Chapter 235 Slap in the Face (Second Update)
In late March, envoys from the Liang Kingdom arrived in the capital of the Zhao Kingdom.
Grand Secretary Yuan, along with the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and the Marquis of Xuanping, personally went to the city gate to greet them.
Originally, Marquis Xuanping did not want to come, but he had not finished copying the last punishment. The emperor said that if he went to greet the Liang Kingdom envoy, the punishment of copying would be offset.
Marquis Xuanping reluctantly went to the city gate, lounging casually in his carriage, which even Chief Minister Yuan could hardly bear to watch.
However, as soon as the Liang envoy arrived, Marquis Xuanping's demeanor changed completely.
He stepped down from the carriage and stood there with composure. Amidst the myriad flowers in full bloom, he was dignified and elegant.
It's no wonder the emperor insisted on having him greet the envoy; his face was simply the face of the Zhao Kingdom.
The officials from both sides exchanged pleasantries. Marquis Xuanping, who was usually not very cultured, naturally didn't say much at this time.
Therefore, the outside world has always regarded Marquis Xuanping as aloof and sparing with his words.
The Liang Kingdom's envoys stayed in a royal garden, very close to the palace.
That evening, the Crown Princess hosted a banquet in the Qilin Hall of the Imperial Palace to welcome the Liang Kingdom envoys.
"Your Highness, Your Highness! It's time to rise!"
Princess Rui was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly shaken awake by Lady Xu.
She opened her eyes blankly: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing her bewildered expression, Lady Xu couldn't help but laugh and cry: "You forgot there's a banquet tonight? You should get up and get ready."
"Isn't it still early?" Princess Rui glanced at the sky, then lay down to continue her nap.
After becoming pregnant, she became much sleepier. The female official Xu did not dare to pull her away forcefully, so she stayed by her bedside and let her sleep for another half an hour before waking her up.
Princess Rui washed up, changed into her heavy royal robes, and put on her hairpins and ornaments before entering the palace with a dark expression.
The Third Prince, Prince Rui, had already entered the palace and had been accompanying the First Prince, Prince Ning, to receive the envoys.
Princess Rui saw him from afar and waved to him, but he didn't see her.
"Your Highness!" Lady Xu whispered a reminder.
Princess Rui sighed, "I know, I know, rules, manners, and behavior."
Above the steps of the Qilin Hall stood the Emperor, Empress Xiao, and Consort Zhuang.
Consort Shu was confined to her quarters, Consort Xian was ill, and the other concubines were not qualified to attend such a banquet.
In the long hall, the envoys of Liang sat on the left, and the royal family and key ministers of Zhao sat on the right.
Princess Rui knelt on a cushion, while Lady Xu knelt on the wooden floor behind her, ready to serve her at any time.
Prince Rui was summoned away by the emperor after a short while. The royal family of Liang also came this time, and the princes were all vying to show their faces in front of the emperor and the royal family of Liang.
The banquet began soon after.
Tonight's banquet was hosted by the Crown Princess. Even though Princess Rui disliked Wen Linlang, she had to admit that her banquet was well-organized.
From the dishes to the decorations, from the staff to the program, every step was flawless.
After several entertaining performances, the Crown Princess arranged the main event: "To show our welcome to all the envoys, next, Princess Rui of our Zhao Kingdom will perform a duet of 'A Glimpse of a Beautiful Woman' with Master Xie, the first court musician of Zhao Kingdom, on the qin and flute."
Wait, isn't this a solo?
When did it become an ensemble performance?
"Jinghong" is a piece of music from the Liang Kingdom, created by Yueying, the foremost musician of the six kingdoms. The original piece was divided into two parts: the first part was called "Jinghong" and the second part was called "Zhaoying".
However, the musical score for "Zhaoying" has been lost.
This piece was originally intended to be played by a guqin and a flute, but the flute is more suitable for "Jinghong" and the guqin is more suitable for "Zhaoying".
If the guqin and dizi were to play "Jinghong" together, the guqin would easily be overshadowed by the dizi.
Ordinary people wouldn't be aware of these details; only Princess Rui and a few people who were very knowledgeable in music would understand them.
Was Wen Linlang deliberately trying to embarrass her?
The thought had barely crossed Princess Rui's mind when a palace servant came to report, "Musician Xie has suddenly fallen and is injured and unable to come."
Everyone was taken aback.
Princess Rui thought she was about to play a solo, but then she heard a young man in a dark blue robe stand up from the Liang Kingdom and say, "I have long heard that Princess Rui's musical skills are unparalleled. I am not very talented, but I would like to play a duet with Princess Rui."
"Who is this...?" The emperor looked at the young man who had suddenly appeared with a strange expression.
Prince Yu of Liang introduced him, saying, "His name is Wuming, and he is the direct disciple of Lord Yueying."
Everyone was surprised again, their eyes revealing envy and admiration.
Lord Moonshadow has always been a legend among the six kingdoms. They probably won't see him in their lifetime, but it would be an honor to meet his direct disciple.
Oh, so it wasn't about making her look bad, it was about making her a supporting character.
They really know how to make the most of things.
Princess Rui remained silent.
The nameless man, holding the flute, cupped his hands and said, "Princess Rui, please."
Princess Rui gritted her teeth: "Bring the zither."
"Yes." Lady Xu went outside the palace to fetch the zither case.
Someone had already placed a table and cushions in the center of the main hall.
Princess Rui took her place.
Lady Xu opened the zither case, and then she froze.
This is not the princess's zither!
Princess Rui noticed that she didn't understand and glanced at her as well. In just one glance, she almost fainted!
Where is her Qiuyueqin? How did it turn into Fuxiqin?
The two instruments were only different in style, but the sound was the same. However, she was used to her own instrument, and besides, she never used a counterfeit instrument.
However, she also recognized that this was Gu Jiao's zither, because the charred part at the end of the zither was too distinctive, and the body of the zither was actually engraved with the two characters Fuxi. It was a bit too much to fake it like this.
She remembers it very clearly.
The violin case is hers.
She certainly didn't think that Gu Jiao coveted her guqin and secretly switched the two of their instruments; it must have been the little eunuch who made a mistake.
"Oh dear! Is your Zhao Kingdom so poor that you have to use a burnt-out broken zither?"
The speaker was a military general from the Liang Kingdom. The Liang Kingdom was of a higher status than the Zhao Kingdom, so the envoys didn't take the Zhao Kingdom seriously at all. A few sarcastic remarks were considered mild.
A civil official standing beside the military general chimed in, "If the Zhao Kingdom lacks guqin (ancient Chinese stringed instruments), our Liang Kingdom can donate a few to you for free!"
The envoys all laughed; they roared with laughter.
Princess Rui was so angry she wanted to smash their heads in!
Consort Zhuang's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
This talent was actually recommended to the Crown Princess by her, in front of Empress Xiao and the concubines of the harem, so as not to give the Crown Princess a chance to refuse.
Her intentions were good; she hoped that Princess Rui would shine at the banquet and bring honor to their lineage.
I'm so angry that I've already lost face before I even had a chance to argue back.
"What is the third son's wife thinking? Can't she even afford a decent zither?"
Consort Zhuang was furious.
Empress Xiao was also angry. Although she and Prince Ning's faction were fighting to the death, they were fighting behind closed doors. How could she lose face in other countries?
The emperor's expression also darkened.
Serving the Liang envoy a broken zither would not only be a laughing stock, but it would also give the Liang state ammunition to criticize them. The Liang state's original purpose in coming to exploit the Zhao state was to take advantage of it, and now they had a reason to do so even more aggressively.
"This servant will go and get you a new zither!" said Lady Xu.
"It's too late." Princess Rui shook her head. They had already lost face, and changing their minds would only make them look more cowardly and humiliated.
Princess Rui closed her eyes, and regardless of whether Lord Yueying's disciple was still willing to play with her, she took the lead and played the first note.
Just one note was enough to leave everyone present stunned.
Wuming was the quickest to react. Seeing that Princess Rui had started playing, he quickly twirled the flute in his palm and put it to his lips to keep up with Princess Rui's rhythm.
This piece was created by Wuming's mentor, and Wuming had practiced it countless times. Not to mention, he also had an advantage in playing the instrument, so it was clear that he was the one who led the composition.
Because she was unfamiliar with the instrument and because of distractions, Princess Rui was initially unable to get into the zone.
But gradually, she herself became attracted by the music.
How can there be such a beautiful piano? How can there be such melodious music?
Fuxi's zither music immediately overshadowed the flute.
Everyone's expression changed.
Empress Xiao murmured, "What kind of zither is this...? Was the Fuxi Zither you heard in Liang Kingdom this beautiful?"
When she was young, the Crown Princess accompanied the Zhao Kingdom delegation to the Liang Kingdom.
The Crown Princess looked at the Princess Consort of Rui in the center of the hall with a complicated expression: "Your subject has only seen her, but has never had the honor of hearing about her."
When the music ended, the hall was deathly silent. It was clear that the music was too beautiful, and everyone was still immersed in Princess Rui's zither music.
Suddenly, the prince of Liang stood up and was the first to applaud Princess Rui: "Brilliant! Brilliant!"
The two consecutive notes were dedicated to Princess Rui. Although the melody was beautiful, the flute played very little of the music; all their attention was drawn to the melodious piano music.
Those who had just mocked Princess Rui dared not utter a sound.
If this is a broken zither, then there probably isn't a single guqin in the world.
Wuming glanced at Princess Rui, then at the guqin in front of her: "Even my master's Moon Shadow Fuxi Qin is not as good as this guqin. May I ask, Princess Rui, where did this guqin come from?"
The Moon Shadow Fuxi Qin is already the most perfect imitation qin among the six kingdoms. What kind of qin would be better than that? The real Fuxi Qin?
If others said this, it might not carry much weight, but Wuming is Yueying's direct disciple.
The emperor suddenly laughed.
The third son's wife has made him proud again.
You can't just say you took the wrong one.
Princess Rui thought for a moment, then said seriously, "I borrowed it from a friend."
Anonymous: "That friend is—"
Princess Rui: "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
Wuming cupped his hands in greeting and returned to his seat.
After the brilliant performance of Princess Rui and the Fuxi Qin, the carefully arranged pieces by the Crown Princess became utterly uninteresting.
Everyone only remembered the violin and Princess Rui who played it.
(End of this chapter)
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