This year's Qianqiu Festival was such a grand occasion that Xie Wangzhi thought that there would be no one in the Music Academy. So he really followed Li Qishen to the Music Academy, but he was surprised.
There were big red lanterns hanging outside, and the music hall was no less colorful, with flower lanterns on the wall, paper lanterns hanging high, and candlesticks shaped like beauties holding candles... Every candle or every wick was lit, making the inside as bright as day. Musicians and dancers walked around and talked and laughed under the lights. Xie Wangzhi followed Li Qishen inside, passing through these handsome and beautiful men and women. It was as if his eyes were covered with a red curtain, and all he could smell was the sweet fragrance of powder.
It seemed that these artists all had their own things to do, and no one cast their eyes on the boy and the girl. Xie Wangzhi did not dare to greet them actively, so he could only let Li Qishen hold his hand and glance at them cautiously.
The ones holding various musical instruments were musicians, the ones wearing high buns and dressed as flying fairies were dancers, and those in between were singers. They were either sitting or standing, or simply walking, with their hair and faces like people walking down from a mural. When Xie Wangzhi walked by, she would occasionally accidentally brush against the hem of a skirt or a piece of shawl, but no one cared about her, as if she didn't exist at all.
As they walked, Xie Wangzhi suddenly felt a little lost, and suddenly had a sense of unreality. She felt like she was in a dream, or like she had entered a fairy's cave. Even the boy in front of her was a little blurry, and she couldn't help but gently hold his hand.
Li Qishen stopped and turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"
"... No." Xie Wangzhi stared at the pair of light amber eyes for a while, then smiled and shook his head, "Where are you taking me?"
"It's right here." Li Qishen thought for a moment and smiled back. He let go of Xie Wangzhi's hand, looked around, and fixed his eyes on an empty shelf.
The shelf was quite high, and was probably used to store musical instruments, but now it was empty. Li Qishen raised his hands and pushed and grabbed, and despite Xie Wangzhi's surprised look, he easily flipped over.
"... You're courting death!" The dancer suddenly shouted, hitting Xie Wangzhi in the face, "What are you doing climbing up there?"
"I'm afraid you can't hear me if I talk down there." Li Qishen was obviously used to it, and he was not panicked at all. He sat on the top shelf and swung his legs easily. Before Heming could explode, he cleared his throat, "Everyone! I brought a guest here. What kind of dance do you think we should show her?"
The sound was like a firecracker. The musician was a man after all, so it was okay. However, the dancers and musicians who had not cast their eyes on Xie Wangzhi before all rushed over. Their pretty faces and the sound of the shaking golden bells frightened Xie Wangzhi so much that he was at a loss. She was about to greet him, but one hand held her, and the other hand pinched her face. Then it was another dancer. These young ladies seemed to treat her as a rare thing, touching and hugging her.
Xie Wangzhi was unable to dodge, and all she saw was a beautiful lady with a pretty face. The fragrance of powder made her feel a little dizzy, and it was Heming who came to save her: "That's enough! Haven't you seen a young lady before? What do you look like? I wonder what you want to do."
"Of course I've seen young ladies before, but I've never seen such a beautiful young lady." A quick-talking dancer replied, lowered her head to look at Xie Wangzhi, and gave her a look, "Why, do you want to learn dancing from me?"
"Bah!" Le Ji beside her pushed her, "What can I learn from you? Sun Shier Niang hasn't even opened her mouth yet."
Sun Shierniang, who was named, quickly said, "You can't say that. Yunzhi's dance is different from mine."
"Did you hear that?" Yunzhi said proudly, "Everyone praised me in the first episode!"
"Don't give me that! Sun Twelve Niang is kind-hearted and won't give you any face."
These musicians and dancers found a topic to talk about, pushing and shoving each other, laughing and making noises half-heartedly. Xie Wangzhi was caught in the middle, smelling of powder all over her body, standing there at a loss. She had learned the rules and knew that she couldn't do this, as it would easily make people laugh at her. But looking at these noisy dancers, she felt inexplicably happy.
They are beautiful and lively, with thin clothes revealing their fair skin. They look like blooming flowers or sparrows on branches. Just one look at them makes you feel the energy coming towards you and makes your heart tremble.
Xie Wangzhi smiled slightly.
"Stop messing around! Come here and show it to the young lady," Heming raised his head and glanced at Li Qishen, "This is the dance choreographed by our Seventh Prince!"
The dancers all responded, holding up their skirts and scarves and ran to Heming's side. A dozen of them stood out, and the rest stepped aside nimbly.
Li Qishen jumped down from the stand, ran to the drum in a few steps, sat down on the spot, and put his hands on the drum.
Xie Wang was stunned: "Do you want to play the drums?"
“It’s inspiring.”
"Oh..." Xie Wangzhi sat down next to him and approached carefully, "Um, Changsheng... Why did these sisters pinch my face just now?"
Li Qishen didn't expect her to ask this, and was slightly startled. He then raised his hand and pinched her face lightly. Before Xie Wangzhi frowned, he quickly withdrew his hand, put one hand on the drum, and leaned against the edge of the drum. The light shone on his face, and his originally cold eyebrows softened, and he looked a little romantic, like a playboy lingering in Pingkangfang.
He raised the hand that had pinched Xie Wangzhi’s face earlier and snapped his fingers, “Because you’re cute.”
Xie Wangzhi: “…”
“… Hey!” She was a little annoyed and wanted to go up and grab Li Qishen’s face.
"Alright, alright." Li Qishen dodged and said in a low voice, "Stop messing around. It's about to start."
He ignored Xie Wangzhi and tapped the drum with one hand. The drum sounded very bright, full of the meaning of the prosperous Chang'an. The first tap was a firm note, and the next two taps were much faster, more like urging.
The dancers understood and Heming was the first to raise her hands, clasping them together with a clear sound of applause. The dozen dancers behind her also raised their hands, raised their slender arms, and quickly clasped their hands twice, the rhythm just matching the drum beats.
Then came the chimes, zithers, konghous and bamboo mats. Each instrument sounded in turn, and finally together, the dance began.
The dance has a fast rhythm, is lively and bright, and has the meaning of dancing pearls and shaking jade. The dancer is dressed in a style between a Hu Ji and a flying fairy, with a golden hairpin in her high bun, bare slender arms and delicate ankles, golden bracelets on her arms, and golden bells between her ankles. When she dances, the golden ornaments jingle and jingle in rhythm, as if they are her own musical instruments.
The dancer was dancing in the room, stretching her body and dancing as if she was flying. Xie Wangzhi watched her for a while, and his gaze unconsciously turned to the young man beside him.
This dance uses many instruments, but the rhythm is set by drums. Li Qishen watched the dancers raise their legs and stand on tiptoe, hitting the drums one by one. The young man smiled and beat the drums naturally, with the turning golden bells reflected in his pupils and tiny gold flakes flowing in his eyes.
Xie Wangzhi looked at that handsome face. The young man was clearly right in front of her, but she was suddenly frightened, as if Li Qishen was just a dream, only tonight, only in the accompaniment of this dance.
But she couldn't say anything, she just stared at him without saying a word.
**
When Xie Wangzhi woke up, it was already noon and the sun was shining on her face. She forced herself to open her eyes, stumbled out of bed dazedly to wash up, and even after pouring hot water from the basin, she still felt a slight headache.
Last night was really a bit too much, and after getting through that point, she suddenly stopped feeling sleepy. Xie Wangzhi was playing in the music studio, learning musical instruments with Le Ji, and Li Qishen even brought wine to feed her. When she returned to the Shangshi Bureau, it was past the hour of the common people. After washing up, she fell asleep as soon as she got on the bed, and she has been in a daze until now.
Xie Wangzhi yawned a little and suddenly heard a sound outside, not loud but obvious, like the sound of horse hooves stepping on bricks.
Horses were not allowed to run in Daming Palace. Lou Hanyue happened to come back with a food box. Judging from the time, she was probably here to make lunch. Xie Wangzhi casually asked her, "Is that the sound of horse hooves outside?"
"Yes." Lou Hanyue nodded, "You have really good ears."
The question and answer should have ended here, but Xie Wangzhi didn't know what he was thinking, and he asked one more question: "Who is so bold as to ride a horse in the palace?"
"I'm not sure." Lou Hanyue thought for a while, "I saw it when I came here. The cavalry was heading towards Danfeng Gate. It seemed to be from Qingsi Palace."
Xie Wang was stunned: "...Huh?"
"... Hey, didn't you know?" Lou Hanyue didn't really understand, and reluctantly repeated what he had heard, "The Seventh Prince was made a king. It seemed like the decree was issued at night, and he was made a county prince. His Majesty ordered him to leave today, saying he was going to... well, it should be Fengzhou."
Xie Wangzhi was so shocked that he dropped the basin in his hand, left Lou Hanyue behind and ran out.
Lou Hanyue was stunned: "... Hey, where are you going?"
"It's an important matter!" Xie Wangzhi said, exerted force on his feet, and ran desperately towards Danfeng Gate.
Lou Hanyue came from a common family and didn't understand this matter, so he just spoke calmly. But when Xie Wang heard that, a layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.
According to the rules of the court, the prince was given the title of king, and his son was given the title of county king. At Li Qishen's age, he should have left the palace and established a palace, but he was only given the title of county king and ordered to leave for Fengzhou immediately. This imperial decree was issued overnight, and it is estimated that there was no procedure for announcing it to the world. It didn't seem like a title of king, but rather like expelling him from Chang'an City and making him a county king casually to avoid being too embarrassed.
Xie Wangzhi had no idea how Li Qishen had offended Li Chengjing. In fact, she knew nothing about state affairs, but she understood one thing: if you offend the emperor, your life will definitely not be easy.
This farewell may be our last.
Xie Wangzhi just wanted to see Li Qishen as soon as possible, so she gasped for breath and ran forward desperately. Only then did she realize that the Daming Palace was so big.
The wind blew past, and the palace maids were walking back and forth on the palace road as per their shifts. Occasionally, a few of them would look up and look at Xie Wangzhi with surprised eyes, wondering why this little palace maid was running like this, as if she was about to cry at any time; but more people ignored her at all, and remained silent, walking on the established path.
After running for a while, Xie Wangzhi finally saw a familiar figure from a distance of several feet.
“… Changsheng!” She really couldn’t run any more, couldn’t move even a step, and could only use her last bit of strength to speak, hoping that the boy would look back at her, and shouted with all her might, “Changsheng, Changsheng—”
Li Qishen seemed not to hear it. He seemed to say something to the followers beside him, and then rode forward.
After leaving Danfeng Gate, the street was bustling with people, and the figure quickly went into the distance and could no longer be seen.
An indescribable emotion suddenly surged up in Xie Wangzhi's heart, but she didn't understand it. She just sat down on the ground weakly and suddenly wanted to burst into tears.
The author has something to say: This is based on the situation of the military governors in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Fengzhou is probably in today's Inner Mongolia, which means being exiled to the frontier. I chatted with my friend for a while, and he said that I was abusing my fans by writing this, but I thought that Changsheng didn't have many fans anyway, so I had to write this way because I felt that I loved him.
Give him some room to grow. He is going to Lingji to come again (what the hell is the moon talk) but the next chapter will not jump the timeline. There are still some things that have not been explained. The tool man and tool cat must be arranged_(:3)∠)_