Zhuge Qing carefully looked at the assassins who were frothing at the mouth and fell to the ground. They were only wearing maid uniforms, and no matter how they looked, they were all men.
Each of the two men held a short dagger in their hands.
"How to deal with it? Not to kill? Your Highness."
"Oh? Don't you want to do it?"
"Originally I drew my sword, but for an assassin like this who can't even hide his aura, hey, I think knocking him unconscious with the handle of the sword is enough."
"I agree with this."
In the end, they killed without using their swords. After putting their swords into their scabbards, Lu Fusu and Zhuge Qing pushed with their toes and kicked the two unconscious assassins dressed as maids down into the garden.
"No matter what, if you arrest him and torture him, you will only get the same answer."
"Your Highness, it's rare to see someone dressed up so interestingly. How about tying them up and pushing them around the streets?"
"Leave it to you! I'm too lazy to deal with these situations."
"It seems that you are used to it, Your Highness."
Zhuge Qing shouted towards the far side of the corridor, instructing someone to tie up the assassin with a rope. The Imperial Guards who heard the instructions quickly ran over.
After handing these two guys over to the Forbidden Army, Zhuge Qing followed Lu Fusu, who walked leisurely down the corridor as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, Your Highness, it's not an option to keep going like this forever. Wouldn't it be more comfortable to simply eliminate the root cause and eliminate future troubles forever?"
"I think so too, but the other party is also a blood relative after all. As long as the father is still in power, we can't touch him."
"It's more dangerous to talk about affection."
"..."
Facing Lu Fusu's silence, Zhuge Qing smiled bitterly.
"His Highness's innocence makes it even more difficult for people to sit idly by. Alas, when the time comes, remember to inform me and I will get my hands dirty for you."
"...If you say this, it will be difficult for me to speak to you."
"Because you are Your Highness, that's why I say this."
Lu Fusu lowered his gaze slightly and thought for a moment, then raised his face again.
"I want to strengthen the security around Donghe Hall, but I can't be discovered by anyone. It seems unreasonable to entrust you, a doctor from the Ministry of Finance, to handle this matter..."
"It's a trivial matter. I'll immediately summon the trustworthy commanders of the Forbidden Army. No one will find out that I'm doing this."
"Then...can we do it starting from tonight?"
"If the arrangements are made before the sun goes down, I will inform you. Your Highness, I will take my leave now..."
Zhuge Qing waved his hand and walked past Lu Fusu and left.
After watching his back for a while, Lu Fusu looked back at the commotion in the garden where the assassin had been caught, and then slowly walked forward again.
This kind of trouble is not uncommon, and there is no need to be more vigilant in the first place.
But, tonight is the full moon.
It's better not to have any problems.
…
The pipa made an excited sound.
In line with this fast-paced song, the dancer waved his long sleeves, jumped up, and turned around when he landed... But at this time, the dancer stepped on a corner of the silk shawl hanging on his shoulders and stumbled.
"stop!"
The sharp sound stopped the playing of the pipa, and the dancer Qing'er staggered two or three more steps before she regained her footing.
"Qing'er, don't forget, the clothes you wear are also part of your body. If you can't control them as you wish, it means you haven't exercised enough."
"yes……"
Qing'er panted and retreated to the corner of the room.
"Before next morning class, you must practice until you can dance a complete dance. Next."
The Jiaofang Shaowu who is responsible for teaching the dance skills of the palace dancers is named Chen. She is a woman in her late fifties. Her back is still straight and she always has a serious expression on her face.
After Chen Shaowu looked around at the palace servants present, his eyes stopped on the palace servant standing at the back.
"Shuixinyuan."
"yes!"
"Same song."
"OK."
Shui Xinyuan came to the center of the room.
Lower your eyelids slightly, lower your body, and perform the initial dance movements.
At the same time as the pipa sounded, Shui Xinyuan danced his sleeves greatly.
Her dancing posture makes people feel the weight of her body.
When I stepped on the ground, I could barely hear the sound of my footsteps, my clothes were fluttering briskly, and my sleeves and shawl were fluttering, not losing to the speed of the music at all.
Shui Xinyuan likes to dance.
Only when she was dancing to the music could she forget the fact that she was living in embarrassment in a spacious palace, and that she was the only one who was living a miserable life despite being a palace concubine.
But there was one thing she couldn't forget.
The song was about to end, and Shui Xinyuan, who was dancing with perfect posture, suddenly lost her pace.
She staggered almost eerily and then fell.
"...That's it."
Chen Shao danced, the pipa stopped playing, and Shui Xinyuan also stopped dancing.
Chen Shaowu, who originally wanted to say something, opened his mouth halfway and was silent for a while. Finally, he nodded with a serious expression and said only one sentence.
"Next time, skip to the end."
"yes……"
Shui Xinyuan quietly returned to the corner of the room. Her breathing was similar to when she was dancing, with no special changes.
In the past three years, Shui Xinyuan has become very diligent. She had never practiced dancing before, so she started practicing from the basic skills. While busy with chores, she also used her free time to practice dancing alone.
I hope to be able to dance to His Highness Fusu one day...
With this idea in mind, Shui Xinyuan was able to endure even if she faced harsh training and was ridiculed by other palace dancers who had practiced dancing since childhood.
The first year could hardly be called dancing, but in the days that followed, she gradually caught up with other court ladies.
But don't be too pushy.
No matter how much her dancing skills have improved, as a peasant girl, she will only suffer jealousy and will never receive praise. Therefore, Shui Xinyuan has been deliberately pretending not to be able to dance recently.
"Pearl Swallow."
Chen Shaowu looked around at the palace servants again and spoke to one of them in gorgeous clothes.
"You come and dance 'Snow Moon Wind Flower'."
"Yes Yes……"
Zhuyan was one of the most praised court ladies in the guild. She answered like this, but she had no intention of moving forward immediately, and her eyes were full of hesitation.
"What's wrong? Come out quickly."
"good……"
Zhuyan walked forward with a very dignified manner.
Finally someone danced "Snow Moon Wind Flower"!
The other palace servants looked at Zhuyan sympathetically, while Shui Xinyuan was secretly excited in his heart, leaning his upper body forward to get a better look.
Hearing the words "snow, moon, wind and flowers", Shui Xinyuan naturally thought of the night when she first met Lu Fusu. There was no snowfall that night, but it was still a cold late winter day with a full moon. He put the hair in her hair for her.
A plum branch...
If one day I have the opportunity to dance in front of him, no matter what, I hope to dance "Snow Moon, Wind Flowers" for Lu Fusu to appreciate.
However, the song "Snow Moon, Wind and Flowers" is quite difficult. Nowadays, no palace dancer can dance it completely. Even if Shui Xinyuan has the opportunity to learn it, it will be a long, long time later. Therefore, as long as you have the opportunity to watch people dance "Snow, Moon, Wind and Flowers"
, even if only a little bit, she hopes to remember it firmly.
Currently, only Zhuyan is the only one who has had the honor to come into contact with "Snow Moon Wind Flower" among the court ladies. Shui Xinyuan always looks forward to Zhuyan's dance.