Chương 36: 3.7 Star Flute Player
When Jing Hua saw that her goal of trying to embarrass her new younger sister had backfired, making her stand out instead, she couldn't help but become a bit frustrated. This Ming Yue's skills in expressing the song's emotions was something that even she was quite envious of. Just how could a young village girl understand the complications of creating a power? Is it because of her poor background that made her express such hope and fighting spirit?
She gazed at the her now who was talking and being friendly with Chang Ying. Her adaptable attitude to take everything in about her new status and standing among them could be said to be impeccable. Normally, wouldn't one be nervous and withdrawn when placed into a new environment? Especially when that someone was from a humble background facing women from prestigious ones?
As she continued to look at her, she somehow got the feeling that this younger sister's earlier shyness and modesty was all an act. She would rather believe that it was than her just being innocent and oblivious, because letting her guard down, even against someone from a poor background, was something she had never done since coming to this mansion.
She has been well-trained by her mother on how to read a person's expression, honing her interpersonal skills to prepare herself to become the legitimate wife of this large kingdom's Fire Hallmaster and she had to admit that although this younger sister was just a small village girl, her carefree attitude to take everything in as it goes was too surreal.
If she considered that this Ming Yue was acting from the moment she got here, then she was an opponent she needed to be wary of, more so since her flute playing skills could be the hope of treating their husband's insomnia.
She had been in this mansion for almost two years already, but still didn't manage to gain the favor of her husband, or treat his illness. If this Ming Yue actually succeeded, then it was almost certain that she would eventually take the position as the official wife of this large kingdom's Fire Hallmaster.
Though on the surface the four Halls are equal in power, anyone with a bit of status would know that the Fire Hall is the strongest of the four and is basically the underlying leader recognized by the other three Halls. If her husband wasn't the youngest fire Hallmaster in the century, making him have the potential to become one of the Great Elders in the Fire Element's Headquarters in the near future, she wouldn't have lowered herself to become a concubine.
Even though her status as the legitimate daughter of the Fire Hall's 2nd Elder and top 20 well-known flute players in this large kingdom was enough to earn her the title of official wife if she were to marry into any other powers, none of them could be compared to being the official wife of a potential Great Elder of the Fire Element's Headquarters.
Having a decent position in the Fire Headquarters was already enough to deter all the other forces in the many kingdoms of this continent, even her husband's current position as this kingdom's Fire Hallmaster was enough to deter the many powers here, and adding onto his potential really left no room for her to complain about her position.
Ironically, she felt a bit lucky that her husband refused all the good marriage proposals from daughters with higher standing that could match her husband's and focused on only recruiting concubines, or else she wouldn't even have the chance to fight for the position of official wife. In a way, she was a bit thankful that her husband suffered a weird sleeping disorder, leading up to this situation where he had to find suitable flute players to heal him.
Since those proud daughters of higher standing disdained to become a concubine, she eventually became one of the concubines with the highest standing in this mansion and thought that she had the best chance to gain the position of official wife, making her filled with expectations. At least, she did feel this way until she met this new younger sister of hers.
Although it was hidden deeply, the feeling that was expressed earlier by her husband when he held Ming Yue's hand as they entered the Grand Hall together made her feel uneasy, this feeling only deepen when she heard how nicely she was able to express the feelings of the song with her flute playing just now.
Although this Ming Yue was just a village girl and she felt her status was not fit to become the official wife of their husband; she also knew that her husband wasn't the type of person to pay attention to such details, otherwise he wouldn't have taken in so many concubines from different backgrounds, even if it was to treat his illness.
It would have been fine if he treated this Ming Yue as cold and indifferent as he treated them, but even if he showed that usual cold expression in the Grand Hall earlier, she couldn't help but feel that he treated this new younger sister of hers differently. This had been enough to make her wary of this new concubine earlier, causing her to become impatient to find out her flute playing skills; and now that she did, she needed to come up with a way to stop this Ming Yue from gaining their husband's favor.
Although Tian He was chatting with Cheng Ying elder sister about this large kingdom's circumstances and different powers stationed within, she didn't stop herself from paying attention to her surroundings, so when she suddenly felt a gaze upon her, she immediately caught who directed it at her through the corner of her eyes.
Smiling to herself inside, ah Jing Hua, you're making this get really interesting.
Though it was brief, she was still able to catch the calculative intention behind that gaze earlier from Jing Hua and couldn't help but feel a bit excited. I wondered what 'good' plots this 'leader-like' elder sister of mine is thinking? With her perceptiveness, she was able to guess that this Jing Hua probably has her guard up against her now, and after knowing the situation of the mansion thanks to Cheng Ying's 'indirect' help, she knew that Jing Hua had been here the longest and held the highest position here in terms of background, thus fueling her confidence in becoming the official wife.
But now that I'm here, that's going to be just a beautiful dream ah.
After talking a bit more with Cheng Ying elder sister, she and the rest of concubines excused themselves and left the large courtyard filled with pale red blossoms. Tian He followed her temporary servant girl out of the courtyard, eventually passing by a few pavilions and buildings. She instructed the servant girl to walk a bit slower so she could take this chance to admire the scenery. The grand buildings and neatly organized planted flowers gave this residence a majestic feeling; she even saw a few small birds fly around the gardens, chirping as they played with one another, eventually causing a smile to don her face.
Suddenly, she spotted a small pathway near the main walkway that was a bit hidden behind a few tall rose bushes and she couldn't help but be a bit curious as to what lay behind it. She told the servant girl to wait for her here while she headed there. When she walked past those rose bushes, she realized that there were a few more rose bushes behind it, but the color of them were a deeper shade of red than the pale reds on the outside. Growing a bit more curious, she headed deeper inside this rose garden, passing by rows of rose bushes that was only deeper in color the further she went in.
When she finally saw an opening that looked like the exit to this seemingly never-ending rose maze, she quickened her footsteps in expectation to unravel whatever surprise would lay ahead.
However, beyond the exit was something the word 'surprise' couldn't even amount to, "Oh, how beautiful." She gasped a bit at the amazing scene in front of her.
Her eyes captured a naturally formed clearing with a shimmering blue lake in the middle of many wild flowers that had many different butterflies surrounding it, coupled with a few primitive grown willow trees that had their thin branches swaying gently with the wind against the sunshine, created an almost ethereal-like scene. She had almost forgotten how beautiful nature really was since she was always surrounded by buildings and artificially formed plants.
In the truest sense, this was probably one of the few times she has ever witnessed such natural scenery, the other times being back in her own world, where her father took her and several of her siblings out to the neighboring mountains, but that was a long time ago, she could barely remember any of it now.
She observed this beautiful breath-taking scenery, letting the sun and wind caress her skin, her mind and body gradually started to feel relaxed.
"The ancients did not lie. Nature has a beauty of its own." Tian He let out a breath of air and started walking into the garden.
As the wildflowers brushed up against her skirt, she suddenly had the impulse to listen to music. Such a beautiful scenery, it would be a waste to not take this opportunity and bring it to life with a song.
"Luckily, I have the jade flute from earlier on me." Since the original owner is a flute player, she plans to have the jade flute on her at all times now to show others she's 'hard-working', it could certainly offset some suspicions when her skills increase a lot in the future.
Tian He placed the jade flute's opening near her mouth and took a glance at the shimmering blue lake in front of her and smiled serenely.
Since no one is here, I'll play at my best, or else it would be too much of a pity for this naturally formed beautiful place in front of me.
When the wind picked up on her hair, she blew gently into her jade flute and a free peaceful melody began to surround the garden. This song was one of her favorites, especially since it depicted the joy of nature and it's freedom.
As she plays the beginning of her song while enjoying the scenery of butterflies flying around the wildflowers, a sweet but peaceful melody began to encase this small garden. She immersed herself into feeling the true sense of the song as her finger moved swiftly over her flute.
She loved the gentle and free sounding notes that were beginning to fill her. It made her feel light and worry-free, as if she was just a regular girl playing in nature.
Soon, the rising climax of her song was fast approaching and the speed of her fingers picked up. This part is where her real skills will be displayed. When the notes came out faster, she could already imagine herself dancing with the wind underneath the sunlight, feeling shy yet playful.
A smile formed on her lips and she gradually fell into the feelings expressed in her song. It was too easy to accept the calls of freedom and joy in nature.
As she immersed herself in her song, her smile grew wider when she finally saw those water-like swans and tigers she'd been expecting. They danced around one another while circling her, the movements of the swans' wings and tigers' legs made them all the more life-like. The sunlight that cascaded down on them made them sparkle marvelously, like many tiny small suns were attached to them. Along with this beautiful addition, it looked like this seemingly peaceful scenery had a life of its own.
When her song was at its climax, the tempo of her song increased again, and she could imagine her feet almost flying as the dance she envisioned started to speed up it's movements. The water-like swans and tigers that could feel this change, became excited and started to move faster, flying higher to almost surround the whole garden.
She enjoyed this change while her fingers never stopped moving across her jade flute. She could feel the excitement and her affinity to the water element grow. She was elated at this finding.
This breakthrough of hers is a wonderful surprise.
Finally, when she was about to reach the end of her song where the current fast melody would return to it's serenity, she gradually let the speed of her fingers slow down and began to calm herself to match the notes. The water-like swans and tigers seem to have sensed her thoughts and also slowed down their movements. Very quickly, the surroundings regain its calmness, as if the recent fast moving small lights around the garden was just an appealing illusion.
However, before she could finish her song, she suddenly caught the sound of something falling in the far distance. She immediately stopped her flute playing and focused her attention across the lake, behind some willow trees where the sound came from.
Those were definitely sounds of footsteps and judging by the depth of it, it sounded like someone just jumped down from a certain height. Looking skeptically at the height of the walls surrounding her, she concluded that someone infiltrated the mansion by jumping over the wall just now.
Her mind quickly thought of a plan, she needed to immediately leave this garden without alarming the infiltrator. She slowly stepped back and was getting ready to run towards the exit behind her, those rose bushes would probably give her some cover to hide from this mysterious intruder.
As her feet were cautiously making it's way back towards the rose bushes, she unconsciously paused in her footsteps because she caught sight of the intruder coming out from behind the willow trees.
Shit! She definitely didn't want to be seen. She wasn't afraid of trouble and had no problems with taking down this intruder, but she was supposed to be a village girl in this world and village girls aren't suppose to know martial arts.
Getting caught with an identity crisis is the last thing she needed and yelling for help would most likely be in vain. It was obvious this intruder was well-versed in martial arts and he could probably defeat her way before any help arrived if she called for it.
As she almost reached the exit of the garden, she lifted her head a bit and surprise filled her eyes, making her pause in her footsteps.
This intruder was fairly well-dressed, almost too formal. Not to mention the fact that his clothing looked a bit familiar to her, but she really couldn't recall, just where had she seen those clothes before?
Because she couldn't figure it out, her mind started questioning this intruder's common sense instead, to not wear tight clothing when infiltrating someone else's home. Why?
Loose and especially luxurious clothing would only prove to be a hindrance. As she was debating whether this intruder was only bronze and no brains, her sight landed onto his face, and immediately, all her previous thoughts evaporated, leaving her only feeling dumbfounded instead.
What in the world? Her eyes couldn't be playing tricks on her, right? Blinking twice, she confirmed that her vision was properly functioning and the intruder's face didn't change.
In the next second, she couldn't stop her expression from crumbling a bit, looking almost completely stupefied and cramped. Really, of all the people she expected to meet, she never would have thought she would see her lover here. And climbing the walls just to return home at that, is the front door just for decoration? She almost had the impulse to face-palm herself for his actions but thanked her self-control last minute when she managed to restrain herself from ruining her image.
She really wanted to know what was going on in his mind. Is sneaking into his own home something he did often? Could the front door not be appealing enough to enter through? Should she go check it out to justify her lover's wall climbing?
When Bing Wen caught sight of the petite figure and her almost crumbling expression across the lake, he nearly couldn't control himself from donning a goofy grin. Right now, he only felt like a silly husband that was caught by his wife for doing something bad.
He unconsciously felt calmer after seeing her. God knows that all he thought about was her when he was talking to the Fire Hall's Elders and Water Hallmaster at the lunch banquet just now.
If it wasn't because the Fire Hall's Elders needed his presence at the banquet to keep the Water Hallmaster at bay, he would have declined the feast without a second thought. He had no interest in inflating the Water Hallmaster's ego and watching his smugness as he boasted of his recent drumming skills breakthrough.
As soon as the banquet was over, he immediately excused himself and took his leave. He didn't know how fast his strides were because his thoughts were filled with his Ming Yue's charming self when he kissed and touched her last night. Before he knew it, his feet took him to the back of his mansion, and not thinking twice, he leaped over the wall. The garden behind it was the closest to his residence and he would reach there faster than the main entrance.
He entertained the thought of giving his Ming Yue a surprise visit and wondered how she would react if he came in unannounced. Just imagining her surprised yet shy expression while looking at him almost made him want to chuckle on the spot.
Who knew he would one day grow excited at the thought of teasing someone? This feeling was entirely new, it made him nervous, but he didn't block it out. He didn't want to block it all.
Very quickly, he used his martial art skills to leap across the lake and with a few quick movements, he stood in front of her.
He restrained his excitement and took a good long look at her. She looked calm but he still spotted a slight questioning gaze in her eyes.
"Beloved concubine, I apologize for having kept you waiting." He blamed himself for only saying sorry to her now, he couldn't believe he had to leave her alone just after marrying her. If he knew that meeting her would cause his heart to desire her, he would have taken his adviser's advice to abstain from his duties and rightfully enjoy his honeymoon.
Tian He looked at her handsome yet cold faced husband and was almost fooled by his indifferent expression, like nothing had happened, too bad she had just seen him hopping over his own mansion's walls.
After staring for some time and not seeing any change in that expression of his, she finally accepted and applauded him in her heart for possessing such thick skin. She now knew that besides his love for her, his shamelessness came along with him to this world, too.
"Lord Husband, it is pleasant to see you again so soon." She was about to curtsy towards him but his hands stopped her actions.
"Beloved concubine need not be so polite towards me." He tried to sound as gentle and calm as he could.
He became a bit nervous from her staring earlier and doubted himself when he suddenly saw some amusement appear in her eyes, but before he could find out for sure, he saw her about to curtsy towards him and immediately stopped her. He didn't want her to do such actions that would only widen the distance between them.
Tian He let her body get gently pulled up by him. Her heart felt slightly warmed through his touch and she almost couldn't resist the impulse to throw herself into his arms. She desperately wanted to feel his arms around her and listen to the sound of his beating heart against her ears. It had always made her feel loved and at peace.
However, she knew that if she really did, some suspicions about her might arise and she would hate it if he ended up misunderstanding her.
But she wondered how long until she could openly express her love? When will he fall in love with her? After all, her time in this world was uncertain.
Although something in the back of her mind was telling her that he would eventually, she couldn't help feel a bit impatient. Also, to her, it only felt like it was just yesterday that she could openly accept his kisses and touch. As expected, suddenly switching from lovers to strangers was harder to cope with than she thought.
She automatically thought of her last world and the lovely interactions she had with her lover then to try to cheer herself up. She needed to be optimistic in order to gradually advance her relationship with her lover in this world. After all, he had no memories of her and usually, strangers needed time to fall in love with one another, so she couldn't give in to her temptations before their feelings were mutual.
Bing Wen didn't let go of her arms even after helping her up, instead he immersed himself in feeling her small soft hands against his, he noticed that they were so small that it was barely half the size of his. Then, his brows furrowed after feeling how chilly they were and without thinking further, he instantly started to rub her hands with his.
This will certainly bring some warmth back into them. After a moment though, he started to slow down his speed because he didn't want his strength to cause her hands to start hurting. He remembered how delicate her skin was when he touched it yesterday night, it had become red with just a bit of rubbing.
Unfortunately, after remembering her tears and moans from his touches yesterday, his heart and body started longing for more and touching her hands were only adding to that fire. Meanwhile, his careful rubbing was becoming clumsy as he tried to control his thoughts, but even though just dropping her hands would stop all his frustrations, his heart didn't want him to let go.
He longed to take action and encase her in his arms but he was afraid of scaring her again, so he could only make due was just rubbing her hands.
Tian He was brought back from her reminiscing after feeling the clumsy movements on her arms. She took a second to contemplate her situation before looking up to find her husband's brows were furrowed and his face a bit scrunched up. After some careful observations, she realized he was genuinely feeling frustrated over her cold hands.
At that thought, she instantly became amused and couldn't help herself from letting out a few laughs.
"Ha, ha..." She was too delighted to contain her laughter.
How could she have forgotten that even if the person who stood before her was different from her lover from the last world, they both shared the same soul. She didn't have to feel uneasy about when their love will become mutual, because she simply didn't need to.
She has only realized now that from some reason, her lover would always somehow come to care for her and make her heart feel warmth, even if they've only interacted a few times in this world, this fact didn't change at all.
Her lover really knew how to reassure her. His reliable self was always one of his traits that she loved and admired about him. She was both happy and relieved to find that besides their different personalities and appearances, her lover still had the same lovable traits.
Bing Wen was caught off guard with her abrupt laughter, and unknowingly, his actions paused as he became enamored with her smile. He felt that her genuine smile is one of the most beautiful things in the world.
Before he knew it, his mouth also curved up into smile after being affected by her laughter.
Tian He immediately saw his silly smile and noticed his affectionate gaze on her. She too was caught off guard, but for her, it was because after adding a smile to that cold expression of his, he became too enchanting.
She knew that her husband was good looking, but when adding this extra feature, she realized she was mistaken before. A smile on his face instantly caused her to be struck dumb.
Incidentally, she also noticed that his handsome smiling face was like a ray of sunshine, filled with warmth and gentleness, moreover, all of it was directed at her. How could her heart not feel touched at all? This was her lover!
For a moment, she forgot where she was and gave in to her temptation. She immediately plunged herself into his arms and grasped the front of his clothes while hiding her face on his chest. She didn't want him to see her expression because he would definitely be able to spot the overwhelming and longing affection on her right now.
Just for a little while, she'll indulged herself a bit.
Bing Wen was shocked, but after feeling the slight trembling of his Ming Yue's body on him, he immediately put his arms around her and started patting her back, hoping to relieve her worries.
He was puzzled and wanted to know why she suddenly took the initiative to hug him, however; his heart was unwilling to let go of this opportunity to feel her close to him. He didn't want to ruin this chance by questioning her and breaking this moment at all. If she didn't feel like telling him now, he could always wait, after all, he was her husband and she, his wife.
"Ming Yue." He softly spoke her name.
After feeling assured of his recent thoughts, he automatically tightened his arms around her and closed his eyes while enjoying the warmth and comfort her presence was bringing to his heart.
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AvaTheMage
AvaTheMage Hello everyone, sorry for publishing so late. I had some troubles to fix, but now basically everything is almost back on track. Thus, I'll be writing again. Although the releases won't be as fast, I'll try to update whenever possible. Thank you for reading!
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