The Double-Chapter 80 - 72 Absolute Beauty_7
80: Chapter 72 Absolute Beauty_7
80 -72 Absolute Beauty_7
It was played for oneself.
Jiang Li’s gaze didn’t focus on any particular spot, yet it seemed to take in everything before her eyes.
The musician had left her hometown and lost her children; not only had she left her hometown, she had lost her children, her family had been destroyed, and her loved ones had perished.
The wolf by her side had destroyed her family in this unwarranted disaster, leaving nothing behind.
Yet, what was hateful was that her enemies continued to rise in high places.
Since her rebirth, she had finally seen her enemies again, but she could not avenge her father and brother at this very moment, and had to suppress her rage.
To restrain oneself silently was tragic; a deep hatred as vast as the sea was tragic; innocent wrongful deaths were tragic; a family’s misfortune was tragic.
Oppression by the powerful was tragic, and the indifference of heaven was tragic.
Tragic, tragic, tragic!
The zither music sounded piercingly sharp, like a sword thrusting straight into the sky.
In that instant, a righteous indignation surged up, causing listeners to feel heartbroken, filled with sorrow beyond control.
Heartrending!
Mournful!
Agony piercing through the heart!
After many years, someone finally played “Hu Jia Eighteen Beats” for the first time at the Inspection Field.
It was originally thought that this girl would do quite well just to remember the fingering completely, but Jiang Li not only remembered it completely, she was also proficient.
It was evident that she was not unfamiliar with it at all.
That would have been fine, but how could a fifteen-year-old girl play the “tragic” so well?!
Twelve beats of joy and sorrow, hesitation in expressing feelings too complex to state.
Thirteen beats see the strings swiftly evoking sadness, my heartache unknown to others, stirred and shredded.
Fourteen beats, tears mingling with sobs, as the river flows east, my thoughts drift.
Fifteen beats, the rhythm hastens, breath fills the chest, who understands the tune?
Sixteen beats, thoughts vast and vague, my child and I, each on different sides.
Sun rises in the east and moon sets in the west, gazing at each other in vain, not allowed to follow, leaving only a broken heart.
Facing the Chinese motherwort, my worries unforgotten, playing the resounding zither, why such pain?
Today, separated from my child, returning to my homeland, old resentments deepen, new ones grow long.
Crying tears of blood, I look up and lament, why was I born to suffer this plight alone.
Xiao Deyin, who had always been gentle, now had a somewhat rigid expression.
Upon closer inspection, her fingers were still trembling slightly.
Jiang Li’s zither music, at least for “Hu Jia Eighteen Beats,” was far superior to hers!
Jiang Li’s remarkable skill displayed in this piece could even qualify her to be Xiao’s teacher!
The title of Yanjing’s first zither master now seemed like a joke!
Immortal Jing Hong was also very surprised; she was already a wife and mother, indifferent to fame and wealth, so a younger generation surpassing her did not make her nervous.
She was just puzzled; how could a fourteen-year-old girl understand the mournful depth of “Hu Jia Eighteen Beats” so thoroughly?
Even though Jiang Li had lost her mother at a young age and was sent to the temple at seven, and despite the eight years of austere life in the mountains, those hardships did not equate to the “mournfulness” expressed in the zither music.
It was simply unbelievable.
Mian Ju was the happiest of all, his eyes lighting up, staring at Jiang Li as if a miser who had suddenly discovered a huge piece of gold, drooling over the thought, reluctant to shift his gaze away even slightly.
He even muttered to himself, “She’s a natural-born zither master!”
Shi Yan was somewhat better than Mian Ju, but upon hearing Jiang Li’s zither music, he altered his previously arrogant demeanor and gradually became moved.
As a music officer, he didn’t share Mian Ju’s disregard for decorum, but any good zither music would receive his heartfelt appreciation.
Last of the four, however, was Jih Heng.
The entire audience was bewitched by Jiang Li’s zither music, which seemed to have the power to confuse the mind, making everyone who heard it feel a sense of sadness, as if they were staring at barren, grassless yellow earth, which in turn reminded them of their own sorrowful matters, too overwhelmed to control themselves.
Zither music indeed has such magical power.
It’s said that a Demon Qin Master could lead people into a self-made illusion with their music, causing them to lose themselves.
The world may not have Demon Qin Masters, but it does have highly skilled musicians who can convey their hearts and emotions through zither music.
While everyone was captivated by the zither master, there was only one person who remained unmoved by the melody.
Unlike Jiang Youyao and Meng Hongjin, who were jealous of the zither music, and Xiao Deyin, who feared the zither skills, and unlike the others who were immersed in it, he merely watched Jiang Li, his smile not changing in the slightest.
Jih Heng was watching Jiang Li.
His long eyelashes accentuated a gaze that seemed to be deeply mesmerizing, as if he too were intoxicated by it.
Yet, a closer look would reveal how lucid he was.
He had isolated himself from the zither music, and likewise, from the crowd.
He watched Jiang Li play the zither as if he were watching an opera troupe perform in his own mansion; he watched the crowd on the Inspection Field become enraptured by Jiang Li’s music as if he were witnessing a play within a play.
Above and below the stage, life swirled all around; in the bustle of the mortal world, he stood like a heartless beauty, observing from outside the play, content to watch the drama unfold.
He was very lucidly detaching himself.
Some were detaching themselves, others were falling under the spell, but what about the person playing the zither, Jiang Li?
She was enveloped in immense sorrow, the zither’s mournful tones and the desolation in her heart seemed to become two shadows growing against each other, competing to stretch further.
She was like bisected into two: one was a fervent Xue Fangfei, passionately recounting her sorrows through the melody; the other, Jiang Li, watched the audience’s reactions with a cool detachment.
Seventeen beats, oh, they make my heart and nose sour; mountains and monasteries obstruct, oh, making the journey hard.
Departing, my heart carried the soil, oh, without any thread; returning, I leave my child, oh, my thoughts are endless and broad.
Eighteen beats, oh, the melody ends; the echo lingers, oh, the thoughts are boundless.
It is known that silk and bamboo, oh, are all nature’s achievement; joy and sorrow follow the heart, oh, with change they connect.
Barbarian and Chinese, oh, different realms, different customs; heaven and earth apart, oh, my son is in the west, my mother in the east.
Alas, my grievances, oh, vast as the sky; though the universe is wide, oh, it seems it cannot contain them.
Sadness always has an end, and zither music will always come to a closure.
Jiang Li strummed the final tune, suddenly cutting off the sound, and after the huge resonance, there was an empty silence.
Not a person spoke; all things under heaven seemed to silently mourn for the sorrowful zither music.
Below the stage, Liu Xu only felt a cool dampness on her face; raising her hand, she realized that, unknowingly, her cheeks were wet with tears.
Looking around, she wasn’t the only one moved to tears by the music, all were melancholically lost.
“Hu Jia Eighteen Beats” had finally been played at the Inspection Field, and the rustic tune that preceded the eighteen beats added even more mournful color to this sad melody.
The audience couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward Jiang Li on the stage; had they not seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed that such a piece could have been played by a fifteen-year-old girl.
The girl stood on the inspection stage, the breeze causing her hair to rustle.
She hung her head low, her expression indiscernible, yet one could feel her quiet presence.
Jiang Li sighed deeply in her heart.
As she raised her head, she froze. freewёbnoνel.com
She met a pair of narrow, beautiful phoenix eyes, brimming with amusement.
