"Your Majesty, Second Prince Zhao," Hua Maque greets, "I, Hua Maque, will be performing a cultivation martial arts item for you and the esteemed guests tonight."
Hua Maque places her hand on the hilt of her sword as she takes a bow in a Puss in Boots-like fashion. She's exuding so much confidence and charisma that Yuying feels like she'd already stolen heart even though she hadn't even started performing yet.
Just then, Hua Maque winks at Yuying. It's subtle, but there's no doubt that it was there.
Yuying, who'd already been lowkey crushing on Hua Maque, gets momentarily flustered by this rather sudden and unexpected action. Even though Hua Maque'd stuck her tongue out ever so subtly at Yuying earlier, the latter didn't think that the former would be relaxed enough to be cheeky at this point in time.
Hua Maque didn't seem the slightest bit nervous, unlike the other girls. Well, everyone except Zheng Yimeng, since she'd just had her turn. The previous look of complete focus and concentration on her face has now been replaced by relief.
Even Liu Yuqi, who was probably the next most confident after Hua Maque, seemed a little anxious. Despite her best efforts to hide her worry, Yuying could still see Liu Yuqi fidgeting with her hands under her long, pink sleeves.
Once again, the Emperor nods before turning to Yuying, waiting for her to tell Hua Maque that she could start. And so, Yuying lifts her chin up slightly as she waves her hand, signaling that Hua Maque could start in a regal and poised manner.
"Good luck," Yuying wishes Hua Maque before placing her hand down.
Hua Maque shoots her a grin as she skilfully whips her flower and sparrow-patterned sword out from her belt, causing some people in the audience to gasp in surprise. This surprise changes to wonder as Hua Maque effortlessly spins the sword around like it was no big deal as a form of warm-up.
Yuying marvels internally as she watches Hua Maque take her place at the center of the Main Hall. She smirks as she places her left palm on the marble floor and wraps the fingers on her right hand around the handle of her custom-made sword.
Hua Maque's pose kind of reminds Yuying of Spiderman.
/If Spiderman was a young Chinese girl, that is./
Just then, the sound of a pipa (a traditional Chinese music instrument that is sometimes called the 'Chinese lute') echoes throughout the Main Hall.
This time, Yuying doesn't have to look around for the source of the sound to know that it's from Hua Maque and her cultivation abilities.
Sure enough, the music plays as Hua Maque rises from her stance. She's slowly spinning the sword behind her back, almost as though it was a propeller attached to her back.
Yuying widens her eyes slightly in surprise when she realizes that Hua Maque is starting out slow instead of jumping straight into the action-packed movements like she thought that she would.
/Hua Maque seems to be starting out with some Taiji (an internal Chinese martial art).../
Hua Maque stops spinning her sword and raises it in the air such that it gleams under the bright lights of the Main Hall.
Hua Maque then extends her right leg outwards in front of her, before lowering it and positioning it towards the left side. Her foot hovers over the floor and does not make any contact with it at all.
Yuying and the rest of the audience gape in amazement when Hua Maque draws a semi-circle with her right leg before raising it into the air without even trembling.
Hua Maque's leg is so straight that she looks just like a needle on a pin cushion. Yuying is even more impressed by the fact that her hands are stretched out this entire time, not even touching her leg.
Just then, Hua Maque slowly brings her leg down and draws another mini semi-circle to her right side with it. She then crosses it behind her left leg, before slowly lowering herself by bending it while keeping her right leg straight...
Everyone collectively gasps when Hua Maque successfully lowers herself into the ground with her straightened right leg crossed over her bent left leg hovering above the ground.
As slow as it may be, it's an extremely difficult feat that requires a great deal of strength, balance, and flexibility to be able to accomplish.
What made Hua Maque even more impressive was the fact that she was spinning and doing slow but elaborate actions with her sword as she gently lowered herself into the ground.
Yuying felt like her jaw was about to drop onto the ground.
/I've seen quite a number of people practise Taiji in my life./
/There's this group of old people within the community who gather at the park near my house at six o' clock in the morning to practise Taiji./
/I also remember my classmates back in secondary school mimicking them by pretending to practise it, mocking them because of how slow and easy the movements seem.../
/Yes, I've definitely seen many people practise Taiji in my life this far.../
Yuying gulps as she watches Hua Maque slowly rise up from the ground just as effortlessly as she'd lowered herself down onto it with her straightened leg still stable and extended.
/But I've never seen anyone practise Taiji like Hua Maque./
Just then, Hua Maque lets out a shout.
"Ha!"
Her voice isn't typically feminine and gentle-sounding. Instead, it's deep and hoarse.
Strangely enough, this was exactly the voice that Yuying had pictured a person like Hua Maque would have.
Yuying, along with everyone else in the Main Hall, feel their heart beats accelerate along with the rhythm as Hua Maque flies into the fast-paced portion of her routine.
Hua Maque leaps into the air and stabs at it with the tip of her sword, before swiftly making two turns to the right and executing a perfect aerial.
She places her sword behind her back and swoops down low like a sparrow catching an insect before going into a smoothly-executed butterfly kick.
"Ha!"
Hua Maque lets out another shout as she starts to spin the sword around while doing some complicated footwork.
Even though it was just a showcase, Yuying feels like she's watching Hua Maque in action, on an actual battlefield.
Rather than being determined to win the title of the Future Empress, it's clear to Yuying that Hua Maque's passion for cultivation martial arts lies so deeply that she's giving it her all in this performance.
Just then, Hua Maque throws her sword up into the air. Instead of dropping right back, however, the sword floats in the air.
Yuying doesn't even have the time to gape at the sword hanging mid-air when a flurry of flowers and sparrows suddenly emerge.
It takes a while for Yuying to realize that the flowers and the sparrow designs on the hilt of Hua Maque's sword have come to life.
The pipa music is playing at its fastest now. Hua Maque does a somersault and lands right onto the blade of the sword.
Hua Maque commands it like some sort of skateboard as she starts to fly around the room, her endearing entourage of flowers and sparrows following behind as she does so.
Everyone looks on with awe in their eyes as Hua Maque whizzes effortlessly around the Main Hall on the sword.
She casually brushes the curtains at the sides of Main Hall and doesn't look the slightest bit worried about touching furniture belonging to the Imperial Palace.
After flying around for a while, Hua Maque lands back onto the ground and wills the sparrows and flowers around her to return to the hilt of the sword.
She performs her final step sequence and sword routine before falling into her ending pose, which was exactly the same as her starting one.
Hua Maque plants her left palm onto the floor and spins the sword in her right. As it slowly comes to a stop, so does the pipa music.
Everyone is silent for a moment before applauding Hua Maque with the thunderous applause that she deserved.
There's a wide grin on Hua Maque's face when she lifts her head back up. She's panting slightly, but aside from that, she looks as though she haven't just executed an intense routine and flown around the Main Hall.
Yuying had been impressed by Hua Maque even before she'd seen what she could do.
Now that she'd witnessed it at all, she was even more impressed by the latter than before.
However, the applause for Hua Maque couldn't last for too long it was time for the next act.
As soon as Hua Maque steps back, Liu Yuqi steps forward with two of her companions carrying her prized guzheng behind her.
Liu Yuqi doesn't look the slightest bit daunted or fazed by Hua Maque's phenomenal performance.