Kai Fanghua enters, his heart beating wildly. Through his mask, the room seemed to envelop in a shade of darkness. He sees the figures of royalty before him and he wanted nothing more than to run back out the entrance then and there. Curse you darn Crown Prince. How can you make him pretend to be the Crown p
Prince of this nation. And in front of your own mother too, the Empress!
"Ah my dear Zhihuan, you have finally arrived. Are you ready?" The Empress calls out, a smile to her voice as she stares down at her son in an astounding and fearsome outfit. This is truly surprising indeed. Zhihuan had no talent for dancing, let alone wanting to learn, yet here he was performing a dance for the person he seemed to hate the most. Was she perhaps tricked?
They do say that the strongest of love comes first from dislike and hate. Perhaps her son really had matured and his dislike towards the princess had turned to admiration? Ah, this mother can never understand that boy. If indeed you have prepared this dance to impress the princess then your mother prays that you do not embarrass yourself.
Kai Fanghua was just about to open his mouth to reply when he quickly shuts it. Theirs no way he could reply, especially with his voice altered from his special potion, 'The voice of a singing angel.' He simply slightly nodded his head and looks at the musicians. They were still panting from the last minute notice, having ran with their instruments here. Fanghua could not afford the crown prince to lose face. He was too young to die! He didn't say anything about holding back so he will be sure to put a show to remember.
Kai Fanghua made a gesture with his hands that symbolises the dance of the fire dragon. The musicians gasped, their eyebrows almost reaching their receding hairline. The Crown Prince wanted us to play that song?! That song had one of the most difficult dances.
As the palace musicians, they knew how the prince hated to practice dancing, never really having a talent for his martial arts. In total honesty, his dancing skills was that of a child. The crown prince was known to have a big ego but come on your majesty, do not let your confidence result in you losing face, especially when performing for an important other. Alas, they were merely musicians and could not disobey his command. Shaking there heads with worry, they began to play.
The tanggu drums begin to play loudly, so loudly it was as if they were vibrating one's soul. Fanghua's closed eyes suddenly open, his nervousness and worries suddenly disappearing. He grabs the sword Zhihuan had thrown to his feet and magnificently thrusts it into the air to the beat of the tanggu drums.
He moves his body left and right, swinging the sword elegantly, as if the sword was an extension of his arm. As soon as the high pitched sounds of the suona came, Fanghua twirls his body like a gymnast, before doing an aerial midair, the sword making a perfect circle with him.
Zhihuan who was waiting for the man to make a fool of himself was shocked senseless for once, his mouth wide open. He furiously grips the door where he was peeping from tightly. Just what was happening?! How did that crossdressing snake learn to dance so so mind-blowingly good? Zhihuan continues to watch, unable to take his eyes off Fanghua and the way his body moved so enticingly.
As soon as the beat got more quicker and deeper, so did Fanghuas movements. Thrusting the sword like an elegant swordsman whilst doing ariels and flips, he now begins to expertly kick. The empress, the musicians, Zen and Changying were shocked. To think the crown prince was so talented.
The Empress's eyebrows narrowed. Zhihuan, how dare you hide such talent from your own mother. You will be definitely be getting a stern talking to later. Changying finally stopped drinking her tea and sat up, engaged while Zen stared gobsmacked, his eyes wide.
As the music came to an end, so did Faghua's astounding dance. He finishes with his sword thrust towards the three royal figures, his demon mask looking ever so intimidating. Before they could even react, Fanghua nods his head in respect and quickly leaves the room. Once out of sight, he bolts back to the storage room. He had to get out of there quickly before they spoke to him and asked him questions.
The Empress, Zen and Changying were enveloped in silence, not even having the chance to applaud as their stare at spot Fanghua had been a moment ago.
"I must say your dear Empress, I did not know the Crown Prince was also extremely talented in dancing. I would love to learn a thing or two when I get the chance." Changying says, her eyes shining.
"Zen too. Zen too. Zen also wants to learn how to move one's body like that. It was so mesmerising," Zen says, his voice full of shock and admiration."
"My, if I knew my son could dance better then any dancer we have, I should just have him perform for our guests instead," the Empress says, extremely elated.
Zhihuan, who was still mesmerised by the captivating dance suddenly, comes out of his trance in a blink. How could he just go and reveal that was not him but actually his maid?! He would lose so much face, especially after they talked him up like this. Gahhhh. He had just dug such a large hole for himself. Never did he expect the maid to actually be able to dance, let alone that good. Just who on earth was he?!
Zhihuan was just about to get up and go interrogate him when he suddenly trips over something and is sent sprawling. He curses, rubbing his nose to look just what on earth had caused him to fall. It was none other then an unconscious Lan Min who currently had a stupid smile on his face, as if mocking Zhihua.
Zhihuan scowls as he gets up. Even when unconscious, this fool manages to make trouble for him.
"Zhihuan," a deep voice calls out, startling Zhihuan. Had he been caught?! He looks towards the voice, only to see Aarush who had come back after throwing Bai Hee into the dungeons. The sun sparkles on him, causing his tanned brown skin to shine ever so brightly. Zhihuan breathes a sigh of relief before an idea suddenly hits him.
"Aarush, come over here for a second," he quietly calls, making Aarush narrow his eyebrows confused. His eyes suddenly widen as he sees Lan Min lying on the floor.
"What happened? Don't tell me you finally lost it and accidentally killed Lan Min. How could you?!" Aarush calls out teasingly, taking a few steps back.
"Yeah yeah, very funny. Anyhow, go and take him back to my chambers," Zhihuan commands, rolling his eyes as he smiled.
"Hmm, chambers? Not the eunuch quarters?" Aarush asks, confused.
"No. Its such a hassle to call him from there once he is awake. After all, he has done to me, I must punish him accordingly and quickly as possible," Zhihuan smiles, a sinister smile which caused even Aarush to get goosebumps.
Without another word, he squats down and effortlessly pulls Lan Min onto his shoulders, grabbing and wrapping his legs around him before venturing off to Zhihuan's chambers.
On their way, the unconscious Lan Min suddenly stirs, opening his eyes and looking around, dazed. Just what had happened? The dance, the mask and then the Crown Prince appeared?? As Lan Min gathers his thoughts, he suddenly notices the surroundings around him were moving. He gasps out loud when he sees he was currently being piggybacked by an unidentifiable person. The persons strong arms resting on his buttocks so he would not fall!
Having heard Lan Min, Aarush suddenly turns his head around, almost touching noses with Lan Min in the process. Lan Min almost screams as he sees Aarush's beautiful green emerald eyes shining at him before he lets out a charming smile. What was happening?!?! Why was he being piggybacked by Aarush? He was just with the Crown Prince?! His heart unable to take it anymore, Lan Min faints once again, his head resting on Aarush's broad shoulders.
Aarush simply chuckles to himself as he continues to walk before suddenly stopping. Just then when he had looked back, he had never seen Lan Min so up close before. He truly did have such mesmerising eyes, an astounding blue-grey. A pity it didn't match the rest of his face. His smile suddenly falters. It had been a long time since he had seen such unique looking eyes.
Meanwhile, on another section of the palace, Fanghua was quickly undressing from the dancing clothes before putting on his maid's clothes. He breathes a sigh of relief. No soldiers were coming after him. The Crown Prince better be happy. He not only did not make him lose face but made him gain some! It seemed like he was safe for now, or so he thought before the doors swing open widely as Zhihuan enters, his eyes flashing.
Not only had this made the others think he was amazing at dancing which would undeniably bring many problems in the future, the snake had also made his plans go haywire. He failed to embarrass himself, he even impressed Changying while pretending to be him! And he was still assigned to that darn guy who keeps blabbing out, Zen this Zen that blah blah. He didn't know what it was, but he really did not like that prince.
Fanghua who was waiting proudly for the crown prince to come and praise him was instead received with a furious glare! His eyes were blazing, his eyebrows narrowed and his mouth in a snarl. He told him to dance so he did. Just what did he do wrong now?!?!
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Happy New Year all 🎁✨🎈🎆✨🎈🎁 A new chapter to celebrate the new year :) My goal this year for this book is to keep writing more chapters and improve my writing skills more and bring this book to new heights :)
The dancing music is from Avatar the Last airbender, and from 10 seconds onwards to give you guys somewhat of an idea to how it sounded :) its also called agni KAI so thought it was quite fitting xD
Glossary:
Tonggu: The tanggu is a traditional Chinese drum from the 19th century. It is medium in size and barrel-shaped, with two heads made of animal skin, and is played with two sticks
Suona: The suona, also called laba or haidi, is a Chinese sorna. It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors
Picture: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/261842165814232163/ , apparently its a boy called Wu Yajun, peforming as thunder god. Of course this isnt what Kai wore but to give an idea.
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