People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Cao Ze was originally prepared to end his conversation with Kuang Xiu.

He always kept his distance from these stubborn and fearless individuals.

However, when he saw the wine jars piled up in the corner of the yard, he suddenly changed his mind.

“Master Kuang Xiu, I have a friend…”

Kuang Xiu smiled dismissively, "Is this friend yourself?"

He had heard the story of "I have a friend" from Jing Ke countless times, but in the end, he was still talking about himself.

Cao Ze: "..."

He chuckled and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Master. My friend's name is Jing Ke. I'm sure Master Kuang Xiu knows him."

"Jing Ke?"

Kuang Xiu had a bad feeling and asked directly, "What do you want to say?"

Cao Ze took out a wooden plaque and said, "Jing Ke once owed me a favor. I hope that you, Master, can give Nongyu a chance for the sake of my friend."

Upon seeing the black wooden plaque, Kuang Xiu instinctively asked, "The Mo Family's plaque? How did you obtain it?"

At this moment, he believed Cao Ze's nonsense about "I have a friend."

The Mo family's ink token represents the Mo family's approval of the token's owner. In other words, with this ink token, the Mo family can act as long as it does not violate its principles.

"Given by the Six-Fingered Black Knight, the leader of the Mohist school."

Cao Ze lowered his voice and bluffed, "Master, would you like to have another drink with Jing Ke? I can bring him over."

He learned a lot about Kuang Xiu from Jing Ke.

They knew that Kuang Xiu was intimidated by Jing Ke's drinking.

Getting passed out from drinking is a trivial matter.

Kuang Xiu's expression changed slightly; it was that wine barrel.

A faint look of pain appeared on his face.

Ever since he drank with Jing Ke, he has almost always been defeated but never stopped fighting.

I even had a mental breakdown once, running around the city of Handan at night, naked.

No matter how indifferent he may appear on the surface, he can't possibly be completely nonchalant.

If he could, he would never want to drink with Jing Ke again in his life, especially since they drank so much without stopping.

“Cao Ze… So you know Xiao Ke, sir? That’s wonderful, that’s wonderful.”

Kuang Xiu forced a smile and became enthusiastic.

Ya Fei blinked. What the heck?

Zi Nu thought to herself, "Could it be that Jing Ke is some kind of reclusive master?"

Nongyu looked at Cao Ze excitedly, thinking that Mr. Cao Ze was truly amazing.

Cao Ze exchanged pleasantries with Kuang Xiu, his words implying that his brother Jing Ke enjoyed drinking with him.

Kuang Xiu wished he could kick Cao Ze out, but he didn't dare, fearing that Cao Ze would lead Jing Ke to drink with him and then run around and sing loudly in Handan at night.

“Nongyu, is it? Play a tune, the one you played outside the courtyard the year before last.”

Nongyu suppressed her excitement and gave Cao Ze a grateful and bright look.

"Good, Master."

Kuang Xiu beckoned, and a page boy brought over a zither table.

Nongyu placed the guqin she was holding on the ground.

The guqin, maintained by the sisters Hongyu with pine nut oil, has a smooth and glossy surface, giving it a very high-quality feel.

Soon, the melodious sound of a piano began to play.

Only then did Cao Ze realize that Nongyu had not used her full strength when she was competing with Liwu.

Thinking of his own wife's smug expression, he shook his head helplessly.

To Cao Ze's surprise, the music that should have attracted hundreds of birds to listen to it did not attract a single bird to stop.

It sounds really good.

After Nongyu finished playing her song.

Kuang Xiu nodded almost imperceptibly, "His musical skills are superb, and his control is precise."

"You've made birds land but not fall, which is a step further than making them land and listen. You're not far from the state of no strings. It seems you haven't slacked off in your practice these past two years."

Does this piece of music have a name?

Nong Yurou smiled and said: "The song is called "Birds in the Empty Mountain"."

Ya Fei's eyes shone even brighter as she looked at Nong Yu.

The realm of stringless mastery can almost be considered the highest level of musical skill.

In the martial arts world, that's starting from half a master, with no upper limit.

Cao Ze smiled without saying a word, thinking to himself that once Nongyu successfully became his apprentice, she would stay in Handan for at least two or three months.

Zi Nu chuckled and said, "Master Kuang Xiu, what do you think of Nong Yu becoming your disciple?"

Kuang Xiu sighed and shook his head. "If it were her two years ago, I could still take her as a student, but not now."

Nongyu was somewhat confused. Why was it that her improvement was making her less effective?

Zi Nu asked with slight anxiety, "Why?"

A thought struck Ya Fei, and she couldn't help but smile. Was her chance about to come?

Kuang Xiu said impatiently, "No means no, why ask so many questions?"

Cao Ze coughed lightly and said, "Master, please tell me."

Kuang Xiu glanced at the ink tablet Cao Ze was playing with and thought to himself, "She has already mastered everything that needs to be taught and has found her own way of playing the zither. There is nothing more I can teach her."

"In a few years, she may be able to reach my current level, so why waste her time on me?"

A man as concerned with his reputation as he is would never stoop to the level of shamelessly accepting Nongyu as his student.

Zi Nu and Nong Yu looked at each other in bewilderment.

It turns out it wasn't that they couldn't do it, but that they were too outstanding...

Zi Nu secretly regretted it.

She knew that Nongyu was very skilled at playing the zither, so she wanted to make her the top zither player at Zilanxuan, to make her famous in Korea and increase her value.

As for becoming Kuang Xiu's apprentice, it was merely a means for her to enhance Nongyu's reputation; whether she actually learned anything from him was secondary.

Cao Ze and his group left.

Kuang Xiu stood numbly in the courtyard.

Before leaving, Cao Ze told him that Jing Ke had gone to Puyang to defend the city, and that he would come to see him for a drink when he returned to Handan.

He wants to smash the piano now...

"Miss Zi Nu, how long will you be staying in Handan?"

As Ya Fei walked gracefully, she suddenly asked Zi Nu a question.

Zi Nu glanced at Cao Ze without leaving a trace, and pondered for a moment before saying, "About a month."

If she weren't afraid that Wei Zhuang would turn into a husky and destroy Zi Lan Xuan, she would actually like to stay longer.

Her progress in winning over Cao Ze was steadily improving, and she was starting to feel more confident.

Zi Nu was unaware that Cao Ze had deliberately shown her the progress bar.

Cao Ze paused for a moment. A month? That's a bit short.

"Would Miss Zi Nu be interested in staying at Fei Xue Ge?"

Ya Fei then extended an invitation.

Zi Nu thought to herself, she had no interest in staying at this shady inn. Ten gold coins for a bowl of food per person, and she didn't have much money in her purse.

"Your Highness, is it something you wish to do..."

Consort Ya smiled gently and said, "I have achieved some success in Zhao dance. In the past six months, I have choreographed a set of dance music called 'Jinghong'."

"It's a pity that while we have the dance, the music is never quite right."

Nongyu couldn't help but ask, "But what about that 'Dance of the Startled Swan,' which is described as 'as if light clouds veil the moon, as if drifting snow in a flowing wind'?"

Zi Nu softly recited: "Its form is as graceful as a startled swan, as elegant as a swimming dragon. It shines like autumn chrysanthemums and flourishes like spring pines."

"So the legendary 'Dance of the Startling Swan' that has spread throughout the seven kingdoms was actually created by Your Highness."

Ya Fei smiled modestly, “The inspiration came from Mr. Cao Ze’s ‘Ode to the Snow Maiden’.”

Zi Nu and Nong Yu glanced at Cao Ze, who was walking by as if no one else was around.

So it's this guy again.

Like Ya Fei, Cao Ze smiled reservedly, maintaining his composure.

Ya Fei blinked her phoenix eyes and snorted, "Speaking of which, Mr. Cao Ze, haven't you had any inspiration for 'Ode to the Snow Maiden' yet? More than half a year has passed."

Cao Ze chuckled awkwardly, "Next time for sure, next time for sure."

He had only read the entire Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River, which was a thousand characters long, two or three times in high school, and he couldn't remember some parts very clearly.

In addition, I was always busy, so I didn't take the time to think about making changes.

Soon after, they each went their separate ways.

Zi Nu agreed to Ya Fei's request and spent some time learning the "Dance of the Startled Swan" with Nong Yu at Fei Xue Pavilion, and also learned the score of the "Snow Maiden Song".

After returning to Xinzheng, they plan to use this as a gimmick to raise prices at Zilanxuan and boost the spending of the nobility.

……