Chapter 418: Taking the stage, recognized

"Miss, I'll play a piece for everyone, Su." Her voice was charming and lively, her brows and eyes clear and cold, all carrying a groomed feel.

But it was exactly this aloofness that made the people below fall silent.

Jiang Yunchu glanced at the people seated on the round platform, finding it interesting, Su?

Ning Chengyan kept his eyes closed, never looking down, continually pondering just who that figure was, and where he had seen it before.

"Master Jiang, won't you take a look?"

This young lady is quite something; if she's from Mi Xiang Ju, we'll be able to hear music often from now on.

They had no other thoughts, and in gathering information, they were regulars at Mi Xiang Ju, but they only came to watch dances and listen to music, never causing trouble.

"I have a wife." Ning Chengyan suddenly spoke, his words causing the two people opposite to stare, then they suddenly recalled that their lord had indeed married the Princess Consort, hadn't he acknowledged it before?

What's going on now?

The speaker glanced to the side, and that person waved a hand.

"Clang—" a sound rang out; the person who had just closed his eyes suddenly opened them, and Ning Chengyan looked toward the white-clad maiden below.

Just a single note, pure and clear, carrying a sense of distant clarity.

But then her hand swiftly moved, and all the notes sprang from her fair, tender hands.

Ning Chengyan closed his eyes again; that first note actually stirred his killing intent.

This person is not ordinary!

"This person, pay extra attention—he's not ordinary." Ning Chengyan reminded them; being on someone else's turf, he didn't say more, just getting to the point.

"Yes." The two immediately agreed.

When the first note sounded, Jiang Yunchu differed from the others: they widened their eyes, while she closed hers, slowly feeling the power in the music, that lofty reverence, and the sensation of mutual refinement.

A fine zither, a fine score, a pity……

It's a pity that the player, though skilled in technique, is overly proficient—pure skill, no feeling.

For the zither, technique is the entry; only when emotion is blended does it become sublimated.

"Dong—" a sound fell.

Like a call and response, that falling note was steady, precise, fierce, carrying a hint of farewell, yet within that farewell lingered some reluctance, a contradictory emotion—like the parting of mountain and bird.

Jiang Yunchu opened her eyes, glanced at that maiden, but the maiden instead glanced at the spot in the middle of the second floor……

Huh? Is it the same as my target?

Who is she?

Jiang Yunchu furrowed her brows; she admired the woman's finger technique, but she couldn't ruin her own plans.

There were singers, dancers, calligraphers and painters, and zither players.

All manner of oddities; Jiang Yunchu also admired some of them—a tiny Xi Xiang Cheng actually boasted so many talents, truly astonishing.

One must know that talents are either for entertaining others or for entertaining oneself.

Either they are women of the pleasure quarters or noble ladies; this clear-cut division is quite interesting.

"The fifteenth person to take the stage, Yun Miao Er."

Jiang Yunchu heard her own name and blinked—wasn't she supposed to be last? Are there only fifteen people total?

She didn't realize that among these fifteen people, many were women from the pleasure quarters filling the numbers; otherwise, they couldn't have made up fifteen.

Jiang Yunchu held her zither and stepped onto the stage one step at a time, without any particular flying sleeves or ribbons, nor any dance-like footwork.

She reached the high platform, feeling the surrounding gazes, somewhat uncomfortable, yet the corners of her mouth kept turning up; through the black gauze, she openly scanned all around, imprinting every layout in her mind.

"Today I will play a piece for everyone, Plum Blossom Melody."

Again plum……

"Tsk~" those below hearing the word plum were practically immune to it.

But when Jiang Yunchu's voice came out, although she deliberately altered her tone, her natural air could never be concealed.

"It's her." Ning Chengyan suddenly lifted his head, looking toward the high platform.

Wasn't she in Ning Jing? Why appear in Xijiang and come to Xi Xiang Cheng to take the stage—what is she after?

No wonder she seemed so familiar, no wonder I found myself unconsciously noticing her—it turns out it's her.

Jiang Yunchu!

"Who is it?" The two exchanged a glance, then one asked.

But……

Ning Chengyan didn't answer; he simply stared at the people below, relishing her every move, watching all her actions.

Jiang Yunchu lightly laughed, then before her hand moved, her foot stirred first; no one knew how she controlled the bell's sound, which had previously made no noise at all, but now……

That clear, cold bell sound continually issued from her black gauze skirt, shaking and swaying to reveal her fair, tender little foot.

She wasn't wearing shoes!

Ning Chengyan's face darkened somewhat, yet he didn't move; he didn't know what his young Princess Consort intended, nor what plan she had, and since this wasn't Da Ning, his appearance would only bring her endless disaster.

Reason triumphed over impulse; the urge to take her home and hold her could only be his own impulse.

The bell's sound was a series of melodies; then the zither rose, soft and slow, like lovers' whispers, gentle words, bringing a moistening, silent feeling—pitter-patter, sprinkling into everyone's hearts.

Within the zither's music, a familiar melody repeated three times, yet still it left people entranced and enamored, reluctant to part.

The plum blossom's pure fragrance, icy skin and jade bones, even made it seem as if one could smell waves of plum scent……

Cutting off the sound, the fingers, the emotion—everything clean and neat, yet it made people unable to help savoring it again and again.

"I've finished." She held her zither, gave a light smile; although she said she was done, her body didn't bend an inch.

Those white, tender toes stepping on the wooden planks were now so obvious; many below unconsciously swallowed saliva, and on the way back, she didn't control the bell's sound—each step a chime~

Seeing the men's covetous gazes, Ning Chengyan wished he could gouge out their eyes.

He wished he could seize that woman and carry her off, he wished……

He clenched his fists, took two hard breaths, and only then let himself regain his composure.

Jiang Yunchu!

You're dead!

But there were too many eyes on her; she simply didn't notice the one belonging to Ning Chengyan. If she had noticed, she probably wouldn't have been able to attend to it. The arrow is on the bowstring; she must release it, only one chance. If she misses, she will never be able to get that medicinal herb again.

"Below, please, all young masters, vote with your own posts." Zi Niang's complexion was not good; she had expended so much effort, cultivated so many people, never expecting that in the end she would let this Yun Miao Er show her face.

She lifted her head and looked at the middle position on the second floor; there was no reminder there, everything proceeded according to the normal order.