Half an hour later.
Melodious zither music rang out within Chunhe Garden.
Like a school of fish gliding through a stream, like birds drifting over a valley, like fine steeds running free across an endless grassland.
That was the tune of the Zither Score Carefree Wanderer: ethereal and joyous.
Though it was Xiao Wan'er's first time playing the piece, and she could hardly be said to have rendered it perfectly, the flowers, birds, fish, and insects throughout Chunhe Garden still leaped and fluttered about.
Beneath the sunlight, flowers and grasses could vaguely be seen swirling through the air.
Yet scenery was merely scenery.
Compared to Xiao Wan'er, seated in the pavilion as she played, all of it faded into dullness.
Even phrases such as "sinking fish and falling geese" or "a face like a flower and beauty like the moon" were insufficient to describe her beauty.
Her black hair danced in the air, her painted brows like distant mountains.
Her delicate nose and jade-like lips complemented cheeks white as snow.
Her red dress hugged her slender waist, and her boneless, graceful figure resembled a peony blossom.
Chen Yi stood to one side within the pavilion, watching Xiao Wan'er with a smile. Li Taibai's Song of Pure Peace could not help surfacing in his mind.
Clouds longed for her raiment, flowers longed for her face; spring winds brushed the railing, and dew shone richly.
Had one not seen her atop Jade Mountain, one would meet her beneath the moonlight at the Jasper Terrace.
Though no spring breeze caressed their faces at present, and Xiao Wan'er was not the plump and luscious Imperial Consort Yang, she truly did resemble an immortal maiden who had fallen into the mortal world.
Dignified and noble, breathtakingly beautiful.
Before long, the piece came to an end.