“……Yesterday, Huang Gong and Zhang Mingxuan, the Minister of Rites, stayed in the Xieyuan Hall until the fourth watch before leaving. During the banquet, they hinted that they wanted to recommend Your Highness to replace the Emperor to worship at Mount Tai. I asked Die Fei and Wei Mian to make some efforts after the banquet, and this morning they said it seems to be true.”

  She carefully peeled the agate grape skin with her slender hands, and then personally fed it into the thin lips of the person in her arms who was lazily hooked. She spoke softly.

  He lazily leaned against her bosom, yet had an inexplicable elegance and noble air. He savored the grapes brought by her jade-like hands, smiled slightly as if it didn't matter, and remained silent.

  "Your Highness isn't worried, is he? Even if the Emperor's body is unwell, it should be the Crown Prince who goes to Mount Tai first. This time, promoting him is clearly a way of elevating him, but behind his back, won't there be problems?"

  "No problem, no fun, right?" Still a lazy and somewhat indifferent tone.

  She suddenly felt a little annoyed, not knowing what she was annoyed about, and casually tossed the remaining half string of grapes back into the jade plate: "Your Highness seems to still be expecting?"

  He smiled: "How could that be? I'm about to leave the capital, and in ten days or half a month, we won't even see each other's faces. It can only be a loss."

  "Why don't you take Mu Qing with you, Your Highness?" She batted her eyelashes, hiding a hint of expectation beneath her playful smile, as she hooked his neck with her wrist and smiled charmingly.

  He smiled and stood up: "It's hard on the way, how can I bear to let you suffer from wind and frost? Moreover, only when you are in the Worry-Free Pavilion, your words are as beautiful as flowers, making people forget their worries, that is the most beautiful."

  She gazed at his tall and elegant back, but couldn't help letting out a soft sigh: "Your Highness should have married Miss Murong after returning from Mount Tai, shouldn't you?"

  He turned around with a sly smile and glanced at her sideways: "What's the big deal, Sang Muqing is forever one of a kind."

  It's just like that, only one sentence is needed, not even a promise, yet it makes her willing to sink, and also has the power to continue keeping the oath.

  He has always been her nemesis, an unavoidable and unwilling calamity.

  "Longing for you, has the Third Prince left?" The madam pushed open the door and came in, asking with a hint of careful smile.

  She nodded.

  The mother hen's expression became increasingly worried: "Now, you see, Liu and Li gentlemen have been waiting for a long time, saying they want to take a look at your dance. Although I let Butterfly, Weimian, and Chaoyan accompany them, Liu and the others are all infatuated with your reputation and only want to watch you dance. After all, this is a high-ranking official in the imperial court, even if there are three princes present, we can't not give him face, right? You also can't always be accompanying that Jianghu Langzhong, right?"

  She stood up: "I understand, Aunt Liu. Mu Qing will change her clothes and go down. She won't make things difficult for you."

  The procuress suddenly grasped her hand and let out a long sigh, shedding some tears that were either genuine or feigned: "Mu Qi, it's hard for you to still be thinking of old times and considering my feelings after all this time."

  She smiled faintly: "Mu Qing has today, all thanks to Liu Niang. If it weren't for you taking me in at Liujiavillage back then and bringing me all the way to Shangjing, I, a twelve-year-old girl, would probably have starved to death on the streets long ago."

  The madam withdrew and went out, and Lian Xin, dressed in a green dress, came in to help her with her hair and clothes.

  Her heart suddenly stung sharply, but her lips curved into a bright smile: "Just now when the Third Prince was in my room, were you eavesdropping outside the door and preparing to shake the bell at any time?"

  Liu Xin's expression didn't change, still calmly helping her with her hair and makeup. He opened his mouth indifferently: "As long as Miss Sang keeps her promise to the young master, Liu Xin will also be happy to save trouble, and both of us can live a better life."

  "Mu Qiang suddenly slammed the dressing box in her hand to the ground, coldly laughing: 'Sang young lady? Who are you calling? I'm not...'"

  She hadn't finished speaking when Ling Xin took out a delicate jade bell from her bosom and gently shook it.

  The ringtone stirred up the parasite in her abdomen, and the pain instantly spread throughout her limbs.

  Ling's heart didn't waver for too long, just like every other time, she only wanted to warn her.

  She fell to the ground in pain, with cold sweat dripping from her forehead. All she could hear was Lian Xin's calm voice continuing: "In that case, Miss Sang would be better off not speaking anymore. You don't have to look at me with this gaze either. If I weren't worried that you wouldn't keep your promise, Lian Xin would rather not stay in your way than you are. Now it seems that the young master's concerns aren't unreasonable."

  She suddenly closed her eyes, as if all her strength had been drained away, and she couldn't move at all.

  Lingxin helped her up, and on her cloudy hair, a peony was pinned: "Does Sang girl feel wronged? But in Lingxin's view, everyone must be responsible for their own choices."

  She smiled weakly: "Are you telling me that an identity for a life is a good deal, isn't it?"

  Lingxin took the veil and put it on her, while softly saying: "I just wanted to tell you, miss, that this is your own choice. From the moment you nodded for young master to rescue you, you should have kept your promise. If miss must ask for Lingxin's opinion, Lingxin thinks that exchanging one's identity for miss' life is at least fair. If miss knew how much damage 'Hua Min Ru Xue' causes to young master's body each time he uses it, then you wouldn't be showing this self-pitying expression now."

  Before her eyes, in a daze, it seemed that the dense sea of peach blossoms and the faint blue shirt had reappeared.

  That man, with the most ethereal face in this world, had an aura of coldness around him that was not tainted by even a speck of worldly impurities. He stood against the light, his tall and slender figure bathed in a soft glow, but in his eyes, there was an eternal loneliness.

  "Do you want to live?" he asked.

  At that moment, she thought she had met a god.

  She slowly reached out to touch the crimson birthmark under her eye, took a deep breath, and finally managed to smile calmly: "Don't worry, I will never forget Mr. Su's kindness to me for the rest of my life. Since I have no way to repay him, at least I will fulfill what I promised him."

  Lifting her skirt as she steps down the stairs, a veil covers the sorrow beneath her flower-like smile.

  She raised her sleeves, bent her waist, and a series of elegant movements flowed into a dance. Those stunning gazes and cheers were all so far away from her, as if she had returned to the magnificent and spacious hall in the General's mansion many years ago, surrounded by sisters and noblewomen who hid their envy behind words of praise.

  "Mrs. Murong, your second daughter's dance is truly exceptional! She has grown up to be a beautiful young woman. In a few years, she might even be able to marry into the imperial family!"

  "Qing'er sister, will you teach me this Rainbow Feather Dance?"

  ……

  Even now, she can still remember the warmth of her mother's palm and that gentle voice with a comforting smile.

  "Qing'er's dance is really good. When you're a bit older, Mother will ask someone to teach you how to do the Shadow Dance, okay?"

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