I was sold when I opened my eyes! My sick and disabled husband comforts me every night after he wake

Chapter 168 A Pair of Silver Bells

As he spoke, he raised his hand.

"Then let's get started!"

"Your Majesty, but my dress is too long. Could you please allow a servant to bring me a pair of scissors so I can alter it on the spot?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped in surprise, and Mrs. Lin was almost speechless with astonishment.

She was hoping to see him embarrass himself by slipping off his clothes while dancing later, but now she's asking the Emperor for scissors. What is she trying to do?

The Emperor was taken aback at first, then nodded.

"Okay, someone bring the scissors."

Having received the Emperor's permission, Lan Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. She then straightened up and secretly glanced at the cut area under the hem of her dress to determine how she would alter it later.

Wei Jianning realized that she must have her reasons for doing this.

When he saw the barely visible tear at the hem of her dress, he was instantly enraged, his fists clenching tightly in his sleeves.

This dress was chosen by him for Lan Zhi and has never left the Crown Prince's residence, but now it has been torn. It is clear that someone must have tampered with it.

He secretly harbored resentment. Someone dared to harm Lan Zhi in the Crown Prince's residence. He was determined to find this person and make them pay.

At this moment, someone handed a pair of scissors to Lan Zhi. She took the scissors and, under everyone's gaze, swung them around and cut off the hem of her skirt below the knee.

In this way, the weight of the skirt is reduced, so even if she increases the amplitude of her dancing movements, she will not be embarrassed by the clothes tearing.

It wasn't until they saw her cut a normally conservative dress into a knee-length skirt that the crowd gasped in surprise. Consort Liang immediately covered her eyes and angrily rebuked her.

"This is truly indecent; get out of here immediately."

The Empress, however, went against Consort Liang's wishes and praised her:

"Consort Liang's words are a bit too harsh. Although she shortened the dress, she didn't reveal anything she shouldn't have. I actually find it quite interesting."

Ever since Consort Liang entered the palace, the Empress has been constantly contradicting her, which has greatly annoyed Consort Liang.

Seeing that the Empress had spoken, Consort Zhen echoed her sentiments.

"This young lady Lan sang and played her little tune so well before. If she were to perform a different kind of dance, we would be in for a real treat, wouldn't we, Your Majesty?"

The Empress chuckled softly, but did not respond to Consort Zhen's words.

Lin Yuwei looked Lan Zhi up and down, then snorted dismissively.

"Wearing tattered clothes and showing off in front of others, what a country bumpkin, doesn't he care about disgracing his ancestors?"

Seeing that her attempts to tamper with things were completely ineffective, Madam Lin's brows were filled with anger. She hadn't expected Lan Zhi to pull this stunt. If she had known, she should have been more ruthless and simply cut Lan Zhi's clothes to shreds.

Lan Zhi put down the scissors in her hand and walked lightly towards the musician at the door. The two small bells at her waist jingled and tinkled, echoing in the Qianqing Palace.

The sound that often appeared in her dreams reached Madam Lin's ears, and she instantly looked around excitedly. When she confirmed that the bell sound was coming from Lan Zhi, she immediately shook her head, denying her foolish idea that Lan Zhi could not be her daughter. She must have misheard.

Back then, before her daughter was even born, Lin Xingliang had already consulted a master to name her.

Both boys and girls are named Zhilan, which comes from the poem "Zhilan sprinkles the riverbank, a dream that lingers; the misty rain of Jiangnan has brought many autumns."

Because she conceived her child while accompanying Lin Xingliang on a trip to Jiangnan to investigate local conditions, she specifically chose two words from this poem about the autumn scenery of Jiangnan.

After Lan Zhi had just spoken with the musicians, they all said they didn't understand what kind of dance music she wanted.

Helpless, she told them to turn the tempo of the music up to the fastest possible speed.

Because she wanted to perform a vibrant modern dance.

In a short while, the sound of the zither began, and the sound of the flute entered her ears. She smiled and slowly raised her arms, as if two butterflies were dancing in the air.

As the music quickened, her dance steps became more agile and powerful. Her body moved rapidly to the rhythm, her feet seemingly floating on clouds, light and nimble.

Her dance was full of energy, completely different from the dances performed by the previous three girls. In addition, without the burden of a long skirt, she appeared very light, and the hem of her knee-length skirt floated in the air with her dance steps.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding..."

The bells at her waist swayed with her dance steps, blending seamlessly with the music; if you didn't listen carefully, you couldn't tell where they came from.

Madam Lin was particularly sensitive to the sound of the bells. At this moment, she had no interest in watching Lan Zhi dance. Her eyes were fixed on the familiar bells at Lan Zhi's waist.

She rubbed her eyes hard, and when she looked again carefully, she confirmed that the pair of bells were the same pair of silver bells that she had tied around her daughter's waist years ago.

She immediately clutched her chest, feeling her breathing become rapid.

Lin Yuwei noticed her unusual behavior and quickly asked her in a low voice.

"Mother, what's wrong? You look so pale."

Mrs. Lin took a deep breath and shook her head.

"It's nothing, I just feel a little tightness in my chest."

"Should we go back first?"

"Don't don't."

Madam Lin waved her hand impatiently.

"It's okay, I'll be fine after resting for a while."

She had already spotted the familiar silver bells; how could she leave without finding out where her daughter was?

But she couldn't believe her eyes, nor could she believe that this woman surnamed Lan was her daughter.

Lan Zhi? She suddenly thought of the name Lan Zhi.

This woman's name is Lan Zhi, and her daughter's name is Zhi Lan. But no matter whether you read it forwards or backwards, it's still the same two characters on the silver bell.

Could my daughter still be alive? Did the person who found her name her after the silver bell she was wearing?

God!

She dared not think any further. She both longed for the Lan Zhi in front of her to be her daughter Zhi Lan, and feared that she was her daughter.

What did she do to her?

She tried to harm Lin Yuwei, her adopted daughter, time and time again. If Lin Yuwei were truly her own daughter, then this would be truly ironic.

"mother……"

Seeing Madam Lin sitting there in a daze, her face pale, Lin Yuwei reached out and took her hand, muttering angrily.

"Mother, look! All these people are drawn to her again. What should we do? If I lose this round, I'll have no hope of becoming the Crown Princess, and I won't live anymore..."

Madam Lin's gaze remained fixed on the pair of silver bells at Lan Zhi's waist. Lin Yuwei called out to her in annoyance.

"Mother, I'm talking to you, what are you looking at?"

Mrs. Lin then came to her senses.

"Yuwei, what did you say to your mother?"

"Humph!"

Lin Yuwei angrily withdrew her hand from hers, pouting and muttering:

"I said, if I lose this round again, I'm going to die. I don't want to live anymore."

"Yuwei, don't talk nonsense. There are always winners and losers in a competition. So what if you lose?"

"mother……"

Lin Yuwei stared at her with a bewildered expression.

"This is a contest for the Crown Princess. If she succeeds, she will become the Empress. If I become the Empress, wouldn't you, as her mother, also be honored? How can you say such things?"

Madam Lin was still preoccupied with whether Lan Zhi was truly her daughter, and casually replied,

"Everyone's watching. If she really wins this round, then it proves that it's fate."

Madam Lin's sudden change of heart displeased Lin Yuwei.

"Mother, am I your daughter or is she your daughter? How can you boost others' morale while diminishing your own?"

"Alright, Yuwei, you've been nagging in my ear the whole time, it's making my head hurt. Quiet down for a bit!"