Chapter 208: A Dance of Surprise, A Dasheng Leiyin, A Decisive Kill

Tian Chengsi fell into the Qu River. He unfolded a mass of blood mist, covering himself, turning into a wriggling red mist in the river water, and fled downstream.

In the southeast corner of Changancheng, there was the Furong Garden where the Qu River ran through.

In the Furong Garden, there was a passage ordered by the Xuan Emperor to be built, leading from the Wanhua Building in the Great Ming Palace to the Xingqinggong and the Furong Garden. As long as he reached there, he could safely return to the Great Ming Palace by relying on his fish tally as a Martial Guard General.

The passage was built for the convenience of the Xuan Emperor and Consort Taizhen to visit the Furong Garden. It was arranged with powerful protective restrictions, and there was even the Nine Palaces Flying Star Shifting Array, which could even allow the Xuan Emperor to come from the Great Ming Palace to the Xingqinggong or the Furong Garden in an instant, and could also go directly out of the city from the newly opened Xinan Gate outside the outer wall of Changancheng.

And although the Xinan Gate also had powerful restrictions, it was ultimately just a city gate newly opened because of the Xuan Emperor's selfishness, and there was no city gate god to suppress it. It was a flaw in the Chang'an city defense, and even the entire Chang'an Array.

These secrets, if Tian Chengsi had not already gained An Lushan's trust, could never have been known.

Tian Chengsi fled in the water toward the Furong Garden.

At this moment, Changancheng had already begun the celebration of the Thousand-Autumn Festival. Along the banks of the Qu River, huge lantern towers decorated with colored lanterns were erected in every ward, especially the lantern towers erected in the Yaonao Ward, which were the most gorgeous and beautiful, whether they were auspicious beasts like the Bai Ze and Lu Shu, or colorful flower trees and lotus Bodhisattvas, among which the colored lantern bamboo towers made by merchants in the East and West Markets were the most dazzling.

A nine-layered palace, magnificent and golden, a floating lotus flower, floating a hundred feet in the air.

On Zhu Que Street, there was a flower float parade. Each flower float was driven by talisman prohibition methods, decorated with flowers and clusters, and flower girls were dancing on the floats.

On the Qu River, there were also several painted boats, carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, flower boats that were extremely luxurious and followed the river flow.

On one of the flower boats, a white jade platform was built, paved with red silk, with eighteen large drums set up. Several women dressed in fluttering ribbons and exposing their arms stood on the platform. The leading woman was graceful and beautiful. She looked down and looked around, suddenly shook her sleeves, light gauze fluttering, waving colorful clothes, like a flying swan, circling in the air.

Twisting her waist and looking back, her sleeves waving.

The woman turned around and around, dancing in the air, graceful like a green orchid in full bloom, and the other eight accompanying dancers also rose into the air, their long skirts fluttering, their earrings flowing and looking back, winding like swimming dragons, surrounding the leading dancer and swimming.

At this time, the beautiful woman sang softly: "There is a beauty in the south, dancing lightly in a green waist. The gorgeous banquet is in the late autumn, flying sleeves brushing the clouds and rain. Graceful like a green orchid, elegant like a swimming dragon. The beauty of Yue stops at the front stream, the Wu girl stops the white silk. The slow posture cannot be exhausted, the prosperous posture curves to the end. The falling earrings flow with the eyes, the long skirts want to trace the sky. Only worry about not being able to catch it, flying to chase the startled swan!"

On both banks of the Qu River, deafening shouts, cheers, and applause came, echoing through Chang'an. At this moment, Chang'an was moved, and the scholars and officials who came out to attend the Thousand-Autumn Grand Banquet all came upon hearing the sound. Li Mi, accompanied by the Crown Prince, also came to the bank of the Qu River, watching the dance of surprise on the flower boat.

Crown Prince Li Heng watched in a daze, and when Li Mi came behind him, he was still staring at the dancer on the flower boat.

Li Mi had to remind him: "Crown Prince, His Majesty is still watching!"

Li Heng sighed and turned his head back at this moment. He tilted his head and whispered, "Consort Mei wishes to earn a smile from His Majesty and is performing a dance here on the Qujiang River. Truly, one dance of the 'Startled Swan' and the 'Rainbow Skirt' loses its luster."

On the Ziyun Building next to the Furong Garden, an extremely heroic man nodded and smiled. He was the current Xuan Emperor.

The Xuan Emperor stared at the dance, which was as graceful as a startled swan and as agile as a swimming dragon, his eyes deep and filled with a faint obsession.

A woman of unparalleled beauty beside him snorted coldly. The Xuan Emperor laughed loudly when he heard the sound: "Taizhen, what do you think of the dance of surprise that Meifei carefully presented to me today?"

Yang Taizhen raised her eyes and stared deeply, nodding: "It is indeed not bad. Who created this dance?"

The Xuan Emperor smiled: "This dance was created by Meifei with the cooperation of Lady Gongsun Danniang, who is famous in Chang'an today. Jade Truth once said to me that Lady Gongsun Danniang also has a dance called: 'Xihe Sword Instrument.' It is said that it can make the moonlight pour down. Wu Daozi watched her dance and improvised a painting in the temple. I sent someone to see it, and it scared the guts of six experts in the palace, all saying that it was a mural of ghosts and gods unparalleled."

"Zhang Xu watched this dance, and his cursive script had great progress. He presented a scroll of calligraphy to me, writing the poem that Meifei sang today."

"The one who wrote the poem is Li Taibai, who was praised by He Zhizhang not long ago and is known as the banished immortal from heaven. Tonight, he will also come to the banquet. This poem, calligraphy, dance, and painting are truly the four wonders..."

Gao Lishi beside him whispered: "Your Majesty, I have also seen that painting by Wu Daozi. It is a painting of hell, persuading people to be good. It is ferocious and terrifying. Although the brushwork is marvelous and the painting path has entered the divine, I fear it does not match the atmosphere of the Great Tang!"

"Then that is the three wonders!" The Xuan Emperor laughed.

"Oh?" Yang Taizhen showed a smiling face, carrying a bit of coldness: "That really aroused my curiosity. I really want to see these three wonders of the prosperous Tang Dynasty!"

The Xuan Emperor laughed loudly: "With such fame, I will certainly not miss it. I have already invited Lady Gongsun Danniang to the banquet for the officials in the Hu'e Xianghui Building tonight! I will enjoy this dance with Taizhen!"

Yang Taizhen showed a proud smile, carrying a bit of coldness: "Then I really want to see it! Tonight, I have the intention to test their superiority with the 'Rainbow Feather and Feather Garment Song'!"

The Xuan Emperor looked at her face, which was slightly jealous but still bright and generous, and couldn't help but laugh loudly.

He tilted his head to enjoy the accompaniment of the dance of surprise, and sighed with some regret: "It's just a pity that although this dance of surprise is marvelous, the music is a bit worse, losing a trace of charm."

Beside the Xuan Emperor, the fat An Lushan flattered and laughed: "The 'Rainbow Feather and Feather Garment Song' was created by Your Majesty himself, and it is marvelous and square. Only the 'Qin Wang Breaks the Array Music' created by the Tai Emperor in the past can compare with it. But with the accompaniment of Consort Taizhen, it can be called unparalleled in the world. This dance of surprise is ultimately a bit worse."

"Good for you, An Lushan!" The Xuan Emperor stroked his beard and laughed: "When did you also learn that set of Yang Guozhong? I like your honesty, so don't flatter me!"

"What I said comes from the bottom of my heart!" An Lushan said with an honest and simple look: "Your Majesty, my loyalty, heaven and earth can testify!"

All the fat on his body trembled, and he danced and danced, accompanied by the dance music on the Qu River, and was about to improvise a Hu Teng dance.

Li Heng on the side of the Qu River withdrew his gaze looking at the Ziyun Building and sighed in admiration: "Caiping's dance of surprise is really not inferior to the rainbow feather and feather garment..." He lowered his voice and said: "Recently, Yang Guozhong's running dogs have been killed several times in Changancheng, and the losses are heavy. Some things he planned have also been frustrated frequently."

"Li Mi, will this be my opportunity?"

Li Mi said solemnly: "Crown Prince, you cannot be anxious!"

"The Crown Prince of the Great Tang must never be anxious!"

"Yang Guozhong views me as a thorn in his side, and he is already anxious! How can I just passively endure his slander?" Li Heng said hatefully. 【208-43

"He is merely relying on Yang Taizhen. Li Mi, you say An Lushan is going to rebel, and Yang Guozhong is repeatedly pressuring Hebei. If An Lushan really rebels! How will Yang Guozhong answer to the people of the world?"

Li Mi shook his head and said, "Yang Guozhong said An Lushan would rebel, and An Lushan indeed rebelled. It will only confirm his words and will not affect His Majesty's trust in him!"

"He is the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister bears the affairs of the world. If An Lushan is just making a small disturbance, it naturally doesn't matter, but what if it blows up? An Lushan occupies the three garrisons of Hebei; once he rebels, Hebei will be in ruins, and even Luoyang will..."

Li Mi raised his head in shock and hurriedly said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince. Luoyang is the Eastern Capital; once it is lost, the world will be shaken! You must not, for the sake of a moment's pleasure, indulge such..."

"Li Mi, His Highness did not say anything about indulging An Lushan in capturing Luoyang. It is just that Yang Guozhong is acting perversely and bringing this disaster upon himself. His Highness rises early and sleeps late, all to remove this scourge for the Great Tang!"

Beside Li Heng, an effeminate eunuch whispered.

He raised his head, his snake-like eyes making Li Mi extremely uncomfortable.

"Jingzhong, do not be rude to Li Mi!" Li Heng reprimanded him half-heartedly.

"It was my impatience! I ask for your forgiveness, Imperial Scholar Li."

The eunuch's cold, chilling voice was like a snake crawling over Li Mi's skin, making him feel extreme disgust.

"If Caiping can gain His Majesty's favor and divide the imperial grace of that Yang Taizhen, I will have a powerful ally in the palace," Li Heng sighed.

Li Mi had to advise him again: "Your Highness, please address Consort Mei by her title!"

"I have known Caiping for a long time... Very well! I cannot let His Majesty misunderstand Consort Mei... Consort Mei... Caiping... Jiang Caiping!" Li Heng sighed and waved his hand helplessly.

At this moment, the 'Startled Swan' dance on the Qujiang pleasure boat had reached its climax. Eighteen morning drums, lifted out from the Taiji Palace, suddenly rose and hovered in mid-air. Jiang Caiping used her sleeves as mallets; as she spread her sleeves, it was like a startled swan spreading its wings. Two ribbons fluttered up, carrying a sense of strength within their softness, like the wings of an elegant swan flapping hard as it takes flight.

They struck the morning drums!

The sound of the drums echoed throughout Chang'an!

At this moment, the Xuan Emperor, standing on the Ziyun Tower, suddenly raised his head, his face showing shock...

Dong, dong, dong...

The startled swan danced, the morning drums arrayed and sounded. The heavy, majestic drumbeats accompanied the light and graceful dance. That figure, like a flying swan, wove between the eighteen large drums, performing a majestic and grand drum piece!

Eight dancers accompanying the 'Startled Swan' picked up lutes, horizontal flutes, vertical flutes, and other instruments, flying and weaving in the sky. Their clothes fluttered, they played the lutes backward, held their flutes horizontally, their postures were incomparably beautiful, like a magnificent scene from a heavenly palace...

"The 'Qin Wang Breaks the Array' music!" The Xuan Emperor's face showed a strange light, and he said, "To think it could be done like this?"

"That lute sound..." The Xuan Emperor tilted his head to listen, deeply moved: "The main melody is indeed a piece I have never heard before, grand and imposing, like a general breaking through an array! What piece is this?"

Beside him, Gao Lishi whispered: "This is a recent work by Li Guinian—'The General's Command'!"

"What a Li Guinian!" the Xuan Emperor praised.

When the drumbeats echoed through Chang'an, in the name of accompanying the 'Startled Swan' dance, the drum towers of every street that were mobilized simultaneously beat out a dense rhythm in response, rumbling like winter thunder.

In the Qujiang River, the formless, intangible blood mist that Tian Chengsi had transformed into, which was not bound by any seals, suddenly shook and then shattered, revealing Tian Chengsi's disheveled figure. Tian Chengsi spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling desperately in the Qujiang River; he had already seen the Ziyun Tower by the Qujiang Pool not far away.

It was as if he could already see An Lushan's fat body, and the bright yellow robe of the Xuan Emperor, who was supreme in the empire, held the power to tilt the heavens, and commanded the world to submit.

But his meridians had already snapped inch by inch.

It was the rumbling drum array and thunderous sound raised in Chang'an that broke all his magic and shattered his protective blood mist.

By the Qujiang River in the Pear Garden, Li Guinian played the lute, setting the tone for the drumbeats.

Qian Chen, dressed in white, sat on the ground. On his legs, which were crossed like a lotus flower, lay a primitive 'Jiaowei' zither. Amidst the mottled burn marks, the seven strings played in unison, merging with the Chang'an street drum array to emit a thunderous sound that shook the heavens and earth, upright and filled with Yang energy.

The Supreme True Mantra, the Demon-Subduing Lei Sheng.

At this moment, as the strings were plucked, the Soundless Divine Thunder transformed into the 'Xiyi' (invisible and inaudible), enveloping Chang'an. Invisible and colorless thunder light leaped and wove through the main streets, alleys, and markets of Chang'an. Cultivators with low cultivation bases and ordinary people were completely unaware.

But those ghosts and gods, the City God Lord Zhong Kui, the civil and military judges, and even the dozens of righteous gods of Chang'an, all had solemn expressions, feeling the invisible, great terror within the thunder light that brushed past them.

They began to take action, masking the tracks of the countless shadows that had begun to move in Changancheng at this moment.

The terrifying thunder light of the Xiyi Divine Thunder dissipated in Changancheng, like a clay ox entering the sea, leaving no trace.

Hearing the inspiring drumbeats, the bustling crowds in Changancheng became even more lively. Cheers erupted, and the crowds surged toward both banks of the Qujiang River, all wanting to see the 'Startled Swan' dance that had shocked Chang'an.

Having settled into An Lushan's mansion and preparing to find their colleagues who had arrived a step earlier, the Lulong Army soldiers, who were weaving through the flower streets, suddenly heard the drumbeats. Their entire bodies shook, the true qi within their bodies dissipated, and the weight of their souls raised a boundless thunder sound, instantly numbing them.

Beside them were ordinary people admiring the lanterns, peddlers shouting their wares, prostitutes calling out from the buildings, children begging in the crowd, and scholars reciting poetry...

A red silk ribbon hung down from a flower building, looping around the neck of a Lulong Army soldier directly below. The red silk tightened suddenly, strangling him to death.

The beggars running past the Lulong Army soldiers suddenly seemed unable to dodge in time, bumping into several demonic cultivator soldiers. Three or four daggers were thrust into their lower abdomens simultaneously, churning at the location of their Qi Sea.

A mutton peddler chopped off the heads of two men with one stroke, covered them with a sheepskin from the side, transformed the two corpses into dead sheep, hung them on the rack beside him, and began to gut them.

A street performer spat out flames, transforming into a fire dragon that wove through the crowd, swallowing several Lulong Army soldiers in one gulp and burning them to ashes. The fire dragon turned its head, startling the nearby citizens into continuous exclamations, yet it did not hurt them in the slightest.

A scholar reciting poetry picked up his brush to paint on the white wall nearby. When the painting was finished, several soldiers riding horses, with lifelike and terrified expressions, were imprinted on the wall, their postures just as they were in life, forever frozen at this moment.

A group of Wu Hou (city guards) suddenly broke into a dark alley, kicked open the door, and inside, several men with a ruffian air, fierce faces, and hideous tattoos were surrounding a person, shouting loudly: "Boss, what's wrong, Boss!"

Seeing someone break in, they all looked back in panic.

When they saw the identity of the intruders, they breathed a sigh of relief and cupped their hands: "Officers, we are the Prime Minister's men. We have always followed the law and paid our respects regularly. We are all on the same side!"

"Exterminate the demons completely!" the leader gave a low, hoarse roar and raised his blade to strike down ruthlessly.

"Kill!"

In an instant, blade light whirled, raising a spray of blood. The boss, Yang Sanlang, lying on the ground unable to move, had a ferocious face and roared in a struggle: "Who are you?"

There was no answer, and his head had already rolled to the ground.

A talisman inscribed with secret texts burned, and wisps of Yin fire ignited many of the wronged souls and vengeful ghosts in this small courtyard, but neither this Yin fire nor the souls existed for long before they were completely obliterated by the drumbeats.