Situ Haonan was normally not the most serious person, but with the standing of the Situ family behind him, plus a tongue that could argue black into white, he managed to persuade the King of Nanzhao quite convincingly!
And so, that very day, word spread that a qin-playing contest would be held aboard the main ship, open to every woman in the traveling party!
The prize the King of Nanzhao put up was no small thing—a bolt of freshly-tributed ice silk, said to take over a decade to produce a single batch. Clothing made from it wouldn’t just stay cool like the royal family’s finest silks, but would carry an actual sensation of frost; unless the day was truly sweltering, wearing it would leave one feeling cold!
Quite a few people knew of this ice silkworm silk, and nearly everyone had always assumed it belonged to Consort Qin—yet no one expected the King of Nanzhao would be willing to give it up as a prize!
Early the next morning, the spacious deck of the main ship was set with a row of fine ancient zithers, with crowds packed on both sides. Had the ships not had limited capacity, even those watching from afar on the ships behind would have wanted to come closer.
This qin contest drew far more than just the noble young ladies of Nanzhao—even Consort Qin herself joined in, and among the four envoys, aside from Yelu Qianqian of Xijing, the other three had all signed up!
To avoid bias, even the King of Nanzhao did not serve as judge; instead, the heads of the three great clans took on that role.
The contest was already underway, ethereal qin music drifting over the poison river, so entrancing that listeners forgot the heat of midsummer and the tedium of the journey.
Yet to Ziqing’s ears, it all sounded like nothing but noise—she herself didn’t know when she’d developed such demanding standards for qin music!
Unconsciously, she looked toward Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, and found herself remembering the most beautiful sound in this world—the piece “Sorrow’s Parting” that Xuanyuan Lige had played. She had only heard him play a short passage of it, yet she still couldn’t forget it to this day. She knew that man carried some deep sorrow in his heart—otherwise he could never have played a piece like that.
But she couldn’t, and didn’t want to, dig into it. Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had so far made no move at all—in other words, that fellow had come too, yet had done nothing so far. What was he planning?
Dongqin was destined to be Da Zhou’s lifelong enemy—destined, the two of them, to be enemies for life.
Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had said he’d come too, that he’d been lurking in the shadows all along—what was he here to do?
Suddenly, the qin music slowly came to an end, and Ziqing snapped back to herself. Today’s round was an elimination round, and a strict one—only those who won the nod of all three judges together would advance to the finals.
Ziqing, Chu Feiyan, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, and Consort Qin, due to their special status, did not need to participate directly and could advance automatically.
Ziqing had come today just to draw lots. The rules of the contest had been set by Situ Haonan and the King of Nanzhao together—she’d only told Situ Haonan that she wanted to perform last, and she had no idea how he’d rigged it behind the scenes, but somehow he’d agreed to it.
Piece after piece finished, and not even Ziqing—let alone Xuanyuan Zhaoxi or Chu Feiyan—bothered to listen carefully. Their moment to shine would come tomorrow.
The two of them kept glancing over at Ziqing from time to time. After Chu Feiyan’s crushing defeat at the last literary contest, she’d been deeply unwilling to accept it, worrying she’d have no chance to reclaim the upper hand—so the moment she heard Han Ziqing had signed up, she signed up too without a second thought.
How could she know just how much Ziqing’s qin skills had improved by now? She still thought that Han Ziqing’s win last time had been nothing but a lucky trick—this time, she would absolutely not give her another chance!
As for Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, no matter how composed she usually was, she couldn’t restrain herself upon hearing there’d be a qin contest—this was her sorest spot! Ever since childhood, no matter how sweetly she’d begged, or how she’d threatened and intimidated, her brother had never given her the qin Wuzheng, never even let her so much as touch it—yet he’d handed it over to Han Ziqing so easily!
Taking this chance, she was determined to see clearly whether she would truly lose to Han Ziqing!
Yet what Ziqing was most concerned about was: just how skilled, really, was Consort Qin at the qin?
There were many competitors, but the judges’ taste proved extremely demanding, and very few managed to win nods of approval from all three at once.
It amounted to a preliminary selection, and in the end only two remained—both noble young ladies of the royal bloodline, Fanna and Shunji.
This result astonished outsiders like Ziqing and her group, but the people of Nanzhao took it entirely for granted—the three clan heads’ tastes were not just refined but notoriously picky; satisfying them was no easy feat.
Ziqing couldn’t help but secretly smile—Situ Haonan really had picked the right judges. Today’s competitors included plenty of young ladies and wives with considerable influence at the Nanzhao court, yet the three clan heads managed to remain perfectly fair and impartial, without a hint of favoritism!
For tomorrow’s contest, this very fairness was exactly what was needed most—after all, Consort Qin herself was competing too!
After the King of Nanzhao announced the arrangements for tomorrow’s finals, the crowd dispersed.
Seeing Chu Feiyan about to leave, Ziqing immediately went after her and said coldly, “Chu Feiyan, tomorrow, I’ll make you pay a price.”
Chu Feiyan stopped abruptly, turning her head sharply, and suddenly burst out laughing. “A price? Han Ziqing, you really do take yourself seriously. You should know very well why you won last time at the literary contest—it was Xuanyuan Lige’s remarkable fingering technique. Too bad, this time’s judges aren’t Xuanyuan Lige!”
“Do you want to compete against me in music? This consort isn’t afraid of you!” Ziqing snorted coldly, a rare display of arrogance from her.
Chu Feiyan arched an eyebrow, looked her over, and laughed again. “Music? This princess has been well-versed in every kind of music since the age of six. And you? A mere concubine’s daughter—this princess has already won at the starting line. Wake up!”
“Is that so? We’ll see tomorrow who wins and who loses!” Ziqing said coldly, turning to leave.
Chu Feiyan lowered her voice. “Oh, right, Han Ziqing, I misspoke—you might not even be a concubine’s daughter after all. There’s a secret about you, isn’t there?”
Ziqing stopped in her tracks, a flash of menace crossing her eyes, yet she still smiled. “Then you’d best be careful.”
With that, she strode off.
Ziqing didn’t look back either, walking slowly toward the cabin with her head lowered, her fingers hanging at her sides lightly tapping as if playing an invisible qin. But just as she neared the cabin, she caught a glimpse of a purple shadow slipping past and disappearing around a corner.
Purple! Pure purple, dreamlike purple!
It was him!
He’d actually come aboard the ship as well.
Ziqing stopped, seemed about to say something, then thought better of it and hurried into the cabin instead.
Xuanyuan Lige did not step out. He leaned back against the wall, swallowed a pill, then tilted his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“Brother, when exactly are we going to act?” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s voice suddenly came—not because she couldn’t sit still, but because she’d been waiting all along.
Xuanyuan Lige didn’t answer, rising to leave.
Xuanyuan Zhaoxi immediately blocked him with one hand. “If you still refuse to make a decision, don’t blame me for acting on my own!”
Xuanyuan Lige barely glanced at her, saying coldly, “Mother Empress has entrusted this matter entirely to me. It’s none of your concern.”
“So you mean… you have no intention of acting at all? Then why did you even come?” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi sneered. “Not even Jun Beiyue came—why did you? Afraid your beloved will be eaten alive by Nanzhao’s poisonous vermin?”
Only then did Xuanyuan Lige lift his gaze to look at her—just a single glance, but its icy menace was enough to startle his own younger sister into stepping back, not daring to say another word.
“I’ve already reported this matter to Mother Empress. It has nothing to do with you. Attend to your own duties and don’t ruin my plans!” Xuanyuan Lige warned coldly, and with that, he left.