"You walked like a duck at the side of a pond." The Empress mother said.
Some of the girls giggled.
"But you managed to straighten your legs by the end so that is progress. Progress is good." The Empress Mother added.
Mingzhu raised her eyes. All she heard was that she was good.
"You curtsied like a folding lawn chair fighting a windstorm."
Again, Mingzhu's cousins giggled.
"But you stood up with surprising grace at the end. Do not give up on learning proper etiquette. It is expected of you as the daughter of a noble family. You must learn the virtues of a noble woman.
You are expected to balance a crown even when you are running, eat without revealing your teeth and curtsy like a silk ribbon caught in a gentle wind.
