When Yaoying entered the palace, it was already late in the evening.
The sky was filled with cold stars, and the vast sky to the west was filled with evening sunlight, casting down a blazing and hazy sunset. The imposing pavilions and towers overlooking the pond were bathed in a brilliant golden glow, casting a magnificent and enormous shadow, with rows of corridors and pavilions surrounding the arch.
The breeze brought a gust of chilliness.
Standing under the long steps, one could vaguely see the lively feast happening in the palace hall and pavilion. The hall was full of flickering shadows, cheers, and laughter. Behind the half-rolled-up beaded curtain of the towering several-story Liangtai were people dressed like a picture.
Below the platform, a group of musicians carrying pipas, wicker horns, konghous, huqins, skin drums, tooth plates, and golden bells sat on the carpet on the west side of the platform, performing.
On the platform, dancers dressed in colorful clothes spun gracefully to the sound of music.
Yaoying got off the carriage. Standing in front of the steps, looking up at the pavilion above the high platform, her dress billowed, her face shining brightly.
The young man who had been waiting for a long time on the moon platform looked at her in a daze. It was after half a day that he came back to his senses and took a few steps down to stand in front of her, gasping for breath, pale, and looking restless.
Yaoying smiled and said, "Sanlang."
Zheng Jing looked at her in silence. He suddenly reached out and clutched her wrist: "Princess.... come with me."
Yaoying was stunned.
Zheng Jing blushed to the root of his neck, stammering: "There is something I have not mentioned to the princess.... The reason why the Zheng family brought up marriage to Qin wang was not because my father was looking at your status, but because.... because I adore the princess. "
After the words came out of his mouth, he blushed even more. His head hung lower, his body was burning hot, and steam was practically emitting from the top of his head.
"Before the Zheng family offered.... offered marriage, I.... I have seen.... seen the princess."
Seventh Princess may have long forgotten, but it was engraved in Zheng Jing's heart.
The first time he saw the Seventh Princess was the spring of blooming peach and plum blossoms. The sons and young ladies of Wei County made an appointment to go out of the city to appreciate the spring scenery. Zheng Jing and his eldest shu brother had fought. He fell off the horse, becoming covered in mud.
His brothers and sisters sat on their horses, towering above, and ridiculed him for his uselessness.
Zheng Jing was covered in mud and his legs were tangled in the reins, so he couldn't get up. His eldest brother was watching from a distance, waiting for him to ask for help. He was humiliated and was unwilling to open his mouth.
A few of the wealthy youths urged their horses around him and deliberately lifted their robes and untied their belts in an attempt to humiliate him.
Suddenly, a whip sounded in the air. The Seventh Princess, wearing a rose short coat and pomegranate skirt, drove her horse down the hill, her whip beating back the youths surrounding him.
The teenage boys were furious, just about to tease the Seventh Princess. However, seeing Li Zhongqian, who had stopped his horse by the apricot grove and was looking carelessly this way, they shivered in fear and immediately dispersed.
The Seventh Princess raised her whip and gently picked off Zheng Jing's entangled right leg. Leaving a servant to look after him, she turned her horse around and trotted toward Li Zhongqian.
Zheng Jing, lying in a puddle of mud, tilted his face up and his eyes followed the young girl going away.
The smile on her face overshadowed the ten-mile-long apricot forest.
Later, Zheng Jing saw the Li family's famous noble daughter again at one of the Li family's private banquets. He found that she was very different from the young girl he had seen previously; she was quiet and gentle, with a dignified demeanor, not at all like the young girl who carried a whip and willfully galloped in the spring breeze.
The third time Zheng Jing saw the Seventh Princess was in the autumn when the ginkgoes were golden.
He was invited to Li Zhongqian's wangfu for a banquet, and was made fun of by his eldest brother's best friend, so he drank too much wine and entered the wangfu's rear yard by mistake.
When he came to a pavilion, in his drunken state, he heard the soft and tender laughter of a woman. Knowing that he had fallen into a trap, he hid in the peony bush at the bottom of the steps.
In the pavilion, the muslin curtain was rolled up high, the candles were brilliant, and the food table was full of luxurious dishes and exotic delicacies. More than a dozen beautifully-dressed concubines of the wangfu were sitting, lying down, or standing, watching a woman dancing in the front courtyard with a smile on their faces.
A little later, the music stopped. The woman smiled and paid her respects towards the main table. The concubines laughed and said, "Ah Liu's dance was not as good as qiniang's!"
Liu shi did not agree, and the concubines urged qiniang to compete with her.
A delicate girl with her hair combed in matching spiral buns1 rose up calmly, took off her shoes, and stood on the round carpet. She raised the golden bell in her hand. Looking around with a smile, she slowly spun her waist. Her dress flew, and her snow-white skin appeared under the illumination of the lamp.
Zheng Jing blushed and his heart thumped. He did not dare to look any more but dumbly could not bear to move his gaze.
He had never seen such a beautiful dance in his life: charming and exquisite, soft with vigor.
Waist swaying like a willow, winding like a spring river.
Halfway through the dance, Zheng Jing was pulled out of the peony bush by a tall guard and received several punches to the face.
The noble ladies in the pavilion scolded him for being a lecher, and he stammeringly tried to explain.
The young girl walked to the veranda's eaves, drenched in sweat, her skin as rich as snow under her dress. She glanced at Zheng Jing and said to the guard with a smile, "Ah Qing, he is my elder brother's guest. He most likely came in by mistake when he was drunk. Send him out."
The guard answered and sent Zheng Jing back to his seat. Confirming that he was Zheng family's third son, he was then let go.
After Zheng Jing sobered up, he quietly inquired and learned that Li Yaoying was dancing the Tuozhi dance that night.
The fourth time he saw the Seventh Princess, he was watching the Hu women dance the Tuozhi dance in Pingkang Square.
Each and every instance was a mess.
It was also these several wretched meetings that let Zheng Jing know that the Seventh Princess was not that high and aloof, noble daughter who felt she was above them like those Chang'an sons said.
She was so beautiful, so bright, so vivid and real.
She would righteously rescue a youth who was ridiculed and humiliated, playfully act coquettishly with her brother, proudly dance with the concubines of the wangfu, coldly drive away the wealthy youths, and nicely deal with the women from noble families.
She would also be afraid, would also be indecisive and helpless.
The evening sun burned brightly, and the long steps were covered with the brilliant sunset's light.
Zheng Jing clutched Yaoying's hand and raised his head. His face still red, he solemnly said, "I admire the princess. My heart could reflect the sun and the moon. Qin wang is gone, so I will be like Qin wang; take good care of the princess, respect the princess. Princess can go horseback riding if you want to, can dance if you want to...."
He paused for a long time, "I really cannot bear to see the princess step onto the high platform."
If the seventh princess goes, it was a sheep entering a tiger's den, ah!