Slipping the icy armlets onto her arms, Baozhu walked toward the stage, step by step. The many details of that palace banquet rose gradually from the depths of her memory, like strings of bubbles.
After Princess Dongyi married, the court and Tubo endured arduous negotiations before finally agreeing to lay down their armor and still their weapons. Chang'an, that ancient capital, was at last freed from the shadow of war in the Western Regions. To celebrate, the emperor decreed additional rites in the ancestral temple, thanking the ancestral spirits for their protection and praying for peace throughout the realm and lasting prosperity for its people.
Meanwhile, the Purple Enclosure Palace in the Eastern Capital was to hold sacrifices of equal grandeur. At this point, the emperor suddenly remembered the elder brother in Luoyang whom he had not seen in years. To demonstrate his magnanimity and supreme filial devotion as sovereign, he graciously permitted the Prince of Qi to return to Chang'an and join the other imperial relatives in honoring their parents and ancestors, then return to Luoyang the following day.
Thus, the palace banquet after the rites had been Li Yu's only opportunity in his life to meet the Noble Consort.
"Don't panic. Keep your steps steady," Mi Moyan whispered beside her.
The two took the stage and stood side by side, assuming their opening poses. The musicians began to play. A brocade mat spread flat opened the feast; three successive beats of the painted drum urged the dancers on. The Zhezhi Dance, performed countless times in the Prince of Qi's residence, began once again.
"Why has it become a duet?" Li Yu asked with a frown.
The instructing matron hurried forward and answered respectfully, "There was too little time. She hasn't memorized the steps yet, so she needs someone