Chapter 94 Winning the First Prize
Qianhuan really didn't expect that the young master Chu would be invited to be a judge, but she changed her mind and realized that the Chu family was also one of the wealthy businessmen in Qingxi County, so it was not surprising that they would be invited. It was just that she didn't think of it in advance.
Qianhuan was afraid that Young Master Chu would recognize her, so she quickly turned her gaze away from him and lowered her head.
Chu Yichen originally felt as if someone was staring at him on the stage. He raised his head to search for that gaze, but saw a row of veiled girls standing gracefully with their heads down. They didn't notice anyone was looking at them at all. He thought to himself: Is this my illusion?
The moment Qianhuan lowered her head, she had already noticed with the corner of her eye that Young Master Chu was turning his head to look at the stage. She thought to herself: This Young Master Chu is too perceptive, he might be a martial artist. Fortunately, she shifted her gaze quickly, otherwise she would have been caught staring at him again.
Qianhuan then remembered that she was wearing a veil on her face, and her eye makeup was very close to Hongyu's eye shape. Even if her parents were standing in front of her, they might not recognize her. As long as she didn't pay too much attention to Chu Yichen, she shouldn't be noticed to be abnormal.
Thinking of this, Qianhuan relaxed again. She pretended that she didn't know Young Master Chu at all and began to look around without any scruples. After all, this was her first time to participate in the ancient courtesan election and she was curious about everything around her.
The order of the competition was decided by drawing lots. Mother Yang drew the last one. Qianhuan actually didn't care about the order of the competition. She was very confident in her dancing skills. She firmly believed that as long as she danced well, it would not be a problem when she would perform.
But it's also good to get the last one, because she can see the dancing level of the girls in other buildings, especially Miss Sisi from Yichunyuan. She will also know how high her level should be in order to get the first place in the competition.
The girls in other brothels have already started their performances.
When it was Miss Sisi's turn to perform, the madam of Yichun Court came on stage and introduced: "Now, Miss Sisi from Yichun Court will dance "Dancing Butterflies and Flowers" for everyone."
A long and melodious piano sound was heard, and Miss Sisi began to dance gracefully, swinging her long sleeves. When the dance was over, there was warm applause from the audience.
After watching her performance, Qianhuan felt that she danced much better than Miss Hongyu and her body was softer and more flexible than Hongyu's. However, compared with herself, she was not on the same level at all. She probably had some thoughts in her mind.
Finally, it was Qianhuan's turn to go on stage. Xunfang Pavilion's madam, Madam Yang, introduced her first, "Now, our top lady from Xunfang Pavilion, Miss Hongyu, will dance to 'Fireworks in the World' for everyone."
After the introduction, Mother Yang stepped back. Qianhuan, wearing a white veil, a white gauze dance skirt, and holding a long silk dance fan, slowly walked to the center of the stage. She turned around, put her left hand on her waist, held a long silk fan in her right hand, and posed a graceful figure with her back to the audience.
The musician Master Qin had already set up the guzheng on the side. Qianhuan signaled him with her eyes, and Master Qin immediately put his hands on the strings, and the performance began.
As the soothing prelude of the song "Human Fireworks" sounded, Qianhuan's right hand holding the long silk fan slowly moved to the rhythm of the music, and the long silk at the tail of the fan drew graceful arcs in the air.
Qianhuan looked like a soft and boneless butterfly. Her white dance skirt fluttered with her dance steps, like a light cloud, slowly floating in the wind.
There had been some noisy discussions in the lobby, but now it was completely silent, as everyone was immersed in this moving music and graceful dance.
Everyone was a little excited: Oh my God, what kind of song is this, it's so beautiful, and the dancing Red Jade Girl is like an elf flying among the flowers.
When the song reached its climax, the rhythm of the music suddenly became faster, and Qianhuan's dance moves became faster and faster.
She stood on tiptoe, used her right foot as the axis, and gently waved the fan. Her delicate body kept spinning, faster and faster. The fan also swung rapidly in her hand, and the long silk kept flying alternately in the air.
The music tempo quickened again, and she suddenly jumped onto the ground with both feet, her clothes fluttering in the wind, like a fairy flying away. When she landed, she immediately turned gracefully towards the audience, and the hand holding the fan danced quickly in front of her body along with her graceful figure, like an elf dancing among flowers.
The song gradually came to an end. Qianhuan turned her back to the audience and did a graceful high kick. In an instant, her left leg jumped over her head, and her right leg was still standing straight. The audience below the stage couldn't help but applaud.
At this time, applause broke out in the hall, and sounds of surprise and praise were heard everywhere.
Even the judges couldn't help but get excited. They had been judges for so many years and had seen so many top beauties dance, but no girl had ever danced as well as she did today. This dance really amazed them all.
After the dance was over, everyone was stunned for a long time, feeling that they had not seen enough.
Qianhuan felt as if she was back at home when she returned to the stage. It was a pity that she could not fully display her true dancing skills, because she had to win the competition while not letting the gap between her and Hongyu's usual dancing level be too great.
She could only hide her incompetence. In fact, she could have performed the classical dance "Human Fireworks" more perfectly. In today's competition, she only used 70% of her dancing skills.
The madam of Yichunyuan turned green with anger after seeing this. She originally thought that with her daughter Sisi's dancing skills, she would surely win today and would surely take home the title of the most beautiful lady. However, who knew that Miss Hongyu from Xunfangge would improve her dancing skills so much in just one year.
Mother Yang from Xunfang Pavilion couldn't stop smiling. She felt that she was very wise to choose such a little girl who could dance to replace Hongyu in the competition.
Qianhuan was afraid that people would find out that she replaced Hongyu in the competition, so as soon as the dance was over, she immediately bowed to express her gratitude and quickly left the stage.
While no one was paying attention, she sneaked back to the yard of Meihuaju where the carriage was parked. This was her first time in Meihuaju and she was not familiar with the roads inside. She looked everywhere in the yard for Xunfangge's carriage.
Chun Tao was standing by her own carriage when she suddenly saw Qian Huan wandering around another carriage. She quickly ran over and stopped her, "Miss, our Xun Fang Pavilion's carriage is over there."
As she spoke, Chuntao pulled the person to the carriage of Xunfang Pavilion. Qianhuan climbed onto the carriage and quickly got into the carriage.
The host began to announce the start of the voting session: "Thank you all for coming today. The performances of the top ladies from various brothels have ended. Judges, please vote for the dance that you think is the most beautiful with your little red flowers."
The madams of all the major brothels were standing on the stage holding flower baskets, and behind them stood their top consorts. The real Hongyu had already gotten out of the carriage and replaced Qianhuan to stand behind Mother Yang.
Chu Yichen, who was sitting in the first row, smiled playfully and said, "Miss Hongyu's dancing skills have improved greatly before she came to Xunfang Pavilion. It seems that she was obviously hiding her clumsiness when performing in the lobby of Xunfang Pavilion on weekdays."
He asked his servant Yuanji to throw the red flower to Hongyu on the stage, then turned around and walked away gracefully, fanning himself.
After throwing the red flower, Yuanji looked back and saw that his young master had already left. He had no choice but to trot after him, shouting as he ran: "Young master, please slow down. I can hardly catch up with you."
There is no doubt that Mother Yang had the most red flowers in her flower basket, completely crushing Miss Sisi from Yichunyuan and the top girls in other brothels. This year's top courtesan is Miss Hongyu from Xunfangge.
Miss Hongyu stood on the stage to express her gratitude. The host asked a maid to carry the pipa made of fine rosewood to the stage and present it to Hongyu.
After the awards were presented, the courtesan was paraded through the streets. Mother Yang sent her trusted maid Chuntao and several guards to follow Hongyu and escort her in the parade on a flower carriage.
Mother Yang also got into the carriage and took Qianhuan back to Xunfang Pavilion.
As soon as she arrived at the building, Qianhuan quickly took off her makeup and changed back into her worn cotton coat and trousers. Mother Yang fulfilled her promise and gave her a silver note worth 100 taels.
Qianhuan took the silver note and prepared to leave Xunfang Pavilion.
Unexpectedly, just as she was about to leave, Mother Yang spoke up: "Miss Feiyan, wait a minute."