Chapter 241 Soaring Pride
The Five-Nation Cultural Exchange Conference is finally here.
This cultural exchange conference is held every three years. On the surface, it sounds like a cultural exchange between several countries, but in fact it is a cultural competition.
In every competition, each country would put up some stakes, and people from the four countries would challenge the host country, Dayuan, individually.
The country that wins the cultural competition will win the prize offered by Dayuan, and if Dayuan wins, it can also get the prizes from the other four countries.
During the morning court session the day before the exchange conference, the emperor looked at the princes and ministers below and said, "Tomorrow is the Five Nations Cultural Exchange Conference. My dear ministers, who do you think would be the most suitable person for me to send to the post station to welcome the envoys?"
Several princes felt that this was a good opportunity to show themselves, and the ministers represented by the princes all stood up to fight for opportunities for the princes they supported.
However, in the end, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's faction won. The Fourth Prince lost the opportunity to show himself and looked very unhappy.
The emperor continued, "The Five Nations Cultural Exchange Conference is a cultural exchange in a nice way, but in fact, it is a competition of talents among the nations every year. Tomorrow, my dear ministers, remember to bring your talented children with you. This is a good opportunity for them to win reputation for our Great Abyss Nation."
The ministers were overjoyed. They spent money and effort to raise their own children. Wasn't it just because they hoped that they could show up on these important occasions, demonstrate themselves, and amaze everyone and gain the emperor's appreciation?
If their daughter behaved well, the emperor might order her to marry the prince. Even if she was just a concubine or a concubine, that would be what they wanted.
If the son performed well, the emperor might be so pleased as to grant him an official position, so all the ministers were very enthusiastic.
Everyone agreed in unison, "We obey your order."
The next day, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went to the post station early in the morning to welcome the envoys from the other four countries.
Qianhuan will also enter the palace with the performers today because she will play with the musicians today.
She was wearing a white musician's uniform, a little makeup, and a veil on her head. The young marquis led her into the palace with other musicians and the fifty performing soldiers.
Today's banquet was held in the largest palace in the imperial palace. All the ministers in the court entered the palace early with their families and took their seats.
Emperor Jingxi and Queen Zhao were seen sitting at the very top.
Emperor Jingxi is in his fifties and wears a bright yellow dragon robe. He is slightly fat, with some blue under his eyes, and looks somewhat unhealthy.
Queen Zhao was wearing a bright red phoenix robe embroidered with auspicious clouds, flowers and birds in gold thread. The hem of her skirt was embellished with a few bright yellow peonies. She wore a golden hairpin on her head, and looked graceful and luxurious.
Sitting next to the emperor and the empress was Concubine Xue, who was the princess sent to marry the Canglang Kingdom after its defeat.
When Concubine Xue was sent over for marriage, she was only eighteen or nineteen years old. Now, six years have passed, and she is only in her twenties. She is at the age when she is as beautiful as a flower, and therefore she is very favored.
Sitting further down was the Fourth Prince's biological mother, Concubine Li. Concubine Li was a few years younger than the Queen and was in extremely good condition.
Her face was extremely beautiful, her eyebrows were like green feathers, her skin was like cream, and her eyes were bright and deep as if they contained autumn water. One could tell at a glance that she must have been a stunning beauty when she was young.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the envoys from the four countries into the palace, and the eunuch shouted loudly: "The foreign envoys are invited to come to the palace!"
Then the foreigners in different costumes entered the palace one after another.
Nanzhao Kingdom and Dongling Kingdom were vassal states of the Dayuan Dynasty. Envoys from these two countries paid tribute to the Dayuan Kingdom every year. When they saw the emperor, they knelt down respectfully and kowtowed.
The Canglang and Beilin countries boasted that their countries did not have the etiquette of kneeling and kowtow, but only bowed according to their national customs.
In fact, this is just their excuse. They simply don't want to perform the kneeling ceremony.
Emperor Jingxi knew it very well, but he didn't want to fall out with his enemies. After all, Emperor Jingxi didn't want to go to war at all.
Emperor Jingxi smiled and said to the envoys from the four countries, "Dear envoys, there is no need to be polite. Please stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The envoy from Canglang Kingdom this time was Qi Beiming, and he also brought with him Canglang Kingdom's princess Qi Jiaqing. Concubine Xue was their half-sister.
The two of them also greeted Concubine Xue respectively, and Concubine Xue smiled and nodded.
The emperor looked at the envoys below and said, "You have all come from afar and must be exhausted by the journey. Please take your seats quickly and enjoy the opening show that our Great Yuan Kingdom has prepared for you."
The envoys from several countries took their seats one by one. None of them had any expectation for the upcoming show on their faces, mainly because the opening song and dance prepared by the Dayuan Kingdom always made people sleepy.
Compared to the opening show, they were more interested in the food and wine on the table.
So when Qianhuan, wearing a veil, holding a guzheng, entered the hall with the other musicians and the fifty soldiers, only the Crown Prince and the young Marquis stared at Qianhuan, who was leading the group, with fiery eyes.
Everyone else was drinking wine, eating delicious food, and whispering to each other, and no one paid attention to the person in the center of the hall.
The dance music that Qianhuan rehearsed with them this time was Tu Honggang's "Chinese Kung Fu". She brought musicians who played different instruments to play the music at the same time, and the fifty soldiers in their performance uniforms sang and performed to the rhythm of their music.
After the musicians set up their instruments, Qianhuan slowly plucked the strings. The song had a slow prelude at the beginning. The people in the hall were still whispering to each other, and few were watching the show in the center of the stage.
As Qianhuan's fingers moved faster and faster, the prelude of the song became more and more compact, and more and more vigorous and powerful towards the end. Suddenly, the hall gradually became quiet.
Everyone looked towards the performer in the middle at the same time. Such thrilling music finally aroused their interest.
When the prelude was over, fifty soldiers started singing together.
"Lying like a bow, standing like a pine tree, sitting like a bell without moving, walking like a gust of wind, southern boxing and northern kicking, Shaolin and Wudang Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Bagua chain palm, China has magical skills."
The soldiers sang and moved their bodies to match the lyrics. When they sang "Lying like a bow", fifty soldiers all supported their heads with their hands and lay upright on the ground.
When they sang “Stand like a Pine Tree,” fifty soldiers simultaneously jumped up from their recumbent positions and stood bolt upright.
When the lyrics reached the part about "Southern fists and Northern legs", fifty soldiers punched and kicked at the same time.
When it came to the "Tai Chi Bagua Chain Palm" movement, the soldiers' movements changed to Tai Chi and chain palm.
Everyone was stunned. It was obvious that they didn't expect today's opening performance to be so interesting.
The prince looked at Qianhuan playing the piano with pride. Obviously, he didn't expect Qianhuan to have such a versatile side.
The prince thought to himself: This woman is worthy of being the one he likes.
Gradually, all the musicians' hand speeds became faster and faster, and the rhythm of the song became more and more passionate.
The speed increases, "lying like a bow, standing like a pine tree, sitting like a bell without moving, walking like a gust of wind, southern boxing and northern kicking, Shaolin and Wudang Kung Fu, Tai Chi Bagua Lianhuan Zhang, China has magical skills."
"The stick sweeps a large area, the spear picks a line, and the body is as light as a swallow in the clouds. Our heroic spirit reaches the sky, we train our muscles and skin on the outside, and our breath on the inside, we combine hardness and softness and never bow our heads. We have the world in our hearts."
"With the Qingfeng Sword in hand, the double swords can be seen moving. Once an expert makes a move, he will know whether it is good or not. The hands are two doors, the feet are a root, and the water and soil of all directions nurtured our Chinese martial arts soul, the Eastern dragon, the children are like heroes, the sky is high and the earth is far, the wind is blowing in all directions, China has magic skills, China has magic skills."
The voices of the fifty soldiers were deep and loud, their singing was passionate and full, and their majestic voices echoed throughout the hall.
The generals sitting in the hall were all excited by the singing and performance. They seemed to be back on the battlefield and saw the scene of thousands of troops.
Even the foreign envoys were shocked by such a scene.
When the song ended, everyone in the audience burst into thunderous applause.
The generals clapped their hands and shouted excitedly, "Good, the singing is great. The men of our Dayuan country should have such a heroic spirit."
Even the civil officials could not help but cheer, "Our Dayuan country has so many loyal heroes, why should we worry about not being prosperous?"
The emperor was also very excited when he saw this scene. He said to the eldest princess with great joy, "Imperial sister, I didn't expect Yuan Zhou to give me such a big surprise this time."
The princess was very proud of her son's good performance. She stood up and said modestly to Emperor Jingxi, "I have to thank my brother for giving him this opportunity. I didn't expect that he would be so attentive in preparing the program this time."
The emperor said to the young marquis happily, "Meng Yuanzhou, after the cultural exchange conference is over, I will definitely reward you well."
Meng Yuanzhou knelt down to thank him, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Actually..."
Meng Yuanzhou was about to say that Qianhuan was the biggest contributor to the great performance of this show.
The princess seemed to know her son's intention. She immediately interrupted the emperor and said, "Brother, let's start the Five Nations Cultural Exchange Conference as soon as possible."