SOUND OF XIAO AND GUQIN

SOUND OF XIAO AND GUQIN (XIAO YU QIN ZHI YIN)

Yet another dreary performance I have to deliver.

"Miss, are you sure you don't want to dress more...lavishly?"

The attendant awkwardly looked at the mingji who only donned her usual white dress. She wore a simple hairstyle that had part of her hair tied up in a bun with a silver zanzi while the rest flowed down her back. Despite sticking to a plain outfit for her performances, her ethereal look had earned her praise, and she had risen through the ranks, becoming one of the most renowned courtesans in their qinglou, a higher-ranked brothel.

"You've asked this so many times. Don't worry, I'm fine as it is. It's just going to be another practice session."

She carefully picked up her guqin that had a red tassel swinging from its right side. The spirited sounds from the banquet outside were already flowing in. Pushing open the door, she took in the dazzling lights and grandeur red decorations that had been set up for this important occasion that was said to include a few puissant figures.

Settling herself behind the translucent pingfeng screen, she placed her guqin on the table prepared for her. A mingji like her wasn't supposed to reveal her appearance easily, and patrons could offer exorbitant amounts just to have one glimpse of her.

"Sir, with your experience in...interacting with the opposite gender...I mean...listening to the guqin, what do you think of this place? I have heard that a mingji in this brothel is a prolific guqin player."

Another playboy noble and someone pandering to him. Sigh, was I really hoping for another person to understand my music just like that person did?

Back when she was still a noble a year ago, she would tirelessly practise the guqin as she reminisced about her mother who had taught her the guqin. Once, she decided to disguise as a male so that she could slip into a gathering of musicians. Halfway through her performance, the melody of a xiao from afar had joined her in harmony. Despite having never met the other party, she suddenly felt a special connection to them, as if they both understood each other's music and soul.

However, all that came crashing down in a few days when her family fell. Accused of treason, the adult males in her family were executed while the rest of the family were branded as slaves. Although her life was spared, she was sold to a brothel and reduced to becoming a ji. With only a tiny spark of a seemingly ridiculous hope that the sound of her guqin would be recognised, she had strived hard to achieve her position today.

"You may start playing."

Hearing the cue, she ceased all thoughts except for the imagery of the seasons she wanted to present. Her fingers began to dance across the strings as the enthralling mellow notes filled the room.

Swoosh!

"Assassins!"

One of her strings broke, cutting the flesh of her finger. The room was plunged into chaos as the sounds of metal clanging and blood-curdling screams penetrated the air, and an unmistakable metallic scent suffused the room.

She quickly grabbed her guqin and prepared to make her escape when she felt a sense of danger washed over her. Before she could react, a shadow flashed past her eyes as someone's back suddenly crashed into the pingfeng screen, blood splattering across the translucent material.

Did he just...?

"Hey, are you alright?" She frantically asked.

"You're not hurt, are you?" A familiar male voice answered her, anxiety evident in his voice.

Isn't this the playboy noble from just now? So he really did...but why?

"You...won't die, right?" Her heart was rapidly palpitating as her eyes landed on the pool of blood.

"That's not my blood; well, not all of it anyways." He replied as he countered another enemy. "Stay behind me."

For some reason unbeknownst to her, she involuntarily did as she was told. Crouching behind the table, she nervously peeked at the slaughter happening right past the pingfeng screen. When she glanced around her, her eyes widened at the sight of the bodies of the madam and a few of her fellow ji lying motionlessly on the ground. She wondered if she would meet with the same fate, but every time an assassin got close, the man would always take them down in time.

At long last, silence enveloped the room, following which the thud of a body dropping to the ground could be heard. She slowly stood up, trying to find out if the man was still alive. Before she could walk over to the other side of the pingfeng screen, a feeble voice finally calmed her heart.

"That time, during the gathering of musicians, I was too late. All I knew was that the guqin player was a girl in disguise as a man."

She halted in her tracks. "Were you...the one who..."

A bout of heavy coughing resounded in her ears.

"Hang in there!" She exclaimed as she dashed over, their eyes meeting for the first time. However, her attention immediately shifted to his blood-soaked clothes, and her mind went blank.

His grin pulled her back. "Don't worry, I will definitely let you hear me play the xiao again."

~~~END~~~

Sound of Xiao and Guqin (Xiao Yu Qin Zhi Yin)