Tong Aning herself was also surprised.
She and Yingtao followed the maid upstairs and into a private room, where tea was being brewed. The aroma of tea filled the air, and Tong Aning felt as if she were floating on air.
Yingtao was a little nervous, constantly looking around. She whispered, "Miss, have we run into a scammer?"
"Her scamming technique is quite novel."
Yingtao:...?
Is this the important point, miss?!
Yingtao dared not let her guard down, protecting Tong Aning as if she were a chick.
The girl Qinxin, whom they had just seen below, was now sitting peacefully at the table drinking tea. There was another cup of tea opposite her.
Qinxin said, "Miss, please."
Her kind face and gentle voice made Yingtao less wary.
Tong Aning sat down. Although she didn't drink tea often, it didn't stop her from knowing that the cup in front of her was good tea.
Tong Aning took a sip and looked at Qinxin: "You didn't just invite me for tea, did you?"
"Of course not," said Qinxin's maid, Xiaoruo. "Miss, please tell me what kind of music you would like to hear or what kind of dance you would like to see."
Tong Aning went to see Yingtao, but Yingtao was also puzzled.
Why the sudden change to singing and dancing?
Qinxin asked, "You don't like either of these, young lady?"
Tong Aning stammered, "It's not that I don't like it."
[Host, this is Cold Mist Pavilion. Qinxin used to be the most beautiful courtesan here.]
Tong Aning was even more confused; how had she ended up in the territory of the Cold Mist Pavilion?
Before Tong Aning could make a decision, Qinxin probably realized that she had made a mistake.
She said, "Since you have mistakenly entered my Cold Mist Pavilion, please leave."
Tong Aning: "Huh?"
[Oh well, we're already here.]
Tong Aning said, "I'll listen to the music."
Qinxin said, "Alright, please come this way, young lady."
Tong Aning followed Qinxin behind the screen, where a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) was placed.
When Qinxin, Xiaoruo lit a stick of sandalwood incense beside the guqin, and Tong Aning's heart immediately calmed down.
She rested her chin on her hand, her eyes crinkling as she watched Qinxin play.
From the girl's eyes, it was clear that she was simply appreciating the music, or perhaps she herself had no ulterior motives.
Qinxin was overjoyed to have met such a pure person in a long time, and her music became even more beautiful.
Only when the last note faded did Tong Aning awaken from her beautiful dream. She stood up, applauded Qinxin, and earnestly praised her, " Qinxin, you played so well!"
" Qinxin flatter me, young lady."
Tong Aning rubbed her hands together, looking embarrassed, and said, "Could I listen to it again?"
Tong Aning is getting a little carried away.
Xiaoruo: "This is not right..."
Qinxin interrupted her, "Okay."
Qinxin sat back down behind her zither and asked softly, "Is this the same piece?"
"It's still this song, but," Tong Aning asked worriedly, "Are you sure it's okay?"
Xiaoruo hesitated, then Qinxin shook her head. "It's alright."
[Let's not cause them any trouble.]
Tong Aning said, "Then I'll only listen to this one song today, and I'll come again tomorrow."
Qinxin skipped a beat, "Miss, are you really alright..."
Tong Aning, however, had already made up her mind. "I don't want to put you in a difficult position."
Qinxin was stunned; no one had ever said such a thing to her before.
She smiled and said, "Alright, I'll be here tomorrow, waiting for you."
Tong Aning smiled and said, "I'll definitely come tomorrow."
As the maidservants saw Tong Aning and the others off, a scholar-looking man brushed past them.
The scholar entered the private room, and the maidservant, somewhat anxious, said, "Miss, I'll see you this far."
Before Tong Aning could nod, she quickly turned back.
Yingtao said, "Miss, don't you think that maid seems very worried about what that scholar might do?"
Tong Aning: "Shall we go back and take a look?"
Yingtao: "Okay."
The two tiptoed to the door of the private room.
Why is it a woman today?
"Can't women be women? I'm a woman too."
"That's not what I meant. How many women can read poetry? You should try to find more high-ranking officials and wealthy people. Who knows, if they hear you recite poetry, I might rise to prominence."
Tong Aning rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky.
[Another gigolo.]
Qinxin was startled; it seemed she had heard the voice of that girl from before.
Seeing that Qinxin Qinxin was ignoring him, Qiu Lingsong thought she was angry, so he quickly coaxed her softly, "I'm not being harsh on you, I was just too anxious."
Qinxin said, "I understand. Your poems are all excellent. You have such extraordinary talent that you shouldn't be overlooked. But please believe me, otherwise I wouldn't have returned to the Cold Mist Pavilion."
Qiu Lingsong held Qinxin's hand and said, " Qinxin, thank you. When I make something of myself, I will definitely give you a grand wedding procession."
[They're just making empty promises.]
[If you become successful, you'll be lucky if you don't abandon Qinxin.]
[Besides, these poems of yours are all plagiarized; aren't you afraid that once you become famous, someone will dig them up?]
Copy?
Qinxin suddenly felt a chill.
When she was still the most sought-after courtesan at the Cold Mist Pavilion, one day, a crumpled piece of paper was thrown into her room through the window.
She picked it up and looked at it, discovering it was a poem.
Although Qinxin had fallen into prostitution, she was a lover of poetry. The poem only had the first two lines. With nothing else to do, Qinxin wrote the last two lines and then threw the crumpled paper out the window.
Every day after that, crumpled pieces of paper would be thrown in, and Qinxin would then exchange poems with that person.
Over time, Qinxin gradually came to regard that person as a kindred spirit, but she still didn't know who that person was, which almost became a source of anxiety for her.
Later, she saved enough money to redeem herself. On the street, she bumped into Qiu Lingsong, and a piece of paper fell from his arms. The paper happened to have those poems on it.
Qinxin, "At least God hasn't been too cruel to me."
She had been with Qiu Lingsong for three months. She knew that Qiu Lingsong had a lot of talent but no way to use it. She hated herself for not being able to help Qiu Lingsong.
It wasn't until Qiu Lingsong mentioned that many high-ranking officials and nobles frequented Cold Mist Pavilion that she came up with this idea: to sing at the Cold Mist Pavilion and only receive one guest per day, hoping to let more people know about Qiu Lingsong's poems.
But if Qiu Lingsong copied all of this, then wouldn't she have mistaken the person for someone else?
Qinxin felt a burning pain in her heart.
Qinxin tentatively suggested, " Lingsong, let's compose a poem together, just like before. You write the first two lines, and I'll write the last two, okay?"
Qiu Lingsong frowned. "Now?"
"Yes, now."
Qiu Lingsong's eyes darted around, and he said considerately, "You've worked hard too. Let me go buy some food, and then we can recite poems together, shall we?"
Qinxin nodded. "Okay."
Watching Qiu Lingsong push open the door and leave, Qinxin if she was overthinking things.
Tong Aning and Yingtao quickly hid. They saw Qiu Lingsong go downstairs and head straight for the backyard.
A short while later, Qiu Lingsong returned with a person, and they entered the private room next door.
Tong Aning and Yingtao skillfully switched rooms to eavesdrop.
"Hurry up and write it! Do you even want her to have a good life?"
"Okay, I'll write it."
It can now be confirmed that the person was the gunman Qiu Lingsong had hired for himself.
Yingtao asked, "Miss, are we just going to watch like this, or should we inform the young master?"
" Qiu Lingsong should be arrested, but he's a very cunning man; if we're going to arrest him, we should catch him red-handed."
"This servant will obey Miss."
Tong Aning sent Yingtao to find Xue Lin; she had come up with a wicked idea.
While Qiu Lingsong was having that person write a poem, Tong Aning knocked on the door of the private room next door. Xiaoruo opened the door.
Xiaoruo's eyes widened. "Why are you back?"
Tong Aning: "Shh, quickly let your young lady come out."
Xiaoruo didn't understand why, but she still let Qinxin come out.
Without saying a word, Tong Aning grabbed Qinxin's hand, walked to the private room where Qiu Lingsong was, and kicked the door open so fast that Qiu Lingsong had no chance to hide her.
Qinxin stared at all this in disbelief. " Lingsong, what are you doing here?"
Qiu Lingsong was a bad person, but he was exceptionally quick-witted. "I've come to get the ink."
Xiaoruo said, "There's one in the room..."
Qiu Lingsong said, "What do you know? I'm talking to your master, how dare you interrupt?"
Xiaoruo reluctantly shut her mouth. Qiu Lingsong was always like this, not only ordering her around, but sometimes also getting angry with Qinxin.
He was a scoundrel, yet Qinxin tolerated him repeatedly because of his poetry.
Xiaoruo sometimes thinks that this world is really unfair; how could a villain like Qiu Lingsong have such talent?
Qinxin said, " Xiaoruo is just outspoken, why make things difficult for her like this?"
"I wasn't trying to make things difficult for her, I just..."
Xiaoruo walked around to the table, picked up the Xuan paper whose ink was still wet, and said, "Miss, aren't these the poems we recited together?"
Qinxin walked to Xiaoruo's side and murmured, "It really is..."
Qinxin looked at the person who had been keeping their head down since they came in and asked, "Did you write this?"
[Admit it already!]
The man shook his head.
I'm so anxious!
Tong Aning pretended to look at it, then said, "This wasn't written by you. Who else could have written it?"
Qiu Lingsong: "How can you say that? He's not the only one in this room. Maybe he's secretly hiding here copying my poems."
[What a brilliant example of the reversed Heavenly Generals!]
Qiu Lingsong asked, "Don't you think so?"
[This is his only chance. If he agrees, Qinxin will never know the truth.]
Ye Lü paused, clenched his fist, and suddenly raised his head, his sharp and cold eyes meeting Qinxin's.
Qinxin felt a tremor in her heart, as if a new soul, built from those verses, was recognizing her missing half.
Qinxin choked back tears and said, "It's you, it really is you."
She walked up to Ye Lü. "Why didn't you come to find me? Why did you have someone impersonate you?"
"I..."
Ye Lü wanted to speak, but felt a sense of powerlessness.
Qiu Lingsong snorted, "Why? Of course, it's because he's not as handsome as me, and his background isn't as good as mine. He's simply not good enough for you."
"Wait, wait, wait."
Tong Aning sized up Qiu Lingsong, Qiu Lingsong stood tall and proud, letting her scrutinize him. Tong Aning said, "Putting aside his background, you're not as handsome as me... Do you have a mirror at home?"
When I first saw Qiu Lingsong, I thought someone's stick insect had come to life.