Su Jinxiu's delicate yet perfectly timed "I apologize" was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, instantly igniting the already somewhat stagnant atmosphere.
Those palace servants who were already standing around watching stretched their necks even further, their eyes gleaming with gossip and excitement.
My God! What an amazing scene!
The beautiful and talented Consort Xian, gentle and virtuous, was playing the zither alone in the pavilion in the middle of the lake. Her music was so refined and solitary, she seemed like a banished immortal. The Emperor and Empress happened to pass by and were captivated by the heavenly sound. It was a scene straight out of a traditional Chinese novel, a chance encounter between a talented scholar and a beautiful woman!
All eyes were instinctively drawn to the most distinguished person in the room—Emperor Xiao Che.
They all wanted to know how His Majesty would react to such a beautiful woman with such talent.
Lin Wanwan also wanted to know.
However, what she wanted to know was how the "Best Actor" beside her planned to "perform".
She stood silently beside Xiao Che, a dignified and proper smile befitting an empress, a smile so perfect it could be measured with a ruler. But from an angle unnoticed by anyone, her peripheral vision had already captured every subtle expression on Xiao Che's face.
She saw Xiao Che pause briefly, then slowly lift his foot and take two steps forward.
This action caused an irrepressible glint to flash in Su Jinxiu's eyes, and also elicited low, suppressed gasps of amazement from the surrounding palace servants.
His Majesty has gone over! His Majesty was indeed moved by Consort Xian's talent!
Xiao Che walked to the edge of the corridor, standing a short distance away, looking down at Su Jinxiu, who was gracefully kneeling in the pavilion. His face held a perfectly measured admiration befitting an emperor, and his tone was calm yet subtly approving:
"My beloved concubine's zither skills are superb, and her artistic conception is profound. There is no need for further formalities."
The voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
This assessment is undeniably high.
Two charming blushes instantly appeared on Su Jinxiu's face. She slowly straightened up, lowered her eyes with even more humility, and said in a voice so soft it seemed to drip water: "Your Majesty flatters me. I was just amusing myself in my spare time. It is already a great blessing for me to have Your Majesty stop for a moment."
Her words were both humble and appropriate, and she also implied that she had not done it intentionally, but was just "amusing herself," completely embellishing this carefully planned encounter as an accidental match made in heaven.
Lin Wanwan silently applauded her in her heart.
Excellent acting! Truly excellent acting!
Her gentle, humble, and unassuming demeanor, coupled with her astonishing talent, makes her the perfect template for every man's "white moonlight." If a man without the ability to "discern tea" were here, he would probably already be captivated and completely mesmerized by her.
She smiled and nodded slightly, agreeing, "Sister, you are indeed too modest. Such skill in playing the zither is probably beyond the reach of even the best musicians in the palace."
Her words sounded like she was praising Consort Xian, but in reality, she was also echoing Xiao Che's sentiments, working together to make this "emperor appreciating a talented woman" drama more realistic.
After all, they are now "allies," and she couldn't very well undermine them on the spot.
Deep down, however, she was ranting and raving.
Amusing herself? Does amusing herself require setting up such a complete "set"? Even the "extras" responsible for clapping and cheering were arranged in advance? If this is amusing herself, then her "fainting" at Cixi Palace last time could practically be called performance art.
While mentally ranting and raving, Lin Wanwan habitually turned her gaze to the place she was most looking forward to—the "comment section" above Xiao Che's head.
She was genuinely curious to see what sharp and accurate "post-match comments" her "human radar" would give in response to Su Jinxiu's near-perfect performance.
However, when her gaze focused on that direction, she almost lost her composure.
On Xiao Che's handsome face, there remained a calm and appreciative expression befitting an emperor. But above his head, in the area with the cartoon emoji, a dramatic "inner monologue" was unfolding, completely different from his own expression.
A cartoon figure wearing a yellow hard hat is squatting on the ground with a look of utter despair, frantically working on the ground with his bare toes.
His toes were digging at a speed beyond human limits, the movements so violent that they created afterimages and sparks, as if he wasn't digging at the ground, but using his toes as a tunnel boring machine to urgently excavate a subway tunnel.
The entire scene was filled with emotions of irritability, frustration, and extreme impatience.
Next to this visually striking animated image, a line of large, glittering, and constantly flashing golden characters delivered a fatal blow to Lin Wanwan's sense of humor—
[So fancy, my toes have dug out a three-bedroom apartment.gif]!
"Pfft..."
Lin Wanwan couldn't hold back and almost lost her composure on the spot.
This rant is so sharp, so vivid, and so...modern!
She could almost imagine Xiao Che's inner thoughts at that moment: He stood there, forced to appreciate this performance that he found incredibly fake and pretentious, and had to pretend to be very appreciative. His embarrassment and impatience had nowhere to go, and in the end, they could only gather in his toes, and he had carved out a palace in his mind!
Lin Wanwan's shoulders trembled violently. She quickly lowered her head, covered her mouth with her sleeve, and pretended to cough lightly, so that her laughter would not be revealed.
Good heavens, if she keeps watching, she's really going to suffer internal injuries from holding it in!
Her lowering her head took on a different meaning in Su Jinxiu's eyes.
Seeing the emperor stop for her and praise her personally, Su Jinxiu was already extremely pleased with herself. When she saw Empress Lin Wanwan's "disappointed" lowered head, she felt even more that her plan had been a great success.
In her view, the Empress was clearly jealous! She was unhappy to see His Majesty admiring another woman, but because of her status as Empress, she had to force a smile and finally lower her head to hide her disappointment.
Ha, Lin Wanwan, do you think you can keep His Majesty's heart forever just because you've won a few times? What man, especially an emperor, doesn't love a woman who is both beautiful and talented, and knows how to be vulnerable? Your little tricks are ultimately not up to par.
This realization greatly encouraged Su Jinxiu.
She felt she had to strike while the iron was hot, maximize her advantages today, completely outshine Lin Wanwan, and make the emperor's attention completely drawn to her!
So, just as Lin Wanwan finally managed to calm her smile and slowly raised her head, Su Jinxiu moved again.
With a blush of shyness and anticipation on her face, she gently extended her jade-like finger and pointed to another corner of the pavilion.
Lin Wanwan looked in the direction she was pointing, and her eyelids twitched again.
There, a complete set of painting tools had been quietly set up—a fine easel, a canvas covered with clean white Xuan paper, a brush washer filled with water, a row of brand-new wolf-hair brushes hanging on the brush holder, and even the ink had been ground and was emitting a faint fragrance.
This preparation... was really too "unintentional".
Su Jinxiu spoke softly in a gentle voice, tinged with both anticipation and uncertainty:
"Actually...actually, I am more skilled at painting than playing the zither. I just wonder...if I might have the honor of painting a portrait of Your Majesty and my sister?"
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