“Hmm… let her in,” Emperor Li Qin pondered, thinking the finale must be the most outstanding. Outstanding women not only have the ability to be the highlight but also tend to have a larger presence, for they have the capital, and they understand men’s hearts. The rarer something is, the more valuable it becomes.
In the grand hall, the music began to play softly once more, and everyone craned their necks to see this exceptional woman. She appeared amidst a group of alluring dancers, not dressed in luxurious clothes or adorned with jewels as expected. Instead, she wore the simplest blue cloth outfit, her hair in a plain bun, without any makeup, only two white pearls hanging from her crystal-clear earlobes. Any decoration would be superfluous on her; her beauty needed no enhancement. She opened her ruby lips and began to sing, “Guan Guan Ju Jiu, in the river’s continent, a fair lady, a gentleman seeks…”
She sang the simplest, most ordinary song, but it was performed with such uniqueness that it seemed as if the song was composed for her. Emperor Li Qin was utterly captivated; he had never met such an intriguing woman. Ignoring Ya Fu’s displeasure, he immediately asked after she finished, “You sang beautifully. What’s your name?”
In Li Qin’s mind, such an outstanding woman must be very proud, and everyone thought so too. But they were all wrong; this woman was not proud at all. After Li Qin asked, she quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, “Your Majesty is too kind. I dare not accept such praise for mere flattery. My humble name is not worthy of polluting your noble ears.”
Li Qin, looking at her cautious demeanor and simple attire, suddenly thought of Qingqing. He remembered the former Emperor telling him that when he first met Qingqing, she was dressed similarly and naively asked, “Your Majesty, what do you think of the fabric of Qingqing’s clothes?”
Chapter 112: The Noblest Slave
