The Empress Dowager noticed that Yan Ning was staring at her, and asked slowly, "What are you looking at? Is there something wrong with me?" Eunuch Lin echoed the Empress Dowager, raising his voice and saying, "How dare you, Su Yan Ning, be so disrespectful to the Empress Dowager!"
Yan Ning shook her head repeatedly, her words swallowed by fear.
Knowing that it was Yan Ning's first time entering the palace, the Empress Dowager did not scold her for her rudeness, but raised her voice, "Come forward! Let me take a good look at you!"
Yan Ning didn't dare hesitate and walked up to the Empress Dowager, about to kneel down. The Empress Dowager stopped her, "Alright, don't kneel so easily. Raise your head!"
Yan Ning slowly raised her head. The frame on the Empress Dowager's hair bun was inlaid with a phoenix, with a luminous pearl the size of a pigeon's egg in its beak, and gold tassels hanging down at the parting of the bun. Her cheongsam was covered with gold and silver threads, and the embroidered flowers made Yan Ning dizzy.
After carefully examining Yan Ning's appearance, a hint of surprise flashed in the Empress Dowager's eyes. She exchanged a glance with Granny Zhuang beside her. Granny Zhuang nodded without revealing her expression.
E'lan's coquettish voice came from the side, "Empress Dowager, please let her go and coax that peacock to display its tail feathers! The sun will be scorching soon, and if it burns you, all of us in this garden will be in trouble!" E'lan had heard that Old Madam Fucha was injured that morning, but she had no choice but to come to Cining Palace. Now she just wanted the Empress Dowager to punish Yan Ning quickly so she could go back and show her filial piety to Old Madam Fucha.
Yan Ning lowered her head slightly and saw E Lan, who was far away from the Empress Dowager. At palace banquets, seating was arranged according to rank, and although E Lan was a princess, she was not a member of the imperial family. Among the many concubines and princesses, her position was extremely far from the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was advanced in years and rarely went out, usually staying in her palace. Hearing E'lan's words, she agreed, "Do you have any way to coax that peacock?"
Yan Ning dared not speak the whole truth, so she said in a roundabout way, "Yan Ning has a method that we can try. But Yan Ning dares not deceive the Empress Dowager, and Yan Ning is not entirely confident."
The gold tassel on the Empress Dowager's forehead swayed slightly. "Tell me about it!"
"It is now the time of year when March and April are approaching, and peacocks display their plumage to attract mates and reproduce. Yan Ning wishes to perform a peacock dance to entice it to display its plumage," Yan Ning said stiffly, mimicking the tone of a palace concubine.
"Insolence! How dare you speak such nonsense before the Empress Dowager!" Eunuch Lin's shrill voice rang out, frightening Yan Ning so much that she immediately knelt on both knees and dared not look up at the Empress Dowager again.
The Empress Dowager's aged face remained expressionless. After a moment, she said, "Granted!"
Led by a palace maid, Yan Ning saw a pavilion built on a bridge in the distance, with the words "Linxi Pavilion" written on it in both Manchu and Chinese.
The bridge beneath the Linxi Pavilion spans a rectangular pond, surrounded by white marble railings. The pavilion itself has intricately carved doors and windows on all sides, allowing visitors to observe the fish and lotus blossoms in the pond from its east and west sides during the summer, creating a unique and picturesque scene of fishing boats bobbing among the lotus leaves.
The palace maid led Yan Ning to the west side hall next to the Linxi Pavilion to change into a peacock feather dress. Yan Ning quickly changed her clothes, let down her beautiful hair, and used a hairpin wrapped with white feathers to tie her dark hair and the white veil around her neck.
By the time Yan Ning arrived at the ginkgo grove in the middle of the Cining Palace Garden from the Linxi Pavilion at the southernmost end of the Cining Palace, the sun was already high in the sky. Yan Ning was in a hurry, and her thin dance dress was damp with a fine layer of sweat.
Kneeling before the Empress Dowager, Yan Ning understood why the concubines in the palace would only exchange a few words before declining due to the lateness of the hour. Once outside their own palace gates, the imperial palace was too vast, and they all had to walk, spending most of their time on the road.
At Yan Ning's request, the eunuch released the caged peacock into the ginkgo grove. The shimmering sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, falling on the peacock feathers of Yan Ning's robe. Yan Ning lifted her skirt with one hand and made a peacock beak with the other, sometimes bending over, sometimes dancing gracefully around the peacock.
The silver sequins on the peacock feather skirt shimmered with a moonlit silver light, making Yan Ning's slender figure appear like a fairy in the forest. Without music, Yan Ning's dance was free yet exquisite. Her eyes, gazing at the Empress Dowager, flowed like a melancholy stream. Her hands moved with the agility of a dragon, her skirt fluttering and the green leaves beneath her feet dancing, her figure leaping and disappearing through the forest.
The peacock chased after Yan Ning's skirt, seemingly playing with her. The agile bird, as if possessing a spiritual connection, pecked at the hem of Yan Ning's skirt, dropping it in the wind, then pecking again. Yan Ning was like a fairy descended from heaven, and the peacock like her spirit beast; the figures of mistress and servant were both close and distant.
The Empress Dowager and the concubines, along with the eunuchs and palace maids, were already captivated by Yan Ning's dance. Under the white veil, Yan Ning's stunningly beautiful face was both real and unreal, making it difficult for everyone to see her clearly.
Finally, not to be outdone, the peacock also unfurled its tail feathers to compete with Yan Ning in beauty, but it became like a star under the moonlight. Yan Ning's peacock plumage glided past the peacock's tail. Seeing that the peacock had already displayed its tail feathers, Yan Ning quietly withdrew from the forest, leaving only the shimmering light on the peacock's tail feathers. Only then did everyone realize that the peacock had displayed its tail feathers.
The Empress Dowager was overjoyed, her face flushed, and she repeatedly said, "Reward, reward, reward!"
Beside the Empress Dowager sat Consort Rong (née Zhuo) and Consort Dun (née Wang). The two were initially stunned by Yan Ning's beauty, then captivated by her dance and figure. Consort Rong lamented that if Yan Ning hadn't already been betrothed to Fukang'an, the harem would have had another unwelcome younger sister to keep her company. Consort Dun secretly rejoiced that Yan Ning was already engaged to Fukang'an; otherwise, she would surely have lost the Emperor's favor.
The young ladies and noblewomen in the garden, whose youthful beauty had faded, looked at Yan Ning with eyes that each held their own secrets.
E'lan's face was the most unpleasant. She had originally intended for Yan Ning to be punished because of this. Unexpectedly, she had given Yan Ning an opportunity to gain the Empress Dowager's favor. Not only did the Empress Dowager appreciate her, but even the highest-ranking Consort Rong cast an approving glance at her. E'lan felt as if she had been scratched by a cat, unbearably itchy, but she couldn't show it in front of the Empress Dowager.
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