The Elegant Dancing Years By Huo Li (火狸) | BL

Chapter 7 | Zi Qi

After calling off the servants, Qi Xutian didn’t let anyone announce his arrival. While holding Qi Mingyue, he stepped into Ningxi Pavilion. All the while walking, he noticed the abnormal atmosphere. As expected, when they arrived at An Ruolan’s door, they saw Zhi Lan and another maid standing outside, and the sound of things breaking could be heard.

Shushing the two up, Qi Xutian pushed opened the door and entered.

The atmosphere inside was tense, the floor was messy with shattered articles lying around. An Ruolan was sitting at the dressing table, her back facing them. Looking at the vacant surface of the table, one could see where the shattered pieces came from.

At the side of the window was a man in a snow-white robe with his dark hair tied loosely behind his head, looking out of the window. His lips were pressed together and his chest heaved, it looked like he was really angry.

Qi Xutian purposely made more noise as he walked in. The man was shocked and turned to see Qi Xutian. Instead of panicking, however, he organized himself slowly then approached him to pay his respects, “Ziqi greets Your Majesty.”

The men of the palace were only referred to by their true names, but the name ZiQi was known even by Qi Mingyue. He was one of the most favoured male concubines in the harem. However, he never became prideful because of this. He wore plain white clothes, but his presence was elegant and indifferent. The only thing about him was that his background wasn’t simple, he was the young son of Official Han of the Privy Council, therefore, no one dared to talk ill about him.

Looking at him up close, it was just like the rumours had portrayed him to be. He was a handsome man and didn’t show a hint of femininity. His steps were firm and his posture was straight. He greeted Qi Xutian with the manners of a noble and not a sign of imperfection was in sight.

Just as Qi Mingyue was observing this noble, An Ruolan slowly turned back. A trail of tears ran down her beautiful face, just like a pear blossom under the rain, extremely moving yet pitiful. Her brows were slightly knitted together as she spoke, “Your majesty, Concubine ZiQi and I were just chatting. I didn’t know that your majesty would be coming today and lost courtesy. Please allow me to be forgiven..." She turned to greet Qi Xutian as she spoke, unexpectedly, her body weakened and she tripped on her skirt. It looked like she was about to fall onto the floor.

Qi Xutian took a step forward, held her waist by embracing it with one hand while the other held Qi Mingyue. At this moment, they looked like one happy family. Ziqi looked at this scene and lowered his eyes, it wasn't known what he was thinking.

“Ruolan even smashed her favourite makeup. What made you so sad? Is it something that ZiQi said?”

Listening to this, An Ruolan buried herself into Qi Xutian’s chest and began to cry, looking as if she had suffered some great injustice. Anyone could guess that it was ZiQi who said something that made her as such, but just now she had insisted that they were just chatting. It appeared that Mother knew her way around words, but it was surprising that she ignored her own son. Qi Mingyue’s jumped down from Qi Xutian's arms, “Father should comfort Mother more. It's been a long time since I left the palace and feel a bit unfamiliar with it. I want to look around a bit." He said casually. While rummaging around the things on the dressing table, he took the opportunity to observe Ziqi.

Han ZiQi stood against the pillar, his expression was unknown. As Qi Mingyue observed him carefully, his eyes flashed and he suddenly asked, “Seeing Father dote on Mother so much, does Concubine ZiQi feel upset?”

At this time, Qi Xutian was gently comforting An Ruolan in his arms, but his eyes were looking at Qi Mingyue. He saw him standing beside ZiQi, looking up at him and asking seriously.