The stupidest maiko
She could have competed for the position of head dancer in the Qing Shang Dance Troupe when there weren't so many members.
Among those selected at that time were her, Xue Hongbi, and the graceful Hu Miaorong.
Xue Hongbi was charming and beautiful, and Hu Miaorong was elegant and graceful, but she had the advantage of being tall, upright and beautiful. The instructor at the time said that although she was not beautiful, she had a kind of elegant and reserved charm - the kind that Empress Wen would like.
There are only two spots for the head dancer, and they will be chosen from among these three. The head dancer is the highest recognition of one's artistic and musical skills and will undoubtedly be the protagonist of every dance and musical performance in the future.
In every performance, there is a most important position and the most important role. The leader is like the moon surrounded by stars; all eyes are destined to fall on the moon, while the stars, no matter how brightly they shine, are merely ordinary and expected.
The class leader will have more opportunities to be appreciated by influential people.
They will also gain more freedom to fly to the outside world.
Like the red and green of today.
Why did Sun Ci consciously give up this opportunity to rise to a higher social status?
In the afternoon sunlight, the snow-white pear blossoms on the big tree fluttered down to the ground. She heard herself at fifteen years old, softly uttering a word of rejection to her instructor and all the dancers.
"I don't want to be the class leader."
The voice was clear and cold, very soft, yet very certain, like the delicate pear blossoms falling to the ground, light yet resolute.
In the glimpse of the collective life of hundreds of people in the Qing Shang Dance Troupe during her nearly forty years in the palace, it was just a small, insignificant detail. Even Sun Ci herself had long forgotten that there had been such a trivial episode in her early life as a dancer.
This means that she once had a chance to get ahead, but that's all.
After that, the Music Bureau selected new dancers for the palace every year, and the number of dancers in the dance troupes grew larger and larger. The last Qing Shang dance troupe had nearly five hundred members. In addition, there were other dance troupes such as the Hu Xuan, Zhe Zhi, and Dunhuang troupes, each displaying its own unique style and vying for attention. The elegance she once possessed gradually faded into ordinariness. She gradually became one of the last few in the Qing Shang dance troupe. In the end, she became a background character on the stage whose name she could not recall.
This is true both on the stage of dance performance and on the stage of the times.
Therefore, when Xue Hongbi, many years later, could call out her name immediately upon seeing her aged face, she was actually quite surprised.
The Xue Hongbi before me was just as she had been fifteen or twenty years ago, head held high, one hand on her hip, the other holding a bamboo clapper, waiting for my answer.
In Sun Neiren's daze, Xue Hongbi's delicate face, which was meticulously maintained even though she was middle-aged, transformed back into the beautiful and radiant appearance of her youth, like a peony in full bloom.
It still possesses that same vibrant, indomitable, and spirited vitality.
It was a brightness and radiance that would make even a young girl like Sun Ci feel ashamed upon seeing it.
Did he already conclude that he couldn't beat her before the game even started?
Is it because they don't want to become the focus of attention, and therefore must take a path of striving to be even better?
still……
This is a riddle lost in the labyrinth of memory, endlessly stranded. Although Sun Ci doesn't regret it to this day, she also wants to know what she was thinking when she was fifteen.
Is it because of low self-esteem, cowardice, or some other secret?
A vague answer suddenly surfaced from long-forgotten memories.
I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I seem to have caught some clues.
Then, she heard Xue Hongbi speak clearly, word by word, for her to say the answer in her heart.
“You’re mainly not argumentative. But secondly, it’s also because of Shi Changqing.”
She stared at Xue Hongbi in near astonishment. She simply couldn't believe it. Had her thoughts back then been so obvious? Could even a fellow dancer from the same troupe with whom she had never interacted have seen through her so clearly?
She disliked competition; she was weary of any situation that required her to conquer with ambition and fighting spirit. She was never that kind of person. She simply wanted to quietly live in her own world, dancing and singing to the rhythm of those who came before her, blooming alone like a water lily under the moonlight.
In the world of dance, there is no aggressive competition, only the rhythm of life.
She loved listening to the rhythms, but disliked the sounds of ambitious conquerors.
As for Shi Changqing, she never thought of getting close to him or getting any special attention from him.
But she longed for him. Sometimes she secretly wished that she could dance to his flute music for the rest of her life, even if she wasn't the only one on that stage.
It's good that everyone is together. That's what that era was like.
Xue Hongbi was laughing, but it was a laugh tinged with tears, a laugh that was both broken and poignant: "There's nothing hard to understand. Back then, who in the dance troupe wasn't moved and infatuated with Shi Changqing?"
"But you're the dumbest one."
Is that so? Turns out she was the silliest one.
She was so foolish that while everyone else had long since left that era, gone their separate ways, and lived different lives amidst the tides of time, she remained in the same place, clinging to a dream she herself didn't understand, and harboring an obsession she herself had long forgotten.
It turned out that everyone else was also attracted to Shi Changqing, just like her, but that didn't stop them from competing and seducing each other, or from using the few but effective weapons that women could use to seek other ways out for themselves.
She remained foolishly in place, remembering Empress Wen's teachings, her gaze following and tracing Shi Changqing's figure again and again, until her own light completely dimmed and she faded away.
When the curtain of the previous dynasty was completely drawn, she found herself all alone on the stage, and more than half of her life had already passed.
Tears washed away Xue Hongbi's meticulously applied eye makeup, the red smudged at the corners of her eyes fading to reveal lingering, sorrowful lines, like those on peony petals. She seemed to be smiling, yet she was also crying.
"But you, Sun Ci, are the only one I admire."
To dedicate a lifetime to remembering one thing or one person requires a profound and genuine skill and state of mind. What you hold dear will surely resonate. As long as you have breath, you will never forget; even in the most primal moments, your final moments will evoke a poignant and moving reflection.
"I admit you dance the 'White Silk' dance better than me."
The "White Silk Dance" was originally a Wu song, a tune sung by women in the Wu region of Jiangnan while washing silk and weaving. It gradually evolved into a dance form in which women hold white silk and dance, and is a typical Han Chinese Qing Shang music and dance.
These dances, which originated from folk traditions, are mostly lively and cheerful, full of the playful charm of everyday life among young girls. Therefore, if we follow the methods that Lady Sun used to teach the dance troupe, these young dancers can certainly perform them, as long as they reveal their innocent and naive nature.
However, after being created by Empress Shangguan of the previous dynasty, "White Silk" has a completely different artistic conception and style from folk ballads, and its connotation has been qualitatively improved.
If the original dance was merely about "pure thoughts" and the simple demeanor of a young girl, Empress Shangguan infused this dance with the elegance of aristocratic scholars, and like the poems of Qu Yuan, it used symbolic descriptions of beautiful women and fragrant herbs.
The dance depicts a beautiful woman lingering under the moonlit water, but its core message is actually about emotions and feelings.
What is sung about seems to be the love between men and women, but what is actually lamented in the heart is the irretrievable nature of time and the sorrow of the changing times.
Even though A-Qiu was not knowledgeable in music and dance, after a whole afternoon of heated debate between the two instructors, he understood one thing: with the current level of the dance troupe, it was truly impossible to produce a "White Silk" dance that was no less impressive than the previous dynasty's.
But this opportunity was obtained only because she risked her life to sneak into the palace at night, and with the personal intervention of Gu Yi, who was second only to the emperor. It can be said to be extremely precious.
If the impression left on the civil and military officials is "nothing special, let's disperse," and they might as well go home and watch their own dancers, then not only will the officials and the emperor lose interest in this in the future, but even if Gu Yi wanted to help, he would find it difficult to ask again.
After all, the world does not belong to one person.
Although the Music Bureau would inevitably become increasingly important due to Gu Yi's emphasis on ritual and music, coupled with national peace and prosperity, and the people's well-being leading to a culture of etiquette, it would take at least ten years for this importance to become apparent and fall to the dance troupe.
A-Qiu couldn't wait any longer, and the dance troupe, which was being watched by Huang Chao-an, couldn't wait any longer either.
In any case, this performance of "White Silk" must be a success, and an unprecedented success, in order to sweep away the impression in the court that the Music Bureau's dance troupe is decadent and dispirited.
The second sentence, which her master Wanqiqing had transmitted to her and which she had reconstructed in her mind, echoed clearly and continuously in her heart:
"If you wish to revive the dance of white silk, you should visit the Palace of Qiwu."
Having learned the rules, A Qiu dared not trespass directly into Qiwu Palace this time. This was because she knew that this place was guarded by Chu Yuanyi, one of the previous "Four Heavenly Secrets," also known as "Wind and Thunder Slasher."
Even Consort Chen, the most powerful woman in the six palaces, tacitly allowed Chu Yuanyi to occupy this place; she couldn't possibly drive him out.
But Aunt Yuan Yi is extremely fierce, and it's impossible for them not to fight if they meet. She would never be so polite as to let him wander around and rummage through Qiwu Palace.
So, an idea came to A Qiu's mind. Before going to Qiwu Garden, she first sneaked into the Imperial Kitchen and stole a bottle of Western Region rose wine, a box of mutton soup, and a plate of perch sashimi. She figured that Aunt Yuan Yi, with her strong backbone and excellent martial arts skills, would never do something like stealing food from the Imperial Kitchen like she did.
Therefore, judging from her description, she was quite destitute. She certainly didn't live a life of luxury.
Food is a great human desire. If she brings him food, Chu Yuanyi might not have the heart to attack him as soon as they meet.
A Qiu, carrying a bottle of rose wine and a basket of mutton and fish, stood outside Qiwu Palace, blocking out all sound, and said in a narrow voice from afar, "Junior A Qiu has come to greet Senior Chu. I brought some food for you, I hope you won't find it offensive."
Sure enough, the sound of wind came from the inner courtyard. A hunched figure with gray hair quickly appeared and approached the door. It was none other than the old woman Chu Yuanyi whom they had seen last time.
A Qiu was surprised. She had prepared herself for the other party to ignore her or even attack her from behind: Why was Yuan Yi so obedient this time? She appeared obediently at her call?
Chu Yuan stood inside the door, staring intently at her: "Are you A Qiu?"
A-Qiu was even more confused. She had always been A-Qiu; could it be that she hadn't been A-Qiu last time?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
