"And what would this little girl wants to do?" Now the emperor's interest was completely piqued with anticipation.
"This humble daughter will be singing a song." Tang Kexin decided to go all out. Of course, she shouldn't perform too well. It was as Ye Lanchen said, Tang Kexin had been a fool for eighteen years. If she were to suddenly do something high-leveled and difficult, it would definitely arouse suspicion.
She knew that the emperor was just on the spur of the moment, and his expectations of her weren't that high. As long as there was something special and new, the emperor would surely be satisfied.
"<Cough…> The title of this song is 'Everyone is jubilant'." Tang Kexin cleared her throat with an obvious determination as she solemnly announced the title of what would she be singing. She chose the song because it was simple, fun, and interesting which fit the characteristic she wanted to project. And also, it met all the standards she required to pleased the Emperor.
She once had a mentally challenged child patient who liked to listen to a certain funky song. So, for her to render her treatment to the child without a glitch, she had to sing this song to calm the child while doing procedures. And for her to learn the song superbly, to get the beatings and lyrics synchronised, she listened to it day and night over and over again until it was imprinted into her brain! After she was transferred to the military post, she hadn't seen that child again and that she hadn't sang that song for a very long time, but who would have thought that she would be singing it again today, but this time to fascinate an emperor.
"Hmm, the title is tantalising. Not bad, not bad... Zhen could not wait to hear it!" Sure enough, when the emperor heard of the title, he nodded repeatedly, his eyes full with anticipation.
The others, on the other hand, were with different look on their faces.
Tang Kexin once again cleared her throat and began to sing…
"Chinese cabbage, chicken hair, macaroni and wheat a dish of green and white
What kind of dishes were fried?
What kind of dishes?!
Happy Sheep, Beautiful Sheep, Lazy Sheep, Boiling Sheep
What sheep? What kind of sheep?!
Every sheep is jubilant
They are a little flock of sheep
All the little sheep are very kind
They were so kind that they could only be seen on the prairie
Lazy beauty sunning
However in the neighbor there lives a wolf
Although sometimes there is no sun
Only the Sheep Village has music
The singers and the jingles are all crazy
Chinese cabbage, chicken hair, macaroni and wheat a dish of green and white
What kind of dishes were fried?
What kind of dishes?! Happy Sheep, Beautiful Sheep, Lazy Sheep, Boiling Sheep
What sheep? What kind of sheep?!
Every sheep is jubilant
The day when the wolf came was very ordinary
The wolf's howl sounded like it was hungry
Little sheep love to graze but would not afraid to fight a wolf if they have to
Although it was a small flock of sheep
They sing together at every festival
Sunshine Air Grass and Flower Fragrance
It was so crowded that it filled up the prairie
Chinese cabbage, chicken hair, macaroni and wheat a dish of green and white
What kind of dishes were fried?
What kind of dishes?! Happy Sheep, Beautiful Sheep, Lazy Sheep, Boiling Sheep What sheep? What kind of sheep?! Every sheep is jubilant
Chinese cabbage, chicken hair, macaroni and wheat a dish of green and white
What kind of dishes were fried?
What kind of dishes?!
Happy Sheep, Beautiful Sheep, Lazy Sheep, Boiling Sheep
What sheep? What kind of sheep?!
Every sheep is jubilant
Everyone rejoiced..."
After Tang Kexin finished singing, the hall was quiet, too quiet... Majority of the people stared at her with wonder, like she's someone sort of an unknown entity. But a few had not shown any reaction, or they're just good at masking it.
"Was it not good?" Seeing everyone's reaction, Tang Kexin lightly batted her eyelashes
What kind of reaction was that? She felt that there was nothing wrong with the song though.
"Hahaha…!" The emperor was stupefied but burst out in laughter after sometime Tang Kexin finished singing. "That was special! This girl is interesting. Very interesting, indeed!"
Now it was obvious, the emperor was pleased and satisfied.
He had seen too many formal performances that he found Tang Kexin's unusual talent show refreshing, even more fascinating than those countless formal performances.
The corner of Ye Lanjue's lips slowly curled up. Indeed, it was as he expected.
However, the Crown Prince didn't show much of an emotion, he just tightened his grip on his armchair.
"Eh? What was that singing about? This prince only heard of dishes and sheep." Ye Lanchen smirked. The song she sang was very amusing and special. It was much more interesting than the boring performances he had seen in the past, but he didn't want to admit it in front of her.
"Then is His Majesty satisfied?" Tang Kexin didn't pay attention to Ye Lanchen. What she cared the most right now was the emperor's reaction and his promise. She had thought so hard for the sake of this promise of fulfilling one of her wishes.
"En, I am very satisfied! So, I have decided that no matter who Xin'er like in the future, Zhen will be her matchmaker. I will definitely bestow you that marriage!" The Emperor was truly very satisfied, and on the spot announced his decision.
When Ye Lanchen, who was standing on the side, heard the emperor's words, his body staggered as he fumbled around to support himself from falling down.
"What are you doing?" The emperor looked at him with curiosity. "Why are you so excited?"
"No, no." When he heard the emperor's words, a picture suddenly flashed through his mind. He was stunned by the image that his mouth agape with incredulity!
However, Tang Kexin was dumbfounded. This was not what she wanted, this wasn't it! Why did the emperor thought that it was about her marriage she was hankering about?!
Alas, for a young girl commoner like her, to negate the Emperor's decision was something unheard of... Tang Kexin could not help but sighed with frustration!
"Xin'er, looks like you really don't have to worry about your marriage now..." The empress was obviously pleased with the result. The corners of her lips and eyebrows raised as she beamed.
"She is gentle and virtuous, spirited and charming, beautiful and generous, slim and graceful. And just like a flower in bloom, everyone adores her, so naturally, she doesn't need to worry about her marriage for now...!" The Emperor borrowed Tang Kexin's words and made a rare joke.
"Pufft..." The empress couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at Tang Kexin. The more she looked at her, the more satisfied she became.
Tang Kexin felt frustrated in her heart. She was so frustrated she didn't want to say anything anymore. If she had known earlier that things would turn out this way, she wouldn't have made any effort whatsoever.
Ye Lanjue swept his gaze over her slightly depressed face. His ice-cold eyes seemed to have a faint trace of a smile on them. It was very subtle. If one didn't look carefully, it would be almost impossible to see.
"Now, now! It's getting late and Zhen is hungry. Everyone stay and have dinner with me. Attend to the young woman so she will be comfortable...!" It was rare for the Emperor to be this happy and animated.
"This humble daughter thank His Majesty..." Tang Kexin barely opened her mouth, but naturally she could not refuse. A few people answered in succession.
"Then Xin'er will stay in the palace tonight. Chenqie will have someone to inform the Prime Minister's Estate." The Empress' eyes twinkled, her eyes filled with excitement, but her expression didn't give out much of a change.
"Alright." The Emperor didn't think too much and agreed without hesitation.
The atmosphere in the dinner hall wasn't too bad. From time to time, the emperor's laughter rang out in the whole hall, indicating that he was really in a good mood. Everyone outside Kuan'An Palace was surprised to hear this, because the Emperor had never laugh out loud so easily before.
After dinner, the crown prince, third prince, and the fourth prince took their leave, but the emperor didn't move. He had no intention of leaving, with a clear intention of staying behind.
Tang Kexin knew that in the imperial harem, the emperor's favour and attention were everything. And the empress would be happy that the emperor had decided to stay in her palace tonight.
But to Tang Kexin's surprise, she didn't sense any joy from the empress' expression. Instead, she felt that the empress' attitude was sort of an indifference if not unwilling. Thinking that it might be due to her being around, Tang Kexin made an excuse to leave the hall.
However, not long after she left, the Emperor walked out of the room as well. His expression was grim and somewhat cold, without a trace of the good mood he had had earlier.
Watching the emperor leave with a cold expression, Tang Kexin's heart skipped a beat. Weren't they fine just now? How did the mood change so suddenly? What happened?
"Xin'er." The empress called out, waking her up from her pondering. Tang Kexin quickly turned around and saw the empress widely smiling at her as she walked gracefully towards her. The empress' all smiling astonished her so much that she temporarily not able to respond accordingly.
The emperor just left with a gloomy face, yet the the empress wasn't affected? Not worried? Her smile was even more natural and genuine.
"Will you sleep with me tonight?" The Empress took her hand and held it affectionately, her smile became even more gentle and radiant.
"Oh..." For the first time, she felt that her brain wasn't at work as she couldn't reason out the empress' action just now. Who could tell her what was going on?
Lying on the bed, listening to the empress endless telling of stories with such tender, Tang Kexin suddenly felt as if she was in a dream.
It was already late at night. Tang Kexin closed her eyes, and the empress's voice stopped. The entire room quieted down.
After an unknown amount of time, the empress slowly raised her body to gaze dotingly at the sleeping Tang Kexin. Her mellow expression just now, was replaced with anxiety. "Xin'er, I just want you to be safe and sound... and to be happy. That's all I only pray..."