The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 72: Dancing on the Drum
The eldest prince, Prince Zhi, often leads troops to war. He happened to be in Beijing recently and came to the palace with his wife today.

The other princes had three wives and four concubines, but this eldest prince only had one wife in the backyard, who gave birth to a daughter. Her health had not been good in the past few years, and the Prince of Zhi was away on the battlefield, so she had never been pregnant again.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little tense, Prince Zhi stood up and raised his glass to the emperor.

"It's rare for me to return to the capital, so I'd like to take this opportunity today to show my filial piety to the Emperor and to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I wonder what else the Empress Dowager has arranged for today besides the feast and food, so I'd like to join in the fun."

The emperor looked at Prince Zhi and laughed.

"Yinzhen is indeed my eldest son, so I will drink this glass of wine. Queen, today is your banquet, what are the programs? I will also borrow the light of you women to have fun for once."

A smile appeared on the Queen's face.

"Your Majesty is happy, so am I. Today, all the noble ministers and their wives are here. I have heard that the daughters of all of you are very outstanding. It is a good opportunity to let your daughters show their talents during this festival. Does Your Majesty think so?"

"Good! I think it's great! The Manchus and Han people are now one family in the court, and the women's talents should be exchanged. Most Manchu girls are good at riding horses and archery, but Han girls are better at playing chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework. Why don't we set up a small competition today, and I will reward the winner."

The emperor said with great interest.

The seventh day of the seventh month is the day for begging for cleverness and is originally a festival for girls. The Queen’s suggestion is very timely.

When Nian Shilan heard that there was a talent competition at Linxi Pavilion, she was glad that she fainted.

She had learned the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting since she was young, but she was not proficient in them. She was the daughter of a Han official, but she was more skilled in riding and shooting. Last time when she was attacked at the horse farm, she was brave and careful enough to catch Yinzhen who was almost off his horse, which made Yinzhen very surprised afterwards.

Seeing this situation, Nian Shilan knew that the palace banquet would not be over for a while, so she simply decided to take a nap and catch up on her sleep.

She was woken up by Songzhi at the hour of Yin.

Su Peisheng was waiting in the corridor. When he heard the palace maid come out and say that the concubine had fallen asleep, he felt relieved.

Although this lady is only a concubine now, it seems that she has won the master's heart.

It’s hard to say what will happen in the future.

Besides, this concubine usually treats servants like them with courtesy.

Servants are born to serve others. When they are treated as human beings, they will naturally be touched and work more wholeheartedly.

But the master told him to pay attention to Hanlu who was beside the concubine.

But seeing that the concubine has been wearing Hanlu more often when going out recently, it seems that Hanlu has won her favor.

Su Peisheng thought selfishly that he had to find a way to get rid of Han Lu without arousing the concubine's suspicion, nor letting "that person" realize that his master knew something.

It’s difficult.

The noble ladies in Linxi Pavilion displayed their talents, but the wives of the princes did not need to show any talents, as they knew in their hearts that the emperor and the empress wanted to select some daughters of close ministers under the name of begging for skills, which would be useful.

"The next person to appear is Qi Yuebin, the eldest daughter of Master Qi Lianchen, the Cloud Guard!"

The eunuch sang.

"Your servant Yun Hui, the daughter of Qi Lianchen Qi Yuebin, comes to pay homage to the emperor. May the emperor live long and long. May the empress live a thousand and a thousand years."

Qi Yuebin walked out of the pavilion and bowed to the emperor and empress.

Yinzhen heard the voice and looked up.

Qi Yuebin was dressed in red. Her figure was not as frail as that of other noble ladies. Instead, she exuded a heroic spirit as she knelt straight on the ground.

Yinzhen looked at her from the side and could not see her eyebrows, but her outline
His Yunxi also wore red clothes and danced with him and drank with him when he was still a prince.

Qi Yuebin felt the gazes from all directions, but she still stood straight, without any fear.

There was also a hint of surprise in the emperor's eyes. Qi Lianchen's daughter was so outstanding.

A smile broke out on his face.

"Stand up. You are dressed in dancing clothes. Do you want to dance?"

Qi Yuebin slowly stood up, lowered her head, took two steps back and stood still before replying, "Your Majesty, I see that all the sisters have brought many wonderful talents. I am not talented, so I only have a dance to dedicate to Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Queen."

"Oh? What dance is that?"

The emperor leaned forward and asked with interest.

"Your Majesty, it is the song 'Nichang Pozhen Dance'. I pray that our Qing Dynasty will be invincible and the country will be peaceful and the people will live in peace!"

Qi Yuebin replied respectfully, with his head lowered, his words spoke in a sonorous and powerful voice.

Everyone in the pavilion was attracted by her. They had seen so many weak women, so this woman in red with such heroic beauty was rare.

"Okay! Well said! I'd like to see your colorful dance!"

The emperor's tone suddenly became excited.

A victory had just been won some time ago, and the morale of the army was high. The sound of the colorful dance was inspiring.

Qi Yuebin responded and slowly retreated to the outside of the pavilion, where palace servants had already brought up a large drum large enough for ten people to sit on. On either side, about ten feet away, stood two drums that were smaller than the large drum.

Yinzhen followed the gazes of the crowd and sneered in his heart.

I thought it was some amazing show I had never seen before, but it turned out to be the same old-fashioned drum dance.

Looking at Qi Yuebin's features now, only the outline resembles Yunxi's.

He just lowered his head and drank.

The Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince were whispering to each other, and their voices could be heard faintly by Yinzhen.

Brother Ninth said.

"You said that women are always beautiful because of their gentleness, but the daughter of Qiyun Huishi wants to act like this to attract attention."

The tenth prince was a fat and white prince, and he was laughing.

"Brother Jiu, you don't understand. This is what we call outstanding. A woman is gentle and graceful, but she is so heroic that she attracts men's attention."

The Ninth Prince snorted, but said nothing more.

Only the Tenth Prince ignored the dagger-like gaze from his wife behind him and watched Qi Yuebin dance with envy.

Qi Yuebin danced on the drum, each move was full of power. The sleeves in her hands seemed to have eyes and hit the small drums on both sides of the big drum.

Coupled with the tight drum beats by the musicians, everyone present was excited for a moment, as if thousands of troops were roaring forward before their eyes.

"Good!" The emperor led the applause.

Everyone in the audience followed the emperor's example, and there was great joy in the pavilion.

Yinzhen stared at Qi Yuebin, and suddenly felt that her heroic demeanor was a bit like Nian Shilan.

I don’t know how Nian Shilan is doing now, and whether she is waiting for him to take her back home.

While Qi Yuebin was dancing on the drum, she glanced secretly at Yinzhen.

She has been thinking about this prince ever since she met him in the imperial examination last autumn.

But she never had the chance to see him. Last year, when she heard that he had proposed to marry the eldest daughter of the Nian family as his concubine, Qi Yuebin was sad for a long time.

If there was a chance, she would be willing to be his concubine.

Just look at the emperor's eyes today
Qi Yuebin was a woman, so she naturally recognized that kind of look.

But Qi Yuebin just wanted to marry the man she loved.

(End of this chapter)