Ye Xiao said in a deep voice, "Does his zither music only play at dusk? I'm going to go and see now."
Gongsun Liang said, "The music did indeed start at dusk, but if you want to confirm whether the musician is your brother, you can go now. However, whether you can enter the music room is another matter."
Ye Xiao: "Why?"
Gongsun Liang: "It is said that there is an invisible barrier around the Qin House, and everyone's entry and exit are under the control of the barrier's owner. Therefore, no one who listens to music can renege on their payment, whether they enter the courtyard or not."
Most importantly, many people who have heard music there go back to listen again. Nowadays, quite a few celebrities and powerful figures regularly go there to enjoy a performance; they are all people who don't care about money.
Ye Xiao: "No matter what, I need to go and confirm if it's that kid."
Guided by Gongsun Liang, he soon arrived at the East Alley of the capital and saw a quiet and elegant courtyard. Two or three peach blossoms peeked out from the courtyard wall, and green willow branches swayed gently. It was simple yet elegant.
"This is it," Gongsun Liang said, pointing to the entrance with a plaque that read "Qin She" (琴舍, meaning "Music House").
Ye Xiao went straight up and knocked on the door. After a short while, a very charming woman opened the door, bowed to him, and said, "Sir, if you wish to listen to the zither, please come back in the evening."
Ye Xiao said, "I've come to visit. I'd like to know if my younger brother, Ye Nian, lives here."
The woman bowed again and said, "My master said that the past is gone and all things have come to nothing. He only hopes that we will not disturb each other in the future and that we will each take care of ourselves."
Ye Xiao said in a deep voice, "So, your master is Ye Nian?" He looked the woman up and down, "When did he take in a servant as flirtatious and seductive as you?"
The woman smiled mockingly and said, "Your Highness does have some discernment after all. This servant is indeed a vixen."
Ye Xiao was at a loss for words. He simply kept a cold face and said in an even colder voice, "Make Ye Nian come out and see me!"
The woman smiled coolly and said, "My master has already made his point very clear."
Ye Xiao tried to push the woman away, but she took a step back and slammed the door shut with a bang. Her voice came from inside, deep and resonant, like a demonic voice from hell: "Your Highness, please have some self-respect. The time for listening to the music has not yet arrived. Please leave quickly with the other idlers."
Gongsun Liang, who was listening from a distance, twitched at the corner of his mouth: "Who is this 'unauthorized person'?!"
Ye Xiao started knocking on the door again, making a loud banging noise. Suddenly, the two door gods pasted on the door burst out with a strange force and threw Ye Xiao out.
Ye Xiao drew a perfect parabola in the air and landed right in front of Gongsun Liang, startling Gongsun Liang so much that he froze on the spot.
Ye Xiao was thrown around so hard he was completely disoriented, and his vision blurred for a moment. It was only thanks to his profound inner energy that he didn't faint. Gongsun Liang, seeing that Ye Xiao had tried to get up twice but hadn't quite managed, finally came to his senses and reached out to pull him up.
Ye Xiao felt extremely embarrassed. He was full of profound energy and had few rivals in the Scorpio Kingdom. When had he ever been so humiliated?
He stared at the door, his face flushed with anger, but he didn't know how to vent his rage.
Gongsun Liang comforted him, "Your Highness, perhaps your brother doesn't know it's you who's here. It's all that...that vixen's doing."
"What kind of vixen could be so formidable that I, the king, am no match for her?" Ye Xiao roared.
Gongsun Liang felt wronged and embarrassed: Why is he yelling at me? I wasn't the one who threw you here.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. He felt frustrated, but he still respected and feared the Night Prince, and dared not refute him.
Ye Xiao pointed at the door and shouted, "Ye Nian, you little brat, you've forgotten your place now that you've grown wings, haven't you? All these years, if it weren't for your older brother protecting you, you would have been sold off somewhere long ago. And now you're even hitting me!"
Before the words were even finished, the two of them felt a blur before their eyes, and the woman whom Ye Xiao had accused of being a vixen suddenly reappeared in front of them.
She smiled radiantly and said, "As my master just said, we have indeed been taken care of by the Prince over the years, and our upbringing and life have indeed been funded by the Prince's money. The Prince may ask for whatever compensation he desires."
Gongsun Liang's lips twitched as he listened: What does this mean? Are they trying to dismiss the prince as a scoundrel?
Ye Xiao naturally understood the implication, and after pointing at the vixen for a long time, he only managed to utter the word "you".
The woman finally took out a package and said, "This contains the gold and silver that the master has earned during this period. Since Prince Ye is reluctant to state the amount of compensation in person, then this will all be given to the prince. There are a total of ninety-two silver ingots and twenty gold ingots inside. You can count them on the spot." With that, she handed the package to Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao was stunned for a moment, then roared, "Do you think I came here for money? Ye Nian is my brother, call him out right now."
The woman said with a hint of helplessness, "He's out. What do you want to say to him?"
Ye Xiao was taken aback. He hadn't actually planned to say anything to Ye Nian before. He was used to being in control and felt that Ye Nian's escape from his control was unacceptable, so he came to find her.
However, he quickly replied, "What we brothers have to say is none of your business."
The woman said, "It really has nothing to do with me. But judging from the way the prince is acting, he doesn't seem to have any important business to discuss with my master. So what is the purpose of this disturbance?"
Suddenly, an extremely impatient voice came from the top of the courtyard wall: "You vixen, what are you babbling on and on with that rat? When will you ever stop? It's just chasing someone away, and after all this effort, the person is still standing here. You can't do anything right!"
Ye Xiao and Gongsun Liang looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a golden bird standing on the top of the wall: It wasn't a parrot, and besides, parrots don't speak human language so fluently.
Ye Xiao and Gongsun Liang exchanged a shocked glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
The woman retorted, "No matter what, this man is the master's elder brother. Was I wrong to offer him kind advice?"
Then the bird opened and closed its beak, uttering in human language: "So nagging, it's so annoying."
Ye Xiao and Gongsun Liang finally confirmed that it was indeed the bird that had spoken. At this moment, the bird turned to look at Ye Xiao and shouted, "You rat, get lost! Don't disturb my sleep. I have to guard the house this evening, and I'm tired!"
The bird finished speaking arrogantly and then flapped its wing.
To be honest, at first neither Ye Xiao nor Gongsun Liang took the bird seriously, but they didn't expect that with just a slight flap of the bird's wings, the two of them would be thrown out like kites with broken strings.
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