Colorful

Chapter 34
In the weather in June, even if people sit quietly and do nothing, they will sweat profusely, so when they can lie down and enjoy the cool, no one is willing to move too much.

But the girls in the capital, especially the girls who are at the age of marriage, are their busiest time in June, and they are all preparing for the June 26 middle school competition.Because the selection of art in the middle altar is eclectic, no matter what kind of art you present, as long as you can get the unanimous approval of the leader of Qibao League and the four ministers, you can enter the middle altar.

But don't underestimate this rule. Since the establishment of Qibao League, for two years, none of the girls from the aristocratic family has been able to stand out and win unanimous votes.This is a loss of face for all ladies.

Because women from aristocratic families can't perform on the altar, but they can't have no one to perform in the middle of the polo finals, so the ones who performed in those two years were brothel oirans and high-art people hidden among the people.Everyone only thought that these people's performances were more interesting, so they clamored to see them every year.

Now that the Zhongtan performance has passed the initial stage of exploration, there are now three Zhongtai performances. Although the time for each performance is very short, not even more than a cup of tea, the competition and visibility have greatly increased.

Among these three performances, one was prepared for the ladies of the capital, one was performed by folks, and the other was performed by outstanding oirans from all over the country.

In normal times, if these ladies and brothel fans were to perform on stage together, they would definitely rather die than obey.But Zhongtan is different. There is a polo game that everyone is keen on, and it is also everyone's altar.It is an honor for you to go up, and it is the highest affirmation of yourself, and you can no longer stick to the restrictions of your status.

Of course, good people are everywhere.Every year after the performances in the Zhongtan, there are always those talkative people who want to comment on the three performances, so whether it is everyone's daughter or Wanjia Huakui, they are more energetic in their hearts.Whoever can become the king in the Zhongtan, the world will respect him as everyone.

As for Wang Siniang, naturally she can only be regarded as the best among the ladies back then, but she is far behind when compared with the others. After all, those people have no other choice but to rely on their own ability to earn a living, and they never forget to practice hard all the time, but This is not the case for ladies from aristocratic families, and they are not entertainers.

Originally, Shen Cui was the only member of the Shen family who signed up for the Zhongtan art selection this year, but now Su Yun, Lu Yuan, and Ji Cheng are all here, and they all crowded together.

"Sister Cheng also wants to sign up?" Shen Cui raised the post in Yang's hand and asked Ji Cheng.

Ji Cheng shook his head: "I don't have any talent, so I won't show my ugliness." Don't look at Ji Cheng's quick answer at this time, but she actually thought about the answer for a long time. big.

However, after a moment of headache, Ji knew clearly that performing arts in Zhongtan could only add to the beauty of girls from noble families, and could not help them in need.

Such as Shen Xian and Shen Cui's family background, being able to enter the middle altar will indeed be of great help when they talk about their marriage. Others already value their backgrounds. If the daughter-in-law here has both integrity and ability, it will naturally be more pleasing.

However, Yu Ji Cheng, with such a modest background, might give people the impression of being frivolous and frivolous if he goes to participate in the art selection in the Chinese arena.If he wins the top prize, there is still an argument, but if he is not selected, it will do more harm than good.In fact, in the eyes of the wife of the aristocratic family, how could Ji Cheng not know the reason why Ji Cheng went to participate in the art selection in the Chinese altar? Isn't it just for marriage?This one is inferior. It is very difficult for a girl from a low family background who likes to show off to win the favor of her future mother-in-law.

Furthermore, even if someone from Ji Cheng's background successfully performed on the stage, he would be compared with an oiran lady by a good-for-nothing person, which would inevitably make people have bad associations.And a background like Shen Cui's meant that everyone would not dare to talk about her easily.

"Aren't you going?!" Shen Cui was very surprised, "Didn't you come to the capital just to..." Needless to say, everyone knew what happened next.

Ji Cheng smiled wryly, "It's not that I don't want to go, but that I really don't have the talent to show."

Shen Cui glanced at Ji Cheng up and down, accepting this reason, she really didn't see anything special about Ji Cheng, the only thing that stood out was that face.

As for Su Yun and Lu Yuan, they both come from aristocratic families, so naturally they don't have Ji Cheng's concerns.It's just that Lu Yuanyu is not very good at the usual piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. After signing up, she almost scratched her head, and didn't know what kind of art to present.

In fact, Shen Cui also has this problem. Although she can do a little bit of everything, it is almost a miracle if she wants to get ahead in the art selection of the Chinese altar.Even Ji Lan had no expectations of her, but she couldn't see herself clearly, but seemed full of confidence.

"I don't know what Wang Yueniang will use to run for the election? Sister Xun, you are best with them, do you know the news?" Shen Cui came to ask Shen Xun.

Shen Xun shook her head: "She is very mysterious, she won't tell no matter how you ask."

"Oh, isn't that the same as sister Yun?" Shen Cui muttered.

Everyone is not a fool. Of course, they don't want to let their opponents know their details in advance. It's really no fault of Su Yun.

Shen Xun stopped talking when Shen Cui muttered, she knew that Shen Cui was still complaining about Shen Xian in her heart.Because Su Yun didn't hide anything from Shen Xian about what Su Yun was busy with. Shen Xian got tired of spending time with her almost every day and helped her make suggestions.

Shen Cui was naturally dissatisfied. Although she didn't take the initiative to find Shen Xian, she felt that Shen Xian was her cousin, and she should be the closest to her. How could she help Su Yun wholeheartedly without asking herself? ?
Because of this matter, Shen Cui lost her temper a lot in front of Ji Lan, and she was so angry that she shed tears at the beginning.

Ji Cheng doesn't dare to touch Shen Cui's matter, if you help her, it's okay if the result is good, but if there is a mistake, she must blame herself.

Of course, Shen Cui had absolutely no intention of asking Ji Cheng for advice.It's just that the Jingyuan is not big, although Shen Cui has been hiding it, but as long as Ji Cheng has the heart, he can still see Shen Cui practicing or something.

Ji Cheng's temperament is actually not too stable, she is naturally very curious about what kind of art Shen Cui is going to present, so she quietly climbed up from behind the rockery. There is a pool of water in the middle of the moon. When the moon is in the sky, it can be projected into the pool from the half-moon cave, which is also a unique scene.

And at this moment, the small hole just allowed Ji Cheng to vaguely see what Shen Cui was doing in the belly of the rockery.After listening carefully for a while, Ji Cheng realized that Shen Cui was practicing singing.

Shen Cui's voice is bright and bright with a hint of natural hoarseness. When she speaks, she doesn't feel that special. Now listening to her singing has a little extra flavor. When I first listened to it, I didn't think it was very good, but after listening to it, I felt that the aftertaste was long , no wonder she has to choose to sing.

But Ji Cheng shook his head secretly, the effect of Shen Cui singing in the belly of the mountain is much better than that of the real middle altar, although Ji Cheng doesn't understand the principles of echo and reverberation, but he knows that singing in the belly of the mountain is extra thick and clear .

In addition to Shen Cui's nice voice, both the lyrics and the music are very common in Ji Cheng's opinion, they can only be regarded as common and nice. If it is really taken to the middle stage, the probability of winning is almost zero.

Not to mention others, even the dance performed by Su Yun was many times better than Shen Cui's.

For Ji Cheng, neither Shen Cuiying nor Su Yunying had anything to do with her in the art selection this time, but for those who have been looking for opportunities, there may be hidden opportunities behind everything.

Ji Cheng stroked back and forth the hair hanging by his ears, and quickly made up his mind.

This day, Shen Cui had just finished practicing his voice and came out of the rockery when he saw Ji Cheng tiptoeing around the forest without knowing what he was doing.Curious, she walked up to Ji Cheng and patted her on the shoulder.

Ji Cheng was so frightened that he almost screamed, turned around and saw that it was Shen Cui, then stroked his chest and said softly, "Fifth sister, why is it you?"

"What are you doing?" Shen Cui asked.

Ji Cheng made a silent gesture to Shen Cui, lowered his voice and said: "I saw Sister Yun and Sister Xian going out quietly just now, and followed them."

Shen Cui and Ji Cheng looked at each other the same way, and they knew that they wanted to go together.

Shen Cui didn't speak any more, and stuck out half of her head from Ji Cheng's shoulder, staring into the forest.It's just that the forest here is dense, except for occasionally seeing a corner of clothes, you can't see the whole picture at all, and naturally you don't know what Su Yun is lining up.

"I can't see anything, don't look at it." Shen Cui stood for a long time, his legs were sore, and he began to lose his temper.

Ji Cheng looked around on tiptoe, then covered his mouth with his hands and said something in Shen Cui's ear, and Shen Cui nodded immediately.

It turned out that the forest was not far from the Yugou Thatched Cottage in Jingyuan. Although the thatched cottage was named, it was actually covered with tiles.Shen Cui turned around and ordered the girl to lift out the long ladder they used for inspection.

Ji Cheng and Shen Cui climbed carefully from the long ladder to the roof of the Yugou Thatched Cottage, and now their field of vision is much wider, and they can see the whole forest from a condescending height.

The two sat on the roof and looked at Su Yun and Shen Xian in the forest, but after a while, Shen Cui, who was still chattering, fell silent, and stared at Su Yun who was in the distance without turning his eyes.

To be honest, Su Yun definitely came prepared this time.The two white drills in her hand were tossed and danced by her like a dragon swimming in the clouds, moving freely as if they were alive.At the best time, she even danced a ball shadow to wrap her whole body, this ability cannot be practiced in a month or two.

When she came down from the roof and returned to her yard, Shen Cui didn't speak all the way.The next day, I didn't see her practicing her voice, but she was locked in the room by herself and no one was seen.

Ji Lan hadn't noticed Shen Cui's strange behavior yet, but she heard Ji Cheng say, "Auntie, is Fifth Sister still up? What's wrong with her?"

Only then did Ji Lan ask in surprise: "Is your fifth sister still awake?" Ji Lan thought she had already gone to the old lady's house.

Ji Cheng shook his head.

It was only then that Ji Lan anxiously went to look for Shen Cui, and Shen Cui was still sleeping with the quilt covered, and when Ji Lan called her, she kicked her legs impatiently.

"What's wrong with you? But where is it uncomfortable?" Ji Lan reached out to touch Shen Cui's forehead, "You don't have a fever, what's wrong with you? The sun is drying your butt, why don't you get up?"

"Leave me alone." Shen Cui said sullenly.

"What's the matter? Who messed with you again?" Ji Lan thought with her hands on her forehead. Her daughter is really good at everything, but sometimes she is too stingy and gets angry easily.

Shen Cui hugged the quilt and sat up, her tone was extremely aggressive: "No one messed with me, I don't want to participate in the middle school competition, anyway, it would be embarrassing to go."

Ji Lan's heart skipped a beat: "Why? What happened?"

Shen Cui bowed her head and remained silent, anxious to be asked by Ji Lan, so she hesitated to tell Ji Lan about her peeking at Su Yun dancing.

"What's the matter, it's worth making you so angry that you can't even get out of bed?" Ji Lan asked.

"Mother, what do you mean?" Shen Cui was anxious, "Even you think I can't beat them, don't you?"

In fact, Shen Cui is also a poor little girl. She grew up in the shadow of her sisters since she was a child, and she was always the least outstanding one.Now that Ji Cheng and Su Yun came again, she was still the most unobtrusive one.

Shen Cui wholeheartedly wanted to make everyone's eyes shine in the art selection in the Chinese arena, and let them know that there is still a fifth girl in the Shen family, but unfortunately, she miscalculated her own strength and was severely hit by Su Yun.

But Shen Cui always thought that her mother must support and affirm her, but she didn't know that Ji Lan spoke like this, obviously she didn't take the matter of Zhongtan's art selection seriously.

Ji Lan quickly patted the back of Shen Cui's hand: "I didn't mean that, it's just how can Su Yun compare with you? The Su family has long since fallen, and now it's just an empty shelf. Naturally, she has to concentrate on preparing for the middle school selection, but we Why does Sister Jiacui have to work so hard, she will find a way to satisfy you whatever you want."

In fact, Ji Lan was also doing it for the good of Shen Cui. How much effort and hardship did she go through in order to be able to get married?How could Ji Lan be willing to suffer for Shen Cui now?She just needs to be at ease and wait for her to make plans for her. When Ji Cheng enters the palace in the future and her lord's official position is promoted again, wouldn't she just choose Shen Cui's marriage?
But the little girl doesn't think so, and Shen Cui has such a strong temper, she can't bear to live in the shadows all day long: "No, I just want to win her and Wang Yueniang! Mom, you don't know Wang Yueniang The look in my eyes, I hate her to death. I must win this time in the Chinese art competition!"

There are few parents in this world who can win over their children, and Ji Lan dotes on Shen Cui, so she has to agree to let her, a mother, figure out a way.

Ji Lan approached Ji Cheng and asked, "Have you and A Cui watched Su Yatou's dance together?"

Ji Cheng nodded.

"Ah Cui keeps saying that Su Yatou dances so well that I can't compare with her, what do you think?" Ji Lan asked again.

"Looking at Sister Yun's dancing skills, if you don't have five or six years of practice, you will definitely not be able to practice it. I am afraid that you have already prepared it." Ji Cheng said, she didn't know whether it was good or bad, but Ji Lan definitely understood.

In fact, Ji Cheng didn't understand. Since Shen Cui was going to participate in the middle school competition, why didn't he start preparing a few years earlier?It's almost too late to prepare now.How did she know what Ji Lan was thinking, she never urged Shen Cui to prepare, Shen Cui slacked off on her own, and when the time came, Shen Cui started to hustle again, how could this be possible?
"Can you help a bunch of Ah Cui?" Ji Lan asked tentatively. In fact, she didn't have any expectations for Ji Cheng. After all, she didn't even have any ideas. Her daughter knew best how much Shen Cui weighed. A few taels, Ji Lan is still very clear.

Ji Cheng lowered his eyes and thought for a while: "It's too close to 26 now, and it's too late to practice. If the fifth sister can enter the middle school competition, I still have some ideas for the performance on the day of the official debut."

Ji Lan's eyes lit up. She was originally worried that even if she tried to get Shen Cui to be qualified for the Chinese art competition, but when the day came, she would show her appearance as soon as she came on stage, and that would be a shame.

"What can you do?" Ji Lan asked.

Before this, Ji Cheng had asked both Shen Xian and Shen Xun carefully about the specific situation of the performances in the previous Zhongtan.Since it is a performance, it is natural that I hope to stand out and let others know my ability, so there are most cases of going on stage alone.

In Ji Cheng's opinion, if she were to organize the selection of the middle altar, she would not choose any of these performances that are not highly appreciated by the rich ladies.And for example, the dance of the palace dancers during the halftime of the Royal Polo Team was very good, everyone could mobilize the atmosphere, and the stands were so far away that they could basically see the whole thing.

The venue of the polo game is very large, and a person is performing on the middle altar alone. Unless it is someone with sharp eyes, who can see who she is?
From Ji Cheng's point of view, Shen Cui wasn't too outstanding, but he found a group of green leaves to set off and choreographed the dance better.Even if there are people who gossip, as long as Shen Cui's performance in the middle altar can be successful.

Ji Lan couldn't help but nodded after hearing Ji Cheng's analysis.Speaking of which, the truth is extremely simple, and it's not like no one has done it, but why hasn't anyone done it in the past few years?It's just that there are too many green leaves, so I'm afraid the red flowers won't show up.You perform alone, and someone else asks, who is that?If there are many people, who will ask who you are?

Ji Lan pondered for a moment and said: "Your method is not bad. Sigh, I don't know what evil I did in my previous life to meet such a stubborn girl. What can I do to get her Yes, don’t you think so?”

Hearing this, Ji Cheng also sighed: "But Fifth Sister is not very old. If you work hard this year, there will definitely be hope next year."

Ji Lan just smiled and said nothing, Shen Cui's age is indeed not too old, but she is also not too young, otherwise Ji Lan would not be in a hurry to make Ji Cheng's idea: "Oh, help me look after your fifth sister A little bit, help her, and let the rest be fate."

It would be a joke to say that Ji Lan would obey the fate, and she would not have the chance to marry the third master of the Shen family if she obeyed the fate.

(End of this chapter)