Chapter 7: Chapter 6: Playing the Zither and Flute in Unison, Staying Overnight in the Inner Palace

Silence reigned in the darkness. Liang Xin didn't know what else to say and didn't want to say anything more. In the darkness, Consort Wang Zhao also didn't know what she was thinking; for a long while, she remained silent as well.

The room was deathly quiet, and Liang Xin could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat. After a while, a cluster of light flickered to life. Five brass candle lamps were lit, instantly turning the entire room as bright as day.

Liang Xin stood up from the floor, his eyes somewhat dazed. Sitting behind a jet-black ancient zither was a woman in white; judging by her appearance, she looked to be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. Without even thinking, he knew she was naturally the mistress of this Jade Cold Palace, Consort Wang Zhao. Her long black hair was casually tied back, and her fair, exquisite face carried three parts indifference, three parts loneliness, and four parts sorrow.

Liang Xin subconsciously swallowed hard, thinking incessantly to himself, "To think such a beautiful woman actually exists in this world. For a woman like this, even a single glance is a tremendous blessing."

At first, Wang Zhao's eyes were focused entirely on the zither before her, but then she lifted her head, her gaze drifting and landing on Liang Xin. Wang Zhao said, "To think that the one in the entire palace capable of understanding my zither music would be a little eunuch. What is your name?"

Liang Xin bowed slightly and said, "To answer Your Ladyship, this servant is called Liang Xin."

"Liang Xin (Conscience)?" Wang Zhao let out a cold laugh. "Do people in this world truly possess a conscience?"

Liang Xin's expression froze, and he had no choice but to brace himself and explain, "It is the 'Liang' from 'a gentleman upon a beam,' and the 'Xin' from 'the passing of the flame.'"

"A gentleman upon a beam, the passing of the flame?" This time, Wang Zhao truly laughed. When those eight characters were read together, wasn't he essentially saying he was a thief?

Liang Xin's face darkened as he thought, *Oh no, I even said my usual pick-up line introduction.* Back in the modern era, every time Liang Xin hit on a girl, he would introduce himself this way; it both showcased his wit and demonstrated his uniqueness, making it easy to pique a girl's interest to learn more.

Wang Zhao did not dwell on his name but instead asked, "You understand music?"

Liang Xin thought for a moment and said, "I know a little, but I cannot play the zither."

"Oh? A little eunuch in the palace who actually understands poetry and music. If you cannot play the zither, then what can you do?"

"I know a little bit of the flute."

As soon as Liang Xin finished answering, a memory immediately flashed through his mind of his tragic past. He had once thought that being able to play the flute would make him seem more like a talented scholar and help him pick up girls, so he practiced hard. Once he learned, he wrote "Proficient in music, especially fond of the flute" in the personal signature of his QQ account. As a result, over three hundred comrades added him in a single day, while the women originally in his contact list never spoke to him again.

"The flute?"

Wang Zhao stood up and walked toward the wall behind her. Only then did Liang Xin notice a jade flute hanging there. Wang Zhao took the jade flute down, handed it to Liang Xin, and said, "Are you willing to perform a zither and flute duet with me?"

"A zither and flute duet?" Liang Xin was slightly stunned; he hadn't noticed that Wang Zhao had changed her self-address from "This Palace" to "I." Liang Xin said, "I only know one piece for zither and flute duet."

"Only one? What is its name?" Wang Zhao asked.

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Liang Xin's mouth as he said proudly, "Smiling Proudly in the World (Xiao Ao Jiang Hu)."

"Smiling Proudly... in the World?" Wang Zhao lowered her head and softly repeated those four words, her beautiful eyes growing brighter and brighter. Then she looked up at Liang Xin and asked, "I do not know it. Can you teach me?"

Liang Xin carefully recalled the classic zither and flute score from the 1996 version of *Smiling Proudly in the World*. After confirming he could still remember it perfectly, Liang Xin nodded. "Alright, I will teach you."

Liang Xin also failed to notice that he had already forgotten Wang Zhao's status.

Wang Zhao's musical attainments were very high, and she was proficient in both the zither and the flute. Liang Xin only taught her simply for half an hour before Wang Zhao was already able to skillfully play the entire piece of *Smiling Proudly in the World*. Once he was certain she was proficient, Liang Xin picked up the jade flute and said, "Alright, let's do it together."

"Mhm." A look of excitement revealed itself in Wang Zhao's eyes as she nodded vigorously in agreement.

Liang Xin pressed the flute holes with both hands and said, "Alright, ready, begin!"

Wang Zhao plucked a string, and the urgent sound of the zither immediately rang out. Following that, as Liang Xin's flute sounded, the zither and flute melodies merged in perfect harmony. At first, there was nothing unusual about one playing the zither and the other the flute, but as the music reached its midpoint, the two of them involuntarily began to interact through their eyes.

The two seemed to have fallen into the artistic conception of the music. When the piece ended, they both stared at each other for a long time without speaking.

Suddenly, a mouse squeaked twice. Wang Zhao immediately snapped out of it and said somewhat flusteredly, "The... the hour is getting late. You should go back."

Liang Xin shuddered, suddenly remembering that the beauty before him was the Imperial Consort Wang. Forget playing a duet with her late at night; even the mere thought of people finding out would result in being executed by lingering death.

Cold sweat broke out on Liang Xin's back. He nodded silently and turned to leave. The moment he stepped out of the room, a sudden sense of loss rose in his heart—faint, yet very obvious.

As he walked out of the gates of the Jade Cold Palace, Liang Xin suddenly heard the sound of footsteps, and then two squads of guards carrying lanterns patrolled around the corners from both sides. Liang Xin was startled, suddenly remembering that it was already curfew. Thus, he immediately returned to the Jade Cold Palace and stopped at the palace entrance.

*Creak~* The crimson carved wooden door opened. After glancing at Liang Xin, Wang Zhao took his hand and led him back inside.

Liang Xin looked awkwardly at the outside and then at Wang Zhao. Finally, he had no choice but to extend his right hand and say, "I... I forgot to return your jade flute."

"Pfft~" Wang Zhao covered her mouth and let out a light giggle. Liang Xin was instantly mesmerized by that single smile.

Wang Zhao pulled Liang Xin's hand and led him into the bedroom, saying, "Curfew has already begun. If you wander aimlessly through the palace, you will be caught by the Imperial Dragon Guards and beaten with paddles. Rest in my sleeping quarters tonight, and leave tomorrow morning."

"Eh." Liang Xin nodded and walked straight to the bedside to sit down.

Wang Zhao looked at him in surprise and asked, "You intend to sleep in the bed?"

Liang Xin looked around and realized there was only one bed in the sleeping quarters. He quickly jumped up from the bed and said, "I'll sleep on the floor."

Wang Zhao nodded and pointed to a wooden cabinet by the bed. "There are cotton quilts and porcelain pillows in the cabinet. Arrange them yourself."

"Oh." Following her words, Liang Xin went to get the quilts and pillows to make a bed on the floor. Once he had finished, just as he was preparing to sleep, Wang Zhao asked, "Liang Xin, did you compose *Smiling Proudly in the World*? I have never heard of such a piece."

Without the slightest hesitation, Liang Xin immediately nodded. "It's a piece I wrote once when I was bored."

"Did you really compose it? Do you have any other pieces written?" Wang Zhao asked him excitedly.

Liang Xin thought for a moment and said, "There are many, but I don't know if you will be able to get used to them."

"Come, tell me, and I will try playing it." Wang Zhao pulled Liang Xin's hand toward the hall. Liang Xin shook his head helplessly and cried out in a mournful voice, "Please~"

Sitting by the zither in the main hall, Liang Xin hummed a rendition of "A Laugh in the Vast Sea" (Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao) for Wang Zhao. The lyrics and the melody instantly stunned her.

"A laugh in the vast sea, surging tides on both banks. Floating and sinking with the waves, remembering this moment. Heaven laughs, the world's tides surge, who loses and who wins, only Heaven knows..." Wang Zhao murmured the lyrics of the song in a daze.

After thinking for a moment, Liang Xin said, "Actually, there is another piece you might like very much. I'll sing it for you."

"The wind has stopped, the clouds know; love has gone, the heart naturally understands. When he came, it was unavoidable; when he left, he did so quietly. You were not in my expectations, disrupting my peaceful pace... I drift and drift, you sway and sway, like rootless wild grass, when the dream wakes and the sky clears..."

It was Zhou Xun's "Drifting" (Piao Yao). Liang Xin tried his best to sing it to her using a voice similar to Zhou Xun's husky tone. Soon, tears fell from Wang Zhao's eyes as she hummed along with Liang Xin to the song...

"And just like that, Cinderella and the Prince lived happily ever after..."

"Why do they all like to be with the Prince? Snow White is like that, Sleeping Beauty is like that, and Cinderella is like that too. Are the women who are with princes truly that happy? No freedom, no friends. If I had to choose, I would rather marry a commoner and live an ordinary, simple life."

"Every kind of life has its hardships. Life in the imperial palace may lack freedom, but the life of a commoner is not necessarily beautiful either. Commoners must endure oppression from the rich and the soldiers, they must work hard for survival, and they must haggle over every necessity of life. Whether one is happy does not actually depend on what kind of life one lives, but on whether two people truly love each other when they are together."

"Love? What is love?"

"Love is when two people, whether they are together or not, always have each other on their minds. When the other is happy, you are happy; when the other is unhappy, you are unhappy too. In one's own eyes, the other person is the most perfect person in the world... Ah, I'm sleepy. Let's talk about this later..."