Ye Mei"s waist was soft and her movements was very seductive. Her eyes were full of energy and if one look, it seems that they did not consist of others but become a b.u.t.terfly, fluttering around and making another heart"s itch. Thinking that the b.u.t.terfly had stopped on one"s hands, it flew away as one was looking at the colourful wings.

The female guests were all watching, unable to turn their eyes away, what more the males? Males always like good looking playthings and their eyeb.a.l.l.s were about to be paste on Ye Mei. Ye Furen and Ye Mao Cai gradually revealed a smug look. It was an ability to give birth such a pair of outstanding children that could make all the males rush over like ducks. This was an ability that not many people would have.

Lu Wan-er"s hatred increased as she watched and she became so angry that she gritted her teeth.

However Shen Miao watched coldly at Ye Mei"s dance as her thoughts flew to her last lifetime.

When she first saw Mei Furen, it was when she returned from Qin country to Ding capital. She had only heard that there was an additional concubine in the Palace but everyone called her "Mei Furen" and her position was not mentioned. This was somewhat uncommon. Hearing that Fu Xiu Yi favoured this Mei Furen a lot, Shen Miao"s heart felt sour but she did not think much about it as Fu Xiu Yi had a cold temperament so no matter how someone was favoured, it would not be excessive.

Afterwards she went over to the Imperial Study to look for Fu Xiu Yi and wanted to talk to Fu Xiu Yi about serious matters but saw Mei Furen throwing Fu Xiu Yi"s paperweight. Mei Furen claimed to be ill on the day she returned to the Palace and this was the first encounter. Shen Miao saw that the female was beautiful and lively and each move and smile was like a painting. However she was arrogant and wild and dared to throw a temper in the Imperial Study. Shen Miao thought that Fu Xiu Yi would be furious and indeed Fu Xiu Yi had an angry appearance and Mei Furen turned around and left.

At that time Shen Miao was thinking that she was such a strong female to actually dared to speak to Fu Xiu Yi like that. With this kind of temple, how long could she live in the Inner Palace?

At that time she was busy inquiring Wan Yu"s and Fu Ming"s situation and did not pay much attention. She only felt that this female was very beautiful and was an extremely arrogant person.

But even though Fu Xiu Yi was that angry, on the second morning, Shen Miao saw Fu Xiu Yi accompanying Mei Furen for a walk in the Imperial Gardens, speaking in a very pampering manner that it made another look stunned.

She had never seen this side of Fu Xiu Yi as Fu Xiu Yi was not such a good tempered person. Fu Xiu Yi"s warm was only on the surface, in front of those "advisors" and he would not be very patient with females. However Mei Furen was able to make Fu Xiu Yi be in all smiles after making him that angry, at that time Shen Miao felt that this female was not only beauty and arrogant. She was extremely dangerous as she could play a person on her palms. No matter if it was a male or not, she was able to capture Fu Xiu Yi"s heart.

Sure enough, as the period upon Shen Miao"s return grew, she gradually discovered that this Mei Furen was rather scary. She looked arrogant and rude and did not control her temper but had mange it to a safe "level". Fu Xiu Yi would only find that she had an honest temperament and difficult to tame and thus became even more fascinated. When she was in front of Shen Miao, Mei Furen was rude, sarcastic and would oppose her. Because of Fu Chen, she would repeatedly provoke Fu Xiu Yi"s relations.h.i.+p with Fu Ming. It was unfortunate that Fu Xiu Yi"s heart had always been forever bias.

What was Mei Furen"s true face? Shen Miao looked at the charming and affectionate female in front. In this lifetime, she had become the Young Lady of the Ye family, cautious yet intelligent enough to know where to move forward or retreat. She no longer showed her arrogance but was this really her true face?

After dealing with Mei Furen for a lifetime, Shen Miao knew how scary she was. She was a female that was as sly as a fox. Whatever she wanted, she would never fight for it straightforwardly but turn nine to eighteen times. At the end she gained an advantage but pretended otherwise and made bogus accusation with her victim.

What did she want to do with her current action? Did she want to let Xie Jing Xing be like Fu Xiu Yi, fascinated by her with one look? Shen Miao sneered in her heart but she could not help to look over at Xie Jing Xing"s side.

However as she looked, her eyes met with Xie Jing Xing"s gaze. Xie Jing Xing"s eyes was all on Shen Miao and most likely did not expect that Shen Miao would suddenly look at her and paused for a bit and turn his head over, seemingly looking at something outside, concealing something.

However there was not a single look at the person who was dancing enthusiastically.

Shen Miao was startled and an indescribable feeling came to her heart like a wave. She had a lot of hate for Mei Furen and naturally had a self-defeating sense of self-worth buried deep inside her mind. With regards of romance and creating the atmosphere, she was incomparable with Mei Furen so Fu Xiu Yi would not hesitate to sacrifice her in the last lifetime. Xie Jing Xing was a thousand times more outstanding than Fu Xiu Yi so if Ye Mei liked Xie Jing Xing… Shen Miao thought that it would be a disaster.

But Xie Jing Xing"s gaze was all on her and did not take a look at Ye Mei.

This was distinctively different from Fu Xiu Yi. If it was Fu Xiu Yi, as long as Shen Miao and Mei Furen appear ed in the same event, he would not give Shen Miao an additional glance.

It was really different between person to person. Just like she and Ye Mei were different, Xie Jing Xing and Fu Xiu Yi were different.

As she was thinking about it, she did not notice when Ye Mei finished dancing. Upon hearing the loud applause in the hall, she then lifted her head up and saw Ye Mei standing in the middle gently smiling. There were pearls of sweat on her forehead and with the fragrant powder she had on, it was very moving and glamorous. Behind her, the painting was completed and with the sleek lines and sprinkled inked, it was a painting of a QiLin (mythical animal) arriving, with the meaning of congratulating one"s birthday. The painting was vivid and it was really done well.

"Young Lady Ye is truly a talented person." The Daren with a learning school said, "The painting is so expressive and it is a fine work. The young ladies at my learning school do not have such skills."

"The dance is also not bad." A Furen quickly said, "Ye Furen is really fortunate. This Young Lady Ye is like you, not only one has an appearance of falling flowers and moon, she has a body of talent. In our Long Ye, she is really the best with such good dancing and painting skills."

Ye Furen accepted it with smiles but Lu Wan-er jealously twisted her handkerchief, with unwillingness in her eyes.

Another person said, "One do not know how does Your Highness the prince think of this birthday painting?"

Everyone looked towards Xie Jing Xing and even Ye Mei turned to look at Xie Jing Xing but only saw Xie Jing Xing looking outside the window as he held the wine cup. One did not know what he was entrance with that he did not seemed to hear the discussion.

"Your Highness?" Gao Yang reminded him.

Xie Jing Xing recovered to his senses and asked, "What?"

"Asking you how is Young Lady Ye"s painting?" Gao Yang said.

Everyone was somewhat awkward as one was doing their best to showcase their talents and prepare a painting but Prince Rui"s mind was not here and did not take notice at all. This was undoubtedly too disrespectful to Ye Mei.

Xie Jing Xing heard it and took a glance at the painting and said with a slight hook on his lips, "Not bad."

The perfunctory att.i.tude could be seen at all levels of the hall.

Ye Mei"s smile was somewhat stiff, however when Shen Miao saw it, a trace of smile flashed in her eyes. For Xie Jing Xing kind of person, even if he could be lost in thoughts in such an occasion, he was either one who was very "focus" and most likely did it deliberately. Although she did not know why he deliberately put Ye Mei in a difficult situation, Shen Miao felt slightly happy with his action.

However her smile was caught by Ye Mei. Ye Mei stared at her and suddenly smiled, "Speaking of which, when one was staying the residence of Prince Rui, one had heard that w.a.n.gFei is also extremely talented."

Suddenly the topic was turned towards Shen Miao.

"One had only heard that w.a.n.gFei"s archery is very good and not heard of others. Since it is the Prince"s birthday today, w.a.n.gFei what not help to better the atmosphere and let us have an eye-opener since this young female have admired w.a.n.gFei for a long time." She said somewhat uncomfortably. No matter who saw it, they would only feel that Ye Mei had heard about the rumours and admired her and thus wanted to see it for herself.

But Shen Miao was a daughter from a military lineage family. It was one thing to be good in archery but no one had seen her dancing before. If she did it, perhaps she would make a fool of herself but if she did not agree to it, it would seemed to confirm that she was coa.r.s.e by nature.

Everyone looked at Shen Miao.

Shen Miao smiled gently, "I am the w.a.n.gFei of the residence of Prince Rui. How could one play instruments and sing like a songstress and let others watch?"

In an instant, there was no sound in the hall and Ye Mei"s face turned red.

Originally dancing in front of officials was considered detrimental to one"s face but because Ye Mei was the Young Lady of the Ye family and was talented and good looking, everyone had ignore this point. However it was not subtle for Shen Miao to speak about it this loudly.

Ye Furen"s and Ye Mao Cai"s faces turned ugly. Ye Furen wanted to speak but if she opened her mouth, wouldn"t she be going with Shen Miao"s flow, saying that Ye Mei"s actions were virtues of a songstress?

Lu Furen and Lu Wan-er however was delighted with the chaos. It was the best for them to watch as Shen Miao and Ye Mei fought.

Xie Jing Xing smiled as he watch everything but he did not seemed to think that there was anything wrong to it and did not intervene and just watch on with folded arms.

Luo Tan felt that Shen Miao was somewhat focused on Ye Mei but she felt vaguely happy in her heart. This was originally XIe Jing Xing"s birthday but this Ye Mei did a whatever dance here and superseded the lead. Moreover she even took the initiative to get Shen Miao to sing and dance. On what basis should one ask others to be like her?

Ji Furen looked at SHen Miao and her heart became anxious. All the court"s officials were invited to Xie Jing Xing"s birthday and for Shen Miao to make the atmosphere so stuff, others would blame the residence of Prince Rui for being rude and the damage was towards the entire residence. They would also say that Shen Miao was jealous and was calculative to the Young Lady of the Ye family.

Ye Mei stood rooted on the same spot and frowned slightly, making everyone pity. A beauty like that was forced into such a situation would always make one feel unbearable. The males in the hall were incensed by injustice and wanted to flaunt themselves as righteous to speak for Ye Mei and be the hero to save the beauty.

Shen Miao swept a glance at the entire hall of people and saw everyone"s expression. Ye Mei had such a skill like this. She did not need to speak of what she wanted. Her brows wrinkled and one sigh would make everyone around her picking up axes and calling for blood for her. One feared that her rejection of Ye Mei today would cause the entire Long Ye to stand at Ye Mei"s side the next day.

How could one let Ye Mei"s wish come true?

She stood up and smiled towards everyone"s flabbergasted eyes, "However, it is rare to see Young Lady Ye"s kindness so one will undertake this difficult task as best as one can. It is fortunate that one had learned a piece some days back and will play it for Young Lady Ye to listen."

"Why play for Young Lady Ye to listen?" Lu Furen smiled, "Should it not be to congratulate Prince Rui"s birthday?"

"This piece is very sad." Shen Miao said lightly, "It is not like festive pieces and would not be suitable to congratulate one"s birthday. It is just that one felt it was good a few days back and learnt it. Since Young Lady Ye admire me, one have to naturally share good things. Isn"t it right?" She smiled and looked towards Ye Mei.

Ye Mei smiled softly, "It is naturally so."

These two people exchanged words, as if they could not see the invisible swords. Ye Mei was charming and Shen Miao was dignified. Each had their own beauty and for a moment in time, one could not differentiate who was better. Shen Miao picked up her sleeves and walked to the middle as Ye Mei withdrew. Jing Zhe quickly found a char over and Shen Miao raise her eyes, "Bring the Qin over."

Gu Yu only came out after a long time, "There is only one Jiao Wei Qin in the entire Bi Xiao Luo. Furen…"

Bi Xiao Luo"s sounds were unique and Gu Yu knew clearly in her heart as she had followed Shen Miao for so many years and had not seen Shen Miao playing a Qin before. She secretly hated that Young Lady Ye for having evil intentions and insistence in making Shen Miao doing such an elegant thing and making things difficult for Shen Miao. If one face was lost, especially in this strange and foreign country, no one would give Shen Miao out because of the Shen family. Most of the people here had ill-intentions and could not wait to throw stones when one was down.

In particularly, after Ye Mei"s unique dance, whatever Shen Miao did would be dwarfed.

"It is of no problems. Just bring it over." Shen Miao said.

When the surrounding Furens and Young Lady heard it, they started whispering.

"Isn"t it said that one was coa.r.s.e, so why play the Qin?"

"It should be that one want to compete with the Young Lady of Ye family. She is sure eager to win."

"Oh. It is unfortunate for the residence of Prince Rui as one would have to lose face today."

"The people of Ming Qi really cannot be brought out to public. They don"t even know how much they weigh."

They said it softly but they were unable to conceal their taunting eyes. Luo Tan was however full of confidence. Although she had never heard Shen Miao playing the Qin before, but she inexplicably felt that Shen Miao could do everything and since she said it, she could do it.

Ji Yu Shu whispered quietly to Gao Yang, "Sao-zi really know how to play the Qin? The information that Feng Xian p.a.w.nshop investigate was that there was not even a Qin teacher that was invited over for her. Self-taught? It is just too powerful."

Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders, "I am also not clear. Let"s wait and see."

Pei Lang was also among the guest in the banquet and knew that there were Qin cla.s.ses in Guang Wen Tang but Shen Miao did not choose it. Pei Lang had also heard of the teacher there complaining before that Shen Miao was unable to even identify the strings on the Qin. Thus upon seeing that Shen Miao had gladly accepted it, he did not believe it and could not help but take a look at Xie Jing Xing. He was thinking that for Shen Miao to be this compet.i.tive, it was all because of Xie Jing Xing.

Xie Jing Xing slightly frowned and the hand that was holding the wine cup slightly tightened.

Shen Miao washed her hands and said faintly, "This piece of music is called "Blood Call". It is a song that a young Princess made while pouring all her despair and grief, hopping that it would change her Imperial Father"s mind not to force her into a marriage alliance with an enemy leader who was fifty years older than her and being unsure of her future." Her voice was faint like the moonlight. Even after the interest in Mei Furen"s dance, it made one calm down and as if they went along with her words and entered the story.

She then started to pluck the Qin strings.