A few men came to the middle of the ground, in various dresses. They had prepared a dance for the Royal Princes and the Princesses. They had two rods in their both hands-on which long silk clothes were attached.
A few of them started to play the drums and the men started to dance. Their steps were powerful one and the swift movement of the silk attached to the rods created a feeling of aggression. Suddenly a man dressed in white came forward and started to narrate a folk story.
With that powerful dance, the fight between ten States was depicted. A man who was considered the hero in the Legend of Ten States came with a sword and pushed back those dancers cum fighters from the Ten States.
Sheng Li tilted his head a little left and found the Princes were enjoying that. He then looked to the right and found Ying Lili was enjoying it. It confused him. 'Why did they start fighting in the middle of the dance? What kind of dance is this? Lili did tell me about a few dances, but I do not remember if she ever told me about this,' Sheng Li thought.
Soon the dance ended and they all clapped, along with the people who had surrounded the ground. Sheng Li faked a smile and started to clap. "What a marvelous performance!" Sheng Li remarked though he did not know the meaning behind it.
"The Legend of Ten States is a wonderful folk tale. Depicting the scenes with dance was tough but they wonderfully performed it," Ying Lili asserted. Sheng Li looked at him blankly. He did not know such a folktale existed. He tilted his head and looked at Xing-Fu, who quickly bent.
"Does His Highness need anything?" Xing-Fu asked.
"What is this folktale that Lili is talking about? Brief me," Sheng Li said in a low voice.
Jian Guozhi agreed with the words of Ying Lili. "They even successfully showed the fight scene. How Teng Ru fought with the Ten powerful Generals of the Ten States– that was one remarkable fight," Jian Guozhi pronounced. Rong Zemin nodded his head.
Xing-Fu was going to tell Sheng Li when Ying Lili looked at him. "What does the Crown Prince think about this performance?" She asked with curiosity.
"It was good. Let's move to the next performance," Sheng Li told them. Ying Lili understood that he did not know about the folktale. Suddenly the rain started to fall.
"Ahh, why is it raining all of a sudden?" Sheng Li muttered. Commander Yang and Sun quickly arranged the palanquins for them.
Sheng Li stood up and found the people instead of running away were still at their places. Since the rain started out of nowhere, they all suddenly had to leave. But he was surprised to see that people did not leave their places. So, before leaving he decided to quickly address them.
"The People of Han, I am glad that you all planned this for us. I am afraid that because of the rain, this event needs to end here. I am glad that instead of creating chaos on the ground, you all stayed at your place. The soldiers will help you. Make lines and gradually leave the ground," Sheng Li addressed them in a loud enough voice. Ying Lili and the others had stood up from their respective seats. The soldiers helped the people first to get out of the ground. Sheng Li instructed Xing-Fu to give gifts to today's performers.
"Your Highness, the Royal Palanquins are ready," Commander Yang informed the Crown Prince, who hummed.
"Let's head back to the Palace before the rain gets heavier," Sheng Li told them. He helped Ying Lili to get into the Palanquin first and then checked if his brothers and sisters-in-law got into the palanquins or not.
Xing-Fu had covered Sheng Li with an oil-paper umbrella. "Your Highness, you shall get in," Commander Yang told him.
"Send the palanquin in which Weng Yu is, ahead of us and then send the palanquins in which the other Princes are with their wives," Sheng Li commanded him. Commander Yang could not refuse that order and quickly went to the last palanquin. He told the carriers to move first and then ordered the same to the other two palanquin carriers.
Commander Sun followed those palanquins upon Sheng Li's orders.
Sheng Li then looked around the ground. The lanterns had been extinguished because of the water. "Check the ground once," Sheng Li ordered Commander Yang before getting into the palanquin. His robes had drenched a little and he peeked outside the curtains.
The carriers had carried the palanquin and started to move. He closed the curtains and turned towards Ying Lili, who was looking outside from the other side.
"Close it. Everyone has left," Sheng Li told her. Ying Lili tilted her head towards him.
"I was only checking if any kid or old person was left behind or not. Luckily, the soldiers did their work with utmost responsibility," Ying Lili asserted. The small lantern lamp inside the palanquin was making their faces a little visible.
Ying Lili noticed the water drops on Sheng Li's face. She quickly took out the handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed it over his face gently. He gazed at her when she said,
"Forgive me. I did not know that suddenly rain would occur. Everything could have gone chaotic but--"
"But the people stayed at their places, waiting for us to leave first," Sheng Li completed her words. "They respect us. I was overwhelmed to see this," Sheng Li stated.
Ying Lili hummed and wiped the droplets from his forehead too.
"I liked it. I did not know people enjoy seeing their Crown Prince and the Crown Princess around them. I got to learn many things about them. Even the commoners have unique skills but because they do not have enough resources, opportunities, they could never get known. That dumpling seller makes delicious dumplings… better than the Royal Chef but we didn't know.
The old woman makes beautiful crafts. She could work in the Royal workshop but I feel she never got the chance," Sheng Li asserted.
Ying Lili put her hand down and agreed with his words. "Not everyone gets an opportunity especially when there is so much difference between people because of the social classes," Ying Lili concluded.
"Yes.. However, we can create good opportunities for our people," Sheng Li said with glistening eyes.