Chapter 020: The Zither Begins

The situation at the Qingyuan Earl’s Mansion was deteriorating day by day, and Yan Lin, being a noble son of an aristocratic family, was well aware of it. The incident of the Earl’s illegitimate daughter “falling into the water” during the Chongyang Banquet was widely known, especially with Jiang Xuening’s shocking remark at the time:

“The maid punishes the lady, and the servant bullies the master.”

The Qingyuan Earl’s Mansion had lost all its face.

To avoid gossip about mistreating the illegitimate daughter, they didn’t dare to trouble her openly, but she likely suffered more in secret.

The Yongyi Marquis Mansion had only one legitimate son, and he was favored in the palace. The various underhanded tactics of the inner courtyard couldn’t touch him. But even if he hadn’t experienced it, he had seen it. Yan Lin was well aware of the kind of struggles that occurred in the inner courtyard.

After all, his father also had several concubines and illegitimate children.

He felt that Ning Ning was too concerned about this illegitimate daughter she had met by chance and advised her, “You are too kind-hearted. There are countless people in the world who are foolish and clumsy and don’t strive for themselves. It’s enough that you saved her; do you expect her to be completely transformed? One’s circumstances have their reasons. If she had the ability, she wouldn’t have ended up in her previous situation.”

Jiang Xuening withdrew her gaze and said, “Precisely because I saved her, I care more than usual and hope she gets better. But you’re right, I’ve done my best; how can I manage more?”

With that, she let out a light sigh, as if trying to relieve a certain unpleasant feeling in her heart.

Then she said to Yan Lin, “Let’s go in and look at the zithers.”

The Youhuang Pavilion, as the name suggests, was dedicated to zithers.

Although it was located in the bustling downtown area, in a prime location in the capital, one had to go up to the second floor from an inconspicuous entrance on the street to see the elegant bamboo plaque.

The words “Youhuang” were written in pure ink on the bamboo.

Since the zither was an elegant instrument, visitors who truly loved the zither didn’t seek noise, and those who pretended to love it wanted to appear cultured. This style of decoration and ambiance suited both.

Yan Lin was clearly not visiting for the first time and led Jiang Xuening inside with ease.

In the corner, a man dressed as a scholar was using incense sticks to adjust the incense in a burner.

The incense was of high quality.

The entire Youhuang Pavilion was filled with a faint fragrance.

Hearing footsteps, the scholar turned around, saw Yan Lin, and smiled. He gently put down the incense sticks, washed his hands in a copper basin nearby, and said, “The young master has finally arrived. I was thinking if you didn’t come soon, I would have to put those zithers up for sale.”

Yan Lin laughed, “At least we’re in a zither pavilion; can you tone down the commercial talk?”

The scholar didn’t mind and said, “Do you think I run this zither pavilion for charity? Playing the zither requires bathing, washing hands, burning incense, and having a good zither. Which of these doesn’t cost money?”

Jiang Xuening found this person interesting and couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.

The scholar was thin and ordinary-looking. He glanced at Jiang Xuening and realized, “Is this the young lady who wants to look at zithers?”

Jiang Xuening didn’t speak.

Yan Lin, annoyed, said, “Stop talking nonsense, where are the zithers?”

The scholar raised his eyebrows slightly, easily sensing Yan Lin’s unusual attitude towards this woman. Instead of withdrawing his gaze, he looked at Jiang Xuening a few more times before turning and walking into the inner room. He brought out four zithers one by one, placing them on the long table in the pavilion, and then unwrapped the zither bags, calling Yan Lin over to look: “Originally, I found five zithers. One was newly made by Gu Benyuan from Jiangning, but it arrived late. By the time my people went, Gu Benyuan had already given the new zither to Xie Ju’an.”

Gu Benyuan was the most famous zither maker of the time.

Generally speaking, the process of making a zither was very intricate. From selecting the wood to stringing and tuning, it took at least a year to make a zither, and those made with meticulous care could take over two years, even three.

Zither makers were craftsmen who made a living from their trade.

Making one zither every two years would obviously lead to starvation, so many zither makers prepared materials in advance and made ten or twenty zithers simultaneously. Although the process still took two years, many zithers could be produced in that time.

However, Gu Benyuan was already in his sixties, nearing seventy, and didn’t have the energy of younger zither makers. He could no longer make many zithers at once, so he produced only one or two zithers every two or three years.

People, however, loved to chase after rare things.

In the past two years, countless people had sought to buy his zithers with large sums of money, but no one expected that this new zither, which had not yet been seen or heard, would be directly given to Xie Wei by the old man, causing many to secretly grit their teeth.

Yan Lin, who practiced martial arts and wasn’t particularly fond of zithers, was momentarily stunned upon hearing Gu Benyuan’s name: “Given?”

“Yes, given for free.” The scholar finally revealed some dissatisfaction, letting out a cold laugh, but then showed a bit of schadenfreude. “Wasn’t there an assassination attempt on a court official by the rebel party of Prince Pingnan in the capital recently? Xie Ju’an had been making a zither for three years and had just selected some good strings here, planning to string and tune it in his spare time. But on his way back, he somehow ended up at that Cengxiao Tower and encountered the rebels. He was unharmed, but the new zither, which hadn’t even been strung yet, was cut in half by a sword. Tsk, who knows how frustrated and angry he was. They say he didn’t attend court for two days. When Gu Benyuan heard about it, he had the zither sent from Jiangning to the capital for him. Isn’t that a loss?”

Yan Lin said, “You don’t care about the zither, do you?”

The scholar snorted coldly, “If I bought the zither for a thousand gold, I could turn around and sell it to you for double. Xie Ju’an cut off my source of income!”

“Ahem.”

Yan Lin coughed, wanting to say, “Do I look like an easy mark to you?” but decided not to respond.

Xie Wei was the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and currently presided over the palace lectures, making him half a teacher.

The scholar, however, was different.

He was the owner of the Youhuang Pavilion, originally a fellow scholar of Xie Wei, and also from Jinling. His name was Lu Xian, courtesy name Zhaoyin. Throughout their academic journey, Xie Wei was always first, and he was second. Xie Wei was the top scorer, and he was second. Even when they entered the Hanlin Academy, he was still second.

People joked, “Xie first, Lu second.”

Lu Xian, born into a poor family with a stubborn temperament, was determined to compete with Xie Wei, even enjoying it.

Unexpectedly, when a death report came from Jinling, Xie Wei returned home for mourning and had to observe filial piety for three years. Lu Xian suddenly became first but found the Hanlin Academy uninteresting.

After a year, he resigned from his official post.

It was said that he returned to Jinling.

Four years ago, Xie Wei returned to the court after supporting the current emperor, Shen Lang, and became the Grand Tutor. Lu Xian, however, seemed to have lost interest in officialdom. Although he returned to the capital, he opened a zither pavilion and sold zithers, living like a carefree wanderer.

For someone who had been in the Hanlin Academy to engage in such a business was unheard of. Many old acquaintances in the capital couldn’t believe it and often came to visit.

Before long, this zither pavilion became famous throughout the court and the common people.

Of course, it gradually became known that compared to being an upright official, Lu Xian was quite unscrupulous as a “crafty merchant.” There was even a saying, “A scholar selling zithers, you must buy,” indicating how ruthless his business practices were.

In other words, Lu Xian and Xie Wei were old acquaintances who had interacted before. Lu Xian was quite blunt, calling Xie Wei “Xie Ju’an” without any courtesy, but Yan Lin, being taught by Xie Wei, had to consider the concept of “respect and hierarchy.”

He looked at the four zithers in front of him and asked, “What about these?”

Lu Xian then introduced each zither one by one, but most of his attention was on Jiang Xuening, and many of his words were directed at her, clearly understanding who the key person in this transaction was.

However, Jiang Xuening really didn’t like zithers.

In her previous life, when learning the zither, all the noble ladies were eager to impress Xie Wei, but she found it bitter and tiring. Initially, she relied on Yan Lin, and later on Shen Jie, and hardly ever attended his lectures.

If asked which of these zithers she liked, she would have liked to answer: none of them.

Fortunately, Yan Lin knew she didn’t learn the zither in the mansion before, so after some consideration, he chose an ancient zither over three hundred years old, named “Jiao’an.” The zither’s body, due to years of weathering and playing vibrations, was covered with a pattern of flowing water cracks, producing a rich and clear sound.

But the price was also frightening.

Lu Xian smiled slightly and showed Yan Lin three fingers, causing Jiang Xuening to gasp.

Yan Lin, however, seemed unfazed, called for someone to pay with silver notes, then personally put the zither in its bag and handed it to Jiang Xuening, saying, “Although you are entering the palace as a companion reader for the princess, Master Xie is kind to people, but in terms of scholarship and the zither, he won’t go easy on you just because you are a girl. Listening to Master Xie’s lectures requires full attention. He rarely plays the zither in the palace, but I have been fortunate to hear it a few times, and it is excellent. You didn’t want to learn the zither before, probably because the teacher wasn’t good. This time entering the palace, you might come to like it.”

So, a good zither was necessary.

But Jiang Xuening’s eyes twitched slightly upon hearing his words: no one knew that the reason she didn’t want to learn the zither after coming to the capital was because of Xie Wei.

Four years ago, on the way to the capital, Xie Wei was carrying a zither.

She thought he was a distant relative of the Jiang family, dressed in plain white clothes, with nothing but a zither, looking sickly. Although they shared a carriage, he didn’t like to talk, spending most of the time resting with his eyes closed. Only occasionally, when they stopped to rest, would he play the zither.

Jiang Xuening didn’t understand and didn’t like him.

At that time, she had just learned about her background and that she had a highly praised “sister” at home. She was afraid of being looked down upon by the servants sent to fetch her from the capital. Although she hadn’t learned any proper etiquette, out of inner fear, she put on the airs of a noble lady to protect her fragile and pitiful “dignity.”

Noble ladies were always high and mighty, giving orders with an air of superiority.

So she also acted high and mighty towards others, including Xie Wei.

She grew up in the countryside and hadn’t learned any proper etiquette, but this person had a methodical way of doing everything, whether it was the way he held his chopsticks while eating or how he rested in the carriage without a hair out of place, which made her uncomfortable.

At the time, she thought he was poor but still pretentious;

It took her a long time to admit that the reason she felt uncomfortable was that, even without understanding, she could sense the vast difference between them. This difference was the same as the one between a girl who grew up in the countryside and the bustling capital she was about to reach.

But people are always reluctant to admit such things.

Even after becoming the Empress, she didn’t want to see Xie Wei, and since Xie’s name was always associated with the zither, she didn’t want to see zithers either.

The most fearful and humiliating moments of her life were witnessed by this person. Seeing him would remind her of those times.

And this was what she most dreaded in her previous life.

Who knew what Xie Wei thought of her back then?

The current Empress, who once was just a country girl who didn’t even look like a crown princess when dressed in dragon robes. Just thinking about it made her feel embarrassed, so Jiang Xuening always pretended that part of her past didn’t exist.

Xie Wei, who understood people’s hearts, probably knew her thoughts.

Even though he held a high position and frequently entered and exited the palace, he rarely appeared in front of her and never mentioned it.

As for the scar on her wrist, she had the imperial physician prescribe medicine and carefully applied it for two years until it disappeared completely. 

At this moment, the pavilion was filled with the lingering scent of high-quality incense. The fragrance was calming and soothing.

Jiang Xuening blinked and looked down at the “Jiao’an” zither in her hands, suddenly thinking: If it weren’t for Zhang Zhe, perhaps she would have taken this secret to her grave, never mentioning that she had once saved Xie Wei’s life by feeding him her blood.

However…

It seemed that after the palace coup in her previous life, Xie Wei, with blood on his hands, never touched the zither again.