12 1.11 Star Dancer

His breath could be directly felt on her face, tickling her slightly with each passing moment, his mysterious dark brown eyes were staring at her with a heated gaze, and the small beauty mark beneath his right eye was enhancing the momentum of his already charming face. Her mind couldn't help but blank out, leaving her body frozen in place, however; in the next second she regained her senses, and her hand was already rushing forwards to slap away his face. Unfortunately, Li Qiong saw her actions and reached out his left hand to grab her wrist, stopping her slap.

Tian He was getting very angry and annoyed with this 2nd Imperial Prince's actions, she tried struggling out of his grasp for a brief moment, but it did nothing but tighten his hold on her. She glared at this shameless pervert in front of her, if her eyes could kill, 2nd Imperial Prince would probably be dead a 'million' times over already.

2nd Imperial Prince watched her flushed angry facial expression and her fiery eyes that glared at him, he couldn't help but sigh internally, if she ever knew how much charm she's displaying, and how aroused she made him feel, he was sure that she wouldn't hesitate to stab him.

"2nd Imperial Prince! Release me!" Tian He screamed at him.

Looking at her gashing teeth and almost hateful glare, 2nd Imperial Prince knew that he had teased her too much, it was time to stop before she grew to hate him. Besides, if he continued, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold back his beating heart from wanting to kiss and touch her.

When she was going to use her free hand to punch his chin, she suddenly felt her right hand and legs regain their freedom. The suddenness of it caused her to lose her balance for a bit, her legs were a bit weak and unaccustomed now that they could stand properly on the ground again.

Not waiting for Tian He to speak, 2nd Imperial Prince began speaking in a calm tone, "Tian He, I came here to give you a gift." He took out a small golden silk face mask, "This could be used to cover up half of your face, only revealing your eyes, it will be useful to you in tomorrow's competition. Right now, the capital is bit unsafe, so it's best to cover up that attractive face of yours, it will save you many troubles." 2nd Imperial Prince knew that right now she was too angry to listen to him, so he placed his gift on her table.

He turned back quickly to face her and started talking in a serious tone, "Tian He, besides this gift, I actually came here to tell you to be careful at tomorrow's competition. I won't be attending, but my guards will be stationed around the competition stands, if you need anything, you just have to show them my token." After finishing his speech, he placed his own jade token next to her gift, and smiled slightly at her before he swiftly exited her room.

Tian He stared at his figure until he disappeared from her room, she breathed out in relief, and her weak legs couldn't help but walk slowly towards a seat to prevent her from fully falling. Damn that perverted prince! She was angry at him, but she was more furious with herself, she had never been in a situation where she was this helpless against someone, even if it only lasted a moment.

After a moment of calming herself, she looked at the items that were given to her, she first picked up the jade token, on the front engraved, 'Imperial Huang', and when she flipped it over, '2nd Prince' was seen. It was a nice emerald jade color, and when she touched it, she could feel a warm current run through her fingers, it's high quality jade! Even back in her old world, this type of jade was priceless, she remembered a time when she was younger, she begged her imperial mother and father to get her a small piece of it, but even that costed them a fortune. Who knew that 2nd Imperial Prince would be so 'generous'?

Tian He couldn't help but smile slyly, since he gave it to her, then don't think of taking it back. Now that she was a pauper, anything with monetary value was greatly treasured by her. As for using it to command his guards, she never even thought about it, if she owed him a favor now, he was bound to take advantage of it later, she definitely didn't want him to get one over her.

The poor 2nd Imperial Prince, if he ever found out that his jade token that was given to her out of his sincerity was going to be pawned off for money, he definitely wouldn't be able to control himself from puking his blood out in distress.

After securing the jade token somewhere safe, she turned her attention to the golden silk face mask on the table. It had small white gems inlaid on all sides of it, a picture of a lotus blossom was threaded in the center of it with golden threads, and on a closer look, there were mini-sized white pearls at the center of the blooming lotus blossom. The whole face mask's design would give whoever wore it a dreamy yet subtle look, and to be honest, she really liked it.

When she reached out her hands to touch it, she was shocked at how smooth and fine it felt, it easily slipped through her jade white fingers, like the most delicate of silk. She could imagine how nice it would feel against her face. When she wondered how meticulous the person had to work to finish this, she couldn't help but sigh admiringly at their advance skills, it must have taken weeks for them to weave together this face mask.

"Although this 2nd Imperial Prince is a shameless pervert, I can't deny that he actually has some good eye for materials." Tian He says helplessly to herself.

When he offered her this gift earlier, she was immediately going to turn it down, but stopped herself in time because she indeed needed a mask to cover up her face before the competition ended. If that evil consort who captured and tortured the original owner were to attend the competition tomorrow, she needed to make sure that she wouldn't get recognized until she was safely recruited under a famous artist company.

After putting away the silk mask, she went over to her closet and opened it, looking at the amazing outfit she got herself for tomorrow's competition, she couldn't help but feel more confident and excited for tomorrow's big day. Her dancing and singing have greatly improved since she came to this world, and for once, she was happy and thrilled to display her arts in front of others, of course not counting her family members from her own world.

…..

2nd Imperial Prince left the academy quickly and returned to his residence. He entered an area where many of his inner courtyards were stationed, after giving orders to the guards at the entrance to not let anyone in, he went into a small inner courtyard hidden amongst the several other inner courtyards he had.

When he reached the main hall of a small inner courtyard, he saw a man that shared similar facial features as his 'imperial father', surprisingly, it was 1st Imperial prince that should have already departed from the capital.

2nd Imperial Prince stood at the doorway, looking at the sullen face of his elder imperial brother, he knew that Consort Dai would definitely try something on the day of the competition tomorrow, so he couldn't let his elder imperial leave just yet. Although, his means were a bit crude, but since his 'imperial father' has also agreed to his act, his elder imperial brother sadly had no say in the matter.

"Elder Imperial brother, how are you finding yourself in this inner courtyard of mine?" 2nd Imperial prince asked casually.

1st Imperial Prince looked up at his younger imperial brother and didn't reply to him immediately, he couldn't believe that his 'imperial father' was actually this cautious and wary of his imperial mother, locking him up as a precautionary measure. His mood was disoriented, he didn't know what to believe anymore, he always thought that his imperial father would have some sentiments or affection towards his imperial mother, after all the years that they've been together, but he was wrong.

His imperial father was just waiting for the time to be ripe for him to strike. It looks like the affectionate act towards him and his imperial mother he put up after his younger imperial brother's poison event was all a fake. His imperial father had long lost his trust towards him and his imperial mother. How ironic that they were relying on his imperial father following the rules and regulations of his justice system to take them out, even after the horrible actions his imperial mother did, he was still trying to be a good Emperor.

He turned towards the strong and intelligent younger imperial brother of his, he had always felt a bit envious towards his talents and love that their imperial father gave to him, but he didn't let that make him sad because he had his imperial mother by his side. It made him feel a bit superior to him for once since he had her and her family's backing for the throne, but now looking at him, he realized all that he had cherished was nothing in his younger imperial brother's eyes.

He removed his gaze from him, not letting him see how pathetic his face looked, but then, after a moment of contemplation, he asked softly, "Younger Imperial brother, what is it that you're seeing me for today?" He knew that his younger imperial brother and imperial father were planning to finish their plans of wiping out his maternal family and their factions tomorrow, he just didn't know what play he had to follow.

Looking at his elder imperial brother's helpless back, he shook his head, and began stating his purpose, "Since elder imperial brother already knows that your imperial mother is going to attend tomorrow's competition in order lead out the rest of your maternal family's forces, imperial father and I have decided to let you also attend secretly, and if nothing occurs, we will naturally send you where you want to go, whether it be out of the capital or back to your residence." 2nd Imperial Prince was counting on the affections that Consort Dai still had for her son to not try anything, or at least stop her from trying anything tomorrow.

After hearing his younger imperial brother's purpose, his hands couldn't help but tightly fist itself, hoping desperately it could hold in the inner turmoil he felt. His younger imperial brother's speech directly proves that he already knows his imperial mother will absolutely do something tomorrow. Has his imperial father decided to completely abandon his imperial mother?! If he's going to expose her actions in front of the whole capital tomorrow, even if she was an Imperial Consort, the people would never acknowledge her, she wouldn't be able to escape being severely punished!

His imperial father had completely hardened his heart towards his imperial mother.

He couldn't help but feel a bit cold inside, if his imperial father never had any affections towards his imperial mother, then what about him? Remembering the kind and caring way his imperial father treated him while he raised him, he quickly erased that thought, his imperial father had always cared for him, but now looking at the situation, it looked like his imperial father was only forced to do this. Yes, that's right, he was forced by the circumstances, in no time at all, his imperial father would appear in front of him and explain his actions towards him.

1st Imperial Prince was desperately reinforcing those thoughts inside to himself, he didn't want to face the truth that his imperial father had given up on him, but he knew deep down it was pointless, his imperial mother was going to leave him, and he will probably become a Prince in name only.

No, there's a way to fix this, he turned to his younger imperial brother, "Younger imperial brother, if I follow your plans tomorrow, will you promise to let us pair of son and mother go? I give you my word that I'll make sure we won't ever step foot in the capital again." He solemnly pleaded. He knew that the only person who could secretly send forces to rescue his imperial mother was this younger imperial brother of his, even if his imperial father eventually found out, it would already be too late if they escaped far from the capital city.

Hearing the hidden meaning behind his elder imperial brother's sentence and seeing his firm attitude, he knew that if he didn't promise him, his elder imperial brother might try to escape tonight, and although he was confident of the security in his residence, he didn't want to take any risks.

He calmly replies, "I shall promise you, elder imperial brother, but in return, please act according to my orders tomorrow." After receiving his confirmation, 2nd Imperial Prince left the small inner courtyard and returned to his own courtyard to finish up the plans for tomorrow. He needed to make sure that there were enough forces to take out the Dai family and protect the safety of the students.

Since he had already given his jade token to Tian He, allowing her free reign to command his secret guards, he didn't have to worry that her safety would be jeopardized. If he could, he didn't want her to participate in tomorrow's competition, but he also knew that her performance was something she cherished, he didn't want to keep her away from the passions that made her happy either.

Sighing internally to himself, he realized that this was the first time he was so indecisive in his decisions, was this nervousness something that happened only because of his love for Tian He? If so, then he'll have to get use to it from now, after all, they had a long life ahead of themselves and he could enjoy every moment of it courting her.

He smiled delightfully after thinking about his future together with her and renewed his determination to make sure that nothing unforetold would happen tomorrow.

…..

Very soon, the morning of the new student's competition has arrived, and the capital's stores and restaurants were crowded with people, even all the inns were packed full, and some of the travelers that arrived late to the capital for the competition could only curse their bad luck.

It was especially hectic for the new students inside the academy, the two thousand of them were all rushing to finish their last-minute arrangements for the competition that would began in an hour. The seats for the competition were already packed full of people who had waited diligently all morning, however; the VIP booths on the upper floors remained empty, apparently these important guests won't be arriving until the last minute.

The eye-catching red judges' seat was located directly in front of the competition stage, giving those who sat on it a perfect view of the new students' performances. Many of the new students have already gathered back stage to await their call to perform.

However, Tian He and Yu Yan were still in Yu Yan's courtyard, trying to put on their clothes as quickly as they could, while Liu Wei 'patiently' waited for them outside.

"Oh, my goodness, I can't believe we actually overslept!" Yu Yan reprimanded herself while trying to tie the sash on her waist.

"Don't worry Yu Yan, there's still enough time until the competition." Tian He tried to soothe her friend's nerves while adjusting her skirt.

Apparently, Yu Yan had overslept because she was too excited about the competition, and Tian He had her thoughts occupied most of the night by 2nd Imperial Prince's warning to her about today. In the end, neither failed to wake up on time, and if Liu Wei hadn't shown up, it was obvious that they would have continued sleeping.

After a quarter of an hour had passed, both Tian He and Yu Yan successfully finished getting ready and rushed out of the courtyard, but before they could, Tian He stopped in her tracks and pulled Yu Yan abruptly, almost making her stumble.

Not waiting for Yu Yan's words, she spoke first, "Yu Yan, wait."

Before Yu Yan could reply to her, Tian He ran back to her room and opened the box that contained 2nd Imperial Prince's gifts, she quickly put on the golden silk face mask and hid the jade token within her wide flowy sleeves. It was better to listen to her instincts and carry this on her just in case.

When Tian He reunited with Yu Yan and Liu Wei outside the courtyard, they saw her golden silk face mask, but Tian He just nodded towards their inquiring facial expressions and seeing her confirmation, they didn't dwell on it and immediately made haste towards the area of the competition.