Chapter 417: Mei Xiang Dance?

"Okay." Red Aunt nodded; as long as the miss let her wait, she would keep waiting, waiting for the miss to come back.

Jiang Yunchu turned and looked toward Mi Xiang Ju; how it goes, we'll see today!

"Oh dear, Yun Miao Er?"

"You finally came; the girls ahead have already gone on stage—hurry and get ready."

Yun Miao Er and Red Aunt nodded; Red Aunt was left outside, while Jiang Yunchu cradled her qin and slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor to prepare.

"Was that girl who just passed by the new girl at the flower house?"

"I haven't seen her before; she's veiled, maybe she's not pretty."

"Young Master Huang, when it comes to judging women, your eye isn't as good as mine." A young master shouted loudly, then pointed to the hallway Jiang Yunchu had just walked down: "That girl's bone structure—she couldn't be ugly; she's probably too beautiful, and Purple Maiden is letting her veil to raise the price, right?"

"Hahaha—"

Everyone laughed, but soon they were drawn to the dance on stage—every smile, every glance, that supple waist made the people below feel an itch in their hearts.

"Yun Miao Er, you're too late—you'll go on last." Purple Maiden looked at her in black clothes, helplessly furrowed her brows; yesterday that red outfit was so beautiful, why did she switch to black?

Anyway, she wasn't a girl from Mi Xiang Ju, so whether she got a ranking or not didn't matter to her.

"Yes."

Jiang Yunchu made a slight bow, her voice soft and weak, not minding that her order had been snatched; to her, the number didn't matter.

Her purpose for coming this time was just one thing.

Just as Jiang Yunchu sat on a round stool waiting, three people walked in from outside: "Master Jiang, your ticket is for table 36."

Each ticket bears a number corresponding to the table number, and the front‑back placement has its own rules.

Table thirty‑six is on the second floor.

For the general's safety, the tickets they bought were in a private room on the second floor; the event had already started, and their arrival attracted no notice.

"General… Master Jiang." One person blurted out, almost slipping, wanted to slap himself, then reached out and said, "This way."

Just as Ning Chengyan turned to leave, across the second floor a woman in black walked slowly from one side, the black curtain veiling her face, but…

Ning Chengyan frowned slightly; that person… why did they give him a sense of familiarity?

Although Jiang Yunchu's internal energy was gone, her sharpness remained; she felt the gaze, lifted her head abruptly, but saw only the backs of three people.

Feeling mistaken? No way! It seems her future actions must be more careful.

The couple saw each other from afar, yet neither noticed the slightest thing.

"Our Mi Xiang Ju Talent Competition is about to start—were the girls' dances beautiful before?" Purple Maiden stood on stage, already over forty; aside from a few wrinkles on her face, every gesture was full of allure—don't let her age fool you, she still has plenty of patrons.

That was also a blossom of Mi Xiang Ju, a flower that hadn't withered for over twenty years.

"Beautiful!" the guests below also gave face, even feeling anticipation for the girls taking the stage today.

Who knows if there'll be something rare; they wouldn't mind spending extra silver later to buy it back for the manor.

"Beautiful, so come more—our girls aren't just beautiful in dance~" Purple Maiden flicked a brow and eye; some of the crowd below liked that type, instantly feeling a softening in their hearts, while others just teased.

But the atmosphere was heated; at this moment…

"The Great Prince has arrived!" In an instant, everyone inside froze.

Does the Great Prince need to be announced when he comes to a place like this?

"We have seen the Great Prince." Since they'd already been announced, they couldn't pretend not to know; each rose, placed their right arm on their left shoulder, performing the Xijiang salute.

"No need, everyone's here for fun; I, the prince, am just coming to join the bustle, not to disturb your enjoyment." The Great Prince wore black clothes; though he said that, he showed no expression, and under the guidance of those below, he went straight to the central spot on the second floor.

As he passed by, Ning Chengyan glanced at him—just a glance; experts are sensitive to eye contact.

After the Great Prince entered private room number one, the downstairs area became lively again.

The rooms on the second floor each had a window opened, allowing a view of the central round platform; the doors faced outward, so one could go back and forth, and servants would come by with fruit and tea.

"First, let number one go on stage—Mei Xiang dance."

The Mei Xiang dance made Jiang Yunchu a bit curious; ever since she learned her mother's qin was called the Mei Qin, she'd taken a liking to the character "mei". She looked at the person who went on as number one, wearing red clothes—not Xijiang style but more like Da Ning. A pair of white embroidered shoes, a supple body, bewitching movements.

Jiang Yunchu frowned; is this a dance?

Looking at it, it seems more like luring patrons.

The people below hadn't expected this opening dance to be such a disappointment; compared to the usual girls in the building, with just one tune, why would they spend so much silver?

"No way, get down." A young master shouted loudly, then threw a few pieces of broken silver onto the stage.

That girl had already found the dance taxing; now she stepped on a silver coin and fell flat, her face flushed, utterly at a loss as she looked toward Purple Maiden, who glared at her: "Useless—even if food is shoved into your mouth, you won't eat it."

The first opening act is supposed to draw the most attention; this girl was newly bought, originally intended to make a splash so she could fetch a high price later—who would have thought things would turn out like this?

To keep dancing was impossible now.

Purple Maiden hurried onto the stage: "This is the newly arrived girl; it's her first time on stage, she's still not skilled—gentlemen, please give her some time~"

That one sentence both introduced the girl's background and explained the reason, and it quieted the crowd below.

What a formidable mouth.

Jiang Yunchu raised her eyebrows; before coming here, she had eaten something, but she dared not touch anything in the flower house.

She had planned to use her looks to accomplish something, but she never expected something to actually happen in this flower house.

"Purple Maiden, you'd better have picked well for the second performer." The person who had just thrown silver downstairs laughed ha‑ha, but his words made clear: if the second act fails, don't blame us for not buying in.

"The second performer will certainly not disappoint the gentlemen." She smiled, then lightly clapped her hands; a girl in white gauze, holding an ancient qin, walked down step by step, like a fairy fallen into the mortal world, the white gauze making her look even more ethereal.