Ji Cheng’s temperament wasn’t entirely settled, and she was naturally very curious. So, she quietly climbed up behind the rockery. At the top of the rockery, there was a small crescent-shaped hole. Below the hole, in the belly of the mountain, was a pool of water. When the moon was high in the sky, its reflection would cast through the crescent hole into the pool, creating a unique scenery.
At this moment, the small hole allowed Ji Cheng to vaguely see what Shen Cui was doing inside the rockery. Ji Cheng listened carefully for a while before realizing that Shen Cui was practicing singing.
Shen Cui’s voice was bright with a hint of natural huskiness. When speaking, it didn’t seem particularly special, but now as she sang, it took on an extra flavor. At first listen, it didn’t seem impressive, but as one listened more, the aftertaste lingered. No wonder she had chosen to sing.
However, Ji Cheng shook her head inwardly. Shen Cui singing inside the rockery would produce many effects. Although Ji Cheng didn’t understand the principles of echo and reverberation, she knew that singing inside the rockery would sound different from singing on a platform.
Apart from her pleasant voice, both the lyrics and melody seemed quite ordinary to Ji Cheng. It could only be considered ordinarily pleasant. If she were to take this to the Central Platform Arts Selection, the chances of winning would be almost zero.
Not to mention others, even the “Misty Dance” that Su Yun had choreographed was far better than Shen Cui’s performance.
For Ji Cheng, it didn’t matter whether Shen Cui or Su Yun won this Central Platform Arts Selection. However, for someone always looking for opportunities, every event might hide a chance.
Ji Cheng twirled the hair hanging by her ears back and forth, quickly formulating a plan.
On this day, just as Shen Cui had finished practicing her voice and came out of the rockery, she saw Ji Cheng tiptoeing around in the grove, doing something unknown. Her curiosity piqued, she quietly walked up to Ji Cheng and tapped her on the shoulder.
Ji Cheng was so startled she almost screamed. Turning around to see it was Shen Cui, she said softly, “Fifth Sister, it’s you?”
“What are you doing?” Shen Cui asked.
Ji Cheng made a shushing gesture to Shen Cui and lowered her voice even more, “I just saw Sister Yun and Sister Yuan quietly leaving, so I followed them here.”
Shen Cui and Ji Cheng exchanged glances, knowing they were thinking the same thing.
Shen Cui said no more, peering over Ji Cheng’s shoulder to look into the grove. However, the grove was dense, and apart from occasionally seeing a piece of clothing, they couldn’t make out the whole picture. Naturally, they couldn’t tell what Su Yun was rehearsing.
“Can’t see anything, let’s stop looking,” Shen Cui said, starting to lose her temper as her legs had grown sore from standing for so long.
Ji Cheng stood on tiptoe and looked around, then whispered something in Shen Cui’s ear with her hand covering her mouth. Shen Cui immediately nodded.
It turned out that the grove was not far from the Jade Hook Pavilion in Jing Garden. Although called a pavilion, it had a tiled roof, which servants would inspect periodically to prevent leaks. Shen Cui immediately instructed her maid to bring out the long ladder used for these inspections.
Ji Cheng and Shen Cui carefully climbed up the long ladder onto the roof of the Jade Hook Pavilion. From this vantage point, their view was much broader, allowing them to see the whole scene from above.
After watching for just a moment, Shen Cui, who had been chattering before, fell into silence, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Su Yun in the distance.
To be honest, Su Yun had come prepared this time. In her hands were two white ribbons, which she twirled as if they were dragons dancing in the clouds, moving freely as if alive. At the climax, she even created a spherical effect that enveloped her entire body. This level of skill couldn’t be achieved in just a month or two of practice.
On the way back to her courtyard after coming down from the roof, Shen Cui didn’t say a word. The next day, she wasn’t seen practicing her voice either, just shutting herself in her room and refusing to see anyone.
Ji Lan hadn’t noticed Shen Cui’s unusual behavior, but then Ji Cheng said, “Aunt, has Fifth Sister not risen yet? Is she feeling unwell?”
Ji Lan was surprised and asked, “Your Fifth Sister hasn’t gotten up yet?” She had thought Shen Cui had already gone to the Old Madam’s room.
Ji Cheng shook her head.
Ji Lan then hurriedly went to look for Shen Cui, who was indeed still sleeping soundly under her covers. When Ji Lan called her, she impatiently kicked her legs.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Ji Lan reached out to feel Shen Cui’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever. What’s going on? The sun is high in the sky, and you’re still not getting up?”
“Leave me alone,” Shen Cui said gloomily.
“What’s the matter? Who upset you?” Ji Lan thought to herself, that her daughter was good in every way, except sometimes she was too petty and easily angered.
Shen Cui sat up, hugging her quilt, “No one upset me. I don’t want to participate in the Central Platform Arts Selection anymore. I’ll just embarrass myself if I go.”
Ji Lan’s heart skipped a beat, “Why is that? What happened?”
Shen Cui lowered her head and remained silent. When Ji Lan pressed her urgently, she finally stammered out the story of how she had secretly watched Su Yun dance.
“Is that all? Is that worth staying in bed over?” Ji Lan said.
“Mother, what do you mean?” Shen Cui became agitated, “Do you also think I can’t win against them?”
Shen Cui was a pitiful child. She had grown up in the shadow of her sisters, always being the least outstanding one. Now with Ji Cheng and Su Yun here, she was still the least noticeable.
Shen Cui had hoped to shine at the Central Platform Arts Selection, to make everyone realize that the Shen family had a Fifth Young Lady. Unfortunately, she had misjudged her abilities and was severely discouraged by Su Yun.
But Shen Cui had always believed that her mother would support and affirm her. Who knew that Ji Lan would speak like this, clearly did not take the Central Platform Arts Selection seriously.
Ji Lan quickly patted the back of Shen Cui’s hand, “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that how can Su Yun compare to you? The Su family has long since fallen, now just an empty shell. Of course, she has to prepare diligently for the Central Platform Arts Selection. But why should our Cui’er work so hard? Whatever you want, Mother will find a way to satisfy you.”
Ji Lan was thinking of Shen Cui’s best interests. How much effort had she put in before, how much hardship had she endured to marry well? Now, how could she bear to let Shen Cui suffer? She just needed to wait patiently for her to arrange things. In the future, when Ji Cheng enters the palace and her husband’s official position advances further, wouldn’t Shen Cui be able to choose her marriage partner at will?
But young girls don’t think this way, and Shen Cui has a competitive nature. She was tired of living in the shadows all the time. “No, I want to win against her, and I want to win against Wang Yueniang too. Mother, you don’t know how Wang Yueniang looks at me, I hate her so much. I must win this Central Platform Arts Selection!”
Few parents in this world can out-argue their children, and Ji Lan doted on Shen Cui, so she had to agree to think of a way.
Ji Lan called Ji Cheng and asked, “You and Cui’er both saw Su girl’s dance?”
Ji Cheng nodded.
“Cui’er keeps saying that Su girl’s dance was too good, that she can’t compare. What do you think?” Ji Lan asked again.
“From what I saw, Sister Yun’s dance skills would take at least five or six years of practice to achieve,” Ji Cheng said. She didn’t explicitly state good or bad, but Ji Lan could certainly understand.
Ji Cheng couldn’t understand why Shen Cui if she wanted to participate in the Central Platform Arts Selection, hadn’t started preparing a few years ago. It was too late now. She didn’t know Ji Lan’s thoughts, never urging Shen Cui to prepare, and Shen Cui herself had been lazy. Now that the time had come, Shen Cui was trying to cram at the last minute, which was impossible.
“Do you have any way to help Cui’er?” Ji Lan asked tentatively. She didn’t have much hope for Ji Cheng, after all, even though she had no solution. She knew her daughter well, and Ji Lan was aware of Shen Cui’s capabilities.
Ji Cheng lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, “It’s too close to the 26th now, there’s no time to practice. But if Fifth Sister can make it into the Central Platform Arts Selection, I do have some ideas for the official performance on that day.”
Ji Lan’s eyes lit up. She had been worried that even if she found a way for Shen Cui to qualify for the Central Platform Arts Selection when it came to the actual performance, she would be exposed, which would be a huge embarrassment.
“What ideas do you have?” Ji Lan asked.
Previously, Ji Cheng had inquired in detail about the specifics of past Central Platform Arts performances from Shen Yuan and Shen Qian. Since it was a performance, naturally, one would want to stand out and show off one’s abilities, so solo performances were the most common.
In Ji Cheng’s view, if she were organizing the selection, she wouldn’t choose these young ladies’ performances that lacked entertainment value. The dance performed by the palace dancers during the intermission of the royal polo match was excellent, both in stirring up the atmosphere and being visible even from the distant stands.
The polo field was very large. With one person performing alone on the central platform, unless someone had exceptionally keen eyesight, who could see who it was?
According to Ji Cheng’s idea, since Shen Cui wasn’t particularly outstanding on her own, they could find a group of supporting performers to complement her. If they choreographed the dance well, it would be eye-catching while playing to her strengths and avoiding her weaknesses. Even if people gossiped afterward, as long as her Central Platform performance was successful, that would be enough.
As Ji Lan listened to Ji Cheng’s analysis, she couldn’t help but nod. This reasoning was extremely simple, and it wasn’t that no one had done it before. But why hadn’t anyone done it in recent years? It was because, with too many supporting performers, the main performer might not stand out. If you perform alone, people might ask, “Who is that?” But with many people, who would ask who you are?
Ji Lan pondered for a moment and said, “Your method is quite feasible. Ah, I don’t know what sins I committed in my past life to end up with such a stubborn girl. How can I find a way for her to pass the Central Platform Arts Selection? Don’t you agree?”
Hearing this, Ji Cheng also sighed, “But Fifth Sister is still young. If she works hard for a year, she’ll have a chance next year.”
Ji Lan smiled without speaking. Shen Cui’s age wasn’t considered old, but it certainly wasn’t young either. Otherwise, Ji Lan wouldn’t be in such a hurry to make plans for Ji Cheng. “Ah, help me keep an eye on your Fifth Sister, help her a bit. As for the rest, let’s leave it to fate.”
If anyone said Ji Lan would leave things to fate, it would be a joke. If she had left things to fate, she wouldn’t have had the chance to marry the Shen family’s Third Master.