79: Chapter 72 Stunning Beauty_6 79: Chapter 72 Stunning Beauty_6 Love is truly wonderful, making everything endearing.
It makes one forget how fleeting spring and sumr are, that autumn has already arrived, and winter is not far behind.
So she sang, “In the past, we parted in green spring grass, now I’m amidst snow blossoms just as dense.
Who knew that yearning could be so bitter, turning raven hair to white as it comnced.”
Her singing abruptly ceased.
The seasons change, and in the end, the singing girl’s actions seem in vain; however, the pri of life has passed, leaving one to wonder whether it was ti that was wasted, or if it was ti that did the wasting.
Jiang Li’s voice was pleasant, and her singing even more so.
Unknowingly, the crowd at the Inspection Field had been captivated by the crisp little tune, lost in that bittersweet dream.
Soone murmured, “What’s the na of this tune?
How co I’ve never heard it before?”
“I don’t know,” another shook their head, “It doesn’t sound like a Yanjing lody.”
Sitting not far from Princess Yongning, Shen Yurong suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on the girl on the stage.
He had heard this song before…
It was a folk song widely known in Tongxiang, called “Midnight Four Seasons Song,” a song nearly every girl in Tongxiang could sing.
Jiang Li’s smile was faint as she sang, a song she knew as well.
Below the stage, Xiao Deyin furrowed his brow, lost in thought.
Immortal Jing Hong appeared sowhat surprised, Shi Yan remained deadpan, without expression, but Mian Ju was overjoyed, dancing with glee, even saying to Immortal Jing Hong, “This young girl is interesting.
In the zither contest, it’s always the zither that’s compared, but she sang a song instead, and it’s not half bad!”
“That’s not acceptable,” Immortal Jing Hong patiently explained, “If she doesn’t compete with zither music, then it would only be considered a clever trick, unfair to the other students.”
Mian Ju curled his lip, about to speak, when he suddenly noticed sothing, laughed with delight, and said, “What clever trick?
Look, even the Duke has been awakened by her song.”
It turned out that Jih Heng had at so point already opened his eyes and was now leaning on the handle of his fan, smiling as he watched the girl on the stage, his expression nuanced.
This was the first ti Jih Heng had shown an attitude of “listening” from the beginning of the event.
On the other end, Jiang Yue said, “Is Second Miss planning to just sing a song and not play the zither?”
Indeed, the song was novel, but in zither music contests, the competition is about the “zither,” not the “song.”
Everyone thought that Miss Jiang the Second must have run out of tricks to think of substituting singing for playing the zither, but as they thought this, they saw Jiang Li stretch out her hands and touch the zither strings, plucking.
The first note poured out.
“Gah—” The audience was almost choked, “She’s going to play.”
“Listen, what she’s playing is…”
Before the word “what” could be uttered, another series of fluent zither notes swept past listeners’ ears, more cutting than Jiang Youyao’s, as if soone was etching them bit by bit on the apex of one’s heart.
“She’s playing ‘Hu Jia Eighteen Beats’!”
Soone recognized it and beca excited, the pitch of their voice changing.
As soon as these words were spoken, faces all around changed.
“Hu Jia Eighteen Beats,” a piece not even the teachers at Mingyi Hall could play without risking ridicule, and Jiang Li dared?
How many years had it been since soone had played “Hu Jia Eighteen Beats”?
The Inspection Field suddenly beca quiet.
In the silence, soone burst out laughing—it was Mian Ju, dancing with joy, completely unlike a court musician, utterly thrilled: “It’s ‘Hu Jia Eighteen Beats,’ this young girl has guts!
So valiant!”
Immortal Jing Hong helplessly said, “Sir, quiet.”
Mian Ju imdiately smirked apologetically and fell silent.
And so, the only sound at the Inspection Field was Jiang Li’s zither.
“Hu Jia Eighteen Beats” tells of a woman’s hosickness, her sadness in parting, and her grand resentnt.
The focus is on the word “poignant.” Not to ntion the scholars, but even the noble young ladies at Mingyi Hall were in their carefree days, full of innocence and without a single care.
Even if they did harbor sorrows, they were but insignificant trifles.
How could they express a touch of “poignance”?
Even the expression of “sadness” would be difficult for them to convey.
Though the world often speaks of empathy, is empathy as simple as a re four words?
Perhaps only a sage, one who carries the world in their heart, could achieve that.
ng Hongjin scoffed, “Really biting off more than one can chew, this is nothing but a self-invited joke for others to watch…”
She figured that Jiang Li wouldn’t be able to play such a piece well.
If Jiang Li could play it well, wouldn’t that an she was more gifted than the brightest talent Mingyi Hall had ever seen?
That was impossible.
But her derision gradually died down, her expression turning uglier by the mont.
Jiang Li’s fingering was highly proficient, as if she had been practicing the zither for decades.
Her movents were exceptionally graceful, without a trace of contrivance or pretense, effortlessly light in a way that was unbelievable.
The girl sat on the Inspection Field, the breeze crisp and the daylight faint, her sleeves billowing, radiantly green, exuding ease and charm.
For a mont, the Inspection Field seed to transform into a secluded valley, devoid of the vanity typically found in places of ambition, as if she was playing for herself alone.
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