Chapter 1185: Brilliant Cheating Method!
Translator: Lordbluefire
This zither of Xia Taikang didn’t improve his skills much when he played a solo. However, it made his music timbre purer and could allow him to perfectly display his zither skills. Other than this, there were no other effects.
But when using it in an instrumental ensemble, it was very impressive. The other music would be suppressed by his zither sounds and he would naturally overwhelm the others. So, this required the other zither players to have a higher skill level than him to mitigate this factor.
“Xia Taikang’s personality is very forceful and tyrannical. This zither matches him perfectly!”
Li Xiu sighed.
It isn’t going to be easy to win this battle.
The second person that headed up the stage was Xiang Zhao, the Chu Crown Prince. This fatty smiled amiably and clasped his hands to the audience to express his thanks. He didn’t exude the noble aura of a crown prince or the aura of an expert zither player. Instead, his demeanor made him look like a home teacher to small kids.
“This fellow is either a retard or he is pretending to be a sheep to eat a tiger!”
Tantai Yutang couldn’t see through this fellow.
“People of Chu have always been like this. They live casually and enjoy a fine lifestyle. Unless a calamity that could wipe their empire appears, they wouldn’t show the determination and stubbornness in their bones to retaliate!”
Li Ziqi reminded him. “Don’t underestimate him. When people of Chu encountered the crucial moment, they definitely wouldn’t relax!”
Just like what the little sunny egg said, when Xiang Zhao sat down, a beautiful maid delivered a pipa* to him. After he held that in his hands, his entire demeanor suddenly changed!
Five fingers swept past!
Ding!
A series of melodious musical notes manifested, creating beautiful sounds that entered the ears of everyone. They were like invisible hands that lifted the souls of the listeners and tossed the souls into a dark night filled with murder.
Bamboo forest, a gust of light wind, gentle rain!
Countless black-robed death warriors, a fleeing princess with her loyal guards, and the blood flowing from corpses into the mud beneath…
Everyone had long since neglected the music. They were fully immersed in the fleeing scene and their minds were stirred by the princess!
When the curved blade of a death warrior killed all the royal guards and was slashing toward the fair white neck of the princess…
Abruptly!
The music stopped.
Everything belonged to the void!
Everyone came back to their senses.
The huge public square had tens of thousands of people. But at this moment, it was so quiet that one could hear the drop of a pin. In fact, many people were still in a daze and reminiscing about the story they had seen earlier.
“I’ve made a fool out of myself!”
Xiang Zhao clasped his fist and regained his demeanor as a rich and frivolous prince.
Li Xiu’s expression turned unsightly. Just based on his zither skills, Li Xuan wasn’t Xiang Zhao’s opponent at all. In fact, even Xia Taikang was a shade inferior in comparison. This was because Xiang Zhao’s zither skills had clearly entered the hallway of a grandmaster.
“Indeed, the people of Chu know how to play the most!”
Qin Yaoguang sighed ruefully.
In the various countries of the Nine Provinces, if one was to speak of the country that was the most developed in terms of arts and culture, it would be none other than the Chu Country. This was a country where the women were willing to starve for the sake of appearing slim so they could be beautiful.
“I don’t know if he plays well or not, but his play is filled with an artistic concept!”
Lu Zhiruo wanted to know what was the ending to that story!
(Did the princess die?)
“Excellent! Excellent!”
Li Guinian closed his eyes and stroked his beard as he attentively savored the melody of this music piece. If it wasn’t for the current scene not being suitable to say too much, he would add another sentence in his evaluation.
Crown Prince Xiang Zhao already possessed the demeanor of a grandmaster.
As the saying goes, the title ‘Music Sage’ still wasn’t high enough. They had to care about the thoughts of some major characters.
If Li Guinian was a real saint, let alone giving an evaluation, even if he scolded the ancestors of the emperor, the emperor would still have to thank him.
“Teacher!”
Li Xuan glanced at Han Cangshui with some panic in his eyes. Xiang Zhao’s trump cards were very powerful. If they did things according to their original plan, Li Xuan knew he wouldn’t be able to get the first place.
“Just do things according to our original plan. Calm down!”
Han Cangshui instructed.
“But…”
Li Xuan stared at Xiang Zhao before turning his gaze toward Great Qi and Great Wei. The two other parties hadn’t acted yet. He didn’t know what their standards were.
“This is just the first round, why are you so anxious?”
Han Cangshui frowned.
Although he had a solution to allow Li Xuan to erupt with his potential, what should he do for the later rounds of the competition?
“Your disciple understands!”
After bowing, Li Xuan prepared to head up. However, Li Ziqi stopped him.
“Royal brother, how about allowing me to fight in this round?”
The little sunny egg could tell that Li Xuan already had fear in his heart.
“Many thanks for royal sister’s worry, but I’m fine!”
Li Xuan naturally wouldn’t agree to this.
For the two parties earlier, they were both crown princes. If it came to Great Tang’s turn and a princess was sent up instead, what would the audience think? They would definitely feel that the Great Tang Crown Prince was weak.
So, even if he had to lose, he couldn’t lose without fighting.
Li Xuan went up the stage.
Although he feigned being composed, his act in the eyes of Li Xiu, the Qi Emperor, and the other major characters was like a clown.
“Your elder bro can’t make it!”
Qin Yaoguang bluntly spoke.
Xianyu Wei quickly tugged on Qin Yaoguang’s sleeves and passed a sweet to her. (Don’t speak anymore.)
Li Xuan’s performance started. He was using a famous zither named Scorched Tail. With his lanky fingers, the music he produced sounded like a female dancer dancing to please the gods in a sacrificial ceremony.
Sometimes, the music was carefree!
Sometimes, the music was grandiose.
And sometimes, the music was elegant and reserved.
“Eh? Did he play it wrongly? Why is there a need for him to be so nervous?”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t understand.
She didn’t like music but had learned it before. After all, in the Nine Provinces, everyone from major clans would have to learn a little about zither skills, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Li Ziqi didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at Han Cangshui. At this moment, this 8-stars great teacher already had a heavy and ashen expression.
Because Li Xuan didn’t listen to him.
“Fool!”
Han Cangshui understood Li Xuan’s mentality. As the crown prince, not only must he win, but he must win beautifully. Only then would he be able to score high in the hearts of everyone. So, in this first battle, he wanted to get a bonus. He took the chance when walking up to the stage to consume the alchemy pill Han Cangshui had given him.
“Teacher, what do you think?”
Qin Yaoguang was someone who loved gossip.
Sun Mo shook his head. He didn’t feel things were optimistic.
The system was like a scummy girl that cheated the heart of honest guys. It disabled Divine Sight again, causing Sun Mo to be unable to view the stats of all the crown princes or to identify the famous zithers. But the current Sun Mo was not that intern teacher who didn’t know anything.
The current Sun Mo could already ‘see’ many things with his own judgment and experience.
“Your highness’s zither skills are very good, but your mind is a little too anxious and nervous.”
Li Guinian evaluated, his tone was very ordinary.
Li Xuan’s expression dimmed. After thanking Li Guinian, he walked off the stage.
“Hmph!”
Han Cangshui snorted, he was clearly unhappy.
Li Xuan cowered.
The fourth participant, Jiang Yuzhen, the Qi Country’s princess!
Because she was a princess of the host country and was famous, once Jiang Yuzhen’s name was read out by the ceremonial officer, tsunami-level cheers rang out loudly immediately.
“Jiang Yuzhen’s fame in the common world is truly great!”
Li Xuan silently mumbled. From the looks of things now, Jiang Yuzhen had a very high possibility of becoming the next Qi Emperor. If he could marry her, he would undoubtedly become the Great Tang Emperor with no suspense.
Sigh!
Sometimes, he really admired an only child like Xiang Zhao. Even if he didn’t work hard and lead a life as a salted fish every day, he would still ultimately become the emperor.
It was completely different for him. Li Xuan didn’t even dare to slack for a moment as he was deeply afraid that his younger brothers and sisters might surpass him. This was especially so for Li Ziqi. She gave him the strongest pressure.
Their royal father was very fond of this younger sister of his. Li Xuan had even once assumed that Great Tang would have a female emperor in the future. This thought of his lasted until Li Ziqi was rejected by Secondary Zhou Saint. After that, Li Ziqi got despised by many and she decided to silently leave the royal palace before the situation started to change.
That period was Li Xuan’s happiest moment in life.
He had thought that that was it for his sister after having learned that she was still in Jinling and actually took an intern teacher as her personal teacher.
Li Xuan had almost laughed himself to death after learning this information from his spies. But even so, he still decided to err on the side of caution and sent people to investigate Sun Mo’s background. After that, he grew completely at ease.
But who could have known that this intern teacher was so overwhelmingly strong? He became the most dazzling new rising superstar of the Nine Provinces in a mere two years.
No, he could no longer be referred to as a new rising star because he was already a 5-stars great teacher and was a great ancestor in the field of spirit runes. He also had the beautiful title ‘God Hands’.
“Why is my life so difficult?”
Li Xuan bitterly cursed. How good would it be if he could poison Sun Mo to death?
Sun Mo could sense someone looking at him, so he instinctively turned his head to glance over.
Li Xuan jumped in fright and hurriedly squeezed out a smile.
“Trash!”
Han Cangshui cursed silently after seeing this scene.
Jiang Yuzhen’s musical instrument was a konghou. When the strings were strummed, majestic, classic, and grandiose music immediately rang out in the air, resembling the atmosphere of when a king visited his troops.
Gradually, the zither music changed. Everyone could hear the army making a vow and galloping through the battlefield.
Sharing food with the soldiers for 800 miles, listening to music from the northern tribe!
Countless generals and soldiers fought against external enemies on the cold winter night. After that, iron-hooved horses galloped past rivers and rushed the enemy camps.
Jiang Yuzhen’s music was like her personality. It sounded war-like, cold, emotionless, mighty, and imposing!
“Your highness’s zither skills might be inferior to others, but your emotions are as intense as fiery wine. One would be drunk the moment they drank it.”
Li Guinian sighed ruefully. He stretched his hand out and swept aside the wine cups. He directly lifted the wine flask and tilted it, pouring wine into his mouth.
Sadly, there were no wine vats here!
When hearing such music, one naturally had to drink a lot and make themselves drunk.
“Teacher, why is she so unrestrained?”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t understand. From her point of view, based on tyranny, Xia Taikang was number one. Based on music skills, Xiang Zhao was better.
“Music is a voice from the heart. Zhiruo, good music is all about transmitting a story!”
Sun Mo explained.
After hearing this, Li Xiu and Han Cangshui both turned their heads and looked at Sun Mo.
“Teacher Sun, are you also skilled in music?”
Li Xiu understood Sun Mo’s words. If one didn’t have a certain level of attainment in the field of music, they wouldn’t be able to say this. They could only agree with others blindly.
“Still passable!”
Sun Mo mentally mused, ‘Sorry, I’ve just become a grandmaster-level musician, the type where I can create my own BGM.’
The last person was the Great Wei’s Crown Prince, Wei Wu`an.
He walked onto the stage, not wearing robes that were embroidered with golden dragons but a great teacher robe instead. This style immediately caused his demeanor to surpass the other crown princes.
After all, the occupation of great teachers was naturally admired and respected by people in the Nine Provinces.
“Che, this is a guy that loves to flaunt. Our eldest martial sister Ziqi didn’t choose to do the same and wear a great teacher robe!”
Qin Yaoguang spoke in disdain.
Regardless of whether Wei Wu`an was trying to brag or not, no one else spoke the moment the sound of his guzheng rang out.
The sound of the guzheng contained a type of charm that transcended time and space. It was as though it could bring someone into a dream space that they couldn’t distinguish from reality. They were content to simply continue waiting there in the dreamscape.
Sun Mo’s brows furrowed. He cast a glance at the audience before finally turning his gaze on his students.
The majority of people were listening. Only Qin Yaoguang was covering her ears with an unhappy look on her face and Lu Zhiruo was frowning.
The papaya girl noticed Sun Mo’s gaze. After that, her tiny face creased. “Teacher, why does his music cause people to feel so unbearable?”
[1] Note: Pipa = 4-stringed chinese lute. Konghou = ancient chinese harp