Allure Ugly Concubine

Chapter 70 Talent Competition
Lin Zijiang cast doubtful eyes on Chu Yue, but found that the other party was also staring at him angrily, and quickly looked away in despair.Pretending to look away, but just happened to meet Chu Yin's complicated eyes, and looked back in embarrassment.It seemed that she was not suitable to look anywhere, so she had to lower her head silently.

After everyone is seated, the song and dance performance officially begins.

Chu Jing exchanged greetings as usual: "Today is my birthday, and it's also a family feast. Don't be restrained, everyone."

He said so, but how could such a palace banquet be unrestrained?Lin Zijiang now only wants time to pass faster, staying here and not looking around, she is almost bored to death.

But soon Lin Zijiang discovered that other people seemed to be as bored as she was. Although they tried their best not to show it, Lin Zijiang still saw impatience in their eyes.

That's right, these so-called court dances have so many movements, and the rhythm is slow to death. In addition, these princes and nobles must watch them all the time, so they must have been tired of watching them for a long time.

But unexpectedly, it was Chu Jing who was the first to tell the 'truth'.

"Look, why is today's singing and dancing performance so boring?"

Then, the queen sitting next to him immediately explained: "Your Majesty, the palace music workshop has always rehearsed the prescribed dances and music, so it is rare to have something new. However, I have a suggestion."

"Oh? Tell me." Chu Jing raised his hand and said.

The queen paused, and then said: "Today's birthday banquet is attended by relatives of our royal family and the families of the princes. It is rare for us to get together on weekdays. Why don't we take this opportunity to strengthen our relationship? Today we can hold a small talent competition , one is to add to the fun of the birthday banquet, and the other is to enhance the understanding between relatives. Your Majesty, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Chu Jing showed a surprised expression, clapped his hands and said, "The Queen's proposal is very good."

When everyone present heard this proposal, they all showed anticipation. Firstly, this is indeed more interesting than watching ordinary boring and slow court dances. Secondly, the princesses also want to show their strengths in front of everyone. To add honor to my husband-in-law.

But Lin Zijiang curled her lips secretly. She suspected that the emperor and empress had deliberately arranged today's dance to be so boring in order to draw out this proposal.Presumably, this is another trick for her and Chu Yue.

Immediately, the queen stood up gracefully and said, "If that's the case, then I will preside over it."

After finishing speaking, he took a phoenix-tailed gold hairpin from his head, held it up in front of everyone and said: "Today's winner, I will give this gold hairpin to her as a gift."

As soon as these words came out, the princesses became even more eager to try. Although everyone is not short of money, the things that the queen rewards are very kind.

The queen put the gold hairpin into the tray brought by the maid, and then asked: "I don't know, which princess will challenge first?"

"The concubine has no virtue or ability, so let's start by throwing bricks to attract jade." The first one to stand up was Princess Xu who was far away from Lin Zijiang.The day before entering the palace, Chu Yue had popularized with Lin Zijiang the information and personalities of the princes and concubines, so Lin Zijiang was able to distinguish their identities when he first saw them based on those.

I heard that Princess Xu used to be a showgirl in a brothel, she met King Xu by chance, and they fell in love at first sight.The King of Yue insisted on marrying her despite the opposition of the first emperor, so that he was no longer valued by the emperor, and now he can only be a leisurely prince with a title.

It is also a love story that only appears in this romance novel, which makes Lin Zijiang's memory of them particularly deep.

"I don't know what Princess Xu is going to perform?" the queen asked.

"The concubine doesn't have any other skills. I can only talk a little about a piece of pipa to cheer you up. Please don't make jokes if you don't play well." Princess Xu said humbly.

"Princess Xu was joking. Your pipa is the best in Beijing. Among the men here, who has never heard of your name 'Jade Pipa'?"

The one who spoke was Princess Pluto, who was sitting under Lin Zijiang.At first glance, this remark was meant to praise Princess Xu's ability to play the pipa well, but it actually satirized her background as a brothel singer.It's no wonder that Princess Pluto is the eldest daughter of Prime Minister Zuo of Chu State, and her family background is prominent, so naturally she looks down on Princess Xu who is of humble background.

Hearing this, the corners of the concubines' mouths were secretly raised, with mocking expressions on their faces, which showed that everyone disliked Concubine Xu's background.

But Concubine Xu didn't pay attention to it, she just smiled lightly, then took out the pipa and started playing.

Lin Zijiang had compared with Xue Yuliu before, so it was natural to compare Princess Xu with Xue Yuliu.In terms of skills, the two should be on par, but in terms of feelings, Princess Xu's pipa is very light and quiet, which shows that her heart is indifferent.But Xue Yuliu is too utilitarian, so although the pipa she plays is beautiful, it is not pure enough.

Occasionally seeing the eye contact between King Xu and Princess Xu, full of sympathy, Lin Zijiang couldn't help feeling envious. The two of them were able to put aside worldly visions and prejudices and come together. And their own happiness.

After the song, everyone was moved by Princess Xu's feelings, and they were full of praise.But Concubine Xu saw no one else in her eyes, she only looked directly at King Xu, the two of them looked at each other and smiled, which was already better than thousands of words from others.

Then, one after another, the princesses went up to show their strengths, some of them were poets and painters, and Lin Zijiang was very happy to see them.

But at this time, a disappointing voice came from the side: "You better not join in the fun, so as not to embarrass the king."

Lin Zijiang turned his head and met Chu Yue's serious face.Although Chu Yue was a little unconvinced by what Chu Yue said, but thinking that he had offended him just now, it's better not to talk back now, so he just said helplessly: "Do you think they will let me go easily?"

Sure enough, after all the concubines showed their talents one after another, the queen turned her attention to Lin Zijiang: "Next, it's time for Princess Yue. I wonder what Princess Yue is going to show?"

But just as Lin Zijiang opened his mouth, before he had time to answer, a voice answered for her: "Return to the empress, my sister is best at dancing."

Lin Zijiang followed the prestige, and saw that the person who spoke was Lin Zijiang's vicious younger sister.The corners of Li Fei's eyes showed a little bit of satisfaction, and she responded to Lin Zijiang's gaze with an expression of watching the show.She proposed this because she knew that Lin Zijiang was the worst dancer, so she deliberately said so so that Lin Zijiang could not refuse.

"Concubine Yue's figure is slim and light, and she is suitable for dancing at first glance. It seems that we are going to feast our eyes today." The queen praised with anticipation.The slightly upturned corners of her eyes also revealed a slight smugness, which shows that she and Concubine Li have long colluded to lure Lin Zijiang into the bait and make her look ugly in public.

But they didn't expect that the person in front of them was no longer the 'Lin Zijiang' before.And she also guessed that they would embarrass her in terms of talent, so she was well prepared.

Lin Zijiang had studied dance for two years, and was still No.1 in the dance class at that time.But compared with those women who stayed at home all day in ancient times and specialized in dancing musical instruments, they would definitely appear to be unable to make it to the stage.

But she thought of a way - to win with new ideas.

"Princess Yue, are you going to start the show?" the queen asked.

"The appearance of the concubine's willow is really not suitable to be on the stage, but since you are a family, the concubine has the courage to make a fool of herself, but the concubine has one more request."

"What request?" asked the Queen.

"I beg your empress to turn off half of the lamps in this pool."

"The night is so dark, when it is half turned off, won't you be unable to see Princess Yue's dancing posture clearly?" Chu Jing asked suspiciously.

"Please rest assured, the emperor, I have a way to let you see clearly." Lin Zijiang said confidently.

(End of this chapter)