InterGalaxia (On Hold)

2.11

Chi YunQi was nervous. She had never been one for dancing, even in her past lives. She was admittedly a tad uncoordinated, never finding the right rhythm that was on beat with the music. Her co-ordination had improved with her blade play training but she still hasn't tried dancing yet. All the women in the group were given time to think of a piece to perform as well given free rein of anything in the room. Chi YunQi stood in the corner with a cocked hip and her hand on her chin in thought. Sweeping her gaze around the room, she realised that the Emperor had given the candidates plenty of things that could become props. On one of the desks in the distance, Chi YunQi was seen rifling through a box filled with swaths of fabric. Picking up two identical waist sashes in a pale yellow, Chi YunQi exited the room, much to the surprise of the other ladies in the room. Most were secretly excited, however, as she was the one they had deemed as the highest threat due to her charisma and beauty, but the one in question has left on her own without needing them to scheme her.

 Next to the building that the competition rooms were situated in, was a small pavilion. Laying the sashes on the bench, Chi YunQi unravelled a small amount of the stitching to make some string and reached for her head. The pins in her hair held many dangling decorations, some even hanging from one or two-inch rectangle metals. As the pins holding the top part of her hair up were let down, her hair fell into a dishevelled mess. Pulling back her sleeve, Chi YunQi lightly touched the dagger charm on her bracelet, the exquisite dagger flashed with light before appearing in her hand at its original size. A few fast swipes of the blade and she had turned one of the little rectangles into a needle. Returning the blade to her wrist tattoo and the pin to her hair, Chi YunQi looked around for a more sheltered area than the pavilion. Spotting a shady tree in the corner of the courtyard, Chi YunQi grabbed the fabrics and settled at the base of the tree. Looking left and right for any figures, Chi YunQi cautiously slipped the shoulders and sleeves off her torso. She did so as she couldn't very well sow the fabrics on her sleeves whilst she was still wearing it, can she? Her chest was wrapped so there was no skin showing but because she was in the Palace of all places, it was highly inappropriate to go showing off her chest in this state of undress. Also, the slip was rather thin and the day was chilly, her nipples had pebbled against the chill of the breeze, making her glad that the sun beat down bright enough and the tree had enough foliage that the shadow cast was reasonably dark.

 Folding back the sleeves to where her elbows would be, Chi YunQi went about sowing the fabric under her sleeves as quickly as possible. While she was sowing, she was unaware of the two different sets of eyes on her figure. One was from the second storey of the Palace, the Crown Prince's eyes were set on her in primal hunger and also anger. Hunger for her body which was on display and anger about the fact that if even he could chance upon her in this state of undress, that means anyone from a lowly guard, maid and eunuch to his brother or even his Emperor Father could just as easily be watching her now. In a way, he was right, as Edris was on the top level and sending an unreadable expression in her direction before stalking off.

 Finished with her sowing, Chi YunQi put her hanfu back on properly, careful with the new sleeves. Grinning, Chi YunQi went back to the competition room and approached the musicians at the back to discuss what she wanted to be done for her dance routine, music wise. By the time she had finished discussing, a small gong was sounded. In the two rooms with the other contestants, a similar sound was heard ringing out. A maid beckoned the ladies to approach a woman sat on a chair in the front of the room. The woman was lovely to look at but wasn't extraordinarily beautiful or breathtaking like many of the ladies in the room. She was kind, it could be seen in her disposition, and petite size. For some reason, Chi YunQi could see some similar features to Chi YunLei in the woman. They had the same eyebrow shape, plump lips and face shape. Everything else was different though. Chi YunLei was taller, was curvier due to childbirth and had shorter, slightly wavy hair. The woman was short, thin like a traditional Asian woman and had long straight hair. "I am Liu ShuZhi. I am here to be the judge today on behalf of His Majesty" the woman softly spoke. Willow tree branch? I shouldn't be surprised as mother's name means  'to eat thunder clouds' and my name means 'to eat luck'. In some ways, Liu ShuZhi makes much more sense than those names.