Lady Kelpi Translations

Chapter Twenty:
Qin

After the palace upheaval in her previous life, Xie Wei’s hands were stained with blood, and he never touched the qin again.

The scenery of Count Qingyuan’s mansion was deteriorating day by day, and Yan Lin, as a son of a noble family, was well aware of it. The incident of this concubine’s daughter ‘falling’ into the water during the Double Ninth Festival banquet was widely known, and Jiang Xuening’s shocking words during that time added to the notoriety.

Maids punish young ladies, and servants bully the master.

This was a disgrace to Count Qingyuan’s mansion.

To prevent others from gossiping and saying that their household treats her harshly, they naturally wouldn’t dare to make things difficult for her on the surface. Another question was whether there would be more suffering in the dark.

Being the only legitimate son of Marquis Yongyi, he was highly favored in the palace, which prevented all the secrets in the harem from falling on him. Yan Lin still knew the kind of fighting that went on in the inner residences.

His father did have concubines and illegitimate children, after all.

He felt Ning Ning was too concerned about the illegitimate daughter of a count’s family whom she met by chance and couldn’t help but advise her. “You are just too kind-hearted. She is foolish and clumsy and focusing on her might tarnish your reputation. It’s just a matter of saving someone. Did you expect her to be reborn? Remember, there are reasons in every situation, and if she has the ability, she will not end up as she was before.”

Jiang Xuening withdrew her gaze. “I actually care more about her than ordinary people because I saved her and hope she’ll be better. But you’re right. I’ve done my best. How can I care more?”

She let out a soft breath after speaking.

She wanted to use this to relieve the feeling of unease in her heart.

“Let’s take a look at the qin,” she said to Yan Lin.

As the name suggested, the You Huang Pavilion was specifically designed for playing the qin.
[You Huang means ‘a secluded and restful bamboo grove.’]

Although the location was amidst the bustling city and could be considered a small piece of land in the Capital, one must walk up the stairs from an inconspicuous staircase facing the street to the second floor to see the elegant and plain bamboo plaque.

The words ‘You Huang’ were written in black ink on the bamboo plaque.

Because the qin was an elegant object, the guests who came to play the qin should pretend to be elegant, while those who truly loved the qin shouldn’t join in the fun. Therefore, this kind of decoration and style was perfectly balanced.

This wasn’t the first time Yan Lin had been here. He walked in with Jiang Xuening as if this was a road he’d traveled before.

There was a man in front of the incense burner dressed as a scholar and mixing incense.

He was burning top-quality incense powder.

The entire You Huang Pavilion emitted a faint fragrance.

The scholar turned his head when he heard the footsteps and saw that it was Yan Lin. He smiled and gently put down the incense stick. He went over to a copper basin and washed his hands. “The Young Master has finally arrived. I was beginning to think I would have to put those qin on sale if you kept me waiting. “

Yan Lin chuckled. “We’re in a qin shop, after all. Can you tone down the talk about money a bit?”

“Do you think I opened a qin shop out of the kindness of my heart?” The scholar didn’t take Yan Lin’s words seriously. “Everything about playing the qin – the bathing, the handwashing, the incense, and not to mention the qin itself – costs money.”

Jiang Xuening felt this person was strange and couldn’t resist taking a few more glances at him.

The scholar, who was thin and average-looking, also glanced at Jiang Xuening. “Is this the young lady who wants to play the qin?”

Jiang Xuening remained silent.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Yan Lin, growing impatient, said. “Where’s the qin?”

The scholar raised his eyebrows, immediately feeling Yan Lin’s unusual treatment of the woman. He continued to observe Jiang Xuening, glancing at her several more times before turning around and walking into the inner room.

He brought the four hidden qin out one by one and placed them on a long table in the room, opening the qin bag for each. Yan Lin came up and took a look. “I originally found five qin, one of which was newly made by Gu Ben Yuan from Jiangning, but it was too late. Gu Ben Yuan had already gifted his new qin to Xie Ju’an before I sent my people.”

Gu Ben Yuan was currently the most famous qin maker.

Generally speaking, the process of making a qin was very cumbersome. From selecting the wood to threading strings and testing the sound, it took at least a year. It could take two or even three years if done meticulously and painstakingly.

For this reason, a qin maker was a skilled craftsman who made a living from it.

Of course, producing a qin every two years would lead to starvation, so many craftsmen prepare wood and make ten or twenty qin pieces simultaneously. Despite the two-year process of making a qin, craftsmen produced many qin within that timeframe by preparing wood and making ten or twenty qin pieces at the same time.

However, Gu Ben Yuan was already in his sixties and was about to reach the age of antiquity. His energy wasn’t as strong as those young qin makers, and he couldn’t make many qin simultaneously. Therefore, he could only produce one or two qin every two to three years.
[Age of antiquity is seventy years old.]

People tend to want rare things.

In the past two years, countless people had been seeking a new qin, but no one expected that even before they saw the face of the qin or heard the sound it made, that old man gave it directly to Xie Wei. He didn’t know how many people were silently grinding their teeth.

Yan Lin practiced martial arts and was not fond of the qin. When he heard about Gu Ben Yuan’s reputation, he was momentarily stunned and said, “As a gift?”

“Oh, he sent it.” The scholar finally revealed his dissatisfaction and sneered, but there was also a hint of him enjoying the chaos. “Recently, there was another rebellion by Prince Pingnan, and imperial officials were assassinated in the Capital. Xie Ju’an had been working on his own qin for three years. That day, he bought some good strings from me and planned to test them out. On his way back, he encountered the rebellion at the Heavenly Tower restaurant. While he was fine, the qin strings that hadn’t even been plucked yet were cut with a knife. I’m unsure if he was angry, but people said he didn’t go to court for two days. After Gu Ben Yuan learned about this, he sent someone to bring him the qin from Jiangning to the Capital. He made me lose money!”

“You don’t care about the qin, do you?” Yan Lin asked.

He snorted coldly. “If I spend a lot of money to buy a qin, I turn around and double the sale to you. Xie Ju’an cut off my financial path!

Yan Lin coughed. He wanted to say, “Do I look like someone easily fooled into overpaying?” After he thought about it, he remained silent.

Xie Wei was the Crown Prince’s Young Tutor, and he now presided over the palace’s lessons, making him half of his instructor.

The other party was different.

This scholar was the owner of You Huang Pavilion. He was initially a jinshi who passed the same imperial examination as Xie Wei and was also from Jinling. His name was Lü Xian, and his courtesy name was Zhaoyin. In every step of the way, whatever Xie Wei ranked first in, Zhaoyin placed second. In the academic, provincial, and metropolitan examinations, Xie Wei was first, and Zhaoyin was second. He was even pressured into entering the Hanlin Academy.

People would jokingly say, “Xie First, Lü Second.”

Lü Xian was from a humble background and had a stubborn temper. The more he couldn’t compare with Xie Wei, the more he had to compete with him. He was pretty strong.

Unexpectedly, a funeral report arrived in Jinling, and Xie Wei had to return home for three years to mourn. Lü Xian suddenly became first in everything and felt the Hanlin Academy was no longer enjoyable.

After staying for a year, he resigned from his position.

He also returned to Jinling.

Four years ago, Xie Wei returned to the court with the support of the current Emperor Shen Lang and was now a tutor. Lü Xian, on the other end, seemed to have lost interest in his career. Although he also returned to the Capital, he opened a qin shop to sell qin, living above the clouds like a wild crane.
[Living above the clouds like a wild crane is a recluse with no fixed occupation.]

It was unheard of for those who entered Hanlin Academy to engage in this type of business.

Some old acquaintances in the Capital couldn’t believe it and came to visit.

It didn’t take long for the qin shop to become famous in the court and the public.

Of course, people gradually became aware that, compared to being an upright official, Lü Xian was not shy in his role as a ‘crooked salesman.’ There was a secret saying, ‘The jinshi sells the qin; not buying isn’t an option,’ which showed how dark his business really was.

Lü Xian and Xie Wei were old acquaintances who dealt with each other before. It was considered impolite to say ‘Xie Ju’an,’ but Yan Lin, who Xie Wei had taught, had to carefully consider the dynamics of being ‘superior and subordinate.’

He looked at the four qin before him and asked, “These are?”

Lü Xian introduced each qin one by one, but he focused most of his attention on Jiang Xuening throughout the process. Many of the words were spoken to her. He obviously knew where the ‘goal’ of today’s business was.

The only thing was that Jiang Xuening really didn’t enjoy playing the qin.

In her previous life, all the noble daughters of aristocratic families were determined to show off in front of Xie Wei while learning to play the qin. Jiang Xuening was both bitter and tired. In the early stages, she relied on herself to have Yan Lin, and later, she relied on herself to have Shen Jie. She only went to listen to his lectures a few times.

If someone were to ask which one of the qin in front of her she liked.

She wanted to respond, ‘I don’t like any of them.’

Thankfully, Yan Lin had discovered she hadn’t learned to play the qin before. After careful consideration, he took the ancient qin from over three hundred years ago called ‘Jiao’an.’ Due to years of weathering and vibration during playing, the body of the qin was covered with a layer of flowing water patterns, with rich scattered notes and clear overtones.

The price, however, was terrifying.

Lü Xian smiled slightly and held up three fingers to Yan Lin. Jiang Xuening’s hair stood on end.

Yan Lin thought nothing of it and asked someone to pay with a silver bill. Afterward, he put the qin into the bag and handed it to Jiang Xuening. “Although you are entering the palace to accompany the princess in her studies, Teacher Xie is kind to people,” he said. “In terms of knowledge and playing the qin, however, he will not easily let go just because you are girls. You have to muster your spirit when listening to Teacher Xie’s lectures. He rarely plays the qin in the palace. I’ve had the privilege of hearing it a few times. He’s amazing. If you couldn’t learn the qin in the past, it must have been because the teacher was not good. When you enter the palace this time, you might even fall in love with it.”

Therefore, a good qin was necessary.

Jiang Xuening’s eyes twitched slightly when she heard his words. No one knew the reason she didn’t want to learn the qin after entering the Capital was because of Xie Wei.

Four years ago, on the way to the Capital, Xie Wei held a qin in his arms.

She thought this person was a distant relative of the Jiang family, dressed in white cloth with nothing but a qin and looked sickly. Although they were in the same carriage, he didn’t like to talk and spent most of his time with his eyes closed. He would occasionally play the qin.

Jiang Xuening couldn’t understand him. She also didn’t like him.

At that time, she became aware of her background and knew that a ‘sister’ at home received praise from everyone. She feared being looked down upon by the servants who came to pick her up in the Capital. Although she hadn’t learned any rules, because of her inner fear, she had to put on a young lady’s demeanor for that humble and pitiful ‘self-respect.’

The young ladies were all haughty and liked to order people around by pointing with their chin.

So, she was also haughty and ordered people about by pointing her chin, including Xie Wei.

She grew up in the countryside and didn’t learn any rules, but this person had rules for walking, sitting, and sleeping. It made her uncomfortable, whether it was the posture of holding chopsticks when eating together or the immaculate rest in a carriage.

At the time, she felt that this person was shabby and of a poor background.

It was a long time before she was willing to admit that the reason she felt uncomfortable was because, even if she didn’t understand, she could still feel the difference between the clouds and the mud. This difference was precisely between a woman who grew up in the countryside at the time and the bustling capital she was about to arrive in.
[The difference between the clouds and the mud is talking about social status.]

But people always refuse to admit that.

Even later, when she became the Empress, she didn’t want to see Xie Wei. And since she associated Xie Wei’s name with qin, she didn’t want to see a qin either.

During the most fearful and unbearable moments of her life, she saw Xie Wei. Whenever she saw him, she thought of those past experiences.

That was the most taboo thing in her previous life.

The heavens only knew how Xie Wei saw her during that time.

The current Empress was a rural girl who didn’t look like the Crown Prince, even if she wore the dragon robe.

Jiang Xuening would become embarrassed whenever she thought about it, so she regarded it as non-existent.

Xie Wei, who had an insight into people’s hearts, probably knew her thoughts.

Even though he held a prominent position in the court and frequently entered and exited the palace, he rarely appeared before her and never mentioned the past.

As for the scar on her wrist, an Imperial physician prescribed her some medicine that was carefully applied for two years and had disappeared completely.

The fragrance of the incense lingered in the shop.

The fragrance had a calming effect on people.

Jiang Xuening blinked and looked down at the ‘Jiao’an’ that had just been handed to her. She thought to herself that if Zhang Zhe hadn’t been there, perhaps she would have died and been buried in the soil without telling anyone. She had also shown kindness to Xie Wei by feeding him blood.

It’s just…

After the palace incident in her previous life, Xie Wei’s hands were stained with blood, and he never touched the qin again.

…

Next Chapter: You Fangyin’s Boss