Chapter 40: Stealing Your Limelight, So What?

Sensing Shen Ninghua’s indifferent attitude, Chu Junyi didn’t mind at all. He swayed the fan and went back to his seat.

Shen Ninghua looked up. The Second Prince, Baili Jinchuan, was brimming with delight. His expression revealed a valiant aura. Baili Jinze, however, didn’t reveal any emotion on his face. Occasionally, there was a trace of haze flashing in his eyes.

Having two princes attend the birthday banquet was a great honor. Even if they just brought a feather, Shen Dong would put it in a shrine. But this time, they actually brought gifts that seemed to be meticulously prepared.

At the beginning of the banquet, Shen Dong raised his wine cup and made a toast to thank Baili Jinchuan, “Your Highness, thank you for coming to my mother’s birthday banquet.”

“Prime Minister Shen, you are too polite. You have worked hard for the court for many years, and His Majesty has praised you many times. We would like to come to the birthday banquet of her ladyship and share some luck. Prime Minister, I hope you don’t feel bothered by our presence.”

Shen Dong laughed heartily and personally filled the wine cups for the two of them. “Your Highnesses, I am overwhelmed by your presence and compliment.”

Baili Jinchuan smiled, but in his heart, he didn’t take Shen Dong’s humble words seriously. Shen Dong’s wife Madam Zhao, was the empress’s younger sister. At this time, the Crown Prince’s position was stable, and the Shen family was smart enough not to take sides. Therefore, all the princes on the surface had quite a good relationship with Shen Dong. However, they knew clearly just how good this relationship actually was.

As the banquet was going on in full swing, Madam Zhao sat among the other ladies. She smilingly listened to their compliments to Shen Linghan and Shen Xuanye. Her face was full of pride.

“I heard that a few days ago, Linghan was called into the Palace and was abundantly rewarded by the empress. What a great blessing it was.”

Madam Zhao’s face stiffened and she looked sharply at the speaker, the State Councilor’s wife.

The State Councilor’s wife had meant to take this opportunity to flatter Madam Zhao, but she unexpectedly stepped on the pain point of Madam Zhao, who answered indifferently, “Linghan was just lucky.”

Seeing that Madam Zhao was unhappy, many people who also had wanted to talk about this matter shut their mouths in time. But Madam Shao didn’t care at all. “Second Miss Shen is the empress’s niece. She will have greater blessings in the future. By the way, Madam Zhao, I’m going to hold a banquet in my house in a few days. I’ll invite a few young ladies. Is it alright for Ninghua to come as well? ”

Madam Zhao’s face darkened, but she quickly changed into a smile. “Of course, she can go.” If you could still find her by the time, humph.

“Then I will send her my invitation.”

The ladies who had been seeking chances to be acquainted with Shen Ninghua immediately became enthusiastic. They told Madam Shao that they would also like to go to the banquet. Madam Shao naturally agreed.

Seeing her limelight being stolen, Madam Zhao’s smile became even stiffer. It was the right time, and she turned around to signal Shen Linghan with her eyes.

Shen Linghan got up with a smile and walked to the front of Old Lady Xiao. “Grandmother, today is your birthday. I want to play a piece of qin music as my birthday congratulations to you.”

Old Lady Xiao nodded, “Alright, alright.”

Shen Linghan clapped her hands and someone immediately lifted a qin table. Shen Linghan placed a qin gently on the table. With the movement of her fair hands, passionate qin music burst out, instantly silencing the entire hall.

Shen Ninghua looked at her. She had to admit that Shen Linghan had the ability to stir up trouble between the two princes. Today, she wore a light green gauze dress. Her clothes and her hair both fluttered with her movements. When she raised her hands and drooped her eyes, she looked especially captivating.

She played an exotic tune of the Qiang ethnicity, which was brisker and more exciting than usual tunes. The novelty attracted everyone’s attention.

Shen Linghan proudly curled her lips. She raised her fingers and fiercely pulled the strings of the qin, causing the pitch to rise abruptly.

Just as everyone felt their hearts skip a beat, a white figure flashed in front of them. When they restored their senses, they discovered that there was a young man performing sword-dance in the hall. He was dressed in white, and the long sword in his hand was like a swift snake, forming afterimages in the air.

Shen Ninghua narrowed her eyes. The dancer turned out to be Shen Xuanye!

The pitch grew higher and higher, and the movements of the sword became increasingly agiler. Then, someone threw a bunch of flowers into the hall. With the sound of sharp sword piercing through the air, petals were flying everywhere. The audience were almost cast in spell by the scene.

Suddenly, the tune came to an end! Shen Xuanye made a finishing gesture and swiftly put the sword into the sheath. After quite a while, the audience restored their senses.

“Ah, look.” Someone shouted and pointed to the ground, causing the others to look in that direction.

On the ground, flying petals continuously fell down, gradually piecing together into a large Chinese character meaning “longevity”.

Baili Jinchuan’s eyes were filled with admiration, “Eldest Young Master Shen is really extraordinary.”

Shen Linghan got up and stood slightly behind Shen Xuanye by half a step. The two of them looked so similar that people couldn’t stop praising them.

“They are truly an exceptionally outstanding pigeon pair.”

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“Right. I’ve never heard of such a tune before. It can circle the beam for three days without end.”

“The Eldest Young Master’s sword-dance is more amazing. Not to mention his smooth movements, he actually made the flying petals form the character “longevity” in the end. His cultivation in martial arts is very profound.”

“Yes, yes…”

People were all lavish in all kinds of compliments, as if no praises in the world would compliment the pigeon pair too much.

Chu Junyi closed the folding fan in his hand and looked at Shen Ninghua, only to find that she had perfectly concealed her emotions. She was wearing a faint smile, making it hard to distinguish her true feelings.

Looking at her, Chu Junyi couldn’t help but think of her sincere smile before. It was as bright as summer flowers and as beautiful as immortals… He didn’t know if those people were blind or not, that they actually regarded Shen Linghan as the number one beauty in the capital…

As Shen Xuanye and Shen Linghan sat down, the audience gradually stopped praising. Shen Linghan looked at Shen Ninghua who was standing behind Old Lady Xiao and said straightforwardly, “Elder sister, you have also prepared something for grandmother’s birthday, right?” After the last lesson, she wouldn’t say anything like Shen Ninghua was more talented. Who knew if Shen Ninghua would choke her back just like she did last time?

Shen Ninghua looked up and saw the provocation in her eyes. Without any fluster, Shen Ninghua walked over, saluted Old Lady Xiao and said, “Grandmother, I also prepared a gift, but I’m afraid it’s not good enough to deserve grandmother’s attention.”

Old Lady Xiao said affectionately, “My girl, you think too much. It is a sign of your filial piety. Even if it is just a flower you picked from the garden, will your grandmother dislike it?”

Old Lady Xiao wholeheartedly played the image of a loving grandmother, and Shen Ninghua was also willing to cooperate. She lowered her head slightly and revealed a faintly bashful smile. “Grandmother, you are teasing me. I am not as talented as my younger sister. She is adept at qin-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting, but I can only use the most stupid method to prepare a gift.”

Old Lady Xiao chuckled and said, “My girl, don’t keep us guessing. Hurry up and bring up your birthday gift.”

“Yes. Qing Que, bring up the gift I’ve prepared.”

Qing Que lifted the curtain and two lad servants slowly brought in a large screen.

Shen Linghan sneered in her heart. A screen? Shen Ninghua really meddled with the gift. Old Lady Xiao had a First Grade Imperial Mandate, and her eldest son was the Prime Minister. How could she lack a screen? Shen Ninghua was simply a currying favor by claptrap.

Old Lady Xiao frowned slightly in her heart. She was a little unhappy and wondered: Wasn’t Shen Ninghua’s gift too perfunctory?

Chu Junyi swayed his fan and watched by the side. The black-hearted girl would never make such an obvious mistake! Those people could expect a slap in the face.

Sure enough, the two lad servants lifted the screen, stopped at the entrance, and did not continue to walk forward. Qing Que took out a large mirror to reflect sunlight onto the screen. Then, she let the servants slowly approach the center of the hall.

“The picture in the screen has changed!”

At first, there was an ordinary picture of pine and crane in the screen, but under the sunlight, the picture slowly changed. Auspicious clouds emerged, the cranes rose into the sky, the pine branches stretched out, and the mountains became lush and verdant! As the sunlight flickered, the auspicious clouds seemed to flow, and people felt as if immortal music was ringing out.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, the audience would never believe that there were so many secrets hidden within a seemingly ordinary screen.

However, something even more shocking was still going on. When they reached the center of the hall, the two lad servants slowly turned the back of the screen over.

On the back were actually embroidered four large Chinese characters meaning “longevity and health”. Upon closer inspection, each large character was formed of many smaller characters meaning “longevity “. This screen was truly amazing.

“Heavens, this screen actually was made with such elaborate efforts. I’m afraid it couldn’t be completed without at least a year and a half, right?”

“You are too naive. This embroidery isn’t just a piece of two-sided embroidery. Nobody knows how much effort it will take to finish just one side, let alone two sides. When does our Da’an Dynasty have such a skillful embroideress?” Even the embroideresses in the imperial palace wouldn’t be as skillful.

Everyone was arguing heatedly, but no one thought Shen Ninghua might be that embroideress. After all, she was only a fourteen-year-old girl. Such exquisite embroidery technique was probably something that could not be obtained without more than a dozen years of practice.

Chu Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua and asked, “Eldest Young Lady, did you make this screen?”

Hearing this, people quieted down and looked at Shen Ninghua curiously.

Shen Ninghua’s expression remained unchanged. “Yes, I have been thinking about my grandmother’s birthday since I was recuperating away from home. I also copied dozens of scriptures as part of my gifts to grandmother. But the scriptures were accidentally damaged, and I could only send the screen.” Apparently, the accidental damage referred to Madam Zhao’s forcible search of her courtyard earlier.

Hearing this, Baili Jinchuan sighed, “I’m afraid such exquisite craftsmanship cannot be found even in the Imperial Palace.”

Old Lady Xiao was so happy that she didn’t know what to say. Shen Ninghua had indeed put feathers in her caps. This screen was even better than those in the Imperial Palace! Seeing Madam Zhao’s gloomy expression, she immediately felt a burst of disgust. With such an expression at her birthday banquet, was Madam Zhao dissatisfied with her?

Madam Zhao’s face was gloomy because Shen Ninghua had completely stolen the limelight from Shen Xuanye and Shen Linghan. No matter how amazing the music or sword-dance was, the filial piety they exhibited was incomparable to Shen Ninghua’s screen. What the emperor valued the most was filial piety!

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