Chapter 70: Harming Others to Improve Yourself

"My second sister likes to make purses." Mo Wen said bluntly.

Liu Yuan couldn't hold back his mocking expression. Wang Xiaoyang turned around and said innocently, "Purse! Aunt Jiang, who lives next to my mother, is very skilled at making purses!"

She seemed unintentional, but her words were quite harsh.

Mo Wen smiled and said, "My second sister's handicraft is ordinary, but her conception is unique."

Before anyone else could say anything, Liang You took over the conversation, "That's right! Sister Mo Yi made a purse for my younger sister. I heard from my mother that she never left it after she got it. Whenever a guest came, she would let them look at it over and over again! This has never happened before!"

His face showed agreement, but he was thinking in his heart: I don’t know if this person has done this to me… Alas, I don’t have a chance to ask, I’m really anxious.

Mo Yi remained silent and sat quietly.

Mo Wen saw Liang You took over the conversation, smiled and said nothing more.

In this case, Liu Yuan felt that the topic was not going to continue, so he turned to Mo Wen again, "It just so happens that I also like to play the piano, Xianlin, how about I show you a little ugliness?"

"I've never really appreciated Sister Liu's piano skills. Come sit here!"

Liu Yuan stopped being polite and walked to the piano table. Just like Mo Wen did last time, he tested the sound first.

When the music of the piano started, no one spoke on the Marquis's side.

Liang You's obvious partiality for Mo Yi and the talents of the girls present made Liu Yuan a little anxious. She wanted to shock everyone with a song. The Marquis' family was a military officer, and Liang You would also command troops in the future. So she chose "The Ballad of the West Moon".

This piece of music is high-pitched, sad, and has some complex and intense rhythms. It really tests the skill of the pianist and the understanding of the music.

Well, that's it!

She started playing, and it turned out that her piano skills were really good!

This tune reminded Madam Hou of her husband and son...

When it came to the climax, Liu Yuan's two little hands plucked the strings hard and turned them quickly. Her hands felt a little painful, her eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, and her teeth were lightly clenched.

The high-pitched and rapid melody made Mrs. Hou feel uneasy... They, father and son, fought in the battlefield and died on horseback.

What made her even more sad was that her son never got married and had no descendants. The longing and sorrow made her eyes slightly wet.

The song is finished.

The Marquis's wife calmed down for a while before nodding slightly.

Old Mrs. Liang called out, "Liang You!" Liang You got up and went over.

After the song, Liu Yuan felt her fingers hurt, but she was satisfied. She turned around and calmly asked the Mo sisters, "Miss Mo Yi, can you sing a song too?"

"Miss Liu, I can't play the music." Mo Yi said calmly.

"If I can't play it, it's okay at least for me to give some comments, right?!" Liu Yuan's awkward personality might be like that of her, old lady Liang.

Mo Yi smiled and said, "If you can't play, you can't tell the difference between good and bad fingering and the depth of the meaning. If you rashly comment on it and only look at the surface, it will be disrespectful to Miss Liu."

Liu Yuan smiled and turned to Mo Wen: "Oh, I forgot. It was Miss Mo who said that her piano skills were pretty good. Why don't you come up and teach me a thing or two?"

At this time, even if Mo Wen wanted to show off, he couldn't do it.

"Today I am here to burn incense and fulfill my vows, and to appreciate the talents of all the sisters. I cannot make a fool of myself, let alone teach you." She thought to herself: If I really play, people will ask who I am. It would be a joke for a girl who is engaged to steal the limelight from others.

Zhang Xianlin said: "Sister Liu's tune carries a murderous spirit and a profound meaning. For a girl to have such a profound meaning, we are ashamed of ourselves! Since Miss Mo Wen can play, can you give us some comments and open up our minds?"

All the girls looked on.

Mo Wen had no reason to retreat and nodded gently: "As a girl, it is really admirable that you can play this piece of music. Let's not talk about the theme, just talking about the fingering, it also takes a long time of practice, and thin calluses on the hands, before you can play this piece of music. It's not easy for Miss Liu. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Does this mean that Liu Yuan’s playing is not good enough?

Liu Yuan just wanted to show off his skills and attract the attention of Mrs. Hou, and he learned this song deliberately for this meeting.

However, Mo Wen’s piano skills were already quite good, and she was also smart and sensitive, so he could still tell where her strengths and weaknesses lay.

"It seems that Miss Mo doesn't like it. Why don't you play a good one for us to see."

Mo Wen's expression was sincere. "It was the girl who forced me to comment, so I made a few bold comments. It's not that I had to compete with the girl!"

"you!"

"Okay, okay! What are you doing? You're just playing the piano for fun." Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Zhang Xianlin quickly stepped forward to stop them.

It must be Wang who was talking over there, and she was laughing very loudly.

The girls here looked at each other, covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, and said nothing.

Mo Yi sighed again in his heart...

On the other side, Yuan Huixian had good intentions in helping Wang Xiaowei out of her predicament.

But Wang Xiaowei was not polite to her and defeated her in no time.

Yuan Huixian was a bad player but loved to play. She played another game, but of course she lost again.

Then, she wanted to play again...

Wang Xiaowei had been impatient for a long time, and now he was even more furious.

Liang You happened to be here with a few ladies. She wanted to show off even more. "You're not playing chess, you're just asking me to tease you!" Her tone was very unpleasant.

Yuan Huixian smiled embarrassedly.

When Madam Hou heard this, she said, "Xianlin, play a game with Xiaowei!"

Zhang Xianlin: "You want to embarrass Xianlin, right? Miss Wang is famous for her chess skills."

"It's just for fun." Mrs. Hou was a little dissatisfied with Wang Xiaowei's appearance, and she knew that Xianlin was also quite good at chess.

"Okay! I'll listen to you. If I lose, I'll cry and ask you to borrow my handkerchief!"

Zhang Xianlin sat down and the other two got up.

Old Lady Liang said with disdain: "What talents do the Mo family girls have? Let us admire them a little too?"

Wang said, "Speaking of zither, my family's Mo Wen's skills are quite good. A few days ago, Master Xu came to visit during the New Year and gave her a zither made by Master Chen!"

When Liu Yuan heard this, he acted as if no one had it! "Just now, after listening to Miss Mo's words, I thought that the ones used on weekdays were Jiaowei, Yuqin and the like! I wonder what Master Xu used before he gave it to me?"

Wang quickly explained: "Wenwen used to use the zither from the Yuyao family in Yangzhou! Wow, it cost more than four hundred taels of silver!"

Liu Yuan laughed, "That's really expensive! It's about the same as this piano... Among my piano collection, it's not considered a good one..."

Mo Wen was furious. "The zither is important, but a zither worth a fortune is just like playing cotton when played by a mediocre person..."

Mo Yuan was watching people play chess, and after hearing this, she chuckled. Mo Yi also felt that Mo Wen's response this time was very satisfying.

Old Lady Liang was not happy. "Miss Mo, stop talking! If you have the ability, come and do it!"

Mo Wen felt that he could not retreat any further, otherwise, he would be embarrassed when people talked about it in the future.

"Then let's listen to Mrs. Liang!" She stood up and walked to the piano.

"I gave a few comments on the piece Miss Liu played just now, but she didn't like it very much. So, I will play a section of the piece and Miss Liu can give her comments. I can't play the whole piece... my fingers hurt."

She raised her hand and tested the sound.

At this moment, Mo Wen did not have the soft and gentle appearance that he had in front of Master Xu. Instead, he was full of confidence and murderous intent.

After playing for a while, it went straight to the climax.

His hands were like lightning, wiping, picking and pulling. He interpreted the vastness, sadness, vastness, and iron-blooded meaning vividly.

Even a rookie like Mo Yi could tell that his sister was much better than Liu Yuan, not to mention that she was at least one level higher.

Since she only played one paragraph, it ended quickly.

Liu Yuan's face looked extremely ugly...

Old Mrs. Liang knew at a glance that she was outdone, and her face looked unhappy.

Over there, Zhang Xianlin lost.

She herself was a little surprised, "Aunt, I lost... I lost so quickly?" She shook her head, "Oh my god, Xiaowei, your attack is so sharp!"

The Marquis's wife knew her niece's chess skills, and she was quite surprised that she lost so quickly.

Wang Xiaowei was much more polite to Zhang Xianlin than to Jiang Huixian, "I'm afraid you are not used to my style of chess for the time being, why don't we try again?"

"Don't try it! Don't try it!" Zhang Xianlin just stood up.

Mo Yuan plopped down and sat down in front of Wang Xiaowei.

"Shall we have a plate?!" She smiled charmingly...

(End of this chapter)