Chapter 20: Falling Red

The next day, in the flower hall in the imperial garden, it can really be described as a fragrant sideburns and jewels. All the famous ladies are dressed up to attend, without any indoor decoration, the gold ornaments on their heads are enough to set off the whole hall with splendor.

When Qian Hongzuo helped the Empress Dowager Xu into the flower hall, everyone greeted in unison, and together congratulated the Empress Dowager Xu on her birthday, and the sound of clanging bells resounded throughout the house for a while. Qian Hongzuo finally believed what Mr. Shang said yesterday, this is indeed the time when a famous lady shows her face and becomes famous. On such occasions, being compared to others not only shames oneself, but also makes the faces of one's parents dull.

In order to show dignity, the seats of the Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo were set on a high platform, and after the Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo sat down, they politely let everyone sit down.

Although there are many female dependents in the house, they are arranged in an orderly manner, and there is an open space covered with red carpet in the middle of the hall, around the main seat of Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo, everyone sits in a circle, and a noble lady and her daughter sit at each small table. Although the seats are front and back, they are staggered and do not cover each other. And the table of Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo has a seating list, listing the seats of the ladies and ladies of each province who attended one by one, so that they can identify each other.

According to the custom of the royal palace, the maids who accompanied the ladies and ladies of the various provinces could only wait in the designated places of the palace and could not attend the birthday banquet. First, I am afraid that there will be many people, and second, I am afraid of mixing in with the assassins. The palace sent another maid to stand behind these ladies and young ladies to take care of them, and on the side of their seats, they wore long-handled fans with the words "so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so". And several high-status palace attendants and female officials such as the chief merchant sat under the high platform where Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo were located.

Waiting for everyone to sit down, the palace maids began to shuttle to serve the dishes, because the Empress Dowager Xu believed in Buddhism, on her birthday, it was especially taboo to kill, so the preparation was Zhai, although some dishes seemed to be meat dishes on the surface, but in fact they were meat dishes imitated with vegetarian ingredients, because the processing was meticulous, the color and flavor were complete, and the deliciousness was not lost to meat dishes. It is very different from the courtiers' delicacies and sea-style drinking and feasting.

The first cup of wine was represented by Qian Hongzuo on behalf of the children and nephews of the Qian royal family, wishing the birthday of the queen mother; The second glass of wine was represented by Qian Hongzuo on behalf of the civil and military officials, wishing the Queen Mother her birthday; The third cup of wine, Empress Dowager Xu proposed that everyone toast to Wu Yueguo, Guotai and Min'an.

After three rounds of wine, the door of the Xihua Hall was opened by two palace maids, and the owner of the imitation pear villa entered in a red suit, and several servants were placing musical instruments such as pianos, zhengs, and drums by the open door, Qian Hongzuo saw Qu Liuyu sandwiched in it, sitting by the piano, knowing that he was going to play. But to Qian Hongzuo's disappointment, Xie Xiangcun was not by his side.

The owner of the imitation pear villa is an official of the imperial court, he first knelt to wish the queen mother a thousand years of Christmas, and then said: "Qi Yu the queen mother, Qi Yu Sheng, the imitation of the pear villa today for the queen mother's birthday banquet, prepared several programs to help the fun." Eight years ago, Fangli Villa opened a martial arts class, selected children with good qualifications, and trained them from an early age. Today's first show is warmed up by the children, but I hope to make it fresh for all the nobles. The name of the show is 'Flower Shadow'. ”

Hearing the words Wu Keban, eight years ago and children, although he knew that Xie Xiangcun had not yet become an apprentice and was unlikely to appear to perform on such a grand occasion, Qian Hongzuo still glanced at the servant by the door again, but he still didn't see the person he missed

At the same time as the owner of the imitation pear mountain villa retreated, two people who looked like wrestlers carried a small flower platform and placed it in the middle of the circular open space. It is lined with green leaves and pink peach blossoms.

The music outside the door sounded, and the lead was the song Liuyu, a prelude like flowing clouds, which made people feel refreshed and happy. Just when everyone was attracted by the performance, they suddenly found that the green leaves on the flower platform were rustling, and then the flower branches were forked diagonally. At the same time, the flowers and leaves are getting bigger and bigger, slowly stretching out. It turned out to be two people who were coiled against each other, relying on their clothes, pretending to be leaves and flowers. Because the coil is very tight and small, it looks like a real flower and a real leaf. Both of them looked like children, Ye Tong was wearing clothes painted with green leaves, short hair shawls, and beautiful hair ties; The flower girl is dressed in a flower-and-leaf dress, and her hair is coiled on the top of her head in the shape of a flower receptacle.

Ye Tong supported the flower boy's arm with one arm, and slowly raised his head, the two of them had amazing arm strength, straight into a straight line. When everyone was amazed, Ye Tong's arm suddenly sank to the crotch, and the flower boy leaned to the edge of the flower platform as he fell, as if he was about to fall down. At this moment, Ye Tong suddenly threw the flower girl violently into the air, and the flower girl rose high in the air, spinning repeatedly, and all the flowers and leaves on her body fluttered and danced, like flying flowers in the sky. The flower girl lifted one foot and instantly closed with his hands into a bud, and the other leg, one leg fell smoothly, and the toes just fell into Ye Tong's hands. The exclamations and applause of the crowd came and went. Wu Yueguo had never had this kind of performance that combined jiu-jitsu, light gong, and dance before. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, it is said that there was a Gongsun Auntie, who integrated martial arts into dance, but because the difficulty was too high, few people imitated it.

Qian Hongzuo stood up in shock, although the flower girl was wearing beautiful heavy makeup, Qian Hongzuo still recognized that this person was Xie Xiangcun.

The performance continued, Ye Tong pulled Xie Xiangcun's toes in his hand horizontally, Xie Xiangcun leaned over, and tapped Ye Tong's shoulder with one hand, Ye Tong let go of his toes at the same time, Xie Xiangcun's disk rolled up, and the whole person became a ribbon, which was hung diagonally on Ye Tong's shoulder. The crowd thundered with joy. Soft as boneless, it used to be just an exaggerated description, but now it really appears in front of you.

The flower girl is beautiful and incomprehensible, and the leaf boy is as elegant as the dew of dawn, and the two of them are perfectly matched. From time to time, the flower girl rolls up all over her body and becomes a flower bud, which is dotted on the waist of the leaf child; Sometimes it flies slowly, only hooking the leaf boy with his feet, as if he is about to fly away from the branch; Sometimes the flowers and leaves are slanted like a strong wind; Sometimes gently trembling like a drizzle of light patting, all the movements are very beautiful, all the movements are also very weird, weird to the point that people can't do it, everyone is fascinated and appreciative, all of them are carrying a heart, a small flower platform, it is difficult to maintain balance in ordinary dances, not to mention that the two dancers often rise and fall, many movements are only a little bit away from falling, but in the end they are in the most beautiful form, attracting bursts of applause, this first show is not only beautiful, but also thrilling.

Suddenly, the song through the clouds and the sun suddenly sounded, there were no lyrics, only a high and floating glissando, so high-pitched as if flying from the sky, and the singer was Qu Liuzhen. Accompanied by the singing, Ye Tong supported his whole body on one leg and rotated on the spot, and the flower girl he held with both hands also spun up with him, and the two of them turned faster and faster, forming a cloud of fog and shadow. The song stopped faintly, and the two spinning people finally merged into a cluster of green leaves and peach blossoms when they were finally lifted up.

There was applause, and the steady Queen Mother couldn't help but applaud. The girls cheered even more.

When the two performers respectfully knelt down to congratulate the Empress Dowager Xu on her birthday, except for Qian Hongzuo, everyone else was taken aback, the dazzlingly beautiful flower girl was not a girl, but a teenager, although the voice was sweet, but it was an authentic male voice.

In the birthday celebration of the two performers, Qian Hongzuo waved his hand to summon the palace people who were holding the reward brocade box for him, picked out the largest and most beautiful Huadian from it, came to Xie Xiangcun's side, and inserted it into the hair for him with his own hands. Said: "Beautiful, miraculous. ”

Xie Xiangcun said sincerely: "Thank you for the compliment." Today is the villain's first and last performance. It is an honor for the villain to be able to perform for the Queen Mother and for the Holy Lord. The villain's wish has been fulfilled for many years, and if he is not abandoned by the saint, the villain is willing to go to the forbidden army on an errand to repay the saint's life-saving grace. ”

Qian Hongzuo leaned over and hugged Xie Xiangcun, only to feel tears welling up, today he saw Xie Xiangcun's dance, only to know that this person, in order to be able to perform on stage, how much hard work, what kind of obsession for him to give up. Said affectionately: "The Lone King will never forget this good day. This pun, Qian Hongzuo actually only said it for Xie Xiangcun.

Xie Xiangcun blushed and said, "The villain retired." ”

Xie Xiangcun and the others retreated, and the door of the Xihua Hall was immediately closed.