TL: Hua
Chapter 43: Sound Waves – Xiao Pei goes to Jiangnan (10)
“Pei-wenshu is quite popular with the ladies,” Yu Shaoyun said dryly, standing behind the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince replied, “Good looks, generous, not frivolous, and knows how to sweet-talk. It’s no wonder he’s liked.”
“Then should we have someone follow him?” Yu Shaoyun asked.
“He has a servant. What are you worrying about?” the Crown Prince said.
Am I worrying about other people? Yu Shaoyun sighed inwardly, reminding him, “Pei-wenshu is still young and full of vigor. People at this age are most susceptible to the stirrings of spring. Letting him spend time with several beautiful young ladies… what if he fancies someone and immediately asks his family to arrange a marriage upon returning?”
Indeed, anything was possible. The Crown Prince paused, not answering but asking instead, “Are you very concerned about his marriage?”
Yu Shaoyun wasn’t acting as a parent, nor did he harbor any such thoughts towards Pei Xiting. Naturally, he wasn’t concerned about Pei Xiting’s marriage. However, he had to plan and worry for the Crown Prince in everything. Although the Crown Prince himself wasn’t clear about his own feelings yet, it was better to be safe than sorry. Before the Crown Prince understood his own mind and made plans, it was best if Pei Xiting didn’t have any marriage arrangements, as forcibly taking someone else’s husband was truly inappropriate.
But Yu Shaoyun couldn’t say this directly, and he was also afraid of causing any misunderstanding. So, he quickly said, “This subordinate is worried that if his heart is stirred by spring, he’ll be thinking about love and romance all day and won’t be able to focus wholeheartedly on his duties. Don’t you think so?”
The Crown Prince accepted this excuse and said calmly, “You can keep an eye on his person, but you can’t control his heart.”
With Pei Xiting’s personality, if he truly fell in love with someone, it would be easy to separate them, but impossible to change his heart.
The Crown Prince’s slender fingertip slid across the zither strings, the pressure slightly heavy, causing a faint sting. His brow furrowed slightly, and he stared at the zither blankly for a moment before withdrawing his hand. He then called the owner over and said, “The zither is very good, but the strings are not good enough. If a novice uses it, they might easily hurt their hands.”
“To match this zither, these are already the best and most expensive silk strings in this store.” The owner said, recognizing him as an important guest, and replied with difficulty, “If you want even better ones, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find them in any zither shop in Ningzhou.”
He’s actually buying it for Pei Xiting? Yu Shaoyun had a broad perspective and could see that the zither strings were indeed excellent, comparable to those used in the mansions of dukes and marquises in Yejing. Giving them to a novice was nothing but a waste of resources, yet the Crown Prince still found them unsatisfactory…
Yu Shaoyun secretly glanced at the Crown Prince, feeling increasingly strange, and said, “Then remove these strings. We’ll pay the original price.”
***
In the evening, Pei Xiting returned to Willow Bank. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a long wooden box on the table.
Just in case, Yuan Fang reached out to open the box. Inside, instead of any hidden weapon, was a zither—black lacquer, with a paulownia face and a cedar base, flowing water with broken patterns, and a small seal script above the dragon pond engraved with the words “Jade Sound Clear Harmony (Yu Yin Qing He),” exuding an ancient and serene aura.
“This zither radiates a single word from top to bottom.” Yuan Fang said.
Pei Xiting snapped out of his thoughts. “What?”
Yuan Fang said, “Money.”
Pei Xiting smiled. “Look at this small seal inscription. The two characters ‘Jade Sound’ indicate its origin—Yang Yuyin, the most famous zither maker today. His previous zithers have sold for thousands of gold.”
“How much?” Yuan Fang exclaimed, poking the zither surface, feeling as if it had instantly turned into dazzling gold. “How can it be worth so much money?”
“Master Yang is in his twilight years, and he has only made seven zithers. Each zither takes several or even over ten years to complete. To us, it just looks like a good zither, but for the maker, every part is the result of careful consideration and polishing,” Pei Xiting explained. “A good zither naturally has no shortage of wealthy buyers. Sometimes, if two or more people are vying for it at the same time, the already high price is further inflated, and the final selling price is naturally astonishing.”
Yuan Fang nodded in understanding and said, “In that case, this zither must also be very expensive. The only person who can afford to buy this, come here, and even gift it to you can only be that one.”
Pei Xiting was a little uncertain. “Do you think His Highness giving me this zither is a subtle reminder not to use his precious zither anymore in the future?”
“You’re overthinking it,” Yuan Fang said, looking at Pei Xiting with a strange expression. “Does he even need to remind you subtly? If he doesn’t want you to touch it, he’d just say so directly. Why would he bother buying you such a good zither?”
To be honest, he found it incredible that the Crown Prince was even willing to teach Pei Xiting the zither in the first place.
That’s right. A word to the wise is enough. The corners of Pei Xiting’s lips curled up slightly. “Indeed, the one involved is often confused, while the bystander sees clearly. So, this is purely a gift for me.”
Yuan Fang thought Pei Xiting was really unpromising but still said, “Congratulations, I think you have a chance.”
“I think so too,” Pei Xiting said, feeling a little excited. “If I succeed, I’ll definitely give you a raise and double your monthly allowance.”
With that, he gently closed the zither case. “Let’s go out for a stroll.”
Yuan Fang was stunned. “We just got back.”
“I’m happy. I need to go out and express it,” Pei Xiting said.
Yuan Fang rolled his eyes and stepped forward to follow.
At night, when the Crown Prince returned, Pei Xiting’s door was open. The white short boots he had worn out today were placed at the door, but the person himself was nowhere to be seen.
He withdrew his gaze and was about to enter the room when he heard footsteps behind him.
Pei Xiting, wearing a short shirt, shorts, and wooden clogs, entered through the courtyard gate. Large areas of his fair skin were exposed. A money pouch hung from his white fingers, and he was humming a song, seemingly in a good mood. When he saw the Crown Prince, his eyes lit up, and he immediately walked over.
“Your Highness,” Pei Xiting walked up to the Crown Prince and bowed with cupped hands.
The Crown Prince looked at him. “Dressed like this, where did you go?”
“I played cards with my colleagues for a while up front and even won a tael of silver,” Pei Xiting said, shaking his money pouch. He added, “Thank you for the zither, Your Highness. I like it very much. It must have cost you a lot.”
“The original strings weren’t good enough. Once we return to Yejing, I’ll get you a complete set,” the Crown Prince paused. “You’ve returned quite early.”
Pei Xiting said, “That’s right.”
The Crown Prince glanced at him and turned away. Pei Xiting sensed something was off and asked, “Have I committed some heinous crime again?”
Painting a portrait for a girl and gathering around a stove to brew tea was just young people spending their leisure time chatting together. It could hardly be considered wrong. The Crown Prince rubbed his prayer beads, a sudden displeasure rising in his heart, not only towards the innocent Pei Xiting but also towards his own inexplicable emotional fluctuations.
This feeling was vague and unclear, and he found it difficult to accept. The gaze he turned towards Pei Xiting became somewhat heavy. Pei Xiting’s heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously stood up straight, looking at the Crown Prince without speaking. But after his mind raced for a moment, he still couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong today.
If he had really done something to displease His Highness the Crown Prince, why would he still buy him a zither? If not, then why was the Crown Prince showing signs of turning into a human-shaped ice machine again?
Pei Xiting couldn’t understand. He thought: Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. The ancients weren’t wrong.
The area under the eaves suddenly fell silent, the atmosphere strange. At this moment, Yu Shaoyun walked over from behind and said, “Pei-wenshu is back?”
Pei Xiting hummed in agreement. When Yu Shaoyun arrived behind the Crown Prince, he smiled slightly at Pei Xiting and said, “Pei-wenshu, what do you think of the refreshments at Qingfeng Teahouse?”
The girl had really liked the portrait Pei Xiting painted. Afterwards, they left the painting gallery and went together to a nearby estate called Qingfeng Teahouse to gather around a stove and brew tea until dinner.
Pei Xiting was taken aback. “Was Your Highness at Qingfeng Teahouse earlier as well?”
“We passed by the entrance and happened to see Pei-wenshu sitting at the same table with several young ladies,” Yu Shaoyun mentioned casually.
“Why didn’t the two of you come in? I only tasted a small piece of the refreshments, but they were delicious. Their tea is very fragrant, and they have a very good iced tea called ‘Snow Tea.'” Pei Xiting said, clutching his money pouch. Could it be that he didn’t see the Crown Prince at that time, and the Crown Prince thought he was blind, so he was unhappy?
Thinking of this, Pei Xiting immediately added, “It doesn’t matter that we missed each other today. How about I treat Your Highness to try it another day?”
The Crown Prince said calmly, “Weren’t you saying your money pouch was tight? You still have spare money to go to Qingfeng Teahouse?”
“Is it very expensive? I don’t know. Miss Fang paid for it, saying it was to thank me for painting her portrait and to thank her friends for accompanying her. Of course, if Your Highness and Commander Yu had come along at that time, then this meal would definitely have been on me,” Pei Xiting explained.
“You and the young ladies hit it off so well. What would we have done joining in?” the Crown Prince said. “It seems we would have been superfluous.”
“It’s not exactly a case of hitting it off instantly. It’s just that in this vast sea of people, meeting is also a kind of fate. Isn’t sitting down and chatting a way to pass the leisure time?” Pei Xiting said. “If the two of you had come, it would only have been livelier. How could it have been superfluous?”
“But you only just met. What could you possibly talk about?” Yu Shaoyun took the opportunity to probe.
“Paintings, clothes, makeup, delicious food, fun things, beautiful sights, and gossip about this family and that… just about everything. Whatever comes up, we talk about it. Even though we just met, as long as everyone is polite and keeps their distance, naturally no one will be easily offended.” As he spoke, Pei Xiting suddenly realized something. These two seemed a little concerned about his tea gathering with the young ladies?
Among the girls, two were from official families. Pei Xiting glanced at the Crown Prince, then looked at Yu Shaoyun and asked, “Were there any acquaintances of Commander Yu among them?”
“No, there weren’t,” Yu Shaoyun smiled. “I was just curious if Pei-wenshu was going to stage a ‘Romance of Lotus Isle’?”
This was a Ningzhou opera. Pei Xiting heard it at Little Spring Garden. It told the story of a man and a woman falling in love at first sight during the lotus viewing season on Lotus Isle, which was crowded with people, and the man presenting a lotus flower to initiate their acquaintance.
So, it was for gossip! He immediately laughed and said, “That’s a terrible accusation!”
Yu Shaoyun said, “Just chatting casually. Pei-wenshu, don’t take it to heart.”
Pei Xiting said, “Of course.”
Back in his room, Pei Xiting lay down on the bamboo chair, replaying the Crown Prince’s earlier words and expressions in his mind several times. With the seriousness of someone doing reading comprehension, he finally arrived at a very bold conclusion:
Could His Highness be jealous?
Pei Xiting turned over, scraping his fingertips along the armrest.
It shouldn’t be. He and the girls had maintained proper decorum, with no physical contact or any intimate behavior. Even if he were to be jealous, there was absolutely no reason for him to be.
Besides, would the Crown Prince really be jealous of him…? If he wasn’t jealous, why ask so much…? But saying he was jealous didn’t quite feel right either… But if he wasn’t jealous, what exactly was strange…?
Pei Xiting tossed and turned, unable to figure it out. Unable to settle on an answer after much deliberation, he simply sprang up and went next door.
He walked to the window, raised his hand, and knocked directly. “Your Highness, were you unhappy about me spending half a day with the young ladies?”
So direct! Yu Shaoyun was secretly shocked.
“Not at all,” the Crown Prince’s voice came from inside after a moment, slightly muffled.
Hearing this, Pei Xiting felt relieved but also inexplicably disappointed. He gave a soft “Oh” and returned to his room.
Light footsteps gradually faded away, and the door next door closed. The Crown Prince sat behind the zither table, his fingertip pressing against the strings. The dim candlelight enveloped his profile, casting it in a somewhat cold light.
The prayer beads lay quietly at the corner of the zither table. The Crown Prince turned his head to look at them, and the image of Pei Xiting’s smiling eyes as he accepted the hair ribbon from the girl reappeared before him.
He (pxt) already looked like this when he was without affection. If he were to feel affection in the future, what would those eyes look like?
The Crown Prince couldn’t imagine it, nor did he know why he wanted to imagine it. It had nothing to do with him.
An unclear and muddled mix of emotions stirred within him. The Crown Prince only felt an unspeakable vexation. His fingertip loosened, and the zither strings vibrated uncontrollably, scattering tiny droplets of blood.
Yu Shaoyun outside the door seemed to sense something and said softly, “Your Highness?”
“…It’s nothing,” the Crown Prince said, looking at the scarlet blood constantly welling up from his fingertip, not knowing if he was answering Yu Shaoyun or himself. “It’s nothing.”
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