Chapter 1182: Chapter 650: Zither Skill (Two-in-One)
Hearing Yun Qian suddenly ask something unexpected, Miss Lu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then you’ve found the right person to ask, Miss. The basics of the zither aren’t that hard, even a stupid girl like me can play a bit. So... Miss Yun is interested in the seven strings?"
Yun Qian said, "I want to learn."
Because her husband liked it, she wanted to learn.
Because of Sword Heart and Zither Heart, she wanted to learn.
Zhu Pingniang caught the look in Yun Qian’s eyes, and her heart stirred.
She herself loved the zither, so hearing that Yun Qian liked it too, she naturally felt happy and excited.
"Zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, song, and dance, with tea connecting the Six Arts—for a woman to learn them is nothing but good..." Zhu Pingniang suddenly stood up. "How about I be your teacher, little sister?"
"No."
Under Zhu Pingniang’s bleak gaze, Yun Qian refused without hesitation.
She was only asking.
She wanted her husband to teach her.
Yun Qian was a very gentle girl; everyone knew that. So when Zhu Pingniang finally gathered her courage to say she wanted to teach Yun Qian the zither and was rejected without the slightest pause, the pure, fragile little heart in her chest took a heavy blow, and even the light in her eyes dimmed a few shades on the spot.
If she could, Zhu Pingniang truly felt she might spit blood then and there.
If Yun Qian had even just hesitated a little before turning her down, Zhu Pingniang could have taken it to mean she held some small place in Yun Qian’s heart. But she hadn’t expected... Yun Qian to refuse so cleanly, without thinking.
Could it be that in Yun Qian’s heart, she was really that useless?
Miss Lu: "..."
Looking at Zhu Pingniang’s wounded expression, as if she were about to suffocate, Miss Lu found it both funny and a bit heartbreaking... As a candidate for maidservant, she might not know all the thoughts in ’Madam Xu’s’ heart, but she could more or less guess some of them.
My dear Ms. Zhu, you can compare yourself to anyone, just not to the Young Master.
Running headlong into that wall is nothing but pain.
With the corner of her lips lifting in a mischievous smile, Miss Lu didn’t explain anything, just watched cheerfully to see how things would unfold.
"...L-little sister rejected me so cleanly and neatly." Zhu Pingniang forced a smile and lifted her head. "Ms. Yun, do you... dislike your big sister?"
"I don’t dislike you," Yun Qian said honestly, tilting her head. "I like you."
Although this "like" couldn’t compare to Ah Qing and Liu Qingluo, after all Zhu Pingniang’s feelings for Xu Chang’an were very subtle and she didn’t dare show them, so her favorability in this regard dropped a few points. Even so, she was still a rare girl that Yun Qian actually liked.
"L-like... Like..." Zhu Pingniang froze, then started laughing a bit foolishly.
"S-so that’s how it is... It was me who misunderstood."
Miss Lu: "..."
She covered her face helplessly, feeling utterly embarrassed on their behalf.
Her own sister was far too easy to read. Just a moment ago she looked like a tragic heroine, and after Miss Yun said one word—like—her little face was now flushed red to the point it might drip blood... It was adorable, but there was a pitiful sort of uselessness mixed in.
Miss Lu snuck a glance at Wen Li and saw that Wen Li’s expression was calm as usual, apparently not thinking that Zhu Pingniang was disgracing herself. Only then did she quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Strictly speaking, as a daughter, she ought to be standing firmly on Zhu Pingniang’s side, and no matter how Zhu Pingniang acted she shouldn’t think it shameful... Miss Lu knew that. But... she wanted to become Yun Qian’s maidservant, so she couldn’t help worrying... whether her useless sister would affect her own reputation in the Miss’s and Young Master’s hearts.
If they thought that since she was raised by Zhu Pingniang she must be just as unreliable...
Then she really would have nowhere to cry.
This too was the mindset of a daughter. After all, when her own mother lost face, she couldn’t help feeling her own face had no light to it either.
Seeing Zhu Pingniang completely sunk by Yun Qian’s one word "like," reduced to nothing but silly giggles, in order not to let the atmosphere turn awkward, Miss Lu had no choice but to pick up the conversation and say helplessly:
"So, if this concubine has guessed right, Miss Yun’s Zither Skill is to be taught by the Young Master?"
"Mm. He said he would teach me." Yun Qian nodded.
"As expected." Miss Lu nodded as well. She gave Zhu Pingniang a light poke, reminding her that trying to snatch Miss Yun from the Young Master was like an ant trying to stop a carriage. But seeing how Zhu Pingniang’s eyes were unfocused, her own mouth twitched slightly before she asked:
"Once we go to the Immortal Sect, will there still be a chance to play the zither?"
"..." Yun Qian didn’t answer. She merely glanced at Wen Li, and Wen Li took the initiative to reply with a nod. "On Muyu Peak, the Six Arts for Women are all compulsory."
Zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, song and dance, with tea connecting the Six Arts. Among them the most important was tea, for only by knowing how to drink tea and wine could one host tea gatherings. Then the focus of study was mainly on zither, painting, and dance, supplemented by chess, calligraphy, and song.
There was no helping it. After all, to show a woman’s charm, the simplest was zither, painting, and dance. The rest were also important, of course, but those cultivated a woman’s restraint and inner depth, whereas young ladies didn’t care about competing in literary talent before anything else. What they wanted was feminine allure.
This led to the zither and dance being the most in demand. But the dances on Muyu Peak... aside from the Sword Dance, now that they had a Junior Brother, none of them were willing to perform anything too seductive in front of him...
So gradually, the zither had started to become the most important of the Six Arts for Women.
Of course, Wen Li didn’t go into such detail. She only gave a simple explanation, telling Miss Lu that even at the Immortal Sect, for Cultivation, using the Six Arts for Women to Refine the Heart and open the Inner Realm was still necessary.
"Wen Immor... Senior Wen means that us girls from the brothel, if we go to that Muyu Peak in the future, this skill set of ours won’t be a burden, but will actually be useful?" Miss Lu’s face flushed red.
Wen Li nodded.
She had already answered this question once before, but Miss Lu still wanted to ask again... Wen Li knew this wasn’t because Miss Lu didn’t believe her, but because for a Courtesan, this was probably a question she could ask a hundred times without ever getting tired of hearing the answer.
