Chapter 57: The String Breaks Itself For A Bosom Friend Appreciative of Its Talents

A boy dressed in green walked over from the front. He approached the group of three people and saluted before saying, “Prince Pei, the master of our house has already been long waiting for your arrival.” The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old. He was also about the same age as Liu Sang. With a handsome face and a refined expression, he was dressed in fancy clothes and appeared incredibly clean and tidy. His appearance fit beautifully with the hidden nobility of the entire courtyard.

Small clues told the whole story. Just by judging from the attendant’s performance, one could figure out his master’s style and mannerism.

Pei Shu saluted back and apologized in a haste, “It’s my fault. However, I come bearing a gift for Brother Yizhi. We’ll need to wait for my servants to send it over. These are my two good friends who are here to pay a visit to Brother Yizhi whom they admire a lot. I brought them along with me.”

He gave Chu Yu and Yue Jiefei a nudge by turning over his outstretched palm. Then, he pushed them toward the boy while he returned to the door to wait for his servants.

Chu Yu opened her mouth subconsciously in an attempt to defend herself that she was not here to visit Wang Yizhi out of admiration. However, she realized that she was on somebody else’s territory after all, so she decided that it was fine for her to admire Wang Yizhi for the moment because he was super-wealthy.

They strolled along the winding corridor that was serene yet quiet. The boy in green led the way in front, followed by Chu Yu in the middle and Yue Jiefei at the end. They had yet to walk to the end of the winding corridor when they heard soft music being played. The melody reverberated back and forth slowly in the air. On the other end of the winding corridor was a stretch of lush verdant weeping willow trees. The dark green willow leaves concealed Chu Yu’s vision like a naturally-formed shield.

The melodious music was heard coming from the weeping willow forest.

Even though it was midday in the early summer, there was not a whiff of heat in this courtyard. In fact, it felt like the sunlight here was much gentler compared to the outside. The refreshing greenness was accompanied by a slight humidity that made seeped into one’s airway to relax and refresh the mind.

Wang Yizhi was not only wealthy but he was also a man who enjoyed life.

The melodious music sounded clearer and clearer as they crossed the drooping willow branches. By the time the three of them walked through the weeping willow forest, the vision before their eyes widened abruptly and the faint melodious music stopped.

Chu Yu scanned the place and found that she had arrived in front of a lake with crystal clear water. There were water weeds and fish swimming in the lake whilst enormous lotus leaves floated on the surface of the water. The lotus flowers had yet to bloom, so its snowy white buds were still tightly closed. A soft breeze blew across the surface of the lake occasionally, carrying refreshing humidity to the surrounding air.

A pavilion sat on the lake, surrounded by fish.

The master of the house, Wang Yizhi, and the other three young men that Chu Yu met during the poem recital rested in the pavilion built on the lake that was connected to the shore by a long bridge.

At the very second Chu Yu and the others exited the forest, the melodious music stopped. The people sitting in the pavilion had their eyes fixed upon Xiao Bie’s fingers. A broken string lay limply against the guqin underneath his long and slim fingers. Meanwhile, the rest of the strings were still vibrating ever so slightly.

The single string was broken.

The group of people went deathly silent at once.

As the organizer of the gathering, Wang Yizhi leaned against the beam of the pavilion and chimed in casually, “The string breaks itself for a bosom friend appreciative of its talents. I wonder if you newcomers are bosom friends of Brother Xiao Bie.” Among everyone, he was closest to the side of the pavilion. As a result, he was the first to notice someone walking in the weeping willow forest.

Upon listening to his words, the people in the pavilion shifted their gaze to the lakeside as well. Xiao Bie also looked up with his eyes that were as cold as ice.

The pavilion was less than four to five feet away from the weeping willow forest next to the lakeside. Thus, the group of people could see Chu Yu as clear as day as soon as the trio exited the forest.

Wang Yizhi released a soft ‘huh’ while having a look of contemplation in his eyes. On the other hand, Xiao Bie’s expression grew colder upon seeing Chu Yu. His hands that were touching the guqin strings earlier pressed down heavily without him noticing that the guqin gave out a deep muffled groan of protest.

Chu Yu noticed Xiao Bie sitting cross-legged with the guqin on his lap in one glance too. She also discerned the icy cold rejection in his eyes. However, she would not be affected by somebody else’s objection since she had already had the boldness to come without invitation.

The people in the pavilion were all refined scholars. The presence of a martial art practitioner would put everyone in discomfort, so Chu Yu sent Yue Jiefei to stand on guard by the lakeside. She followed the boy in green to step onto the stone bridge that was just over a foot wide. Then, she walked toward the octagonal pavilion in a slow and steady manner.

Taking her position in front of the pavilion, she drew in a huge variety of different gazes including disdain, rejection, curiosity, and also contemplation.

The boy in green saluted Wang Yizhi and explained that Pei Shu brought Chu Yu over in a few simple concise words. Wang Yizhi waved his hand to signal the boy to retreat. Then, his eyes met Chu Yu’s calm ones.

Wang Yizhi clapped gently and spoke with a smile, “Any newcomer is a guest of mine. There are no rules in my house. Please make yourself at home, my guest.” There was a hint of unrestrained humor revealed from the shape of his brows. The collar of his suit was opened halfway while his untied hair hung down loosely around his shoulders. There was even a half sweep of a suspicious bright red mark on the side of his neck. It appeared to be a lipstick mark left behind by a young maiden’s supple lips.

During the previous poem recital, Wang Yizhi was still exercising some self-control most likely due to him being in public. On the other hand, it felt as if he cast away all restrictions and did as he pleased in his home.

Chu Yu had just stepped onto the footstep of the pavilion when she heard Xiao Bie’s unfriendly voice saying, “Why is he [1] here? If he’s staying, then I’m leaving.” Even though his words were short and concise, his attitude was completely unmasked. It was apparent that he felt an irreconcilable hatred for Chu Yu.

Wang Yizhi raised his hand ever so slightly to make a hand gesture to stop him. Even though his action was not enforced onto Xiao Bie, the latter stopped upon seeing Yizhi’s action. Wang Yizhi’s smiling voice was then heard saying, “The string breaks itself for a bosom friend appreciative of its talents. Since both of you are fated to meet each other, then I think we should leave all grievances in the past and resolve this enmity.”

Grievance?

Chu Yu’s interest was piqued as she looked at Xiao Bie. She wanted to see how he would react to this situation.

Xiao Bie’s eyes were still icy cold. He said disgustedly, “The string broke because it couldn’t bear to be heard by the ears of a filthy person.”

The filthy person he was insinuating was naturally Chu Yu.

Chu Yu smiled and answered with a sarcastic rebuttal uncourteously, “It must be tough for the string too. It’s been tormented days upon days under the hands of the plebeian player until it’s finally drained of its remaining life a few moments ago.” She raised her hand to salute Wang Yizhi and said with raised brows, “I don’t deserve to be called the bosom friend appreciative of talents for who would appreciate such vulgar melody anyway?”

Before her voice died away, the people on the scene were dumbstruck with astonishment.

Xiao Bie, whose moniker was the Thousand Gold Prince, was skilled in the art of playing the quqin all his life. The origin of his moniker was also related to the quqin . In the past, someone once requested him to play a song with a thousand gold coins, yet he refused. As a result, someone christened him with the moniker of the Thousand Gold Prince to reflect the level of his expertise in playing the quqin. Very few people in the world were capable of achieving his success, yet Chu Yu had actually belittled him without the slightest reservation. Such audacity!

Plebeian. Vulgar.

Even the carefree and unrestrained Wang Yizhi did not expect that such words would be used to describe Xiao Bei one day.

Even though Chu Yu had just arrived at the scene, she had managed to draw in every single person’s attention with just a few words. In fact, the boy in green had just walked back a few steps and had yet to leave the scene far enough. He could not help turning his head back to take a glance at Chu Yu. He wanted to know what sort of capability did this person have to have the audacity to speak such conceited words.

This was precisely Chu Yu’s goal.

Translator’s Note:

[1]These characters are seeing Chu Yu as a man since she cross-dressed.