Chapter 094.1: Determining Heaven and Earth with a Dance! (1)

Note about the title
After Zhao Zirui's dance, the whole competition area was already in an uproar. Everyone felt that this competition’s first place was undoubtedly hers.
"The Princess’s dance is truly extraordinary. Such a dance can only be found in the heavens; how often can one have the chance to see it on earth?" Han Mingze said with a reluctant smile.
"Thank you for Your Majesty’s praise. Although we of Northern Yuan stay within the terrain of the north and our culture is not as developed as that of Feng Ming, we have spent the recent years working vigorously to enrich our culture. My cousin has been fond of dancing since she was young, and she’s diligent as well. That’s how she just barely managed to attain these skills," Zhao Zhen said modestly.
Zhao Zhen glanced at Han Mingyi. Now, they would see how Han Mingyi’s princess consort would respond to this!
The smile on Zhao Zhen's face did not affect the people around him, but Han Mingyi’s expression became grave. He had not expected Zhao Zirui to be able to dance like this. If it was like this, it didn’t seem quite possible for even Du Xiaoli to outdo her. This Zhao Zhen had truly come prepared!
The performance of the contestant who went after Zhao Zirui wasn’t bad. However, due to the shocking performance from before, this contestant’s performance did not appear outstanding and even caused the audience to feel somewhat bored.
Seeing this, Han Mingze became increasingly worried.
"......Next up is the last performance of this competition. Please welcome Miss Du Xiaoli." Meng Weiren had gone on stage to announce the score for the second last dance. After that, he walked off the stage and brushed past the people who were moving props.
Seeing the table as well as pen, ink, and inkstone, Meng Weiren thought, ‘Is she going to dance and paint simultaneously too? With Zhao Zirui’s shocking performance earlier, Du Xiaoli would be at somewhat of a disadvantage even if they were at the same skill level, let alone if her performance turned out to be a lot less exciting than Zhao Zirui’s!’
Perhaps they shouldn't have arranged for Du Xiaoli to be last.
"She’s going to be painting? Could it be that she’s going to perform the same kind of dance as the princess?" The people in the audience laughed when they saw the inkstone. If Du Xiaoli and Zhao Zirui danced the same kind of dance, it would depend on who was better!
"What's that?"
"A bowl?"
"What's a bowl up there for? Decoration?"
"No, there's ink in it."
"And snare drums!"
"There are so many props. What is she planning to do?"
Props were still being moved to the stage one by one. Seeing such a large array of props, Han Mingze suddenly felt at ease, while Zhao Zhen had an interested face.
Ji Liufeng was stunned to see the originally empty stage filled with things.
"What is Xiaoli planning to do with so many things?! Prince Ding, do you know?"
"I do not know," Han Mingyi said.
Seeing Ji Liufeng's face of disbelief, Han Mingyi smiled helplessly. He truly didn't know. The previous night, he had wanted to stay behind and prepare some props for Du Xiaoli, but she drove him back out straightaway. So right now, he didn't know just what exactly she was going to perform.
Once all of the props were finally on stage, everyone sighed at the magnitude of the array. Compared to Zhao Zirui's previous arrangement, Du Xiaoli’s trumped it greatly.
Du Xiaoli went up from the left side and stood at the edge of the stage to take a look. A three-square-meter piece of transparent white cloth was placed in the middle of the stage. Two identical scrolls were set up beside the canvas, with one on its left and right. An exquisite low table was placed on the left corner of the white canvas, and on it were brushes of different sizes and a color wheel. Asides from these, there were also several ink pots, four large drums, and several small drums placed around the canvas.
Fu Yalan went up to the stage from a different side and got ready in the musician's position, where she set up her guqin.
Du Xiaoli took off her shoes, walked to the middle of the canvas, and greeted Han Mize and others. After that, she turned and nodded to Fu Yalan, who then began to play.
This time, Du Xiaoli was dressed in a fire-red dance dress, with intricate patterns embroidered on its corners. The upper part of the garment had a tight form that extended out to a wide hemline, which would turn up when she spun. The dance dress had no sleeves, but there was a pair of matching water sleeves
on her arms, appearing similar to actual sleeves.
When the notes of the guqin rang out, Du Xiaoli began to dance on the canvas, following along with the music. At first, it sounded soft, so Du Xiaoli's movements were also soft.
At the end of the first section of the song, Du Xiaoli hadn't started painting yet. Many people began to wonder if she was going to paint at all, and some of them even began to laugh.
"Could it be that she wanted to imitate the dance because she saw that Princess Zhao looked good dancing like that?"
"She’s unable to dance and paint at the same time, yet she still copied someone else and brought so many things on stage... What a joke!"
"Indeed. She’s not even seeing how much she can handle, yet she actually wants to imitate this!"
"Ultimately, this painting dance can only be danced by you, Princess. Others can't do it!"
When Zhao Zirui saw Du Xiaoli's dance, she didn't have the same thoughts as the others. Du Xiaoli's dance didn’t appear as polished as if she had practiced it since she was a child. Instead, it looked very natural, and watching it made the viewers feel very relaxed. The water sleeves were so intoxicating that it appeared as if they had all been transported into another realm.
Since it was a person who could dance like this, the audience believed that she wouldn’t have brought all the props onto the stage just for show. They would certainly hold some use.
Sure enough, when the tune entered the second section, Du Xiaoli leaned down and raised her foot. She placed it into the ink basin, turned over, and faced upwards, sticking her other foot into the ink basin next to her. At this time, both of her feet were covered with ink, and she danced on the canvas again. With the water sleeves flying, the steps under her dancing feet were seemingly placed at random, but they left ink stains on the white canvas.
"Hah, even this can be considered dancing while painting? How ridiculous!"
"Exactly. What can be painted like this? Ink spots on a white cloth?"
"No matter what her painting will look like, at least her dance is still very attractive. She’s not at all inferior to me or my cousin!" Beiling Yu, who was seated beside Beiling Yicheng, looked at Du Xiaoli with bright eyes.
"Mm, I didn’t expect her to be such a good dancer," Beiling Yicheng agreed with a nod.
In the third section, the melody became more rushed, and Du Xiaoli's dance steps also became faster. Her dance seemed to create an illusion of armored horses and cavalry on the battlefield, tugging on the hearts of the spectators in accordance with the beat.References 1. — In the title, 舞定乾坤 Wu Ding Qian Kun, 定乾坤 Ding Qian Kun means to stabilize and master the entire world. "ding" means: stable and calm while “qiankun" means: heaven and earth, this reference comes from the seven-character poem "Ding Qiankun " by Hong Xiuquan in the Qing Dynasty, where Hong Xiuquan refers to himself waiting for the right time to overthrow the rule of the Qing dynasty to start a revolutionary rule 2. — This is an example of water sleeves for anybody interested, they’re generally used for dancing as Du Xiaoli did~ MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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