At that moment, Lady Du had already formulated a preliminary plan to instruct her daughter. Time was short, so she intended to put her plan into immediate action.
Firstly, she intended to ordered custom made dancing attire for her daughter to wear, as well as head jewelry to embellish her while performing. Even though these things would cost a fortune, for the sake of protecting her daughter’s reputation and winning the Empress’s fondness, thus assuring her daughter a prosperous future, she was willing to spare no effort.
The dance that she intended to teach her daughter was the famous ’Dance of Flying Heaven,’ said to be the most distinguished dance in the Great Jin Nation, as well as the most difficult to perform, and portrayed the story of a beautiful young mistress ascending to heaven after achieving immortality.
The dance required the performer to have a graceful physique and attractive appearance. A dancer might be technically perfect, but if she was not beautiful enough, it would be like a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh; not at all pleasing, but instead, repellent. Therefore, the first attribute a dancer needed was a fittingly beautiful appearance. Only a few people could meet this standard, but her daughter was exactly such a beauty.
Secondly, dancers also needed a certain degree of skill. The most delightful segment of the dance was when the dancer extended her wide sleeves, and in that instant, flung out her long ’water sleeves’!
Generally, the length of a dancer’s water sleeves would depend on her dancing skill. At the basic level, most dancers who had practiced this dance could cast out three to six meters of water sleeves. Those who could reach six meters were already very impressive, and any who could exceed it were truly rare.
She herself had practiced this dance diligently from a young age, and after ten years of hard work, had finally achieved the ability to easily cast out eight meters of water sleeves. That day, at Duke An’s birthday feast, when she performed this dance, she clearly saw the awe and admiration in people’s eyes. She was seen as a true fairy maiden dancing in the air, a beautiful sight that people could hardly draw their eyes away from!
Her daughter had a similar appearance to her, if anything, even more stunning. Though she had only had three to four days to practice, with her daughter’s intelligence and previously martial arts trained flexible body, in addition to her breathtaking beauty, she was bound to be almost perfect. At that time, she would certainly create a good impression on the Empress.
Cai Wei was not as optimistic as Lady Du. She was constantly racking her brains over what the Empress was up to and how she could slip away from her.
After being brought back to Changchun Garden by her mother, everyone at home was delighted to hear that she was about to be invited into the palace as a guest of the Empress Dowager. They were all filled with joy, as if it was a festive occasion. Every face was filled with delight as they chattered about Cai Wei’s impending palace visit.
"Older Sister, I heard that the Emperor is an actual Dragon. When you’re in the palace, can you help me check if he has horns on his head?"
Wu’er, with his innocent chubby face, blinked his big eyes and asked cutely.
Before Cai Wei could speak, Wen’er disdainfully ’tch-ed’ and said, "What Real Dragon? Have you not read the history books? There have been many short-lived emperors. If they are Real Dragons, why would they live short lives? You still don’t understand the ways of the world."
"Ah, be careful with what you’re saying."
Lady Du urgently stepped forward and clasped Wen’er’s mouth, reprimanded him in a low voice, "Wen’er, you mustn’t speak such words again. If they spread out, it would be enough to have our heads cut off...and not just yours, our whole family’s."
Cai Fei also sternly said, "Wen’er, remember, never casually discuss the royal affairs outside. You must know that the walls have ears. If a single word made its way to the wrong person, our entire family could be ruined by your loose words."
At that moment, a woman’s laughter suddenly sounded from outside the window, startling everyone. The woman continued to laugh, saying while laughing, "Look at Fourth Sister’s cautiousness. Aren’t you scared of frightening the children?"