Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Twang!

The resounding sound of the lute string quivered in the air.

At the beginning, the notes resounded one at a time, before gradually overlapping by twos and threes.

Right now, Xu Zi’s lute was the only instrument supposedly being played as of the moment, but it sounded to Yui Mei as if she was backed up by several accompanists behind her. 

The wooden pick that Xu Zi was holding violently plucked the strings of the lute, and it was unbelievable that she had only recently suffered from pain in her hands.

Moreover, her hands shouldn’t be ablet to endure the way she fiercely played.

It was as if she was playing without any regard to consequences.

“So this is the Lute Musician Xu Zi…”

Yui Mei muttered, lost in the music of the lute, then before she knew it, tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

‘So this is the kind of person she is…’

Yui Mei was once again reminded with such gusto that Xu played the lute not for herself, much less for the guests who listened to her.

Xu must’ve passionately played for her family when she lived with them.

And when she fell in love, she must’ve played with that person in mind.

The emotions carried within each note tickled the hearts of those who listen to it, invoking the feelings that lay deep within the hearts of the listeners, shaking them up in the form of empathy.

That was why the sound of her lute was so powerful — it could sway the hearts of the people who heard it.

And now, Xu was passionately playing her lute to convey that she loved her beloved with all her soul.

The current Yui Mei didn’t have the emotions that could sufficiently relate to Xu’s feelings.

‘How envious, how painful her life must have been…’

Yui Mei was so immersed that she even forgot to wipe her overflowing tears, while Du sighed as he listened beside her.

“Hmm, the flavor of the sound of her lute has deepened again, huh. Things like good or bad techniques are all but trivial matters to her. She’s truly a naturally gifted lute musician.”

Du narrowed his eyes.

“Naturally gifted lute musician.”

Yui Mei repeated his words as if savoring them.

She had believed that geniuses and gifted people simply meant they had superior skills and ability as a person who walked the same path as them.

However, it wasn’t true.

If this was the so-called ‘innate ability’, or naturally gifted, then it would be a power bestowed by the heavens and cannot be measured by other people’s sense of value.

Even the criminal courtesan Jiang — she must’ve been an excellent lute player, but she wouldn’t be able to escape the comparison with Xu.

For Jiang, it could only be said she was in the wrong period of time.

Still, she could’ve gone her way without being corrupted; a sin was still a sin.

Yui Mei also had another thought.

‘Just what part of this ceremony is a funeral rite, I wonder?’

Who could ever travel peacefully to the underworld after listening to such a soulful, yearning song?

Despite Xu’s earlier words of sending him off, her music carried her obsession; it sounded as if she was trying to pull her lover out of the underworld no matter what it would take, even if he had already set foot there.

Yui Mei was actually tempted to say that this ‘funeral rites’ is nothing but a sham.

Xu probably didn’t even believe that her beloved had already passed away, but it sounded as if she gave up after battling against the feeling of not being able to give him up while trying to come to terms about the facts written on paper. Her heart had been exhausted.

Not a single person uttered anything. Everyone was shrouded in silence as they listened to Xu’s spirited lute performance, quietly observing where this situation would lead.

“Come now, look over there.”

Yui Mei also noticed it at that same moment when Du called out to her and gestured to a certain place.

She saw Dong, who was standing next to Ming, fell down amidst the group of soldiers quietly standing.