CHAPTER 86: THE DANCE DUEL

The emperor laughed while saying "Good" three times in a row.

"Good, good, good. Lady Bai, you really lives up to your name. Reward her."

When the emperor gave the order, the palace servants carried out the rewards that had already been prepared.

Yue Mingxuan immediately staring at the tray that was covered with red silk and on it lay piles of shining gold.

The emperor was truly generous.

Yue Mingxuan wondered if, when it was his turn to perform later, he would also receive such good fortune.

After Bai Huayue left the stage, the next event began and it was a dance duel.

According to past rules, the duel was done in pairs.

Because Shang Qinghua was a man, he naturally could not take part in the Shanshi Festival.

So Rong Yuelin had no opponent and moved straight to the final round.

Xie Lianhua and Yue Mingxuan now stood together on the stage.

The Dance of the Four Heavenly Star Direction came from ancient traditional dances.

It was divided into Beirong Spear Dance, the Dongyue Feather Dance, Xieshang Halberd Dance and Nanxie Sword Dance.

Xie Lianhua and Yue Mingxuan each held a sword and the other one held a feathers forming a sharp yet beautiful contrast.

Xie Lianhua did not wear her usual complicated palace gown today.

In order to match the theme, she chose riding clothes.

She looked brave and spirited, but compared to Yue Mingxuan, she still lacked something.

Most of the crowd was focused on Yue Mingxuan.

They all wanted to see what kind of dance this so called stupid prince could perform.

When the music began, Xie Lianhua held her sharp sword and immediately thrust her sword straight toward him.

But, Yue Mingxuan was ready.

With a flick of his wrist, he opened his secret weapon.

It was a modern style rhythmic gymnastics ribbon.

But his ribbon was even more delicate than the real thing.

The white feathers decorated the end and it looked beautiful when it moved.

With a soft backbend, Yue Mingxuan easily avoided Xie Lianhua’s attack.

To him, her strike was weak and full of show.

It might scare someone who knew nothing of fighting, but Yue Mingxuan had spent many years in the military.

One glance was enough for him to see through her technique.

The music grew faster and so did their movements.

The flashing sword light that was kept pressing toward Yue Mingxuan no longer like a dance but more like a real attempt to take his life.

Yet he remained relaxed.

He moved to the rhythm with slow backbends, high kicks, and other basic motions.

It was simple, but it filled with graceful softness.

It was exactly the idea of "softness overcoming strength."

Little by little, he pushed down Xie Lianhua’s fierce attacks.

Shang Qinghua watched everything from below the stage and slowly shook his head.

Xie Lianhua’s killing intent was too strong and she would lose because of it.

But Yue Mingxuan... his movements looked simple, but inside them he could see traces of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams.

Could Yue Mingxuan actually know martial arts?

While tapping his finger lightly on the chair’s back, Shang Qinghua sank into thought.

When the music ended, both of them stopped at the same time.

Xie Lianhua’s hair was messy and sweat covered her forehead.

Yue Mingxuan on the other hand stood there calmly, she doesn’t look like he had just finished an intense dance duel at all.

The difference between them was clear.

The emperor clapped softly. "Both Prince Yue and Princess Xie dance is wonderful, but Prince Yue performance look better." He paused, then added, "Yue Mingxuan, you truly stay silent until the moment you amaze everyone."

"Your Majesty, I only took advantage of a small trick," Yue Mingxuan said with a graceful bow.

At times like this, everyone knew how to speak polite words.

The important thing, of course, was the reward that would come next.

When the emperor heard Yue Mingxuan’s answer, a small smile appeared on his face.

The young man kneeling below him was not as stupid as the rumors said.

In fact, he was quite clever.

Everyone else had been fooled by his outside appearance.

Thinking of this, the emperor felt a bit interesting.

The lonely life of a ruler was boring, having someone interesting to play with once in a while was not a bad thing.

While Yue Mingxuan kept his head lowered, he daydreamed about what he would do after receiving his gold reward.

The more he imagined it, the more satisfied his smile became.

"Prince Yue, hurry up and give thanks for His Majesty’s reward," the palace servant urged him loudly, breaking Yue Mingxuan’s fantasy.

He gave the emperor a very sincere bow of gratitude.

When he lifted his head, the imagined gold was nowhere to be seen.

Yue Mingxuan froze.

He had not heard what reward the emperor announced earlier.

Could it be... He want him to become his concubine?

Feeling depressed, Yue Mingxuan returned to his seat.

The moment he sat down, he leaned toward Sui He and whispered urgently, "Sui He, what did the emperor reward me just now?"

Sui He staring at him in disbelief.

She had watched him thank the emperor so eagerly, yet he had been daydreaming the whole time.

With a helpless sigh, she explained, "His Majesty said that if you are chosen as the Flower God this year, he will reward you with half a royal sedan chair and let you parade through the streets."

"Isn’t street parading something only criminals do...?" Yue Mingxuan grumbled in annoyance. "And it’s only half of a sedan chair. How stingy."

When Sui He heard this she nearly jumped forward to cover his mouth. "Oh my prince, please lower your voice! A full sedan chair is what the emperor sits in!"

After Sui He explained the different kinds of sedan chairs, Yue Mingxuan still looked unmotivated.

Sedan chairs meant nothing to him.

In his eyes, nothing was as adorable as gold.