98 Who Visited the Brothel? (2/2)

The Hu dance had nothing to do with the Tribe of Savages in the grassland. Instead, it originated from the Yuelun Kingdom and was said to be the ritual dance of a rainforest tribal there. It was known for its quick and pleasing rhythm. There was a clear sense of contrasting beauty with the upper half of the dancers posed in the manner of a static celestial beauty scattering flowers while their lower half was rapidly trembling with moving waists, abdomens, and thighs along with the rhythm of the song.

This dance was exceedingly difficult. Down Three Kicking was relatively easy to achieve, but it was a challenge to complete Middle Three Kicking or even Up Three Kicking while keeping the upper body still. The best Hu dancer in the world was in the Chang'an city of Tang Empire, namely Lu Xue of the House of Red Sleeves.

The gentle, quiet sound of the pipe floated amid the tinkling sound of the small lutes. Under the dim light of the quiet building, the curtains opened to reveal Lu Xue dressed in a tight dance costume that revealed her abdomen. Her eyes were gentle and she kept them lowered as she crossed both her hands in front of her chest. Whether it was her eyelashes or fingertips, none trembled even the slightest. Her bare snow-like feet danced slowly along with the beat. As the sounds of the lutes became quicker, her steps became more urgent. Her tightly wrapped thighs and hips shook non-stop as if struck by lighting. Her exposed abdomen revealed a subtle beauty mark...

The dance was welcomed by thunderous applause. The hall then returned to its former lively and warm atmosphere. Situ Yilan solemnly toasted Li Xue with a cup of wine and the others chimed in with a few words. The exhausted Lu Xue gently excused herself and returned to her yard to rest.

Beautiful ladies and Hu music were the best companions for wine drinkers. There were more than 20 lively young students in the hall of the House of Red Sleeves. The wine was quickly finished. The sounds of students playing elegant book-guessing games mixed with the rattling of students throwing the dice in another game. The noisy hall was full of cheerfulness.

Tonight, Chu Youxian and Steward Hua helped Ning Que enjoyed a great triumph. He naturally became the center of the merrymaking. Whether or not they were close to him, his classmates all approached him with their wine cups and tried to get him drunk using a variety of reasons. In the beginning, they would still make him drink under the pretense of a drinking game. Soon they realized Ning Que was somewhat of a genius of such games. After he won more than ten rounds of the game, they just made him drink directly instead.

Ning Que loved drinking and savored the aftertaste of wine. He had basically never stopped drinking in all his years with Sangsang. Unfortunately, or perhaps pathetically, his tolerance for alcohol had never increased. He would basically get so drunk that he wouldn't even have the chance to go on drunken escapades.

Ning Que was very soon completely drunk thanks to his classmates' encouragement. He forced his half-lidded eyes wide open, wanting to fake sobriety to scare off his enemies. But his slurred words had betrayed his low alcohol tolerance. He tried to hold up his cup and look at the moon to avoid his classmates, only to find no moon hung in the sky that night. He then tried to lean against the handrail, feigning despair as he recited a poem. But he found that he couldn't reach the handrail nor recall any poems.

He couldn't remember poems from his past life or current life.

He didn't know since when but the table he sat at was moved to the side of the handrail behind the hall, just close to the small pool of wet bamboos. But he was half-paralyzed, limping over the edge of the table, and had long forgotten what he was planning to do.

It was much quieter here than inside the hall. Situ Yilan sat next to him with her foot on the handrail, vacantly watching the stars and gently shaking a small pot of cold Yu Louxue wine. It was clear the noble lady's alcohol tolerance much higher than his. With a bright luster in her eyes, she asked him,

”Ning Que, how did you meet the Princess?”

He raised his head and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. He then raised his chopsticks and continued to look for vinegar-pickled vegetables, answering casually, ”We met on the road.”

”How did you meet on the road?” Situ Yilan turned, staring at him with interest.

He stuck his chopsticks into a small pastry. As he clutched his forehead, he answered in annoyance, ”I picked her up on the road, so we met each other.”

Situ Yilan helplessly said, ”I think your memory must be faulty. You couldn't have picked up the Princess on the road.”

The drunk Ning Que laughed. ”My memory is indeed faulty. What I picked up on the road were all precious things. I wouldn't have picked up an idiotic block of wood. Where did I and the Princess meet? Oh, you know, I was a soldier of the City of Wei...”

...

...