Book 19 Chapter 5 - The Beauty Of Three Perfections
Wu Fu's legs went soft, and he collapsed into a kneeling position.
He honestly had no idea what had just happened before his very eyes just now.
All he knew was that Xiang Shaolong had exposed his intentions with a single sentence. As he had a guilty conscience, he felt like a man who was previously wrapped in thick clothes, who had been suddenly stripped naked without a single garment to protect his modesty.
Although Xiang Shaolong had only seen past a single part of his intentions, Wu Fu felt as though Xiang Shaolong knew everything.
Although he hadn't consciously thought of the repercussions, his sub-consciousness realized that if his mean, base, contemptible actions were revealed to Xiang Shaolong and the Crown Prince, his entire family line would be exterminated.
Thus, his act of kneeling down sprang from his subconscious mind.
The reason Lao Ai's face changed was because Wu Fu had deceived him.
Earlier, Wu Fu had lied to him and told him that Dan Meimei wasn't feeling well, and so had to retire early. Naturally, she wouldn't be able to accompany him for the entire night tonight. Who would have imagined that it was a lie, so that she could go and be with the Premier Mentor. This really was intolerable and unforgivable.
Although he thought it was strange that Xiang Shaolong knew that Dan Meimei was going to accompany the Lu Buwei, his fury surpassed his sense of curiosity.
Only Dan Meimei had guessed a little bit! Everyone else stared at Wu Fu in total astonishment as he knelt there on the ground, not understanding what had happened. Xiang Shaolong said, 'astonished', "Owner Wu, did you do something wrong? As the saying goes, 'A man without a guilty conscience won't be afraid if someone knocks on his door at night.' But Owner Wu, you look like the exact opposite. After a single sentence, you knelt down. Why is this?"
Wu Fu was sly, crafty old fox. After calming down, he cursed himself secretly for being cowardly and acting in such a guilty manner. He hurriedly jumped up before coughing drily, "I just lost my footing momentarily and accidentally fell to my knees. I hope that everyone here will not laugh at me."
Lao Ai coldly snorted. "Owner Wu, I'm sure that you didn't come here in accordance with what Master Xiang said, with the intention of taking Meimei to see the Premier Mentor, right?" Wu Fu's fear of Lao Ai was far less than his dread of Xiang Shaolong. He hurriedly said, "That really is the truth. But if the Inner Custodian is not happy, I will go and refuse the Premier Mentor right away." At the moment, Wu Fu was still badly shaken. All he wanted to do was escape quickly and discover how Xiang Shaolong found out about this affair. One of the possibilities, naturally, was that Xiang Shaolong's men had discovered Lu Buwei's arrival.
Dan Meimei let out a light, bell-like laugh. After dispersing the tense atmosphere, she sweetly said, "Great General Xiang, when you took a stroll outside earlier, did you run into the Premier Mentor?" Xiang Shaolong knew that Dan Meimei was using this method to communicate to Wu Fu that he was not to worry, and that Xiang Shaolong hadn't seen through all their secrets. Just from this point alone! One could tell that Dan Meimei really was on Lu Buwei's side. He calmly said, "I didn't see the Premier Mentor, but my subordinates did see some of his followers, which is why I made a wild guess. How could I have known that it would cause Owner Wu to fall to his knees?" Only now did Wu Fu and the others feel relieved, while Xiang Shaolong laughed inside.
Lao Ai reached out and grabbed Dan Meimei by her slender waist before barking towards Wu Fu, "Owner Wu, do you know how you should proceed?" Wu Fu lowered his head in response and awkwardly left the pavilion."
Pu Hu raised his glass in a toast. "'A man without a guilty conscience won't be afraid if someone knocks on his door at night.' I've never heard this interesting phrase before. General Xiang's words are as precious and marvelous as pearls. Pu Hu offers you a toast!" Everyone had the same feeling and uniformly toasted Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Shaolong laughed bitterly inside. He knew that he had once more used a phrase which came from after this period of time. Pu Hu intentionally repeated those two lines, showing that he had seen straight through Wu Fu's evil designs and guilty conscience.
By this time, everyone was feeling at least a little tipsy. Lao Ai laughed, "Why don't we forget about what is to happen tomorrow, and instead enjoy the astonishing performance of Shi Sufang, one of the Three Legendary Courtesans!" Xiang Shaolong raised his cup in response. "Tonight, there is wine, so tonight, let us drink; if there are troubles tomorrow, then let me worry about them tomorrow. Let's take another cup!" Everyone, including Dan Meimei and the other ladies, held their breath as they awaited Shi Sufang's arrival.
Even Xiang Shaolong was secretly in awe of her reputation as having reached 'Three Perfections', and waited for her with great anticipation.
The troop consisted of eighteen women. They entered as a group, some playing the flute, others beating the drums, causing many interweaving, exotic melodies to be heard at the same time. They danced as they played, their graceful, lithesome bodies pleasing to the eye.
They were all young, jade-like beauties. They wore short sleeved gowns which, when matched with the music and their dance, was extremely mesmerizing.
Suddenly, the music changed. Two rows of eight beautiful dancing courtesans holding dancing fans appeared, wearing a thin, light gauze as they danced their way into the pavilion, through the main door. Their movements were fluid and graceful as their bodies formed all sorts of artificial patterns and designs. All of the men watching sighed with admiration as they watched.
Although Qin was the strongest nation at this time, when it comes to culture and the arts, how can it compare to the rest of the Six Nations?
Dan Meimei and the other girls were the number one entertainers and dancers of Qin, but when they saw these girls from the eastern dance troop, they couldn't help but feel that they didn't match up.
The most exciting thing was that beneath the gauze could be faintly seen the image of a short-sleeved red dress. Their bare shoulder were as white as snow, their arms were jade-like and their legs as white as powder. All of them men watching stared, their eyes shining. Lao Si, that lustful pervert, was all the more salivating.
Xiang Shaolong seized the opportunity to see everyone's reactions. Although Lao Ai, Ling Qi, Han Jie, and the others had not lost self-control like Lao Si had, they were all stunned as they watched. Only Pu Hu's expression was calm and icy. From this, one could tell that the appearance he put on was totally for the purpose of giving others a false impression.
After thousands and tens of thousands of transformations, the two dancing groups reformed into one large group. Cooing sweetly beneath the eaves of the roofs, they burst out into incomparably beautiful song.
Xiang Shaolong didn't understand a single word of what they were singing. Just as he was pondering, the dancers suddenly flew to the four corners like butterflies as a woman of incomparable beauty awe-inspiringly appeared right in the middle.
Nobody had seen this beauty arrive, or when she had entered the group of dancers. Only when Pu Hu led them in clapping did they awaken from their stupor and began to cheer as well.
This beauty wore a fresh yellow flowered skirt, and on her feet she wore a pair of embroidered silk slippers. On her head, she wore a hairpin with the seal of a hawkbill turtle! On her ears, she wore a pair of beautiful pearl earrings, while around her powdered neck, she wore a chain of linked pearls. Every inch of her body was shiny and trembled, alongside every movement of her towering, erect, firm bosom! Thin silk streamers covered her slender, graceful arms and legs. Her skin was as white as silk satin, and her body was perfectly proportioned, giving her an irresistible allure.
She had a beautiful, melon-seed shaped face, within which was set a pair of brilliant, pearl-like eyes. Beneath her beautiful dimples was a pair of luscious lips, which looked like they had been painted scarlet red by the hands of heaven itself. She was beautiful, gorgeous, and full of vitality and life, but didn't appear vulgar in the slightest.
Although she sat on the ground and didn't move, her posture alone caused everyone to feel that she was a refined, elegant lady of peerless dexterity. Her long, white neck left the deepest impression on Xiang Shaolong, especially the way she held it up loftily, giving her an incomparably noble, ladylike aura. Even the likes of Qin Qing and Ji Yanran could be considered at most a hair better than her.
The pose which Shi Sufang struck was just like that of the sun beginning to rise in the morning. All of the spectators, male or female, couldn't control the awe they felt for her peerless, world-class beauty, poise, and appearance.
The other dancers had already seated themselves in a circle around her. They gently fluttered peacock fans about her her, letting onlookers know quite clearly that she was the real heart and soul of the troupe.
Shi Sufang appeared to be wholly unaware that she had become the center of attention for everyone in the room. She sat as though she were alone in her boudoir. After turning around and showing on a few soul-stirring expressions on her face and in her posture, she slowly began to sing.
From Shi Sufang's red lips came a most graceful, delicate, beautiful voice, which felt like the flying clouds or the running water. Her voice flowed out as though pushed by incessant waves, and the notes seemed to hang and linger in the heavy, silent air. Not only were the notes reluctant to leave; the people listening were unable to leave as well.
Xiang Shaolong was a person who originally knew nothing of music, but in recent years, thanks to Ji Yanran's influence, he had learned a thing or two. Now, hearing her dreary, remote song, a beautiful image appeared in his mind. He visualized a goddess hidden within a secluded valley, bobbing up and down in the waves of the river, passionately singing to her own beautiful reflection in the water. The beauty and emotions evoked by her song was not one whit inferior to those evoked by Ji Yanran with the flute.
The song she was picking came from the poem, 'Picking Royal Ferns', of the 'Book of Odes'. It portrayed the letters and poems kept in the hearts of generals and soldiers as they went entered the field of war, repeatedly singing the words, "Picking royal ferns, picking royal ferns." The next segment portrayed the remembrances and recollections of old generals and soldiers. Nobody could resist the power of that lingering, plaintive melody.
Although her voice seemed both smooth and choppy, solid and vacant, it was extraordinarily clear, and her enunciation was perfect, so that the listeners wouldn't miss a single word. Her voice became fine and delicate once she reached the lines, "When I departed in the past, the weeping willows beckoned to me, as though they were unwilling for us to part. Today I have returned, as the rain and snow falls thick and fast. My movements are slow, for I suffer from both thirst and hunger. My heart is full of sorrow, and you know not my pain." Slowly, her voice died away with the music, drifting off to a place far away, filled with thousands of mountains and tens of thousands of rivers. Just at this moment, the other dancers pressed forward, screening her body with their own until she totally disappeared. Then, as a group, they departed from the entrance way.
Everyone was so moved that they forgot to applaud or cheer.
Xiang Shaolong had been totally enraptured as well, all of his senses lost.
Just as everyone was lost in the throes of a silent daze, a large, forty-something year old man with gaudy clothes walked in. Bowing, he said, "Jin Cheng pays his respect to Boss Pu and everyone else present." Pu Hu, recovering his senses, laughed, "This person is Boss Jin. It's all thanks to his rigorous training efforts that everyone present had the fortune to listen to that divine, heavenly melody."
Next, he introduced everyone to Boss Jin.
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