After a long while.
As Jiang Wantang gently pressed her hands against the strings, the final note abruptly died away into the night sky.
The piece had come to an end.
Several night birds that had been circling above the pavilion, drawn in by the music,
seemed to wake from a dream. Chirping noisily, they flapped their wings and scattered in all directions.
"Not bad."
Nangong Lingxiang, seated directly across from Jiang Wantang, slowly set down the celadon teacup in her hand.
Her voice was cool and ethereal, like divine music drifting down from the ninth heavens, utterly untouched by the dust of the mortal world.
"Your skill with the zither has improved tremendously since your time at Illusory Moon Palace."
"Your music seems to carry many intense emotions it never held before... the bonds of the mortal world."
"Wantang."
Nangong Lingxiang's cool gaze shifted as she calmly revealed the truth.
"You... are in love."
Hearing her master expose the secret with a single remark,
and sensing the meaningful look cast her way by her Third Senior Sister, Luo Qingyi,
Jiang Wantang, who was usually decisive and ruthless toward outsiders, her word absolute, faintly blushed. For once, she revealed a hint of girlish shyness.
She gently withdrew her hands from the ancient zither and smoothed the slightly rumpled hem of her dress.
Then Jiang Wantang gave Nangong Lingxiang a slight bow, deliberately changing the subject.
"You flatter me, Master."
"My meager skills are like the glow of a firefly competing with the brilliance of the moon when compared to your extraordinary talent."
"Before you, Master, I am merely showing off my poor skills before an expert."
Jiang Wantang said this not to flatter her master deliberately.
It was entirely her sincere belief!
In the eyes of the Seven Senior Sisters,