Chapter 98 (1/2)
The steward, Huashao, heard a cry and suddenly thought of a certain lad who had often appeared in the House of Red Sleeves during the thirteenth year of the Tianqi era. His heart fluttered as he followed the voice and clearly saw this person's visage beside young master Chuzhu. Afterwards, he found out it was the wicked person who called the girl but didn't pay. His body suddenly became stiff and his face flushed. He painfully thought that they hadn't seen each other for a long time, so what was the reason for today's meeting?
For people in the service industry, their thoughts and behavior could never be synchronized. Though cursing Ning Que in his heart, Steward Hua quickly changed his countenance of embarra.s.sment into a brighter one like flowers and dared not hesitate to offer service. He offered Ning Que a smile across a few wine tables and then cupped his right hand to his lips, shouting at the girls in quiet and lonely upstairs. ”All the girls! Young master Ning Que is here!”
Unsure of how many people were stunned by this shouting in the building, students who had pretended to be shy and calm or pretended to be experienced to show pridefulness all turned their suspicious eyes to Ning Que's table. Situ Yilan held up a cup and surprisedly opened her mouth. Jin Wucai could no longer maintain a calm appearance. They both thought of what kind of reception service it was, and that everyone felt like knowing Ning Que in the House of Red Sleeves. Surprised, curious and a little doubtful, the students looked upstairs to see how many girls would come out to see him after hearing the cry of Steward Hua.
On the stage, the bamboo beat and the light song suddenly stopped, making the whole building quiet. There weren't any beauties rus.h.i.+ng out to see Ning Que, no girls who smiled and waved to him, or even surveys by maidservants for their ladies. Witnessing this, some students in the hall felt a little bit disappointed, and some felt a little sense of balance. When Situ Yilan started to feel slightly bored, then there was a sudden sound of many footsteps.
The sound was a cacophony of big and small beads dropping on a jade plate, and heavy and light rain alternatively clattering on the Spring Breeze Pavilion. During the footsteps flapping, pearls shaking, and feminine murmurs, six or seven girls with their personal maidservants filed out from the backyard of the building, flowing into the hall like a river. Then they went to Ning Que's side to quietly accuse, gently care about, or frown to wonder about his absence for those days. All in all, it turned out to be a lively scene.
All of a sudden, a little girl with two lovely tufts of hair stuck her head out from the attic. She was Mistress Jiane's personal maidservant, Xiaocao. She looked around with her dark eyes but didn't see the person she sought. Then she unhappily shouted. ”Ning Que, where is Sangsang? You put her in the shop again!”
That night, in preparation for the palace dance, those boring girls hurt a fragile but sensitive Ning Que with ridicule and ran him into the building. After that night, there started to be some subtle changes. Whether the favored concubines like Dewdrop and Lu Xue or other ordinary girls, they all treated Ning Que warmly and cordially for three reasons.
First of all, Ning Que was born with a clean and pleasing face, with decent words and respect for girls; a rare lad in a brothel. Thus they only had a pure relations.h.i.+p so as to get along easily and relaxedly. After gossiping many times in the brothel, they had been very familiar with each other. Secondly, Dewdrop pampered this lad for some purely private factors, so all the other girls naturally valued him more.
The most important reason was that Mistress Jiane had expressed a certain degree of concern for the lad. Although this kind of concern was not conspicuous, for Mistress Jian who has always been cold and even disgusted with men, it was rather rare. It might not make any sense for Dewdrop and Lu Xue, but the rest of the girls would rather to be intimate with Ning Que or even sleep with him for a few nights so as to win Mistress Jian's favor.
The Academy students, however, did not know these reasons, or how many times Ning Que had entered the House of Red Sleeves this spring. Looking at the prosperous scene beside the wine tables and listening to the tender and beautiful sounds, they have already become dull in minds.
Situ Yilan finally slowly put down the cup and closed up her mouth. Seeing Lu Xue who had not accepted the service offer twice gently sitting beside Ning Que and eating the melon seeds to gossip, she could not help looking at Jin Wucai wearing men's clothes and then gasped. ”Chu Youxian didn't lie. Ning Que really is a VIP in the House of Red Sleeves. This guy... is much more important than my pretentious cousins.”
Before they finished talking, Ning Que came to the end of the conversation with the girls and bowed with hands folded in front to bid farewell. Then he slightly lifted the beauty Lu Xue's hand. They walked towards Situ Yilan's table. He smiled and said, ”Miss Situ, I bring you the beauty Lu Xue. Show her compa.s.sion for her hard-working dance practice recently and let her leave early to rest.”
Situ Yilan stood up, feigning anger, and then said, ”That's between our girls. Just mind your own business.” After finis.h.i.+ng this sentence, she turned to bow to Lu Xue and seriously said, ”Sister Lu Xue, I've been looking forward to seeing you so as to ask you about the Middle Three Kicking method of Hu Xuan dance. Today, I'm fortunate enough to meet you here, so I hope you can enlighten me with your instructions.”
Lu Xue slightly frowned. She did feel a little tired. But, she more clearly knew that in front of the n.o.ble she did not have a privilege to keep the high profile of well-known concubines.
Jin Wucai also stood up, using his hand to fold a fan to gently knock the tiger's mouth in his other hand. Then she smiled and said, ”Lu Xue, my sister Situ wants to learn this dance's Middle Three Kicking method for the Yunhui general's 60th birthday at the end of this year. She'd like to offer this dance as a gift but doesn't necessarily have to learn it today, just hoping you can leave some teaching time for her.”
”Oh, I see.” Lu Xue smiled and said, ”I'll just dance for a short while tonight then. Next time Miss Situ needs me, just inform me in advance. It doesn't matter whether you come here or I go to your mansion. Both of them are very convenient.”
Hu dance had nothing to do with the Tribe of Savages in the gra.s.sland but came from the Yuelun Kingdom. Rumors said that its root cause was a rainforest tribal ritual dance in the Yuelun Kingdom. It was known for its quick and pleasing rhythm. Especially when the upper half of the dancers posed as a static celestial beauty scattering flowers and the lower half of their bodies rapidly trembled with the moving waists, abdomens as well as thighs along with the song, it would form a very clear sense of contrast beauty.