A boy dressed in teal walked over from in front and greeted the trio. “Sir Pei, my master has been expecting you for some time.” He was maybe twelve to thirteen years old, about Liu Sang's age, with fair looks and an elegant demeanor. His mannerisms had a n.o.ble feel to them, and although his clothes weren't fanciful, his overall impression was well-groomed, much in cohesion with the unarrogant yet dignified grandeur of the courtyard.

The tiniest details were often telling. A servant's impression revealed plenty about the master's disposition and way of conduct.

Pei Shu hastily returned his greeting and apologized. "It's my transgression. I've a gift for Brother Yizhi and am awaiting my servants to send it over…These two are my friends, who have come along as they admire Brother Yizhi very much. I hope for your kind guidance."

He promptly nudged Chu Yu and Yue Jiefei towards the teal robed youth and strode off to wait at the main gate.

Chu Yu wanted to say she wasn't there out of admiration for w.a.n.g Yizhi, but upon remembering this was someone else's home, not to mention an especially wealthy person's, she decided to go with it.

They walked along the winding, quiet aisle, with the teal robed youth at the front, Chu Yu in the middle, and Yue Jiefei at the back. The end of the aisle was still a ways away, when the sound of zither music lightly drifted through the air. The aisle end itself was a scene of green weeping willows, their leaves like jasper ta.s.sels forming a natural screen and blocking Chu Yu's gaze.

The zither music was coming from beyond the forest of weeping willows.

Despite it being an early summer's afternoon, the courtyard did not feel stiflingly hot. Even the sunlight seemed gentler. A faint mist surrounded the fresh greenery, which when breathed in, greatly lifted one's spirits.

w.a.n.g Yizhi was not only rich, but knew how to enjoy himself.

As they continued beneath the willow branches, the sound of zither playing grew clearer. Just as they emerged from the willow forest into a wide clearing, the faint zither music abruptly stopped.

Chu Yu gazed out, seeing a lake clear as jade with swimming fish and plants within, while above it floated lotus petals. The lotuses had yet to flower, their snow-white bulbs tightly shut. Occasionally, a gentle wind would blow across the surface of the lake, bringing a misty coolness to the surroundings.

Beneath the lake were fish; above it, a pavilion.

The residence's master, w.a.n.g Yizhi, along with three other youths they had seen at the poetry banquet, was relaxing in the pavilion, which joined the sh.o.r.e via a long bridge.

The zither music had stopped the moment Chu Yu's group stepped outside of the forest. Everyone's gazes gravitated towards Xiao Bie's fingers. Under his long and slender fingers, a single broken chord lay limp on the zither, while the other chords lingered in their trembling.

The chord was broken.

A momentary silence hung over the crowd.

w.a.n.g Yizhi leaned against the pavilion railing. As the organizer of the meeting, he casually spoke up in a teasing manner. "The chord has broken for a kindred soul[1] - might the visitor be Xiao Bie's kindred soul?" Standing at the furthest end of the crowd, he had been the first to notice someone moving in the willow forest.

Hearing him, everyone in the pavilion looked towards the side of the lake. Xiao Bie as well, looked up with a frosty glare.

The pavilion was about four or five feet's distance from the willow forest, thus, when Chu Yu and the rest emerged from within, her visage was clear to all.

w.a.n.g Yizhi uttered a soft "eh" when he saw her, his eyes filling with amus.e.m.e.nt. Xiao Bie's expression, however, instantly chilled; his fingers pressed down on the zither chords unconsciously, letting out a sullen sound.

Chu Yu had also seen Xiao Bie at a glance. She saw him sitting in the pavilion holding onto his zither[2]; saw the icy rejection within his eyes. But since she had already come along, thick-skinned, she did not care if anyone opposed her.

Since the pavilion was full of distinguished literati, someone with a warrior's background would make them feel uncomfortable, hence Chu Yu let Yue Jiefei stay guard at the lakesh.o.r.e. She herself and the teal robed youth made their way up the one foot-wide stone bridge unhurriedly towards the octagonal pavilion.

Reaching the pavilion, she was met with several gazes - disdain, rejection, curiosity and also, amus.e.m.e.nt.

The teal robed youth saluted w.a.n.g Yizhi and briefly explained how Chu Yu was here accompanying Pei Shu. w.a.n.g Yizhi waved him off before meeting Chu Yu's calm, open gaze.

w.a.n.g Yizhi lightly clapped his hands together and smiled. "A visitor is also a guest. I don't have much rules around here, so please, make yourself at home." He carried an unrestrained languidness about his smile, his s.h.i.+rt half-open and unbound hair scattered in a careless manner. His neck bore a smudge of bright red, which looked like a mark left over from some lady's lip rouge.

Perhaps because it was a formal affair, w.a.n.g Yizhi had been slightly more restrained at the poetry banquet. Now that he was in his own home, he seemed free of all shackles and could be as laidback as he wanted.

Chu Yu had just stepped onto the pavilion when she heard Xiao Bie's cold disapproval. "Why is she here? If she's here, I'm leaving." Although succinct, his words left nothing unsaid, as though he could not bear to even stand under the same sky as her.

w.a.n.g Yizhi lifted his hand lightly in a motion to stop him. Despite not really blocking his way, Xiao Bie paused at his movement. w.a.n.g Yizhi laughed before continuing. "The chord has broken for a kindred soul; the meeting between you two is fated. If you have any grudges in the past, it is best to absolve them here."

Grudges?

Chu Yu watched Xiao Bie with interest, wondering how he would react.

Xiao Bie's glare was frosted over as he replied. "This zither chord has broken because it cannot bear being listened to by a filthy person."

The filthy person he referred to was none other than Chu Yu.

Chu Yu lightly smiled before las.h.i.+ng out her rebuke. "It must be hard being this zither chord. Each day, it has to suffer being tortured by someone with such poor standards, until it has finally ended its life here." She bowed to w.a.n.g Yizhi and raised her brows. "I wouldn't dare call myself a kindred soul. But this music is so vulgar, how is it worth anyone's judgment?"

Her words had barely ended, yet everyone was stunned.

Xiao Bie - the Young Master of a Thousand Gold[3], was known for his zither playing skills throughout his life. Likewise, his nickname was related to the zither. In his earlier years, someone had once begged for a song with a thousand gold but to no avail. That same person later on dubbed him Young Master of a Thousand Gold. There were few in the world with Xiao Bie's zither talent, yet Chu Yu's words tore him down with zero regards for his reputation - to spout such blasphemy was simply too conceited!

Poor standards. Vulgar.

Not even the uninhibited Wan Yizhi would have thought such a description would one day be used on Xiao Bie.

Within a short span of time and a few words, Chu Yu had managed to gather the attention of every single person onto herself. Even the teal robed youth, who had walked several steps away, turned around to check who on earth this person was, who could make such a big-headed statement.

This was precisely Chu Yu's objective.

Dundundun! Surprise guest Xiao Bie makes an appearance! Man, this was hard to translate. Story and fact time below~

[1]古琴/guqin: The instrument Xiao Bie is using is actually a guqin, a seven-string Chinese zither. Not to be confused with guzheng.

[2]弦爲知音而斷/the chord(弦) breaks for a kindred soul (知音): Here, 'chord' refers to the string on an instrument, not a series of musical notes. Wiki gave me 'bosom friend' as a translation for 知音, but the actual meaning doesn't fully refer to a best friend/confidante, but someone who understands/shares your interests and att.i.tude, who 'gets you' without you needing to voice anything, like a soul mate of sorts. Hence the word choice kindred soul instead of kindred spirit.

知音 also directly translates to 'knows music'. This entire saying comes from the legend of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi. Boya was a zither master and Ziqi could understand his playing as if it were his own heart. When Ziqi died, Boya broke the chords on his zither and never played again, as he felt there would never be another person who could understand his music the way Ziqi did. You can read more here:

Funnily enough, there is another meaning of 斷絃/chord breaking, which you may find interesting - in ancient China, it can also refer to the death of a wife. The 琴/qin and 瑟/se (both zithers) were played as a duet, and refers to a husband-wife duo. Hence, when the wife dies it's also called 斷絃/breaking the chord. Lol, poor Xiao Bie.

[3]千金公子/Young master of a Thousand Gold: 千金/ Thousand Gold is used to describe a young miss or son of a n.o.bleman who is also extremely wealthy.

Afterword: Ahem, I have something to admit. I've finally started watching the A Tale of Two Phoenixes drama series. Has anyone watched it too? Surprisingly, it's not bad, pretty good actually if you take it as a whole new series…Just ignore the fact that the main characters (especially Chu Yu, who's kind of impulsive and aggressive there) don't behave exactly like in the novel, and how the plot becomes stupid sometimes with how they cut and filled the main bits to fit the drama, and then screwed up the novel ending with something that makes zero sense.

Uh…despite all this, their own take on things after the drama deviates from the novel is much better - kind of like Princess Wei Yang with nonstop scheming and star-crossed lovers concept. That I like. I actually s.h.i.+p the leads more with the drama's female general *cough cough* Although…what have they done to my beloved w.a.n.g Yizhi…They completely wasted his character. ? Xiao Bie too, they removed the fun parts and watered him down. Sigh.