"Bang——"

Du Xiaoli suddenly leaped and jumped onto a bass drum. The drum made a deep and low sound, coincidentally cutting in between the notes of the guqin while also striking into the hearts of the audience.

After dancing on the bass drum, she jumped to the snare drum again, leaping like a blast of autumn wind. Du Xiaoli jumped on the face of the drum like a flame, and her water sleeves were a blur. Her long ink-black hair swayed in the wind with her dance, and the bursts of drumbeats sounded urgent and tense. At this time, the notes of the qin took on the supporting role, occasionally adding a melody to complement the music.

"Dong--"

Two water sleeves fell into the inkwell with a slight clang. Everyone thought this was a mistake on her part. Yet they then saw her leap back onto the canvas, and the water sleeves swept across it, leaving behind streaks of ink.

Unlike Zhao Zirui who needed to stop and paint, Du Xiaoli's painting was basically done while she was dancing, better integrating dance and painting. Furthermore, it was exciting! No matter what was the final result of her painting, she could now be said to be on par with Zhao Zirui!

As Ji Liuxia, Meng Jiangzhuo, and Han Mingxiang watched from the side of the stage, Ji Liuxia covered her mouth and said, "It's really beautiful!"

"There's always something in Xiaoli that we haven't discovered. There are always more pleasant surprises when we’re by her side!" Meng Jiangzhuo exclaimed.

"How wonderful!"

The tune was nearing its end.

Du Xiaoli rolled up one of her water sleeves to use it as a brush. She dipped it in the inkwell and then pulled it back toward her. As for the other water sleeve, she used it to roll up the scroll in front of the canvas. She pulled the sleeve upward, and the canvas followed, moving upward as well. Quickly retracting the water sleeve, Du Xiaoli leaped, flying upward with the canvas. She swiftly wrote a few words on the canvas with the brush in her hand.

By the time she was done, the canvas had completely left the ground. The scroll above brought along the entire canvas as it flew to the curtain at the back of the stage. There, the scroll fastened to a clasp behind the curtain, and the whole painting was presented to everyone. It was a magnificent ink painting of mountains and rivers. The painting’s immense grandeur instantly overshadowed Zhao Zirui's painting of bamboo and chrysanthemums.

"Bang..."

The fire-red figure flipped backward. Just as the canvas settled down, the figure landed on the bass drum at the back, ending the marvelous dance like a revived phoenix.

"Beautiful landscape! Great work, great work!" Han Mingze saw the words on the painting, clapped his hands and shouted, excitedly standing up from his seat.

The officials in the audience were excited as well. It went without saying that this dance contest was won by Du Xiaoli. This meant that Feng Ming won, so there was no need to open up the trading city in Feng Ming!

"Prime Minister Du, Miss Du is truly the most talented girl in our Feng Ming!" The minister sitting next to Du Yunhan said.

"Lord Wang has over-exaggerated," Du Yunhan replied modestly. However, his face was filled with a proud expression.

Grand Tutor Meng had known that Du Xiaoli was going to perform today, so he came to watch the competition too. Looking at Du Xiaoli who was coming down from the drum, he nodded approvingly while saying, "She is a person who has a heart that cherishes the world!"

Only a person with such a heart can perform a dance like this and create a painting like this.

Senior Official Fu also nodded and said, "It is a blessing for my country, Feng Ming, to have such a woman as the Princess Consort of Prince Ding!"

"Oh, what’s this? Back then, you didn’t even want to accept her into the academy. If it was not for her, we would have lost this competition!" Grand Tutor Meng commented.

Without changing his expression, Senior Official Fu said: "Was the situation the same back then as it is now? However, for somebody like her, it's already possible for her to finish her studies."

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Xiaoli with twinkling eyes. He was showing a bright and interested gaze toward a woman for the first time. "You really are an amazing woman. It’s no wonder he fell for you.”

Having been shocked speechless, it took Ji Liufeng a long time to get his words out: "Is this really that little girl we met in a small mountain village?"

Han Mingyi heard Ji Liufeng's words and glanced at him lightly. Although Han Mingyi did not say it aloud, he felt the same way as Ji Liufeng. At that time, Du Xiaoli had behaved differently from ordinary women. However, considering the way she had grown into such an amazing woman in just a few years, the word ‘legendary’ could indeed be used to describe her!

Zhao Zirui looked at Du Xiaoli with a complicated expression in her eyes. She hadn’t expected Du Xiaoli to be able to dance even better than herself. Be it in terms of the dance style or skill level, Du Xiaoli had won by a mile. She wholeheartedly accepted her loss.

Lu Junqi had long since known about Du Xiaoli's dancing ability. Yet even though she had been mentally prepared to lose to Du Xiaoli, she had not expected the difference between them to be so great. It seemed that there was truly a very big difference between the two of them!

Beiling Yu clapped her hands excitedly and said, "Brother, look. Miss Du danced so well. Her performance was awesome!"

"It was indeed quite good!" Beiling Yicheng agreed.

Some boy servants came up onto the stage and took down all the props, bringing them off the stage. Meanwhile, Du Xiaoli went to the side of the stage and put on the shoes she was wearing before. Although she wanted to change her socks, it seemed like a bad thing to take them off in front of everyone present.

"Xiaoli, you are so awesome!" Fu Yalan walked over with the qin in her arms and stretched out a hand to support Du Xiaoli.

After Du Xiaoli put on her shoes, she stood back up and said with a smile: "That's because Yalan-jiejie's accompaniment with the qi allowed me to perform better."

"Oh, don't be so modest! Let's go down," Fu Yalan said with a smile.

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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