There should be no hatred
She stood up and made a gesture, mimicking the "hands down" stepping posture, and finally said, "There are so many descriptions, so I think it's true."
Ah Qiu thought to himself, "Zhang E'xu is indeed worthy of being the leader. Her memory is excellent, but she doesn't seem to like thinking much—but it seems like everyone in the dance troupe is like that."
Sun Neiren then asked, "Cui Luzhu, what do you think?"
Cui Luzhu, still smiling, stood up and said, "I think her husband is a fake."
Sun's wife asked, "Why?"
Cui Luzhu said, "I think the husband she's talking about is a silkworm."
Although the dancers were all somewhat dim-witted, they all felt that Cui Luzhu's statement was far too absurd.
Before Sun Neiren could ask any questions, Cui Lüzhu smiled and said, "Luofu originally went out to pick mulberry leaves and raise silkworms. She made a living from silkworms and described her husband as 'fair-skinned and with a sparse beard.' I think he is a silkworm."
Ah Qiu recalled that in the legends his master had told him, silkworms were transformed from women wrapped in horse skin. Therefore, the poem's description of the husband's "more than a thousand riders from the east, with the husband at the head" strongly resembled the image of silkworms living in groups.
The dense swarms of silkworms can be likened to black steeds, while the silkworms turning white are likened to white horses. Thus, the phrase "walking gracefully in the mansion, moving slowly within the palace" also seems to describe the scene of pure white silkworms wriggling and moving.
Although the imagery in Cui Luzhu's poem is somewhat far-fetched, it is still vivid and unique.
Sun's wife turned her stern gaze to A Qiu again and said, "A Qiu, you speak."
Ah Qiu truthfully expressed her thoughts: "I believe this husband is fake."
The dancers listened intently. In their hearts, A-Chiu had now become the embodiment of wisdom.
They are knowledgeable and can answer instructors' questions at any time.
For most illiterate geisha, this was a remarkable achievement.
Lady Sun asked calmly, "Why?"
A-Qiu said, "Firstly, I think the Luo Fu described in the poem is a young and playful girl, while her husband, according to her, is at least over forty years old, and the age difference between the couple is too great. Secondly, if she were truly such a noble lady, even if she went out to pick mulberry leaves, she would surely be accompanied by carriages and horses, so why would she expose herself alone to the public eye?"
The dancers looked on with a mixture of realization and admiration.
Lady Sun simply said calmly, "So you also know that the age difference is too great, making them unsuitable as husband and wife. And the difference in status between the noble and the lowly is like heaven and earth."
Ah Qiu's face turned pale and then flushed.
Did Sun's wife find out that she came home very late last night?
Sun Neiren succinctly summarized: "Therefore, Luofu had no husband and was still a young woman waiting to be married. The reason she used fabricated reasons to refuse the governor was because the governor was a noble official while she was just a commoner. She could not directly criticize him, so she could only ridicule him in a humorous way."
She gave A-Qiu one last stern look and said in a more serious tone, "And you are nothing but musicians, a status even lower than commoners."
"Even if a noble person takes a liking to you, you are just playthings, to be discarded at will once they have you."
"No benefactor will truly treat you as equals. If you don't cherish yourselves, you're close to being shattered to pieces."
Although there were many geisha present, upon hearing these words, most of the young girls' snow-white faces showed expressions of confusion and bewilderment.
In fact, fifteen or sixteen is considered marriageable age for girls in common society. As for private and official entertainers outside the palace, they grow up in entertainment venues and are exposed to such things from a young age. They know that coming and going in the entertainment industry is the norm and that matters between men and women are unavoidable, but they cannot take it seriously.
Although dancers and musicians claim to make a living through their skills, these skills are ultimately different from those of farmers cultivating the land, hunters venturing into the mountains, or merchants selling their wares. Because they entertain the eyes and often frequent the homes of the powerful and wealthy, whether out of greed for power or coercion by it, they inevitably end up selling both their beauty and their skills.
Moreover, commoners were still subject to the separation of men and women and the rites of marriage. But the musicians were essentially like slaves, almost like the wealth of the nobles. They were neither protected by these rites and laws, nor did they enjoy any rights.
Outside the palace, the best outcome for a courtesan was to become a concubine of a nobleman.
But even this path of becoming a concubine is not easy to attain. First, one must diligently hone one's skills and become the best among the crowd before one has a chance to be noticed by a noble person.
Secondly, a nobleman is never short of beautiful wives and concubines, and the competition in the world of romance is no less intense than close combat in the army.
If one is too thin-skinned, or too strong-willed, or too principled, they will not be able to pass this hurdle.
This is mostly not due to the man's fickleness, but rather to the unscrupulous competitive tactics employed by their peers.
In fact, the situation in the palace was pretty much the same.
Those who served others with their beauty and talent could rise to prominence, becoming concubines and noblewomen overnight. The legendary Fei Yan, He De, Wei Zifu, and Lady Li of the past were all outstanding examples. These tales were passed down orally through generations of court entertainers in the Music Bureau, inspiring them to hone their skills and secretly compete with each other.
Since you're going to rely on your looks anyway, you might as well strive to get ahead.
However, the situation was quite different in the music bureau of this dynasty.
Because the tradition of Yuefu music has been interrupted.
When the Sima clan of the Xian Huan dynasty was overthrown, the rebel army started from Hengzhou, passed through Jiangling, and entered the Jianzhang imperial city, slaughtering their way into the palace. Many skilled musicians either escaped the palace early, were slaughtered, or were taken as spoils of war. Those who survived and hid in the palace were mostly the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
When the new dynasty re-established the Music Bureau, its initial core staff consisted of these remnants of the previous dynasty.
For example, Zhang Exu and Cui Lüzhu were only four or five years old when the palace turmoil occurred. They were too young to understand anything and were able to survive because the old musicians hid them in dry wells or behind walls.
From childhood, the path of dance and music in their eyes was nothing more than practicing, singing, and performing day after day, a job similar to that of other palace servants who did laundry, swept, and performed their duties.
Since the new Emperor Xie Lang ascended the throne, he has been diligent and conscientious in governing, busy day and night with state affairs. The court is in dire need of restoration, and all regions need to be pacified. He is usually so busy receiving people that he doesn't even have time to eat, and has no time to attend to banquets and entertaining women.
Therefore, the people in the Music Bureau practiced, sang, and recited day after day, but in reality, they never had the opportunity to see the monarch or present their talents.
Therefore, the entertainers here, under the deliberate protection of the older generation such as Lady Sun, are completely ignorant.
They neither understand the allure of women nor the fate that awaits them after they grow old, lose their beauty, and are ruthlessly abandoned.
Compared to them, A-Qiu knew a little more.
But I don't fully understand it either.
She received the best education in Lanling, encompassing literature, martial arts, etiquette, music, and archery, surpassing even the sons of famous families and nobles of the dynasty.
Master Wanqiqing was a genius who learned from many sources and never defined anyone based on sectarian or gender prejudices.
He once said, "A person is a person, whether male or female, noble or lowly, barbarian or Han. Within the human body, there is always an innate nature that is not bound by power and pursues freedom."
Lanling Hall aims to bring this free spirit to its fullest potential.
A-Qiu has never been oppressed or restricted.
This made her stand out among the other geishas, even to the point of being an outcast. She simply wasn't aware of it.
After the explanation of the piece was finished, A Qiu understood, or rather thought he understood, why his wife, Sun, had gone to such lengths to explain "Mulberry by the Roadside" in such a concise and profound way.
As expected, this was the main point I wanted to tell her.
As the dancers dispersed, Lady Sun called out to her, "You stay."
A-Qiu stood respectfully to the side with her hands at her sides, even more so than when she served her master Wan Qiqing in Lanling Hall.
Lanling Hall doesn't emphasize rules, but rather "state of mind." This is clearly not the case in the Yuefu Dance Department.
Sun's wife was always strict and rigid, but at this moment, her expression was especially solemn.
When she called out to A-Qiu, the look she gave her was extremely complicated, as if it concealed a hesitant and uncertain thought.
A-Qiu felt that she seemed somewhat different from yesterday.
Upon closer inspection, one could vaguely discern that she had slightly more gray hair than yesterday. The makeup applied under her eyes could not conceal the weariness brought on by the passage of time.
What could have happened overnight that made this upright and unyielding teacher so preoccupied?
Even if A-Qiu's nighttime theft is discovered, it's not a big deal.
She was ultimately just an unknown new dancer in the music bureau. To put it bluntly, even if she were beaten to death and her body disposed of in the palace, it wouldn't be a big deal.
We can just hire new people.
Sun Neiren seemed to be under immense pressure, staring at A Qiu for a long time before finally saying, "Zhang Exu and Cui Luzhu, you two should stay as well."
At this moment, all the dancers had dispersed, except for Zhang Exu and Cui Luzhu, who remained standing there like two incense sticks, one tall and one short, their eyes fixed on A Qiu.
A-Qiu suddenly understood, and smiled bitterly to herself: it must be that Lady Sun had assigned the two of them to teach her, and they looked at her like a mother hen looking at her chicks. For the monotonous and arduous life of a geisha apprentice, having an apprentice was a wonderful feeling, so the two of them were reluctant to part with her and wanted to take her everywhere they went so as to show her off.
Hearing that Lady Sun was also calling them over, the two women simultaneously showed joy on their faces, ran over, and stood in front of A Qiu, as if waiting for Lady Sun to scold them.
The location of this position is probably such that if Lady Sun wants to discipline A-Qiu, she should discipline them first.
Sun's wife was both amused and exasperated. She sighed and gave Ah Qiu, who was standing behind the two of them, a complicated look in her eyes.
She said softly, which was quite rare for her, "I'm not going to hit or scold her, I just want to ask her a question. You two step aside."
The two women understood this time and stepped aside, their eyes still looking expectantly at Sun Neiren and A Qiu.
A-Qiu is currently the most beautiful maiko in the dance troupe, and the only maiko who was late twice but was not punished. She is a maiko who can bend over and leap in a single day.
She could converse fluently with the instructors in class, and she spoke of principles that no one had ever heard of before—with such a disciple, her masters Cui and Zhang were naturally overjoyed and couldn't bear to see her being beaten.
As if she had made up her mind, Sun's wife looked directly at A-Qiu and said, "I'll only ask you one question. I won't ask anything else."
A-Qiu was somewhat taken aback, but honestly replied, "Teacher, please ask, and A-Qiu will answer truthfully."
Sun Neiren said, word by word, "Are you Shi Changqing's daughter?"
A Qiu hadn't expected her to ask this. She had just promised to answer truthfully, and now she had to lie. Although she wasn't Gu Yi, it was still difficult for her to deceive someone who had never meant her any harm.
But then I thought, it's just a status, and it won't harm Sun's wife no matter what.
Master once said that everything in the palace that once belonged to Shi Changqing is yours to take and use. Shi Changqing would never care.
A-Qiu then asked, "Is Shi Changqing still alive? How can Master be sure he won't expose my identity?"
Her master was always carefree, but at that moment, the look in his eyes as he gazed at her was one that shocked her with heartbreak.
He replied, "All I know is that if you really are Shi Changqing's daughter, he will be extremely happy."
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