Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

"It's a commoner..."

A small voice came over, and everyone couldn't even tell the direction of the voice, and they were still looking around. Concubine Yun raised her head and looked into the distance, only to see a petite girl standing up near the palace door.

"Come, come closer and let me take a look~"

Concubine Yun spoke softly, fearing to scare the girl. Judging from the distance of the seats, it can be known that the girl's father is not of high rank.

Zuo Xin naturally saw her, and her eyes instantly seemed to be filled with poison. The daughter of a low-ranking official actually dared to steal her limelight. She must be tired of living!

Qin Ruoyu, who admired Prince Yun, also looked at the girl, but after just one glance, she turned her head away with contempt. She looked so dry and withered, His Royal Highness Prince Yun would not like her!

The girl was like a frightened little rabbit at this moment, walking towards Concubine Yun step by step with her eyes wide open. She felt the gazes from all around, which made her a little scared.

After finally reaching the center of the hall, the girl knelt down and kowtowed.

"Your Highness, Your Highness. Your Highness, Your Highness."

"Get up quickly, come, come to me."

Concubine Yun noticed the girl's nervousness, as if she didn't dare to do it but had to do it. At the same time, she also noticed the eyes of the crowd, some were watching the show, some were dissatisfied, and some even had bad intentions.

"this..."

The girl was a little stunned. Concubine Yun asked her to go over, but she didn't dare to do so. If she bumped into Concubine Yun after going over, her head would not be enough to be chopped off. But if she refused, she would be dragged out and chopped off now.

"If Concubine Yun tells you to come up, then come up!"

The emperor spoke at this time. He really couldn't stand her dithering look. It was obvious that she had never seen the world.

Seeing that the emperor had spoken, the girl did not dare to hesitate any longer and hurried forward and called out softly.

"My Queen~"

"Good boy, don't be nervous."

Concubine Yun took the girl's hand and patted it gently.

"What's your name? Who are you from?"

"Your Highness, my name is Fang Jiawei, and I am the daughter of Fang Zhili, the seventh-rank supervisor of the Imperial College."

When Fang Zhili heard his daughter introduce herself, he quickly stood up and saluted.

"Your Majesty, I, Fang Zhili, pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"Oh?"

The emperor raised his eyebrows and looked at Fang Zhili, seemingly having no impression of him. After all, he was a seventh-rank official, and usually stood at the back during court sessions. Even if there was something to report to the Imperial College, it would not be his turn, so the emperor had no impression of him at all.

Fang Zhili was also a little embarrassed. The emperor looked as if he didn't know him at all, which made his face turn red. Fortunately, Concubine Yun smoothed things over for him.

"Mr. Fang's daughter is really cute, and her singing makes people happy."

"Thank you, noble concubine."

When the emperor heard that his beloved concubine liked this little girl, he also spoke up.

"Since my beloved concubine likes it, reward her!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"You will stay with me and have dinner with me."

"Yes."

Fang Jiawei responded obediently. Concubine Yun did look very gentle, and she had a different fragrance from other ladies. She was born with a sensitive nose. The spices used by other ladies were very pungent, but when she sat next to Concubine Yun, she felt that her fragrance was comfortable.

“Try this~”

Concubine Yun pointed at the dish in front of her. This was a dish that the families of seventh-rank officials were not allowed to eat. Concubine Yun motioned for her to eat more. She looked so thin and small, which was pitiful.

"Thank you, Madam~"

After this little episode was over, several more performances by the noble ladies followed, all of which were quite standard and mediocre.

Concubine Yun couldn't help but yawn. After all, it was her first time attending a palace banquet and she really couldn't stand sitting for too long.

Everyone also realized that Concubine Yun was already tired of the banquet, and the emperor was also bored. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Zhen Yingqing, and thought that his wife was the daughter of the Wuhou Mansion, and they had a fierce daughter, so he must be able to bring something different.

"My dear Zhen——"

The emperor's sudden call scared Zhen Yingqing so much. He didn't think there was anything good in the emperor calling his name at this time.

"Chen is here!"

"I remember your daughter's name seemed to be Zhen..."

"My little girl Zhen Luo!"

Zhen Yingqing was very perceptive. How could the emperor remember his daughter's name?

"Yes, Zhen Luo! She is here today too, right?"

When Zhen Yingqing heard the emperor asking about his daughter, he turned his head and winked at Zhen Luo. Zhen Luo rolled his eyes at his father and stood up.

"The daughter of the common people meets the emperor."

Zhen Luo was graceful and her voice was neither humble nor arrogant, but very powerful. Mrs. Zhen felt very proud just listening to her daughter speak.

"Oh? You are Zhen Luo? Do you have any talent prepared for today?"

When Zhen Yingqing heard this, his mind went blank. He knew that his daughter had not prepared any talent, and she had no intention of performing. He thought that there were so many people performing that he could not keep up, and the emperor would not remember who had performed and who had not. But now that the emperor took the initiative to ask, Zhen Luo, the rebellious son, should stop talking nonsense!

"Your Majesty, I don't have any."

Zhen Luo's resounding voice rang out, and Zhen Yingqing's heart skipped a beat. This rebellious son!

The ministers around him also gasped and cast sympathetic eyes towards Zhen Yingqing. Everyone knew that he had a rebellious daughter who went up the roof and did all kinds of bad things.

"Since you knew you were going to attend the palace banquet today, why didn't you prepare any talents?"

It was impossible to tell whether the emperor was happy or angry in his voice, but Zhen Yingqing's head was already covered in sweat.

"Your Majesty, I know that there is a banquet in the palace today, but the banquet does not require all officials and their wives to prepare talents, so I did not prepare any."

Zhen Luo was telling the truth, and the emperor didn't expect her to be so honest. He curled his lips and deliberately made things difficult for her.

"So what do you think we should do now? So many people are looking at you, I can't just let you sit down."

Zhen Luo looked around, and most of the ladies looked at her with disdain, probably because they knew she didn't have any decent talents. Indeed, Zhen Luo was not good at anything, including playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

but...

"Since His Majesty and His Majesty are tired of these boring talents, I will offer you something different."

This statement attracted hatred from some people, but also aroused the interest of some others. Everyone wanted to see how Zhen Luo would perform.

Zhen Luo walked to the center of the hall with Zhen Yingqing's murderous look in his eyes, clasped his fists and bowed, then slowly drew out the soft sword from his waist.

"Someone come! Protect..."

The moment Zhen Luo drew out the soft sword, Eunuch Mu Yi raised his voice and shouted, shocking everyone. But the emperor had seen many things, so he quickly stopped Mu Yi.

"I just want to perform a sword dance. Eunuch Muyi doesn't need to be so nervous."

Zhen Luo said lightly, Eunuch Mu Yi touched his nose awkwardly, and then Zhen Luo looked at Zuo Xin again.

"Miss Zuo's piano skills are outstanding among her peers. I wonder if Miss Zuo would be willing to accompany me?"

Of course I don’t want to!

Zuo Xin didn't want to be a supporting role for Zhen Luo. But Madam Zuo nudged her with her elbow and whispered.

"His Royal Highness Prince Yun is still watching~"

Zuo Xin looked up and saw that His Royal Highness Prince Yun was indeed looking at them.

"It's my pleasure. But I don't know if I can play the piece Miss Zhen wants."

"I was fortunate enough to hear Miss Zuo play the Breaking Formation Song once, so why not play this one?"

"Good~"

Zuo Xin then walked to the center of the hall, sat in front of the zither and began to dance with her fingers again. The sound of the zither changed from slow to fast, making everyone feel the bloody and unstoppable momentum of the soldiers on the battlefield. Zhen Luo wielded a sword, and with the sound of the zither, his sword was sometimes murderous and sometimes dignified. The emperor was very excited and Zhen Yingqing was terrified.

After the last dance, there was silence at first, and then warm applause broke out led by the emperor.

"Good! Good! Good!"

The emperor said three good words in a row, which finally made Zhen Yingqing's heart settle down.

"As expected of a woman from Tai'an, her aura is no less than that of a man! Miss Zuo's piano skills are also worthy of praise. Reward! Everyone will be rewarded!"

Zhen Yingqing had never expected that his daughter, who was not at all gentle and feminine in her daily life, actually had a talent for sword dancing.

Zhen Luo and Zuo Xin bowed to the emperor and returned to their seats.

"Your Majesty, why do I feel that Miss Zhen's dancing posture is somewhat familiar?"

Just when the emperor was about to ask other princes to perform their talents, Concubine Yun suddenly spoke.

"Look familiar? What do you mean, my dear?"

Concubine Yun shook her head.

"I just feel like I've seen this dance somewhere before."

"Oh?"

The emperor didn't know what was going on, and looked at Zhen Yingqing with interest, wanting him to give an explanation. But Zhen Yingqing didn't understand, so he had to turn his head and look at Zhen Luo, wanting her to explain herself.

But before Zhen Luo could say anything, Master Baili who was sitting below spoke first.

"This is 'Emperor Concubine's Sword Dance'!"