two 3
Liu Qingye thought that Aunt Dali had spent so much time on a piece of clothing for him. She really treated him like her own son. He should thank her when he saw her in the evening. He changed the robe, stretched his hands, moved his feet, and felt very comfortable.
At this moment, the door curtain was lifted, and Moller rushed in and said, "Brother, Master Tashan and Master are back, why are you still standing here?"
Liu Qingye caught a glimpse of the corner of Dan Ying's red headscarf sticking out from the clothes he had changed out of. He hurriedly took a step forward to block Moller's sight and said, "Master is back. He and the clan leader went out to do some work. How is it going?"
Moler had no idea that Liu Qingye was feeling guilty, so he said with a smile, "Then it must have been done well. The clan leader said that everyone should be called to the arena to celebrate! The clan leader asked Aima Khan from the Zai family, the best singer in the Ale tribe, to bring her harp."
"Really?" Liu Qingye smiled and struck up a conversation, then bent down and picked up all the clothes and headscarf.
Moller came up to grab the clothes and said, "Hey, why are you acting like a grown-up girl? Let's go out and have fun together, do you still want to change your clothes?"
Liu Qingye smiled awkwardly, and hurriedly stuffed the headscarf into his arms with his hands hidden in his clothes, saying, "No... I... I have to clean it up..."
Moller smiled and said, "Just change it, why are you blushing? I just want to change clothes - but Miss Dan Ying and the others have already arrived at the venue, if you don't come..."
When Liu Qingye heard the name "Dan Ying", he was delighted at first, but then he became nervous again. He quickly shook his hands and said, "No, no, no, you should go by yourself... I, I want to see Master first..."
"Master?" Moller grabbed his hand and said, "Master has already gone to the field with the master. Come with me quickly!" Without giving any explanation, he dragged Liu Qingye out of the door.
A bright moon hung high in the sky, its light spread over the grassland, lighting up the bonfire in the field, which shot up into the sky with a blazing flame.
But in Liu Qingye's opinion, it was definitely not the brightest thing tonight - no matter how bright it was, the red eagle's blue eyes were shining so brightly that they flashed into Liu Qingye's heart, making him dare not look up.
There was a banquet being set up in the venue, with Cao Mengsheng and Tashan sitting at it, looking very happy.
"This time, we have convinced the Kyakhta tribe..." Tashan announced to everyone with a smile, "This was the last tribe among the thirteen Uyghur tribes that had not yet formed an alliance with us. Now the alliance of the thirteen tribes has been formed. On the fifth day of next month, the chiefs of the thirteen Uyghur tribes will gather to formally form an alliance - from now on, the Uyghurs will unite!"
The gathered tribesmen were not very clear about what the Thirteen Tribal Alliance was doing, but they believed that since the tribe leader was so happy, it must be a good thing, so they all raised their glasses and cheered.
But Dan Ying pushed her father and said, "Dad, what are we joining together for?"
Tashan said: "Unite to defend your homeland, and at the same time, fulfill your mother's last wish and drive the Qing soldiers out of the Central Plains."
Dan Ying looked confused and said to Liu Qingye, "Hey, Senior Brother Liu Qingye, are you saying that the Qing soldiers have occupied your home?"
Ever since Liu Qingye sat down at the table and realized that there were only his master and Tashan between him and Dan Ying, his heart had been beating fast. When he suddenly heard Dan Ying talking to him, he was speechless and stunned.
Cao Mengsheng looked at him with dissatisfaction and replied to Dan Ying: "The Qing soldiers not only occupied your senior brother's home, but also killed his parents and many innocent Han people. Their crimes are extremely evil and cannot be tolerated by heaven. How come your mother didn't tell you? Didn't your Aunt Wu tell you either?" After that, he said to Liu Qingye: "Qingye, you tell me..."
"I..." Liu Qingye stuttered and returned to reality - what was he thinking about, Danying, what does Danying have to do with him? He was born to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty - at that moment, he answered loudly: "The Manchu Tartars occupied our land and killed our compatriots. Their crimes are heinous and cannot be described in words. All the sons and daughters of the Han nationality hate them to the core, and people of insight from all over the Central Plains have risen up. Today, I am grateful to the thirteen Uyghur tribes for their help!"
"Yeah." Cao Mengsheng heard that what he said was exactly what he had taught him. He twirled his beard and smiled. He did not ask what he was thinking about just now. Instead, he turned to Dan Ying and asked, "Dan Ying, didn't your mother tell you about the Lantern Society and the anti-Qing movement? Didn't your aunt Wu Shuiqing tell you about it?"
Dan Ying curled his lips and said, "My mother did say so, and so did my father and Aunt Wu, but..."
But before she finished, Tashan said to Cao Mengsheng: "Brother, this time it's all thanks to you - you are not only good at martial arts, but also well-read. If it weren't for you, we would never have been able to persuade the Kyakhta tribe - let's go to the venue and have a few rounds of drinks."
Cao Mengsheng said a few humble words and finally nodded in agreement, and the two of them left their seats.
After they left, there were only two empty seats between Liu Qingye and Dan Ying, which made Dan Ying's clear eyes stay on Liu Qingye's face, forcing him to have no way to escape.
"Liu Qingye——" Dan Ying laughed, "Is this alliance going to help you?"
Liu Qingye was stunned for a moment, then said hesitantly, "No... not to help me... but to unite. You can resist the Dzungars, or you can... um... help the Han people, such as your mother and me, and seek justice from the Manchu Tartars..."
Dan Ying sneered and said disapprovingly, "If the Junggars dare to attack us, we will naturally beat them back. I have no interest in caring about what my father and Aunt Wu do. In the past, my father beat me and told me to listen to him, but I didn't like it. But..." She turned her head and stared at Liu Qingye, "But now I know, since it's to help... to help you get revenge... I am very happy..."
Liu Qingye's head buzzed, and he had the urge to jump up immediately - but he didn't jump, because he didn't know what to do next if he jumped up. He quickly turned his head to avoid Dan Ying, but he saw Moler at a glance, who was holding up a wine bowl and toasting loudly like other tribesmen!
How pure is Moler's mind? He only thought that this matter would not only protect his tribe, but also fulfill Dan Ying's mother's last wish and help Liu Qingye. This would benefit everyone, so why would he want to ask more? The first one laughed, and when he saw Liu Qingye looking at him, he also raised his wine bowl to him, indicating congratulations.
Liu Qingye was not as cheerful as him. He was upset and spilled most of the wine in the bowl. Dan Ying saw this and brought the wine pot to add more. Liu Qingye was in a dilemma, neither avoiding nor thanking him. Fortunately, the toasts were over at this moment. Tashan said to everyone, "Then, let's celebrate today..." He then raised his hand to signal that they could start playing music and dancing.
Amid the cheers, the iron drum and suona started to play first, followed by the hand drum, shatar, edek, rebab, tanbor and kalon, which was the music of the Sainam dance. Most Uyghurs are good at singing and dancing, and they love singing and dancing. They were so happy that they left their seats and went to the center of the venue to dance. Liu Qingye caught a glimpse of Dan Ying, who seemed to want him to dance, and he jumped up in panic - he happened to see Dali Ama sitting across the venue, so he hurried through the crowd to thank her for her clothes.
But he couldn't help but look back at Dan Ying - he was not looking at him, but dancing in the field, as light as a water bird stepping on the waves, as fast as a colorful butterfly flying, making all the girls around him pale in comparison. He watched, and felt his breath rise and fall with Dan Ying's movements - then he saw Moler, dancing beside Dan Ying, enjoying himself. He felt lost and blamed himself for being sentimental. He hurried a few steps and went to the other side of the field.
He bowed to Aunt Dali and said, "Thank you, Auntie, for your clothes. They are as good as new now!"
Dali was stunned for a moment, pulled him to sit next to her, and asked, "What clothes?"
Liu Qingye pointed at the Uighur embroidery on his chest and said, "This is it. Auntie, you mended it for me and even took the trouble to embroider these flowers. How can I feel embarrassed..."
Dali shook her head and said, "No, no, I didn't mend this dress. I was going to use it as scraps to mend the door curtain, but I lost it when I was visiting someone. Look at this flower, it's obviously embroidered by the girl, and, well, look at the stitches, this girl is quite impatient!"
It's Dan Ying! Liu Qingye's heart immediately told him so, but he denied himself: How could it be Dan Ying, how could it be Dan Ying? His face turned red, white, hot, and cold.
Dali knew that she had hit the nail on the head in the young man's mind, so she smiled and changed the subject: "Hey, young man, everyone is dancing, why don't you go too!"
Liu Qingye quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I won't. Just watch from here."
“How can that be?” Dali pushed him, smiling. “Even if it’s for the girl who embroiders for you, you have to learn our Uyghur dance! Look, everyone has started dancing the Xiadiyana. This is our collective dance. Come and join in the fun!”
Liu Qingye just declined, but suddenly he saw Dan Ying, who had danced in front of him without him noticing, and said, "Senior Brother Liu Qingye, you come and play too!" As he said that, he grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into the arena. And over there, Dali's mother pushed him down to the arena.
The music was cheerful, and everyone was dancing the Chateau La Chaitiana in pairs. Liu Qingye didn't know how to do it at all, so he danced with Dan Ying twice, and then changed partners. Strangely enough, when he was partnered with Dan Ying, he didn't dare to look at Dan Ying at all, so he didn't learn any of Dan Ying's movements. As soon as he changed to someone else, he immediately observed carefully and tried his best to imitate. By the time he changed to the fourth partner, he had a rough idea of what the dance was about.
"Hey, brother, you learn very quickly!" Moller exchanged seats with others and sat next to Liu Qingye.
Liu Qingye was enjoying himself while dancing and just smiled without answering.
"Look, look at me -" Moller danced with his hands and feet, "That's it, my hands are like this, my feet are like this -" He shook his shoulders, tapped his feet, and danced very fast, with various expressions on his face changing with the music.
Liu Qingye couldn't help laughing at his funny look: "Mole, you're really good at it!"
"I have more than one set," Moller danced proudly, "I have two, three, and four more! You can learn from me!"
Maybe it was the music that made people crazy, Liu Qingye threw all his worries aside and immediately imitated Moller's dance. He was smart and clever, and he was a martial artist, so his movements were a hundred times more agile than Moller's, and his postures also contained some boxing and kicking moves, sometimes like an eagle spreading its wings, sometimes like a galloping horse, which was extremely powerful and beautiful.
After changing several partners, Moller said with a smile: "Brother, you are better than me!"
Liu Qingye said happily: "No, no, it's you who taught me well!"
Moller smiled and winked at him: "Hey, I don't really care how you dance. I just hope that after this round, when the song changes, it will be Miss Dan Ying and I's turn! Oh, I want to go back to my original seat!"
As he spoke, he danced happily and ran back to his original position. Liu Qingye was startled and his movements were all messed up. He had no idea who he was dancing with.
I only heard the iron drums beating a few times, and then the tune changed to another one. A sweet female voice sang: "On the grassland, on the horse, the rouge on the horse's back is more beautiful than flowers..." I think it was Aima Khan from the Zai family.
Rouge on horseback. Liu Qingye's mind was filled with the image of a red eagle riding a horse, so red! He saw in front of him a red skirt with glittering gold edges embroidered on it - ah, isn't this pattern on his robe?
Liu Qingye was stunned for a moment, then he looked closely. The girl opposite him was wearing a bright red dress, a black vest with golden and red flowers, and a rosy face and green eyes. It was Dan Ying! However, under the small embroidered hat, there was no red headscarf.
Dan Ying pursed her rose-like lips and smiled gently: "Liu Qingye, the clothes I sewed for you are pretty good, right?"
"Um..." Liu Qingye stuttered, "Where did you get this dress from... I... I mean, why did you help me sew clothes?"
Dan Ying glanced at him and said with a smile, "Didn't I promise you that if you accompany me on horseback riding, I will sew clothes for you? I saw that Aunt Dali brought this dress to my house that day, so I took it away!"
Liu Qingye didn't know what to say for a moment, and mumbled "thank you". He felt Dan Ying's eyes burning, and his face was burning, and he was even more at a loss.
Just then, the sweet voice of Aima Khan came over there, and Liu Qingye quickly found a topic to talk about, saying, "Junior sister, I've always wanted to ask you, what exactly is this 'Rouge on Horseback' about?"
Dan Ying was stunned when he heard him ask this question out of nowhere before answering, "Ah, you mean the Rouge Horse here, what's wrong?"
“Oh…” Liu Qingye said hesitantly, “I thought… I thought…” He thought he must have been possessed by evil spirits, and blurted out, “I thought you were talking about me!”
Dan Ying was startled and blushed as he asked, "How did you think it was me?"
Liu Qingye also realized that he had said the wrong thing, and it was difficult to change his words, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Because... because you are wearing red clothes and a red headscarf... When you ride on a horse, it looks like the color of rouge..."
Dan Ying laughed: "Huh, you're still talking! My headscarf, you've probably lost it, right?"
"No..." Liu Qingye quickly reached into his pocket and said, "I kept it and was planning to return it to my junior sister..."
He was just about to take out the headscarf and return it to Dan Ying, when suddenly, it was time to change partners. The person next to him couldn't wait and bumped into him. His hand slipped and the headscarf was pulled out of his arms.
What Liu Qingye had been avoiding finally happened.
Moller recognized Dan Ying's headscarf from a distance and ran over to ask, "Eh? Miss Dan Ying, your headscarf has been lost for many days, how come it is in Liu Qingye's hands?"
Liu Qingye hesitated and tried to make up a lie, but Dan Ying raised his head and replied, "What's wrong? I gave it to him!"
Moller didn't understand and looked at Dan Ying.
Dan Ying rolled his eyes at him and said, "What's the matter? I like him, is that okay?"
Moller was stunned on the spot, and after a moment of hesitation, Liu Qingye stuffed the headscarf into Moller's arms and said, "I don't want it, junior brother, I'll give it to you." After that, he didn't dare to look at the expressions of Moller and Dan Ying, and rushed out of the place as if escaping and ran back to the house.
