Just as in every round before, the zither player had only played a brief passage before Bai Feiyao immediately called out the name of the piece.

“This piece is called ‘Li Sao’!”

As before, the zither player stopped playing at once.

Gu Suying watched Ziqing coldly, while Jiang Chen kept his eyes fixed on Bai Feiyao—his queen, his pride!

There wasn’t another soul in the world with this kind of reach and ability—she’d long since bribed all two hundred musicians of Qinse Valley, so that even without listening to a single note, he could simply be told the name of whatever piece was being played.

Go ahead and keep drinking, Yu Xiao—see how far that gets you!

What good was Han Ziqing’s meddling, anyway? It couldn’t touch young master Bai at all!

The scene played out exactly as every round before it. Ziqing’s intervention had changed nothing, and the crowd couldn’t help feeling deflated.

Earlier at the opening of the gathering, Bai Feiyao had killed those two young masters from minor families—who would dare seek vengeance against him? And yet tonight, the Yu Shi was, after all, the third-ranked family on Liuxian Isle!

If this standoff continued much longer, and Yu Xiao refused to concede, while the two Qin-Se Elders were reluctant to break the rules, sooner or later the Yu Shi and the Bai Shi were bound to come to blows.

And once that happened, the Gu Shi would surely step in too—at that point, who would care about the gathering at all? Qinse Valley would never take sides, the gathering would break up in disarray, and Liuxian Isle would inevitably descend into open conflict between its great families!

At this moment, the Yu family head’s expression had turned unmistakably grim.

“Drink up!” Bai Feiyao crowed, laughing with arrogant delight. “Yu Xiao, aren’t you a man? Aren’t you supposed to have some backbone? Go on, drink!”

Yu Xiao took several deep breaths, then genuinely hoisted another jar!

Just then, the Yu family head suddenly slammed the table and rose to his feet—but a moment later, the Se Elder abruptly did the same.

Everyone was startled. Was the Qin Elder about to intervene?

No—surely he meant to stop the Yu family head. The rules of Qinse Valley’s tune-guessing drinking game were what they were, after all.

If Yu Xiao couldn’t handle losing, he shouldn’t have stepped up in the first place!

And yet—

Unexpectedly, the Qin Elder waved for the Yu family head to sit back down, stroked his long beard, and said calmly, “Young Master Bai, who told you that you guessed that piece correctly?”

The entire hall fell dead silent at once.

What was going on?

Had he gotten it wrong? What an odd coincidence—correct every single time until now, only to suddenly get it wrong at this exact moment?

The corner of Ziqing’s lips curled into a light, effortless smile as she slowly withdrew her slender hands. Beside her, Xuanyuan Lige watched her, an equally helpless smile on his own face.

This woman—someday her skill on the zither would surely surpass even his own.

She had actually used one tune to guide another—leading the zither player, without his even realizing it, to follow her own melody instead!

The first note or two the zither player had played did sound like the opening of “Li Sao”—but very quickly, Ziqing had subtly steered him into an entirely different piece, one that closely resembled it—”Waning Moon”!

Bai Feiyao hadn’t been guessing at all—he’d been cheating this whole time. There was no possible way he could have gotten it right!

Bai Feiyao froze, then whirled furiously on the zither player. “Tell me—what did you just play?”

The zither player, only now coming back to his senses, blurted out in shock, “‘Waning Moon’!”

Bai Feiyao stood frozen, utterly dumbstruck. Only now did he understand what Han Ziqing’s playing had been for—but it was already too late.

Everyone present was sharp enough to piece it together by now, and each quietly marveled to themselves—Han Ziqing truly was worthy of the Wuzheng that Xuanyuan Lige had bestowed upon her.

The Gu family head, who hadn’t dared speak up until now, was overjoyed, jumping in ahead of the Yu family head to press the advantage. “Young Master Bai, do go on!”

The Yu family head, not to be outdone, pressed further. “Or perhaps, Young Master Bai intends to concede?”

Bai Feiyao glared at Ziqing with a hatred so venomous it could have felled an army—but Ziqing remained perfectly composed, meeting his gaze openly, rubbing her slender hands and deliberately settling back into position to play again, staring him down with open challenge.

You want to force her into a passive position? Let’s see, then, exactly who ends up cornered.

But just then, amid the standoff, Gu Suying shot Bai Feiyao a reassuring glance and slipped quietly away from the back of the crowd.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Bai Feiyao’s eyes—then seeming to understand something, the corner of his mouth curled into a smile, and he answered with easy generosity, “Of course, of course we continue!”

The zither player, visibly nervous, immediately began playing again, with Ziqing following right along. This time Bai Feiyao didn’t call out a name immediately, while Yu Xiao listened carefully, not daring to speak rashly either.

For a moment, the entire hall fell silent. Ziqing didn’t try to overpower the main melody—her playing stayed softer than the zither player’s, just as before, the two of them performing two entirely separate pieces at once.

Most people couldn’t detect anything unusual, but up at the head table, both Qin-Se Elders sat with brows knit tight, utterly focused, and Xuanyuan Lige was even more intent than either of them. They could hear it clearly.

Every note, every key—how exactly was she controlling and guiding the zither player?

Such a delicate, meticulous feat—she would need to understand every single note of the piece the player intended to perform, in order to decide precisely how to play her own part and guide him along!

A skill like that—even the two Qin-Se Elders, even Xuanyuan Lige himself, might not manage it successfully on the first attempt!

It wasn’t only these three musical masters listening intently, either. Baili Weisheng, hidden within the crowd, wore a rare, serious expression on his handsome face—less like he was listening to the zither, and more like he was savoring some memory of his own.

Bai Feiyao stared coldly at Yu Xiao, wisely keeping quiet, and Yu Xiao stayed silent as well. If this piece ended and neither of them had guessed it correctly, then by the rules of the drinking game, they would simply move on to the next.

Bai Feiyao glanced at the empty seat behind the Gu family head, and the corner of his mouth curled into a sinister smile.

Just then, a panicked cry suddenly cut through both melodies at once!

“Fire! There’s a fire in the east wing!”

“Elders, it’s terrible—there’s a fire in the east wing!”

…

The crowd erupted in shock all at once, everyone turning toward the east wing. In the darkness, a glow of firelight had already flared up, and within moments, two or three towering pillars of flame surged straight up into the sky!

Ziqing’s heart lurched. That direction—wasn’t that exactly where the Gu Shi’s own residence stood?

That fire…

For a moment, the entire hall erupted into chaos, everyone in an uproar!

The two Qin-Se Elders rose quickly to calm the crowd.

“It’s nothing serious. Everyone, please, stay calm, stay calm!”

“Someone, send all the ‘Ling’-generation disciples to help put out the fire!”

“Everyone, it’s a small matter—please don’t let it disturb your evening’s enjoyment!”

…

The gathering was an important occasion for Qinse Valley—how could they allow any disruption? Even something serious had to be set aside for now.

The banquet could not be allowed to break up!

Hearing the two Elders speak this way, though curious, the crowd gradually settled back down.

The Qin Elder stayed to preside over the gathering, while the Se Elder excused himself for the moment. But just as the Se Elder was about to leave, Bai Feiyao remarked teasingly, “That area looks like it might be where the Gu Shi’s residence is. Family Head Gu, did you happen to leave something precious there?” The Gu family head had already been sitting on pins and needles—Jun Beiyue was there. Though there were servants watching over him, such a sudden, unexplained fire made it impossible for him to feel at ease.

Jun Beiyue was the Gu family’s entire hope. Without him, there was no way Han Ziqing would ever stay—even if Jun Beiyue never woke, he simply could not be allowed to die.

“This old man will go take a look as well,” the Gu family head said, forcing calm into his voice.

Bai Feiyao smiled, glancing once at the still-composed Ziqing, deliberately saying nothing more. He simply didn’t believe this woman could keep up her act much longer.