Chapter 72 Part 1: Stunning

I think I jinxed this chapter with my comment the other day. Got the shock of my life upon seeing the 45 pages displayed in the drive for this chapter. I thought something must be wrong, but of course not!  *cry* This chapter is actually 7.33 x longer than usual. Be prepared to read this people.
*PS: JYY hasn’t even started playing in this first part!!! Well, she did pluck a string……. *cries*
 

Jiang You Yao went up to the examination table leisurely.

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It was already the eighth month. Though it was midsummer, today’s weather was actually good. It rained last night but the weather had not cleared up. As the cool and refreshing wind blew, Jiang You Yao was like a budding flower in the early morning, like a pink lotus, attractive, tender and supple, blooming tremblingly. 

Ji Shuran had specially dressed her carefully today. The dusk colored clothes came out vivid and lovely on this particular morning. She was genuinely like the noble well-bred young lady raised in an extravagant family, her every movement was delicate and exquisite. 

The surrounding noble madams cast envious glances at Ji Shuran and she nodded with a smile. Even the other head of the Ji family was proud, her family’s granddaughter was this outstanding, no wonder Imperial Concubine Li was treated differently by Hong Xiao Emperor. 

Zhou Yan Bang was also within the crowd. After Jiang You Yao went on stage, whether intentional or accidental, she especially looked in his direction, seemingly very shy, just giving a fleeting glance.

However, those busybodies took all of these in and immediately made fun of Zhou Yan Bang, jeering: “Jiang third miss has gone up!”

Jiang You Yao and Marquis Ningyuan’s heir, Zhou Yan Bang’s marriage matter was known to all the officials in Yanjing. Zhou Yan Bang smiled but his smile was somewhat reluctant. 

The beautiful woman was still as lovely as always, but his heart had flown to another place. He couldn’t help looking to another place, Jiang Li’s direction. But he saw Jiang Li was leaning her head and talking to her good friend at the side, totally not discovering his sight.

Suddenly, a layer of sweet and sourness bubbled forth in Zhou Yan Bang’s heart. At this moment, he understood the happiness of loving but unable to obtain. It’s more tormenting than anything else but it was also something to look forward to, more than anything else.  

As a matter of fact, Jiang Li really wasn’t aware of Zhou Yan Bang’s sight. She felt both exasperated and ridiculous. Jiang second miss jumped into the water and died at that time because of Zhou Yan Bang. As long as Ningyuan Marquis residence put their heart into this fiancée who hadn’t passed through the door, even if it was just a sentence, the days in Jiang second miss’s life would not be this difficult. It’s a pity, they didn’t. Now that Jiang second miss had long since passed away, this Zhou Yan Bang still acted like an infatuated person, making people sick for no reason. 

Jiang Li didn’t want to pay attention to him. 

In the middle of her thought, Liu Xu abruptly spoke: “Look, it’s about to start.”

On the stage, Jiang You Yao just bathed her hands. Her movements as she did all these were naturally graceful. To be honest, Jiang Li felt at least Jiang You Yao’s guqin appearance was still very good.

Shortly after, Jiang You Yao smiled sweetly and her jade fingers fell on the guqin, moved sideways and plucked the first string. 

Jiang Li said: “It’s 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》.”

Liu Xu stared blankly: “How do you know?”

As soon as she finished asking, Jiang You Yao’s guqin sound came out, like running water, softly tilting up and down. The tone thumped repeatedly. It was indeed 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》.

Liu Xu was a little dumbstrucked and asked: “Did you hear Jiang You Yao play this at home? So you know in advance that she is going to play this song?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how did you know that she was going to play《Wild Geese on the Shoal》 when she’s only plucked the first string?”

“Look at her movement and you’ll know. Moreover, just a note is sufficient.” Jiang Li said lightly.

Chapter 72 Part 2: Stunning

“Then how did you know that she was going to play《Wild Geese on the Shoal》 when she’s only plucked the first string?”

“Look at her movement and you’ll know. Moreover, just a note is sufficient.” Jiang Li said lightly.

Please, read this at BloomingTranslation blog. We spend a lot of time and effort to bring you the best quality translations we can provide, so please show us respect by reading from our site instead of aggregators that steal our work.

But Liu Xu wasn’t relaxed after hearing her. She looked up and down at Jiang Li for a while and spoke in a low voice: “Don’t lie to me, you must have studied the guqin before, right? Maybe your guqin is pretty good? But is there a music teacher in Mount Qingcheng? Or could it be that you are a genius?”

Jiang Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and said: “It’s not so difficult.” As she was speaking, she sensed that someone was staring at her. She looked out and directly met Ye Shijie’s gaze who was staring at her from a distance.

Ye Shijie saw her looking his way and swiftly moved his sight away, which surprised Jiang Li.

After Ye Shijie looked away, he felt that his action just now made it more conspicuous and was annoyed for a while. He felt he would burst from worrying that Jiang Li would be humiliated today. But the girl had quite a deep mind, and her hidden trump card emerged one after another. Who knew what outrageous thing she would pull out today which would astound the people. Why should he stay here and meddle in other people’s business?

“Brother Ye, what are you looking at?” Someone spoke from the side. It was the Right Minister, Li Zhong Nan’s son, Li Lian.

Ye Shijie turned around and said: “Just looking around.” After Jiang Li’s reminder that Liu Zimin and Li Lian’s relationship was pretty good and that there might be an ulterior motive for Li Lian to lure him in, Ye Shijie had distanced himself from Li Lian.

Li Lian sensed Ye Shijie’s attitude and smiled without saying anything. But when Ye Shijie turned his head, his gaze turned inquisitive.

On the stage, Jiang You Yao played very well.

《Wild Geese on the Shoal》 describes wild geese flying in the sky in autumn. Sometimes hovering, sometimes looking at the surroundings. There’s an old saying “take the sparse quiet autumn, hear the wild geese sound of flying”, “take clear and refreshing autumn weather, the wind is still, the sand is flat, the clouds are thousands of miles away, the sound of flying birds in the horizon, borrowing the lofty ambition of people with noble aspirations, leisurely writes scholarly aspirations.”    

The tune was melodious and flowing. Jiang Li also didn’t expect Jiang You Yao to actually choose this song 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》. She thought with Jiang You Yao, such a well-bred young lady, she would pick an artistic and delicate song to play. It’s not because females couldn’t play such an imposing song, rather, it was because the sound reflects the frame of mind. How could Jiang You Yao’s mental state be so clear and imposing.

However, Jiang You Yao’s playing was quite good.

“This music is very difficult. After so many years, very few people play this music, and those were not ordinary people. Jiang You Yao is the first one to play this well.” Liu Xu murmured: “She could actually execute such difficult hand movements, it didn’t seem unfamiliar to her at all.” 

Jiang Li felt strange hearing this and asked: “Is this music so difficult to play?”

“Of course!” Liu Xu promptly replied: “Ming Yi Hall’s top ten guqin songs, the simplest is 《Flowing Water》, followed by 《The Spring Snow》, 《Three Stanzas of Plum-Blossoms》, 《Drunk Fisherman Night Singing》, 《Mist and Clouds over Xiao Xiang River》, 《Question and Answer on the Fishing Reef》, 《Yangguan Sandie》, 《A Song of Guangling》, then 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》. Mentioning it, at that time, Jinghong fairy became famous precisely because of this 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》……. Aiya,” Liu Xu suddenly recalled something: “I was just about to say that Jiang You Yao’s movements were somewhat familiar. As it turns out, it was similar to Jinghong fairy’s……. Could Jinghong fairy be giving pointers to her in private?”

Jiang Li clearly understood the Jiang family’s starting price. Ji Shuran was determined to let Jiang You Yao be in the limelight in this exam, so it’s not possible to invite and move Jinghong fairy.

She asked: “There are only nine songs.”

“The hardest one is 《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》. Some people still play 《Wild Geese on the Shoal》, but just couldn’t play it very well. But for many years, nobody ever played《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》 in the exam. Even the most outstanding student in guqin, or even Teacher Xiao, have never played this song.”

Chapter 72 Part 3: Stunning

“But for many years, nobody ever played《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》 in the exam. Even the most outstanding student in guqin, or even Teacher Xiao, have never played this song.”

Please, read this at BloomingTranslation blog. We spend a lot of time and effort to bring you the best quality translations we can provide, so please show us respect by reading from our site instead of aggregators that steal our wo

Teacher Xiao naturally referred to Xiao Deyin. Jiang Li thought, actually, Xiao Deyin could play it. It’s just that she overly pursued flawlessness. Moreover, her 《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》 was always a little bit worse. So she simply refused to show it to others. In order to play 《Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute》 well, Xiao Deyin had practiced hard for many years in private. She even consulted her before.   

But Xue Fang Fei was already dead. No one knew these matters anymore. 

Jiang You Yao was still playing and there’s a feeling of the geese soaring forward and circling around. The flying form of ups and down, gliding and gathering, being startled and having their spirits back. In Jiang You Yao’s guqin sound, the various moods of the geese were unexpectedly captured and slowly unfurled, making people feel as if it was that autumn day, where the vast sky was blue and the geese passed by without leaving any traces. 

In the examiners’ place, Xiao Deyin’s expression changed slightly, Jinghong fairy looked at Jiang You Yao’s movements and a trace of satisfaction flashed in her eyes.

Someone spoke from the side: “Don’t know when did fairy accept a disciple?”

It was the court musician, Mian Ju. Mian Ju was now in his fifties, but he looked like a happy 20 years old young man, laughing happily all day long. He wore a white coarse hemp cloth and did not resemble the emperor’s musician in the slightest. When he said this, there’s ridicule in his tone, totally disapproving of Jinghong fairy’s actions.  

When Jinghong fairy heard this, her ears turned red. Jiang You Yao’s finger techniques couldn’t be concealed from an expert like Mian Ju, she also knew since earlier. It’s just that being pointed bluntly like this was still somewhat humiliating. But since she had been redeemed and taken as a wife, many things had changed. Her husband, the son of the tea merchant, was just an ordinary businessman, really wasn’t a wealthy family. She couldn’t show her face, but after all, they needed firewood, rice, oil and salt. The silver that Ji Shuran gave was enough to let the old and young in the family be worry free for a few years. Thus, she wasn’t able to refuse and gave directions to Jiang You Yao in private.

Fortunately, Jiang You Yao was quite a good seedling. Teaching a disciple with ingeniousness was always better than those with mediocre aptitude. 

She further heard Mian Ju continue saying: “But your disciple…. Is really nothing great.”

Although Jinghong fairy had a good temper, she also felt uncomfortable at the moment and asked: “Mister, please advise.”

“Fairy don’t blame this old man for being polite,” Mian Ju grinned and said: “This Jiang third miss only acquired fairy’s form, but didn’t acquire fairy’s spirit. Your disciple was almost able to fully play the hundred forms of the group of wild geese in《Wild Geese on the Shoal》. But this leisurely, bright and generous feeling still fell short by a lot.”  

Jinghong fairy was upset, but she knew Mian Ju was right. She was aware of this problem in Jiang You Yao, she had also exerted great effort to help her. However, the thing with music was, the teachers could only teach them the fingering and techniques, but the students had to understand the heart of guqin themselves, nobody could help them with this. There’s no way around it if Jiang You Yao couldn’t comprehend the heart of guqin. 

“Aftar all it’s still a young girl, age is still small and has no worries. It’s normal not to comprehend this kind of artistic mood. Able to play like this is already very good. If there’s nothing unexpected, perhaps this young lady would be today’s number one.” Mian Ju smiled and added.

Jinghong fairy felt better upon hearing these last sentences from Mian Ju. She had never received any disciple, nor gave directions to any other person. If Jiang You Yao, who’d gotten her guidance, in the end was still unable to come first, when this spread out, it would become a laughing matter. 

When the two of them were talking, neither Xiao Deyin nor Shi Yan, the music teacher, said a word. It’s usual for Xiao Deyin to keep to herself and didn’t speak much. Shi Yan had an arrogant nature and was too lazy to pay attention to them.

On the contrary, Ji Heng, who was on the side, supported his chin with his fan while narrowing his eyes slightly, as if he was dozing off from boredom.

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