Feng Ruoxue's Music

Feng Ruoxue slowly spread her hands before her. With her movements, specks of white light flickered in the air ahead. Then, wherever the white light passed, an ancient zither slowly materialized.

The exquisitely crafted ancient zither was silver-white throughout. Its surface bore rippling water-like patterns, adding a touch of beauty without compromising its sound.

"A Storage Ring? I never expected her to have another Storage Ring?"

The way Feng Ruoxue produced the ancient zither left everyone astonished.

In this world, there were two kinds of people: Dou Zhes and ordinary people.

Although countless years of development had brought the cultivation system of Dou Qi to its peak, and Dou Qi had even become closely tied to everyday life, people had different constitutions, and many were still unsuited to cultivation. Ordinary people made up ninety-nine percent of the world, while only one percent could become Dou Zhes.

Although Anyang City was an extremely prosperous city, with several martial arts academies, very few people in this world could truly complete the Dou Qi stage and become Dou Zhes.

Cultivation was something that consumed both time and money.

For ordinary families, their income could only cover food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Buying the resources needed for cultivation was simply beyond their means.

Many people could only give up halfway through the Dou Qi stage. They needed to work to earn money, or life would drive them mad. And once they had jobs, they no longer had time to cultivate.

Thus, only those from aristocratic clans and great families had the opportunity to cultivate Dou Qi. With their families backing them, they did not have to struggle for survival.

Feng Ruoxue had not yet completed the Dou Qi stage, so she could not be called a Dou Zhe.

A Dou Zhe was the first rank in cultivating Dou Qi, and also a general term for cultivators.

Only Dou Zhes could afford to use Storage Rings. Ordinary people could only look on in envy.

Even the lowest-grade Storage Ring cost several tens of thousands of Gold Coins.

Based on an ordinary family's annual income of one hundred Gold Coins, they would need at least five hundred years to afford a Storage Ring.

Yet for a lowest-level Dou Zhe, it would take only thirty years to save enough for one.

Most of the people in the teahouse were astonished that Feng Ruoxue possessed a Storage Ring. Some even revealed greedy expressions, their eyes fixed tightly on the exquisite ring on Feng Ruoxue's finger.

Han Jingya watched the ancient zither appear from thin air, but her thoughts were not on the zither. They were on Feng Ruoxue.

She's beautiful, she has a Storage Ring, and her family must be excellent too. Isn't someone this outstanding exactly the ideal husband I've been waiting twenty years for?

Feng Ruoxue could not guess what Han Jingya was thinking. With matters weighing on her heart, she sat before the ancient zither and began to play.

Feng Ruoxue's slender fingers rested upon the zither as she slowly plucked its strings. Melodious notes lingered around everyone's ears.

As the music began, the clamor in the teahouse faded away, leaving only a tender, winding melody.

There were not many in the teahouse who truly understood the music. Yet even those who did not understand its meaning were infected by some strange magic within the melody, and tears streamed down their faces without their realizing it.

Han Jingya, who truly understood the meaning behind the tune, sensed the loneliness within the music.

It was the loneliness of having one's fate arranged by destiny, being powerless to resist it, and having no choice but to accept it.

"You..." Han Jingya's tears had smeared her makeup as she looked at Feng Ruoxue with tear-filled eyes.

She wanted to soothe the pain in Feng Ruoxue's heart, but though countless words filled her heart, none could leave her lips.

Feng Ruoxue did not need an audience. Her zither had never been played for performance.

The pain in Feng Ruoxue's heart could not be expressed in words. Yet after pouring it out through this piece, it was as though she had vented all the unhappiness within her, and she immediately felt much lighter.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful! Sir, this piece is a masterpiece of the age. May I ask what it is called?"

In the teahouse, a man dressed in a scholar's robe and wearing a square hat clapped and praised her.

Feng Ruoxue recalled the scene that had drifted through her mind. After a long while, she said, "Let it be called Linjiang Rhapsody."

Feng Ruoxue's music was beautiful, but how many people had truly come here to listen to music? They had merely come to admire Han Jingya's beauty and pretend to be refined. If a man had been performing, they would never have shown such support.

To these people, there was not the slightest difference between Feng Ruoxue's music and Han Jingya's.

Feng Ruoxue put the ancient zither back into her Storage Ring. She had only intended to come out and relax, yet she had unexpectedly made herself so melancholy.

"Hong Luan, we should go," Feng Ruoxue said to Hong Luan.

However, Hong Luan, who was usually so obedient, did not answer at once. Feng Ruoxue looked toward her in confusion, only to find Hong Luan staring intently at something.

"Hong Luan?" Feng Ruoxue called.

"Huh?" Startled awake by Feng Ruoxue's voice, Hong Luan came back to her senses.

"What are you looking at?" Feng Ruoxue followed Hong Luan's gaze, but she did not find anything particularly noteworthy.

"Princess, look." Hong Luan pointed somewhere, and Feng Ruoxue followed the direction of her finger. Only then did she notice that three people had appeared near the edge of the teahouse.

"Doesn't that person look like the Chen Family's Young Family Head?" Hong Luan spoke very softly, so softly that only Feng Ruoxue could hear her.

Hong Luan had only seen Chen Cheng once and had not remembered his appearance. However, his hair, which had not yet grown long, was still quite distinctive.

Feng Ruoxue had eaten with Chen Cheng before, and she had paid close attention to the appearance of the husband fate had destined for her.

"That's Chen Cheng. Oh no, oh no! Why did he come here? He didn't notice us, did he?" Feng Ruoxue looked flustered as she asked uneasily.

"Probably not?" Hong Luan replied uncertainly.

"Our disguises are very good. Even the Second Prince didn't see through your disguise last time. He has only met you once, so he probably won't recognize you, right?" Hong Luan said.

"I don't know. Sit down first—don't let him notice us," Feng Ruoxue whispered. She then sat back down, her back turned toward Chen Cheng, like someone having a secret tryst and afraid her husband would catch her.

Chen Cheng's seat was near the entrance, and Yan Lingji and Red Serpent had come with him.

"Master, if you enjoy listening to the qin, why not hire that musician and bring her back with us? Given your status, she surely wouldn't refuse," Red Serpent said.

"No need. She'll come knocking on our door herself. I hadn't expected her to possess such talent," Chen Cheng said with a faint, teasing smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Red Serpent failed to understand Chen Cheng's words.

She did not know Feng Ruoxue and only found Chen Cheng's remark rather baffling.

After leaving the Chen Family, Chen Cheng had merely been wandering the streets. Passing by this teahouse, he had been drawn in by the sound of the qin and entered.

Feng Ruoxue's disguise was indeed quite impressive. Chen Cheng truly had not noticed that she was a woman dressed as a man. He had no idea how she had dealt with her chest, but there was not the slightest trace of feminine features.

No wonder women disguised as men in television dramas were always so difficult to recognize. Disguising oneself really was an art.

If Chen Cheng had not possessed the system, which could detect Feng Ruoxue's true name, she might really have fooled him.

Chen Cheng had no intention of exposing Feng Ruoxue. Sitting in a spot right beside the entrance, he calmly sipped his tea.

After a while, ten Black Armor Guards barged in. The leader shouted loudly:

"Who was causing trouble here just now?"

The Black Armor Guard's voice was exceptionally booming. His voice alone drowned out the noise in the teahouse, and everyone turned to look in their direction.

Several sword and blade marks still remained on the pitch-black armor. A surging, vicious aura intimidated everyone present.