Chapter 16: The Wager Agreement

Miss Manqing, full name Shen Manqing, was originally the daughter of a civil official in the Capital, but due to her father being branded a criminal, she has now come to this barren land of Yinzhou. She has always been a refined lady of good breeding, and no one had ever dared to tease her at such close range.

As for Liu Zheng, although a playboy, his appearance was truly not bad. Most people from Liangzhou are tall, and his height was a full 183 centimeters or so. He was no pale scholar, but rather had sharp, well-defined features, handsome and robust.

With such a man beside her, and such a gentle voice.

"What would you like to hear?"

For any young girl just stepping into the world, this would likely be unbearable.

"Young Master Liu, I, I..."

Manqing's small hands were twisted together.

Liu Zheng found it quite amusing, and taking advantage of the wine, he laughed heartily: "How about this, Miss Manqing? If I, Liu Zheng, truly surpass you, you shall remove this veil and let everyone see, how about that?"

"Shameless scoundrel!"

"You, you, you! How dare you insult a lady!"

A group of scholars and young masters began to slam their tables in anger again.

Hypocrite!

Liu Zheng gave a cold laugh. He did not believe that no one present wanted to see what this Miss Manqing actually looked like. With this opportunity, not only did they not know to thank this young master, but they even cursed him?

Do these people have any conscience left?

Sure enough.

Teased like this by Liu Zheng, Manqing lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum: "Young Master, if you can truly win, I will let only you see, would that be alright?"

Good!

Liu Zheng laughed heartily.

Seeing this fellow being so excessive, the crowd was on the verge of taking action, with all sorts of insults to decency, all sorts of verbal abuse and mockery, one after another.

Liu Zheng, however, could not be bothered with them.

He sat before the zither, his hands caressing the strings, and slowly closed his eyes.

The scene suddenly went silent.

This action of Liu Zheng playing the zither actually possessed quite a bit of spirit; one could tell at a glance he was not someone unversed in this art. Once his hands touched the strings, his entire temperament changed.

From the playboy's boldness just a moment ago, he became refined and elegant.

Can this fellow really play the zither?

Chen Xiang was the first not to believe it!

Zheng Yue Ru also watched with curiosity; could it be that this young master was not just spouting nonsense?

"Dong, dong, dong..."

Liu Zheng's fingers moved lightly, and the sound of the zither followed. It was also "Recalling an Old Friend," but unlike the "melancholy" Shen Manqing had started with, Liu Zheng came straight in with a grand and sweeping rhythm! You like family tragedy and national hatred? Fine! Then let's have family tragedy and national hatred!

This was a cross-century adaptation!

What was performed on the zither was all iron-willed fortitude, troops being deployed on the battlefield, national enmity and family grudges, and corpses floating for a thousand miles.

"My heavens!"

"This is..."

"Ah!"

Liu Zheng kept his eyes closed throughout. In his past life, he had been forced by his family to learn the guzheng since childhood. Although there were some differences between the guzheng and the zither, they were not significant.

In his mind, he possessed thousands of musical pieces!

Coupled with his mastery of the various reforms and fusions of thousands of years of music, he knew them like the back of his hand!

Adapting a piece was naturally a simple task for him.

And as it happened, this "Recalling an Old Friend" was the very adaptation assignment his guzheng teacher had given him back then.

This "Recalling an Old Friend," also known as "Recalling an Old Friend in the Mountains," consists of six sections. The beginning and the end use relatively clear and bright harmonics and nimble, free-tempo phrasing. This section in particular begins with harmonics, creating an atmosphere of tranquility in an empty mountain valley. When the harmonics stop, thoughts unfold along with the rising and falling melody.

But in Liu Zheng's hands, a great change occurred!

It was the same harmonics, but the rhythm was different.

This gave people a feeling of great intensity and a tense atmosphere. It seemed as if the mountains were filled with a murderous aura.

The person himself was sitting on the mountain peak.

And the second section was even more clanging and resonant, not the lingering, sentimental, short, fast, and flat tone of the original version, but representing the mutual conquest on the battlefield and the vastness of surging national wars.

At this moment.

The person playing the zither was either devising strategies from a thousand miles away or watching this struggle with cold eyes, recalling the past.

This third and fourth section were also high-pitched, with the rhythm of conquest advancing layer by layer, thoughts churning, and tides rising and falling.

The fifth section, the sixth section...

At this moment.

The entire audience was stunned.

Every single one of them had their eyes fixed on Liu Zheng, their expressions turned to shock.

"This..."

"What piece is this?"

"Is this still 'Recalling an Old Friend'?"

Many who understood the music of strings and bamboo asked one after another.

And at this time, Shen Manqing, beside Liu Zheng, was already covering her mouth, sobbing. The affairs of the imperial court and this battlefield conquest shared a similar subtlety. Shen Manqing's father had also been branded a criminal and exiled due to partisan strife. The treachery within that was even more visceral than the wars between nations!

This piece directly stirred up Shen Manqing's memories.

From being born into such a scholarly family, a wealthy household, receiving the envy of others since childhood, receiving a good education, and then suddenly encountering disaster, she had fallen into this place of pleasure, relying on selling smiles to survive...

This scene, this situation, this piece.

Who could not be filled with melancholy?

Ding-dong.

Liu Zheng's hands finally stopped; he then slowly opened his eyes and smiled slightly.

The entire Wanhua Pavilion fell into a deathly silence.

Lingering notes echoing in the rafters—this was truly the sound of lingering notes echoing in the rafters.

"Good!"

Among the group of scholars, Shen Xing was the first to stand up with an excited expression: "A fine piece! A single melody that exhausts the chaotic world; a divine melody, a divine melody!"

The others also nodded and echoed his sentiment.

Shen Manqing even leaned in beside Liu Zheng: "Young Master has great talent; Manqing is inferior..."

Zheng Yue Ru also looked on, stunned; for the first time, she truly recognized this young master of the Liu Family, who had indeed given her many surprises.

"What divine melody? All of you, shut up!"

Chen Xiang was already driven mad with rage at this moment and shouted: "Is this also called a divine melody? Tampering with the classics of the ancients is rebellious! How can heterodox and crooked ways be considered a divine melody?"

Once these words were spoken, people again voiced their support for him.

After all, in this era, many people still could not accept this kind of arrangement.

"What does Miss Zheng think?"

Liu Zheng smiled.

Zheng Yue Ru laughed: "Brother Liu is proficient in music; there is no doubt about that. But Young Master Chen is also not wrong; Brother Liu's piece is indeed a bit opportunistic."

Beside them, Shen Manqing wanted to say a few words for Liu Zheng; she was likely the only one present who knew that this Young Master Liu's zither skills were already at the level of a grandmaster.

But she was stopped by Liu Zheng with a chuckle: "Very well, then let us have another piece!"

The crowd was startled.

Was this Young Master Liu prepared, or was he playing off the cuff?

Regardless of which it was, it had already truly made people's jaws drop.

Liu Zheng played the zither again, deep in thought for a moment.

As for performing those classics known to everyone in this world, he naturally disdained to do so; if he was going to play, he would play something shocking and world-shaking to make these people shut up completely!

Got it!

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.

When Shen Manqing, standing to the side, saw this smile from Liu Zheng, she did not know why, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She already had a strong fondness for those proficient in music, let alone the confidence on his face at this moment...

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

This time, what Liu Zheng played directly was "Guan Shan Yue"!

This was a piece that absolutely did not exist in this world, one that could be played and sung! A piece with the style of the frontier, paired with the classic ancient poem "Guan Shan Yue" by the poet Li Bai—the quality of this was simply not just generally high.

"What piece is this again?"

"Never heard of it..."

"This..."

The entire hall was slightly startled.

This "Guan Shan Yue" was originally a piece in the "Yuefu Shiji," a military tune played by frontier guards on horseback, expressing the soldiers' longing for home and their devotion to the country.

"The bright moon rises above Tianshan, amidst the vast sea of clouds!"

And at this moment.

With Liu Zheng accompanying it with this poem, it was simply a perfect match.

"The long wind blows for ten thousand miles, crossing Yumen Pass!"

Suddenly, Zheng Yue Ru stood up, her face full of shock.

The scholars present were also instantly intoxicated by it.

These two lines of poetry alone had perfectly interpreted the grandeur and frontier atmosphere of this piece to the fullest!

"The Han troops descend the Baideng road, the Hu spy on Qinghai Bay!"

"From ancient times, the land of battle, no one is seen returning!"

"Good!"

Shen Xing could not help but stand up, tears streaming down his face.

Xiliang was located in the Northwest, and to the north was the lair of the Xiongnu; the Longyan Dynasty had repeatedly suffered from Xiongnu incursions—those were the Hu people! These few lines wrote out the heroic spirit of soldiers protecting their homes and country, ready to be wrapped in horse hides when they die.

Shen Manqing was stunned as she listened.

Just a moment ago, it was "Recalling an Old Friend," depicting the slaughter of the battlefield and the suffering of the people. But now, this "Guan Shan Yue" seemed to be telling her that since ancient times, war had been inevitable. Where there are people, there is conflict. With generations passing and strife never-ending, in such a situation, what was there to pity ourselves for while living in a peaceful environment?

"The garrison looks at the border colors, longing to return with bitter faces."

"High towers on this night, sighs are never idle!"

The whole hall was shocked.

In reality, the difficulty of the piece "Guan Shan Yue" was not great, but this poem was extremely classic.

"Good poem!"

"Good music!"

Zheng Yue Ru could not help but exclaim.

What kind of person was this young master of the Liu Family? He could write about love, and writing this poetry about the nation was also effortless for him. Was he really that rumored number one playboy of Liangzhou?

Finally.

The piece ended.

"Good!"

"This melody should only exist in Yingtian; how often can one hear it in the human world!"

"Viscount Liu has great talent!"

At this point, it was no longer Chen Xiang's turn to question it.

After all, true talent and learning cannot be faked.

"This, this..."

"It must have been composed for him by someone else, it must be!"

Chen Xiang looked at Liu Zheng, feeling as if he could vomit blood.

"How is it?"

The scholars and poets in the room cheered one after another, and Liu Zheng smiled slightly, looking at Shen Manqing beside him.

Shen Manqing was overcome with shyness and lowered her head.

Since the agreement just now meant Liu Zheng had won without a doubt, she naturally could not go back on her word.

"Hahahaha, no rush, let me first discuss the matter of the restaurant with Miss Zheng; our own business can be discussed later, discussed later..." Liu Zheng chuckled; this Shen Manqing was truly a fascinating person...

Then he looked at Zheng Yue Ru and said with a cupped-fist salute and a smile: "Miss Zheng?"

Zheng Yue Ru smiled faintly, as if she had been prepared for a long time, and had already had the manager of this Wanhua Pavilion bring over the bills for this place, saying with an amused smile: "Is Brother Liu serious? If so, I cannot deceive Brother Liu. Take a look at this Account Book, and then tell me if you still want to take over Wanhua Pavilion!"

Liu Zheng took it suspiciously, and was stunned the moment he looked at it.

What was going on?

Every month, it was a loss?

Please, this is a pleasure house! A place of debauchery!

It was practically a business with no overhead, so how could it lose money?

Zheng Yue Ru smiled bitterly: "Please look closely, Brother Liu."

Liu Zheng was indeed speechless after looking.

This Wanhua Pavilion had been open for five years now. Yet in these five years, there had not been a single month that was profitable! The reason was none other than that Yinzhou was truly too poor. The only people who could come here to seek pleasure were those young masters of Powerful Clans, and those peddlers and merchants.

However, in a place like Yinzhou, how many of the merchants who came here to do business could make big money?

Playing around occasionally is fine, but who could afford to come often?

Furthermore, these courtesans of Wanhua Pavilion were all bought at high prices from other regions as slaves. Yinzhou was remote, and all kinds of transportation costs were extremely high.

Therefore, business was dismal, and expenses exceeded income.

Deficits were naturally unavoidable.

Liu Zheng glanced at Zheng Yue Ru.

Suddenly, he realized a problem. This Wanhua Pavilion appeared to have been founded by the eldest Miss Zheng, so why did she persist even though it lost money every month?

Could it be...

She had the same idea as him?

This was a very dangerous signal! Could it be that this Zheng Family, like him, wanted to hold Yinzhou and covet the world?

No!

The Zheng Family should not have such strength yet, at least the Yinzhou branch of the Zheng Family was not that formidable.

Then, it seemed it was just for the sake of the Zheng Family wanting to secure their seat as the number one Powerful Clan.

Thinking of this, Liu Zheng felt much more relaxed, but he had already begun to feel wary of this Zheng Family.

"Brother Liu, Wanhua Pavilion is my life's work; even if I wanted to transfer it to you, how much silver would be appropriate?"

Zheng Yue Ru smiled bitterly again and again.

Indeed.

When she first founded Wanhua Pavilion, she had already spent five thousand taels! Over these past five years, she had lost another ten thousand taels; what would be a suitable price to sell it for? If she sold it for too much, Liu Zheng would not be happy.

If she sold it for too little, Zheng Yue Ru would certainly be unwilling.

It would have been better if Liu Zheng hadn't looked at this account book, but upon seeing it, he realized that this place of debauchery was truly the best institution for conducting trade across the world and collecting intelligence from all over!

He had to take it!

Liu Zheng suddenly smiled: "Miss Zheng, what do you think of this?"

"I, Liu Zheng, will buy a stake; shall we make a betting agreement?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was dumbfounded.

Zheng Yue Ru also looked stunned: "Brother... Brother Liu, what is a betting agreement?"