A musical score?
That answer was beyond Ning Yan's expectations.
She had imagined all sorts of answers, but not one of them had anything to do with a musical score. Besides, the war was pressing, and her lord wasn't someone who enjoyed music theory. Why had she suddenly gone to get a musical score? Ning Yan asked, puzzled, "What does my lord want a musical score for?"
Shen Tang answered briskly, "To play it."
Ning Yan nearly froze. "Now?"
Shen Tang countered, "When else?"
Ning Yan fell silent.
By the usual way of thinking, Ning Yan couldn't connect music theory with war. The two were about as related as poles apart. If one really tried to force a connection, then perhaps war drums and gongs could link the two.
Come to think of it, she had heard that Chu Yao once researched sound-based attacks.
Shen Tang said, "Some people like to take things out of context. They seize on the line 'witches, doctors, musicians, and artisans are beneath the notice of gentlemen' from the surviving fragments of Word Spirits and use it to claim that anything outside the literary and martial paths is merely a technical art. But what happened? Besides the literary and martial paths, there are medicine and Mohism, each with its own Word Spirits, each shining in turn. So why shouldn't there be musicians? Music might turn out to be a powerful weapon, too."
Under normal circumstances, sound really was the fastest and most efficient way to communicate during wartime. Drumbeats, for instance, could not only inspire the three armies, but also command them to attack or retreat through different rhythms, keeping the pace of battle in one's hands.
In his youth, Chu Yao had entertained some fanciful ideas. He believed that music shouldn't be limited to