Chapter 41 - 40: Showing Off the Zither the Empress Bestowed Upon Him to the Whole World
Chapter 41: Chapter 40: Showing Off the Zither the Empress Bestowed Upon Him to the Whole World
Hearing this, Pei Xuan paused his movements. He twitched the corners of his lips and mocked mercilessly, "With modern archaeological technology and the collective wisdom of so many archaeologists, your self-proclaimed secrets have absolutely nowhere to hide."
"Her Majesty asked me back then if I had the habit of leaving my name on my zithers. I told her I would leave the character ’Xie’," Xie Qingshi said indifferently. "Her Majesty then said that since she bestowed this one upon me, its significance should be different. She told me to leave my surname somewhere else, so I chose the inner wall of the zither’s belly."
Pei Xuan listened quietly, in a rare display of not interrupting.
She had left too early, catching everyone off guard. Nowadays, he just wanted to hear more about her deeds. History books couldn’t be trusted; the only ones who could be trusted were those who had seen her in person back then.
"However, not even Her Majesty knew that I had my own selfish motives," Xie Qingshi continued. "Because this was the zither bestowed upon me by Her Majesty, I carved two additional characters next to the word ’Xie’—"
He paused for a moment before saying slowly, "Taichu."
Pei Xuan finally spoke, his voice equally faint, betraying neither joy nor anger. "You’re showing off to me."
"I didn’t have that thought in the past. I merely wanted to make this zither a bit more special." Xie Qingshi smiled faintly. "But since it has been archaeologically excavated, I’m not just showing off to you anymore."
He was showing off to all of Jiuzhou. His King had gifted him only one zither. This zither was unparalleled in the world. This melody could be played only by him. Of course, he was going to show off.
"What a pity. Even though you’re the original owner of that ancient zither, you can’t prove your identity now, let alone take it back." Pei Xuan let out a low sneer. "Although we are able to take another look at Jiuzhou, we are ultimately anomalies of this era."
Xie Qingshi said nonchalantly, "My feelings right now are probably as emotional as Young Master Pei’s when he saw his own authentic poetry manuscripts in the museum."
The call was disconnected.
Xie Qingshi looked at his phone screen. His eyebrows twitched slightly, and only then did he open today’s morning news.
"Yesterday, a seven-stringed ancient zither named ’Jiuyin’ was unearthed in Xuan’an. After textual research, it has been confirmed as a royal gift. It was the supreme treasure bestowed upon the Music Immortal Xie Qingshi by Empress Taichu in the past. It will be exhibited in the Xuan’an Museum in the near future. Please stay tuned..."
"Unearthed yesterday and confirmed today?" Xie Qingshi muttered. "That was fast..."
Although modern archaeological technology was indeed advanced, what if... what if it was truly related to Her Majesty?
His heart was beating rather fiercely.
A moment later, Xie Qingshi called his assistant in. "Book me a ticket for the earliest flight to Xuan’an."
"You’re going to Xuan’an?" The assistant was a bit surprised. "Is there an emergency? You have an appointment with your psychiatrist today. Are you not going?"
Xie Qingshi didn’t elaborate, only replying with four words: "Go to Xuan’an first."
The assistant didn’t ask any more questions and hurriedly left to make the arrangements.
Jianghuai High School, Senior Year Class 17.
Shi Changying was once again the first to arrive in class, which made Ming Chengli exclaim that the sun must have risen from the west.
"Yingying, did you see the news?" Lu Mi ran in excitedly with her backpack slung over her shoulders. "The Xuan’an Archaeological Center discovered the zither given to the Music Immortal Xie Qingshi by Empress Taichu!"
Shi Changying didn’t look up, still working on her test questions. "Are you that excited?"
"Xie Qingshi, the handsome Xie Lang, beautiful and blind—he is truly the representative figure of the ’beautiful, strong, and tragic’ trope." Lu Mi clenched her fists. "I was born with zero resistance to beautiful things."
Song Qingmu had also arrived. Hearing this, he casually chimed in, "Wasn’t it precisely because he was good-looking that the Empress let him enter the court as an official?"
The pen in Shi Changying’s hand paused.
She was indeed someone who valued looks. But for major state affairs, how could she make decisions so lightly?
"Although the Empress, just like my idol Emperor Chengtian, had no inner harem, the outer court was entirely filled with her people." Song Qingmu sighed again. "Having the Four Great Young Masters right in her pocket—even I’m jealous!"
Shi Changying remained expressionless. Who exactly was spreading these rumors about her? She had always fought diligently in wars, expanded the empire’s territories, and recruited talents from all over the world. Where would she have found the time to do anything else?
At that moment, Song Qingmu called out a greeting toward the door. "Young Master, you’re here early today too."
Lu Mi worried nervously that Shi Changying would use her "high emotional intelligence" remarks on Shaoyuan again. Fortunately, she didn’t speak. She just stared at the exam paper on her desk, lost in thought.
Today, Little Lu’s little life was spared!
"Actually, Empress Taichu and my idol have something in common," Song Qingmu said mysteriously.
Shi Changying finally glanced at him. "What do they have in common?"
Song Qingmu clapped his hands together. "They both usurped the throne and rose to power through rebellion!"
"According to you, they have a second thing in common," Lu Mi snorted lightly. "They both died early."
Song Qingmu scratched his head. "That’s actually true!"
"The sum of both their ages barely amounts to a half-century." As soon as Lu Mi finished speaking, she saw Shi Changying and Shaoyuan staring at her unblinkingly. It gave her a start. "Did... did I say something wrong? I’m not very good at history..."
"No," Shaoyuan raised his eyes slightly, his tone loose and lazy. "One died at twenty-eight, and the other died at twenty-six. Added together, they still aren’t as old as our principal."
Hearing her name appear alongside Emperor Chengtian’s, Shi Changying suddenly recalled the year she ascended the throne, when her strategist had offered his counsel.
"Your Majesty, in this subject’s opinion, you are certainly more formidable than Emperor Chengtian."
"Speak."
"You killed an emperor, and he killed an emperor too, but you killed one more Crown Prince than he did! When it comes to rebellion, you ought to be the supreme existence, unprecedented and never to be replicated."
Empress Taichu felt this made a lot of sense, so she relayed these words to her classmates.
Lu Mi was speechless.
Song Qingmu was speechless.
Could... could it really be compared like that?
The sound of laughter fell by her ear. Shi Changying turned her head.
Shaoyuan was laughing so hard his chest vibrated. He propped his head up and looked at her with great interest. "Don’t look at me like that. I was just thinking that if Emperor Chengtian knew later generations would make such comparisons, perhaps he should have struck earlier back then. That way, he could have killed an extra Crown Prince too."
By the time he made his move, the previous emperor had just died, and the Crown Prince had already succeeded the throne.
Shi Changying raised an eyebrow. "Even if he knew, he couldn’t change history."
She was still the winner.
"Oh my god, huge news!" Lu Mi suddenly said. "Someone leaked on the campus forum that Meng Qi’an came back to school yesterday, but he was knocked out with a single punch! The position of the school boss has changed hands too!"
"Are you serious? Knocked out with one punch?" Song Qingmu leaned over. "I remember Brother Meng is a ninth rank in karate. Plus, he’s learned a lot of combat and grappling techniques. He isn’t just for show."
"He’s already been sent to the school infirmary, how could it be fake? Rumor has it he’s still on oxygen right now!" Lu Mi scrolled rapidly through the thread. "I wonder which warrior was so ferocious."
Shi Changying’s voice was lazy. "Me."