The Crown Prince is Actually a Princess! SEASON 1

Chapter 35 Part 3 - "The Lotus Leaf Dance"

....

Concubine Qiao nodded, and looked at the blooming roses and peony in the garden around the Houyuan Pavilion.
Her eyes were long and soft, as if she had returned to her youthful times.
She slowly said:

"Concubine An entered the Palace two years earlier than me, and her appearance was beautiful and exquisite.
Although there were more than three thousand beauties in the Harem, she could win the holy favor of the Emperor by relying on her wicker-like slender waist and gorgeous appearance.
Also she amazed the Palace people with her soft dancing skills.

In those two years, Concubine An was quite favored.
His Majesty often summoned her to perform dances and serve him for wine.
During the time, soft dances were popular in and outside the Palace, and became the most important attraction.

That year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Your Mother, the Empress, arranged for Concubine An to dance at the Palace Banquet.
In order to win the favor of His Majesty, Concubine An created a new unique dance called "Lotus Leaf Dance" which she performed using Jade plates."

Murong Ci exclaimed,
"If a person dances with Jade plates, they must have a light posture and be very agile!"

Concubine Qiao nodded,

"Concubine An's skill was unmatched!
She ate very little at every meal to maintain a light posture and a slender waist.
At the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, her Lotus Leaf Dance with Jade plates greatly moved the people of the Imperial Capital and the Imperial Palace.
She was the first person to dance such a splendid dance and was bestowed by His Majesty countless rewards.

However, the peak of prosperity always has a decline, and in her case, the peak of happiness brought also sorrow.

The most beautiful and dazzling honor in her life was the moment of the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, but it was also a moment of grief."

"Why?"

"Late at night that day, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the child in Concubine An's belly was gone."

"Since she was pregnant, why did she perform a dance in the Palace Banquet?"

"She didn't even know that she was pregnant with His Majesty's flesh and blood.
She ate very little and was already thin, and she practiced dancing for days before the Mid-Autumn Festival Palace Banquet.
How could the child survive all that?"
Concubine Qiao sighed long, not without pity.

"Did she fall out of favor afterwards?"
Murong Ci asked again.
But suddenly she thought...

'It was the Empress who arranged her to perform a dance at the Mid-Autumn Festival Palace Banquet!
Having lost her child,....
Would she be resentful toward the Empress afterwards?'

Murong Ci thought that if this was the case, Concubine An would have had the motive to feel resentful towards the young Murong Ci, and take revenge for the unborn child of hers.

Concubine Qiao looked at the cluster of crimson, delicate roses, with pity in her eyes,

"Concubine An became more and more depressed and unwilling to serve His Majesty afterwards, so His Majesty stopped summoning her."

Murong Ci understood that after she was born and her mother passed away, Concubine An might have thought of taking care of her with the intention of taking revenge for the unborn child, and waited for an opportunity to take action.

Concubine Qiao said again:
"Other than that, Concubine An had other misfortunes.

Her close maid-servant Liu Mei was a former dancer that her parents bought from a slavery merchant.
Liu Mei was quite savvy and older than her.
She taught Concubine An how to dance for several years.
The soft dance included."

"Eh? It turns out that Liu Mei, a maid-servant, taught Concubine An how to dance?!"

"Liu Mei was the most outstanding dancer in the country.
If it wasn't that her appearance was ruined, resulting with her future also ruined and leaving her with a poor life condition, she would have not been forced to slavery."

"Oh? When was Liu Mei's appearance ruined?"
Murong Ci was shocked, and suddenly remembered that Concubine An's maid-servant's face was intact and not disfigured!

"I think...it was more than ten years before she had met Concubine An",
Concubine Qiao raised her forehead and thought,

"By the way, Liu Mei had two crossed scars on the left-side of her face ever since.
After so many years, the color of the scar should be paler, but still two very clear pink scars remained."

"Concubine Qiao, do you really remember correctly?"
Murong Ci asked solemnly, and the mystery seemed to have opened a small gap...

"This Consort would never remember it wrongly.
Liu Mei was disfigured, and was ridiculed and humiliated because of the two scars.
Ever since she often wore a veil to cover them."
Concubine Qiao noticed that the Prince looked a little agitated, and asked,

"Your Royal Highness, what's wrong?"

"It's okay...No problem."

....

After saying farewell to Concubine Qiao, Murong Ci immediately returned to the East Palace.

'If Concubine Qiao's words were correct, then why is it that the Liu Mei I saw in the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard had her face intact with no trace of any scars?'

"....!!"

'Could it be that ........the Liu Mei I've seen there is actually a fake?'

She wanted to go to the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard to verify, but she restrained herself.
Such a big discovery can't be ruined!
She sent someone to the Dali Temple, to invite Shen Zhiyan to the East Palace.

An hour later, Shen Zhiyan hurried over.
He knew that His Royal Highness wouldn't ask him to come all the way to the East Palace for no reason.
There must be something important, so he asked excitedly:

"Your Royal Highness, did you have a new discovery?"

Murong Ci didn't explain, and just pulled him out of the East Palace and hurried to the Spring Wuyuan Courtyard.

....

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END of CHAPTER 35 PART 3
.....................to be continued