Chapter 286 – The Connection Between The Qin And Qin Scores
The door opened, and a eunuch stood at the door with a smile. “Is it Sixth Miss Wei who lives in the house?”
“Yes, it is. She is the young lady of our mansion!” Jin Ling answered warily.
“The Crown Prince asked to see her!” The Eunuch said politely.
“Crown Prince?” Wei Yuewu raised her eyes and asked in surprise. She did not have any special interaction with the Crown Prince. Why was the Crown Prince asking to see her so urgently?
The Eunuch explained, “The Crown Prince has something to inquire, so he asked some ladies to come over!”
So, the Crown Prince was also seeing others? Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat. “Who else is also going?”
The Eunuch replied, “There are also Fourth Miss Wei, Miss Zhao, and Miss Qin!”
“Are we going now?” Wei Yuewu smiled and asked.
“Yes, His Highness is currently free!”
That meant the Crown Prince had time now, and the few of them must go over immediately. Wei Yuewu pondered for a moment and nodded.
The eunuch stood outside the room waiting for her. Jin Ling quickly helped Wei Yuewu dressed up. Then, they hurriedly followed the eunuch out of Chu Xiu Palace.
There were four soft sedans waiting outside the gate. Wei Qiufu and the other two young ladies arrived earlier than Wei Yuewu. Seeing Wei Yuewu coming over, Wei Qiufu seemed to want to say something to her, but the eunuch who was beside her urged her to get on the sedan.
As a result, everyone got on the sedans, which went all the way to the Crown Prince Mansion.
The Crown Prince Mansion was actually also a part of the imperial palace, and it was not too far from Chu Xiu Palace. However, the Crown Prince Mansion was quite big.
The current Crown Prince Wen Tianyao didn’t have a wife yet. Many of the palaces inside the Crown Prince Mansion were empty. In the main hall, Wen Tianyao frowned as he looked at the files in front of him.
“Is this news true?” Wen Tianyao’s face was cold and his eyebrows twitched violently several times.
The guard kneeling in front of him lowered his head and answered, “Your Highness, I don’t know if it is true or not, but it was reportedly true!”
Wen Tianyao stood up, walked around the hall for two circles, and finally stood in front of the guard. “Go and investigate again!”
“Yes!” The atmosphere in the main hall was too depressing. The guard unconsciously lowered his voice and cold sweat began to form on his back. Knowing too much about the secrets of the royal family was extremely dangerous, and he was afraid of getting killed for this one day.
However, he did not dare to disobey the orders of the Crown Prince.
“Leave now!” Wen Tianyao waved his hand.
The guard stood up, bowed to Wen Tianyao and left by stepping backwards. When he was at the door, he met a eunuch who hurried over.
The eunuch was the supervisor of those eunuchs who went to pick up Wei Yuewu and the others. After entering, he respectfully reported to Wen Tianyao, “Your Highness, the young ladies have arrived!”
“Bring them in!” Wen Tianyao nodded. He actually only wanted to see Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu, but if he only summoned the two of them here, it would arouse the suspicion of others. Therefore, he specially picked two of the Third Princess’ study companions as a cover-up and asked the four of them to come together.
The Eunuch announced at the top of the stairs, “Young ladies, His Highness asks the four of you to come in!”
Wei Yuewu and the others responded and walked into the hall together.
Wei Yuewu was upset. After all, she still owed him a portrait. Moreover, although she had seen the Crown Prince several times, it was outside the Palace. Moreover, most of their encounters occurred with the presence of Yan Huaijing. It seemed that with Yan Huaijing on the side, the Crown Prince’s manner was not so imposing.
However, the situation was different today. Before she could see the Crown Prince, she was already shocked by the majestic buildings. In addition, the Crown Prince suddenly summoned them. Although Wei Yuewu had a firm will, she could not help but feel a little nervous.
The four young ladies entered one by one. Because Wei Yuewu was the youngest, she walked at the end. They bowed to Wen Tianyao, who then asked them to be seated.
“Young ladies, I heard the four of you are all famous for your talent and skills. I just happened to get a few qin instruments today, so I am giving them to you!” Wen Tianyao’s expression was calm as he reached out to pat on the desk.
A few beautiful palace maids immediately came out. Each of them held a qin in their hands and delivered it to the four of the young ladies.
Although these qins had different appearances, if people looked at them carefully, they would find all the qins were of the highest quality and were rarely seen.
Wei Yuewu stretched out her hand and gently stroked the strings. The sound of the qin was distant and lingering, and Wei Qiufu and the others could not help but gently stroke the strings of the qins in from of them. For a moment, melodious qin sounds resonated in the hall.
“Thank you, Your Highness!” Wei Qiufu liked qin the most. She was the first to stand up and bow to Wen Tianyao. Wei Yuewu and the others also stood up to thank Wen Tianyao.
“Young ladies, there is no need to stand on ceremony. These qins are my reward for your qin skills. I also have a book of qin scores here. I will also give it to you!”
Wen Tianyao said gently with a smile on his handsome face.
Several palace maids came in and put down a book of qin scores in front of each of the four young ladies.
Wei Yuewu picked it up and had a look. She had never seen this book before, but she could tell that qin scores had just been copied, because the ink was quite new. Apparently, it was copied in the past few days.
“I have always liked qin. Young ladies, please practice the tune in the next few days. There will be a banquet at Her Majesty’s place several days later, and I want to invite the four of you to play qin at the banquet!” Wen Tianyao smiled as he glanced at Wei Qiufu and then at Wei Yuewu.
Among the four young ladies in the main hall, Wei Yuewu was the calmest. Daughters of noble families all learned to play qin and chess and practiced calligraphy and painting before they got married. In fact, no one was absolutely more accomplished than the others. However, almost all young aristocratic ladies would have a similar interest in qin.
But now, as he swept his gaze over them, Wen Tianyao noticed all of them revealed happy expressions upon hearing his words, except this Sixth Miss Wei, whose childish and delicate face did not have much of a ripple on it. That kind of expression coupled with that pair of clear and cold beautiful eyes made people unable to ignore her.
Could it be that Wei Yuewu had lived in the countryside for a long time and was not good at qin? If so, it was reasonable that she did not have much interest in this kind of things like rare qin and qin scores…
Sensing that he was distracted, Wen Tianyao retracted his gaze. Whatever the reason, the fact that she was not excited about receiving the things from him was worth investigating. He would definitely check it out. There were some things about this girl that really confused him. He was the Crown Prince and the future ruler of the country. If he could not even find out the truth about a weak young lady, how would he be able to rule the country properly in the future?
Wei Yuewu also noticed Wen Tianyao’s gaze. She lowered her head slightly and avoided him. No matter what the Crown Prince was planning, she was determined to show that she was not skilled in qin.
The qin and qin scores rewarded by Wen Tianyao reminded her of the qin and qin scores that Yan Huaijing asked her to think of a way for them to fall into the hands of Wei Qiufu. Although they were not exactly the same as the ones Wen Tianyao rewarded her today, there was a connection that Wei Yuewu felt difficult to figure out.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Wei Qiufu was overjoyed as she stroked the qin in front of her. She was so happy that she couldn’t control herself. Back then, she made her name for her talent and skill by playing the qin. Now, the Crown Prince rewarded a qin and qin scores to each of them, she saw a perfect chance she had wanted.
She glanced proudly at Wei Yuewu who was looking down with her head drooped. She was confident that she would be able to familiarize herself with the qin scores within a few days. None of the other three was a match for her.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Following Wei Qiufu, the other young ladies also responded one after another.
If they succeeded in making their mark in front of the Empress, they might have a chance to enter the Crown Prince Mansion. Zhao Ruo’e and Qin Wenyu looked at each other, and the two of them couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
Although it was also a delightful thing for them to be the dowry maids of the Third Princess who would get married with an heir-apparent of a duke, the premise was that she could marry the incomparably handsome Heir-apparent of the Duke of Yan State. However, according to the current situation, the Third Princess might not necessarily get married to Yan Huaijing.
This gorgeous heir-apparent who looked like an exiled immortal hadn’t exhibited the slightest bit of interest in the Third Princess yet. It really made the Third Princess and her study companions worried. Could it be that this heir-apparent took a fancy to the Fourth Princess?
After all, the Fourth Princess was born by the Empress and the Crown Prince was her elder brother!
Therefore, Zhao Ruo’e and the other study companions of the Third Prince were also at a loss about their future. However, if they could directly enter the Crown Prince Mansion, they would not have to leave the capital. Moreover, they would also be doted by the Crown Prince. From whichever perspective, it was a happy ending for them.
“Take the ladies to try the qin instruments first. If there is anything wrong about the qins, ask the musicians in the palace to help adjust the qins!” Wen Tianyao instructed.
Several eunuchs came over and led the four young ladies out of Wen Tianyao’s main hall.
Wei Yuewu took Jin Ling with her and followed a eunuch into a side hall. The side hall was not big, but it was quite empty.
The Eunuch said with a smile, “Sixth Miss Wei, please try your qin here first. I will be waiting outside the hall. If you need anything, just tell me!”
Wei Yuewu nodded and waved her hand. The eunuch turned around and walked out.
“Miss, what did the Crown Prince mean?” Jin Ling asked in a low voice as she placed the qin on the table for Wei Yuewu. It was not a particularly urgent matter to play the qin at the Empress’ banquet.
“We just wait and see!” Wei Yuewu shook her head and sat down on a chair. Although she really wanted to find out the relationship between the Crown Prince and her mother, it was not the right time yet. She reached out to pick up the qin scores and read carefully.
This should also be a rare copy. At least, Wei Yuewu had never seen it before. Her granny also collected some copies of qin scores for her, but they were almost all common qin scores. She had never seen a copy like this one or the one Yan Huaijing gave her last time.
Why did the two of them send these unique copies out?
However, Wei Yuewu knew there was a place where there was a collection of extinct copies of qin scores. Although there weren’t many of them, Wei Yuewu found several copies that day. It took a lot of effort to get even one such extinct copy. Who would spend so much effort and money to find them unless they were really interested?
Her hand gently fell on the qin and stroked it, but her mind was spinning rapidly. What was the Crown Prince trying to do? He could let the four of them try the qins in the same room, but why did he send them each to a side hall and let them do it separately?
If her guess was correct, did it mean that the Crown Prince would ask the young ladies in the side halls one by one, whereas she would be the main target of his investigation?
Although her fingers were still playing with the strings, Wei Yuewu ordered in a low voice, “Jin Ling, when someone comes later, let me know!”
“Yes, Miss, I understand!” Jin Ling was quick-witted. Now that she saw Wei Yuewu’s expression, she became even more vigilant. Although she was standing at the side and waiting on Wei Yuewu as she played the qin, her attention was completely focused on what happened outside.
At first, it was very quiet outside the door. But soon, faint footsteps could be heard. There were at least three persons coming.
Then, there were footsteps at the door. It seemed that the eunuch, who was guarding the door, saw someone coming and went up to greet him.
Jin Ling reached out and pulled Wei Yuewu by the sleeve, indicating that someone was coming here!
Wei Yuewu nodded slightly. Her eyes were deep and serene. As expected, the person come, and he had come at the right time. How could she let go of such a good opportunity?
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