401 Snowy Night

In the twenty-ninth day of winter's cold, snow came fluttering like emerald feathers.

A heavy snow arrived in Zhonghuan Prefecture earlier than in previous years. It was also a colder winter than any before. Within Crane-Embracing City of Zhonghuan's Nine Provinces stood Five Willows Manor, an estate belonging to the Fourteenth Prince's residence.

For three seasons of the year, the manor was green as spring. Yet in this bitter winter, it too lay buried beneath heavy snow, its pure white blending into the night. Beneath the eaves of the residence, facing the snow that filled the sky, a pair of slender hands rested ten fingers upon silken strings.

The howling north wind swept over the courtyard wall. An old tree had shed every last leaf, leaving only withered branches stretched across the air, black and sinister as ghostly claws.

A Jiaowei zither rested upon the table. With a resounding "zheng," those hands plucked its strings.

In an instant, ten fingers danced, and a chaotic surge of music arose. In the blink of an eye, everything entered another world ruled by the sound of the zither. The melody was not fierce; its quiet notes flowed like a murmuring clear spring, sweet and pleasing to the ear.

The old branches atop the courtyard wall creaked softly, as though startled by the music. They suddenly shook, scattering great drifts of accumulated snow into powdery flurries that drifted down.

Few knew that the Fourteenth Prince, You Yao Sang, excelled at the zither. From childhood, he had studied under renowned masters. By the time he reached twenty, his attainments had become peerless—even the several famous teachers who had instructed him felt inferior, marveling at the extraordinary gifts of this Fourteenth Prince.

Ding dong, ding dong!

The zither's notes pierced through the goose-feather snow, lingering and