Chapter 1184: Zither battle
Translator: Lordbluefire
This sentence from the Qi Emperor caused some of the people from the diplomatic groups of Great Xia, Great Wei, Great Chu, and even Great Tang to turn unsightly.
There were four crown princes present here. No matter what, their statuses should be higher than Sun Mo, right?
Even if their statuses weren’t that high in his eyes, there were still the second commander and the main commander of the respective groups.
The composition of these diplomatic groups was roughly the same as Great Tang’s. Other than the personal teacher of the Xia Crown Prince not being present, the teachers of the other crown princes were here. Besides, they brought royal relatives similar to Li Xiu who was responsible for social interactions too. So no matter how one looked at the situation, it wouldn’t be Sun Mo’s turn to be greeted by the Qi Emperor first.
Usually speaking, in such social settings, the sequence of greeting had a rule to it.
Either the stronger countries would be greeted first or those who were more senior in terms of age!
“What is the Qi Emperor doing? Is he trying to play some tricks?”
Helian Beifang frowned.
Given how narrow the heart state of Han Cangshui was, after being disregarded by the Qi Emperor like this, he would surely hate Sun Mo even more.
There were no solutions. He couldn’t afford to offend the Qi Emperor and thus could only vent his anger on Sun Mo.
“Given the reputation of the Qi Emperor, he should feel disdain for such tricks. I guess it’s purely because he admires our teacher?”
Qin Yaoguang analyzed.
As expected, after Sun Mo rose and bowed, the Qi Emperor involuntarily waved his hands. “Great Teacher Sun, please come over for a chat!”
This was him wanting Sun Mo to sit beside him.
“Your Majesty, the War Discussion is about to begin. So, I better stay here for now.”
Sun Mo tactfully declined.
“Ah? Isn’t the group leader of your esteemed diplomatic group Great Teacher Han?”
The Qi Emperor’s underlying meaning was saying that since Sun Mo didn’t have the command authority, why should he stay here?
“It’s Great Teacher Han indeed!”
Sun Mo admitted.
The Qi Emperor wanted to continue speaking but was interrupted by Jiang Yuzhen.
“Royal father, the time is up. It’s time for the competition!”
“Oh, let’s get started then!”
The Qi Emperor didn’t use any tricks. He merely coveted Sun Mo’s God Hands and wanted Sun Mo to give him a massage that could boost his virility so he could enjoy a hundred beauties every night.
Even an emperor had no way to fight against old age. If he couldn’t have a boner, what was the point of having 10,000 beauties in his harem?
Naturally, eating alchemy pills could save his pride. However, all medicine was 30% poison. He couldn’t possibly ignore his life just to make love, right?
So, when the Qi Emperor heard how powerful Sun Mo’s Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands was, he felt very impatient and wanted to try it.
The war drums sounded. After that, the Qi Emperor started with a speech before the war discussion.
The members of the diplomatic groups didn’t really bother listening. All of them were shocked at Jiang Yuzhen’s status in the heart of the Qi Emperor.
Usually speaking, as a princess, one would usually tread cautiously around the emperor as they were afraid of making him unhappy and falling out of his favor.
However, this Princess Flying Swallow actually interrupted the Qi Emperor in public. What was even more terrifying was that the Qi Emperor actually listened to her.
It seemed like the rumors weren’t wrong. Jiang Yuzhen might really be able to become the next Qi Emperor.
The Qi Emperor wasn’t like leaders of the modern world who liked to give long speeches and cause people to want to fall asleep. He merely gave a short speech that directly spoke about the main point and started to introduce the first round.
“A zither battle depends on one’s zither skills. It can be split into two parts. The first part is a representative battle. Each group will send out a representative to perform solo. There are no restrictions to the genre of music and points will be awarded by a judge after that!
“For the second part, it’s a contest between the prince groups. Every group has to send out at least five members to form an instrumental ensemble to ‘fight’ the other groups!”
This was something everyone was familiar with. Hence, no one panicked. After the Qi Emperor announced for them to begin drawing the lots, each group began to send a member up onto the stage.
At Great Tang’s side, Li Lin was arranged to go up and draw the lots. She was Li Xiu’s daughter.
The lot she drew was no. 3, it was neither good nor bad.
Very soon, Xia Taikang carried a guzheng and appeared on the three-foot-tall stage. He sat there calmly and placed the guzheng on his thighs before starting his performance.
Zeng~
When Xia Taikang’s index finger strummed the zither strings, the sound of a powerful army instantly rang out in the ears of everyone. Several people were so frightened that they shivered. It felt like during morning on the grassy plains, an army suddenly dashed out from the fog, killing their way out.
Everywhere they passed by, corpses littered the ground!
Xia Taifeng’s melody style was like his personality. Courageously advancing forward, rather choosing death than retreat!
“This fellow is impressive!”
Qin Yaoguang was shocked.
Logically speaking, a muscular and sturdy fellow like Xia Taikang clearly belonged to the type of people who spent their time cultivating and learning how to govern the country. No one had expected his zither skills to be at such a high level!
Several people subconsciously hugged their chests. Although they weren’t able to hear the intent to war, they could sense it.
But gradually, their nervousness and trepidation turned to a surging hot-bloodedness. They felt like they were a general that was on a punitive expedition, riding proudly across the world before finally reigning supreme under the sky!
When the music stopped, it was unknown why but everyone felt a sense of loss and melancholy in their hearts.
Xia Taikang didn’t thank the audience. He held his guzheng with one hand and walked off the stage, exuding an aura of extreme tyranny.
“Great Teacher Han, what do you think?”
Li Xiu asked. Her gaze involuntarily turned to Li Xuan. This little fellow had a look of nervousness and worry on his face now.
“Although he is very proficient in his skills, his innate aura has surpassed his music. This music piece is like telling a story about one’s burden. His aura caused the meaning of it to dwindle somewhat.”
Han Cangshui smiled. “Don’t worry, we can win!”
At this moment on the stage, the Music Sage Li Guinian gave his evaluation. It was exactly the same as what Han Cangshui had said.
This Music Sage was famous for loving music and being inflexible. He was also a man of worldly wisdom. There was nothing more impartial than getting him to be a judge.
Naturally, for the sake of fairness, there were four other famous musicians from the Nine Provinces acting as the secondary judges.
“This Music Sage truly dared to speak. Is he not afraid of offending Xia Taikang?”
Tantai Yutang teasingly spoke.
Although Li Guinian was a Music Sage, this title was the same as a Saint Artist. It means it was a title one could receive after reaching the absolute peak of a certain field.
Bluntly speaking, it depended on one’s skill and not on one’s character. Moreover, this was a minor path. Hence, these sages and saints didn’t have a high status.
For example, for Sun Mo. If he was a little more shameless, he could actually proclaim himself to be a Saint Artist because he had so many famous paintings. After all, he had an advantage in terms of the number of famous paintings he produced.
However, saints of the great teacher world were something the heavens bestowed. If one’s thinking didn’t reach a certain level, one would never be able to step through this threshold.
The old headmaster failed and became a vegetable because of this.
“That zither of Xia Taikang is quite interesting!”
Sun Mo’s lips twitched.
“Teacher, did you have some discoveries?”
Qin Yaoguang immediately moved closer to him and asked in a low voice. “Is cheating permitted in the Five Empires War Discussion?”
Sun Mo didn’t answer. Rather, he turned to Li Ziqi and asked the question.
“Cheating that isn’t caught, isn’t considered cheating!”
Li Ziqi shrugged. “Xia Taikang’s zither should be the famous zither named ‘Phoenix’. It’s said that it is made from a parasol tree where a phoenix once nested. It’s said that when one uses this to play music, all other musical notes will pale in comparison to the musical notes produced from it.
“Ah? Relying on a famous zither? Isn’t that cheating?”
Lu Zhiruo blinked and felt things were very unfair.
“This can be allowed because it can be considered a type of contest between countries!” Li Ziqi explained.
“Besides, the quality of the musical instruments used by the other diplomatic groups wouldn’t be too bad either.”