Shang Shaoyan's eyes widened slightly: "No way, no way, you're in your fifties, and you still need to complain to your elders?"
Li Shuangsi's face turned red with anger: "You, you..."
The Li sisters were both furious and embarrassed, but as Shang Shaoyan said, they cared a lot about their reputation, and were naturally unwilling to just leave like that, so they stubbornly stayed where they were.
Shang Shaoyan wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, there were plenty of places to sit by the lake, and she had all the time in the world.
Thinking this, she found a seat not too far from the Li sisters and asked Qiao Xiuyu to sit down as well: "Young Master Lu, how about playing a piece to liven things up?"
Qiao Xiuyu had already decided what to play on the way here, and readily agreed. Then he went to the sedan chair to retrieve the zither.
While he went to fetch the zither, Shang Shaoyan didn't sit still and continued to rub salt in the wound of the Li sisters: "Sigh, Lu Langjun is good in every way, except that he's too handsome and attracts all sorts of attention."
Li Shuangyan snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "Who knows, after the marriage, they'll bring one concubine after another into the house."
This was clearly retaliation for what Shang Shaoyan had said at the beginning. However, Shang Shaoyan was not annoyed and laughed to himself, "He is going to marry into my family in the future. If he dares to do this, I'll just kill him."
Li Shuangyan and Li Shuangsi: "..."
Damn, I'm even more jealous now!
To be fair, there are few noble ladies and gentlemen in this world who don't appreciate beauty, not to mention that Qiao Xiuyu's face is exceptionally handsome, and he can also play the zither, which has long made the Li sisters very uncomfortable. Now that they hear that this young man is going to marry into the Shang family, they are even more jealous and their faces are twisted.
If it weren't for family circumstances, who wouldn't want to marry into such a talented and handsome family?
The two of them immediately fell silent, their faces darkening.
Shang Shaoyan smiled as he watched Qiao Xiuyu stand tall and elegant under the plum blossoms, holding the priceless zither in his arms, and beckoned to him: "Come here quickly—"
Qiao Xiuyu obediently walked to the lakeside. The Li sisters were even more envious of his obedience.
Qiao Xiuyu sat cross-legged gracefully, tuning the strings with an air of importance, then placed her beautiful hands on the strings and smiled slightly at Shang Shaoyan: "How about I play 'The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate' for you, Princess?"
Shang Shaoyan: "..."
I gave you a taste of your own medicine, and you've got a wild goosebumps? Don't you have any self-awareness about how badly you've played your instrument?
However, Shang Shaoyan's purpose was not to listen to the zither, but to make the Li sisters uncomfortable, so he looked back at her with affection and said, "Young Master Lu, please do as you please."
Li Shuangsi and Li Shuangyan: "..."
Why is Shang Shaoyan usually so easy to talk to?
However, from the women's perspective, they had to admit that this Mr. Lu was indeed much more handsome than Li Chengye, and they would have been just as easy to talk to if they were in his shoes.
So the two of them waited with cold faces for Qiao Xiuyu to start playing the zither.
Seeing this, Shang Shaoyan propped her head up with her right hand, her long sleeves covering her temples, so no one saw that she was actually secretly covering her right ear—the less one ear to suffer, the less one to suffer.
Qiao Xiuyu began his performance, and as soon as the first note came out, the Li sisters frowned.
Then, as Qiao Xiuyu played with complete absorption, their faces froze—how could anyone play the piano like that?
The two couldn't help but look at Shang Shaoyan, only to see him looking at Qiao Xiuyu, who was playing the zither with a shy and bashful expression, completely absorbed in the music.
Li Shuangyan and Li Shuangsi: "".
They couldn't wait to leave; the music was truly captivating—literally captivating, like the work of the Black and White Impermanence.
It's funny, the Li family had only recently become wealthy, so the women in the family weren't all skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Coincidentally, these two sisters didn't know how to play the zither. Seeing Shang Shaoyan listening so intently, they couldn't help but feel a little guilty—could it be that they didn't understand it?
But that's not what I usually hear.
The two were caught in a deep struggle.
After struggling like this, Qiao Xiuyu finished her song and looked at Shang Shaoyan with a smile: "What does the county princess think?"
Shang Shaoyan clapped his hands in praise: "Full of emotion, with ups and downs, joy tinged with a hint of melancholy, and melancholy containing a hint of hope—Young Master Lu's zither skills are superb."
The Li sisters were stunned, then exchanged a glance, both noticing a hint of guilt in each other's eyes.
They knew the business was a century-old family business, and the young lady from the business certainly knew more than they did. Since she said it was good, it must really be good.
However, the two, confident in their current high status, refused to show any weakness.
Li Shuangsi cleared her throat and smiled as gently as possible: "I think the emotional layers are very well done. At first, there is a bit of restraint, but then it becomes quite passionate. Young Master Lu... you played a beautiful zither."
Not to be outdone, Li Shuangyan also started to chime in: "Absolutely! Absolutely! This piece, 'The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate,' has reached a level of divine skill. Even the musicians I usually see have never played it so movingly."
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