Shuangshuang gasped. When did she become so ugly like a frog?
It seemed that what that goblin said the other day was true. The whole capital knew about her divorce, and it had even become a topic of conversation in the backyards of various princes' mansions.
When those women saw Shuangshuang approaching, they suddenly stopped their discussion, each with a look of panic on their faces, then bent down tremblingly and said, "Sister Yushan."
Yushan? So that woman's name was Yushan.
Shuangshuang nodded seriously, quickly bypassed them, and walked into the noisy inner hall. As soon as she reached the door, the inside suddenly fell silent, and then a plaintive pipa sound came.
The tune was beautiful, soft and euphemistic, like a trickle of water pouring into the heart, telling the sorrow and longing of the pipa player.
Shuangshuang bypassed the crowd, stepped on the cold floor, and gradually walked up the stairs. Her eyes couldn't help but fall on the red stage in the hall where the lights gathered.
On the huge stage, a woman in red sat in the middle of the stage with her back to Shuangshuang. Under the flickering red lights, her figure looked thin, lonely, and blurred.
Leaning on the railing with both hands, leaning over to look at the woman in red below, listening to her sad tune, Shuangshuang couldn't help but have a trace of tears in the corner of her eyes, as if forgetting the purpose of coming in. Just when she was completely immersed in the tune, the woman's piano sound suddenly changed, the strings sounded as urgent as splitting silk, heavy and rapid, with intermittent pauses, but full of grandeur and passion.
At that moment, Shuangshuang seemed to hear the sound of ice breaking, and her heart couldn't help but beat fiercely. At the same time, she woke up for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she tried not to listen to the tune anymore, but focused on looking for the figure she wanted.
She was looking for not only Xiao Yunxuan, but also... the masked man who said he would wait for Xiao Yunxuan in Hualou.
Her beautiful eyes scanned the crowd in the hall coldly. Shuangshuang suddenly felt that there was a gaze staring at her all the time, burning. When she looked for it suddenly, Shuangshuang's body stiffened.
It was no one else but Xiao Yunxuan who was looking at her! He was wearing a crescent - colored robe with gold edges, holding a jade cup, his eyes were as bright as stars, and he sat obliquely in the opposite elegant seat in a relaxed manner. Beside him stood several men in green clothes with cold faces.
At the moment when their eyes met, his gaze seemed deeper and more complex, like the sea at night, which was easy to make people indulge. But... Shuangshuang reminded herself that it was Xiao Yunxuan.
The corner of her mouth under the veil slightly curved, and Shuangshuang withdrew her gaze with a cold smile, continuing to look for another person. But suddenly, she was pulled by someone. Turning around, she saw a middle-aged woman with excessive makeup.
"Oh! My Yushan, I've been looking for you so hard! My dear, why are you still here? It's your turn to dance soon, you little thing, and you hide here."
While saying that, the woman shook the silk handkerchief in her hand. The strong fragrance made Shuangshuang almost vomit.
"Oh! Look at your hair? How did it get so messy?"
The middle-aged woman who called herself "Mom" frowned, stretched out her hand painted with red nail polish, and, while tidying up Shuangshuang's messy hair, she pulled her to walk backward, and kept muttering, "Oh my Yushan, you don't make me worry."
Walking through the luxuriously decorated corridor, Shuangshuang was taken into a wing room by her mom. Pushing open the door, there was a pearl curtain. Walking in, she saw a beautiful red wooden dressing table. In front of the huge bronze mirror, there were those exquisite hair ornaments, jewelry, makeup, flowers, rouge, pearl powder... which made Shuangshuang dumbfounded.
Just sitting down, the mom suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, "Why are you wearing a veil today? Are you afraid of blushing when you see the Seventh Prince?" After saying that, she reached out to take it off, but was stopped by Shuangshuang.
"Mom, I'm not Yushan." Shuangshuang smiled, her voice was as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate, and also had a pleasant softness.
"Yo?" The mom was surprised, reached out to lift Shuangshuang's chin, looked at her smiling eyes, and said in surprise, "Then who are you? Where is my Yushan?"
"Mom." Shuangshuang called softly, held mom's hand, and said, "Sister Yushan is not feeling well today. She is afraid that the Seventh Prince will be unhappy when he sees her, so she asked me to replace her. But she is afraid of being recognized by the prince, so she asked me to wear this veil."
"But, but Yushan is going to dance tonight? Can you replace her?"
"Yes."
"She is going to dance 'Flying Immortals from Beyond the Sky'. As far as mom knows, few people can dance that dance."
"Mom. Since Sister Yushan asked me to replace her, it just shows that she trusts me. Although I can't dance 'Flying Immortals from Beyond the Sky', the dance I dance will not let you down, mom."
The middle-aged woman sighed, "Since Yushan trusts you so much, Mom will trust you once. Of course, you must not mess up the dance, because tonight, there are not only the Seventh Prince, but also another noble person, whom we Hualou can't afford to offend." Then she picked up a comb and began to comb Shuangshuang's hair, with an extra look of worry on her face.
"Mom, please trust me."
"By the way, what's your name?"
Shuangshuang looked up at the woman in the mirror and smiled, "My name is Shuangshuang."
Here, Shuangshuang wanted to be herself, so she used her name.
"Shuang?" The mom put down the comb, nodded with satisfaction, picked up an eyebrow pencil, carefully traced Shuangshuang's eyebrows, and exclaimed, "An elegant name. But you have a pair of charming eyes!" The slightly cool tip of the pencil gently glided across her eyebrows and fell on her eyelids, circling like flowing water.
"More beautiful than I imagined." The middle-aged woman put down the pencil, her tone undisguisedly praising Shuangshuang.
Looking up, Shuangshuang was suddenly stunned. In the bronze mirror, a woman's curved black eyebrows slightly turned up at the corners of her eyes, with a touch of tenacity in the softness. Her long and thick eyelashes were like butterfly wings lying on her phoenix eyes, trembling gently. Her beautiful, charming eyes were particularly attractive, as if there were flowing lights and colors, as if there were blue waves flowing, both enchanting and pure.