duan Sheng.
"Hey, I heard recently that Princess Shengyang went to Donglin. I can finally sleep peacefully."
Phew, is Duan Sheng really that scary?
"Yes," another concubine lowered her voice, "and first of all, it's because His Majesty sent Prince Yu to suppress the Donglin Rebellion a few days ago!"
"Your Majesty truly trusts Prince Yu, sending him to the local area without worrying about him actually connecting with the people and developing his influence—"
Before the word "force" even landed on her lips, Concubine De suddenly coughed a few times and said, "We'll just do our duty. If you have anything to say, please don't say any more."
The concubine quickly realized she was speechless: "Thank you, sister, for reminding me."
After Concubine De nodded, their conversation turned to gossip about Duan Sheng. Surprisingly, it wasn't about Song Heng, but Song Yu! After hearing everything, it seemed the two had become a pair of flirtatious rivals!
I swallowed the lotus cake and compared it with the storybooks I had read before. I felt that what they said made a lot of sense. When I turned around to drink some tea to moisten my mouth, I found that Wang Cairen, who was sitting next to me, seemed to be in a trance with a celadon cup in her hand.
The tilted teacup leaked tea, splashing all over her light blue pleated skirt, soaking a large area.
"Talented Lady Wang?" I called her softly. She raised her eyes and her face turned pale. She quickly put down the teacup after realizing that tea was leaking from her hand. Xiaofeng, who was standing beside her, noticed it and hurried forward to carefully wipe it for her.
After letting Xiaofeng wipe her for a while, she simply stood up and said goodbye to us, saying that she was not feeling well and would go back to change her clothes.
Watching her hurriedly leave, I wondered if she'd gotten sick from that previous drowning. Xiao Cui also knew a little about Concubine Wang's story. Her father had been imprisoned for some reason, and her family had all returned home from the capital. This time, she was truly alone in the harem, in the capital.
Thinking of this, I lost interest for a moment, made up an excuse, and left. On my way back, as I passed by the woods, I heard someone sobbing quietly inside, and the familiar sound of the wind, comforting them.
I wanted to leave quietly, but when I thought about how many people were walking on this road, I coughed loudly for a while and said to Xiao Cui, "This road is really full of the smell of makeup. I guess all the sisters like to walk this way."
Xiao Cui was a little confused but still answered: "Yes, my lady, this road is connected to multiple palaces after all."
The forest was indeed quiet, and then there was the sound of fading footsteps. I sighed, it was all I could do.
One clear autumn day, I was stretching my body in the yard when a pink ball hugged me tightly.
"Sister Mu! Long time no see! Did you miss me?" Princess Rushuang's eyes blinked and she seemed to be in a good mood.
The image of her hugging me with her face red from crying that day when I was rescued from the mountains was still vivid in my mind, so I didn’t push away her strong bear hug for a moment: “Yes, yes.”
"Hehehehe, I knew it!" Princess Rushuang let go of me: "I'm going to take Sister Mu to a good place today!"
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