Suddenly, Yang Mo's maid hurriedly came and bowed with a smile: "Our young lady asked me to tell the second master that they have set up a banquet in the south bamboo pavilion. Please play the suona, she will send someone to invite you two." Yang Mo thought it was very considerate, as both sides had unintentionally bumped into each other, and it would be more reasonable for her to pretend to coincidentally meet them in Meilin and then let Lin Jiren and Wu Xiang compete in playing the suona.

  Wu Xiang smiled: "This girl's ghostly idea is really many." He took out two埙 from his sleeve, looked at them carefully, picked one out, wiped a snow-white silk handkerchief clean, put it to his lips and tried the sound, sank his breath into his abdomen, and began to play.

  Lu Xuan was intently staring at his finger movements on the side, and his hands hidden in his sleeves were also unconsciously following along.

  Wu Xiang blew to the exciting part, unintentionally glanced at Lu Xuan's small action, raised an eyebrow, and deliberately turned his back to blow, not letting Lu Xuan see his fingerings.

  No one likes someone who dislikes themselves and inexplicably tramples on their own good intentions. Lin Jiren's attitude really shocked and disgusted people. Lu Xian was taken aback, then furrowed his brow and silently stared at Lin Jiren, his face growing paler, his eyes darker, and his lips tightly pursed. Those familiar with him knew this was a sign that he was angry.

  Lin Jinyong naturally knew that she was facing Lu Xuan, lifting her chin and looking at him with a slight disdain. She had never been the kind of woman who would scatter flowers, throw tantrums or love to throw tantrums, although she was weak, quiet and tolerant, but she also had her own pride and self-respect, only her pride and self-respect were expressed through silence and contemptuous eyes.

  She still remembers that this expression of hers is what Lu Xuan hates the most. Originally, she and he could still quarrel, when she was exhausted and at a loss, as long as she struck this pose, he would be filled with disgust and slam the door to leave, and she would also get a moment's peace. And what she wants to do today is to make Lin Yuzhen, Lu Yun, and Lu Xuan never want to see her again, so how can she provoke these few people's annoyance? She'll come however she pleases.

  Lu Xian did not show the intense anger that Lin Jian Rong had imagined, and after the initial anger from being scolded by her for no reason had passed, his eyebrows furrowed even tighter, with a hint of confusion.

  Lin Jinyong was also perplexed. Shouldn't he have sneered disdainfully, turned his sleeve and left, and then avoided her by three feet whenever he saw her again? Why didn't things go as she had imagined and planned?

  "What are you talking about?" Yang Mei walked over from behind, gently grasping Lin Jianrong's arm, affectionately placing her chin on his shoulder, and curiously scanning the faces of the two with a pair of clever eyes. The expected effect was not achieved, so Lin Jianrong naturally withdrew his chin and smiled harmlessly at Yang Cha: "We were talking about the tea fight earlier." His eyes slanted sideways, but saw that Lu Xian's gaze on her face had not been withdrawn, only the puzzled expression deepened.

  He probably didn't think that one person could change their face so quickly, right? Lin Jingrong secretly sneered, turning her face as easily as flipping a book, and this was all learned from him. Yang Mei also very intelligently stopped asking questions, but instead smiled and said: "Just now someone told me that they heard you play the sheng better than him, he's not convinced, wants to have a competition with you, are you willing?"

  "I... Lin Jinyong had just spoken a word when Yang Mei stretched out a finger and pressed it to her lips, shaking her head with a smile: "No excuses, anyone who makes excuses is a coward."

  Coward. Lin Jinrong lowered his head and smiled, then immediately raised his head and said: "Actually, I'm not as good as Wu Ergou, and today is not very convenient. If you want to compare, there will be opportunities in the future, why bother at this time?"

  "What about later?" Yang Mei raised her voice: "Later, as we grow up, where can we easily gather together to meet and talk like now? Next autumn, my brother will go to Taoming Prefecture to take the exam, I'm afraid he'll soon be locked up in his room studying hard and won't be able to come out easily. Besides, you know his temper, he's arrogant and can't stand anyone being better than him. It's better to seize the day, today is the best chance." She lowered her voice, "You play well, if you win against him, you'll gain fame... Who knows, it might also bring some benefits to you, at least your sisters won't dare be arrogant in front of you again."

  Lin Jian smiled faintly. As innocent as Yang Miao, the women in this world are not just talented enough to be arrogant. However, today she has done too many things out of line, and it's not lacking in this regard, so she might as well do it thoroughly and add some fun to it. Lin Jian didn't look at Lu Xian again, raised an eyebrow and smiled: "How is it?"

  Yang Miao said: "It's just that we few are not very fun, more people make it lively."

  "Two brothers are waiting here, let's go invite the sisters to come out and tread on the snow to see the plum blossoms, then we'll have a competition." After finishing speaking, loudly calling out to Cui Zhēnzhēn who was playing not far away: "Zhēnzhēn, let's go! We're going to get some good food at the rice shop."

  Chui Zhenzhen shouted, and the servant girl ran over, grabbed Yang Mei's hand, and followed Yang Mei and Lin Jinyong to Tingxue Pavilion. As they approached Tingxue Pavilion, Yang Mei instructed Lin Jinyong: "Later on, don't say anything, just let me do the talking."

  The atmosphere in the Snow Listening Pavilion was warm and harmonious at this time. Lin Wu pulled Lu Yun, along with Lu Yang'er and several other girls, whispering something to each other, all of them with smiles on their faces. As soon as they saw Lin Jian Rong's three people enter, Lin Wu immediately wiped the smile off his face, slightly revealing a look of disdain. Lu Yun's eyelashes trembled, and she stood up enthusiastically to greet: "Fourth sister, Yang sister, Zhen Zhen, come over quickly while it's still warm."

  Yang Mo waved her hand and pushed Lin Jinkang forward: "You go warm up, don't worry about the rest."

  Lin Jinyong walked over and sat down without hesitation, glancing at Lin Wu with a smile, looking at Lu Yun and saying in a low voice: "Yun sister-in-law, I..." Lu Yun quickly lowered her eyelashes, interrupting her words: "Fourth sister is talented and artistic, please teach me more in the future, don't hide your skills." Hide skills? Lin Jinyong smiled, but before she could speak, she heard Lin Wu sigh to the person next to him: "Yun sister-in-law's magnanimity is truly one in a million."

  The crowd of women heard this, although their faces were different, they all nodded in agreement. Lu Yun lowered her eyes and said softly: "Don't praise me anymore, willing to gamble and admit defeat is the right principle."

  Lin Qi made a painful expression, Lin Liu secretly pinched her and smiled at Lu Yun, nodding his head. He then looked at Lin Jianrong with a meaningful glance, hinting for him to take a look at Lin Wu's flattering face, before showing a helpless expression.

  As they spoke, Yang Mao ran over with a smile and said: "Let's go, let's go, everyone go outside. The snow has stopped now, and Mrs. Lu promised to set up a banquet for us in the plum forest to enjoy the snow and appreciate the plums. All the aunties have also agreed, so those who are not afraid of the cold can go."

  The girls present were all twelve or thirteen years old, and were at their most lively and active. As soon as they heard the words, they all got up one after another, calling out to the maidservants to bring their own cloaks and hand warmers, and went out in a group. Meanwhile, Wu Xiang watched Lin Jianrong's figure disappear into the distance, and curiously asked Lu Dian: "How did you offend Lin Si?"

  Lu Jian shook his head: "I don't know either." He had only casually seen Lin Wu forcing Lin Jinyong to apologize to Lin Yuzhen and Lu Yun, and felt that Lin Jinyong was also quite helpless. So he hinted to her not to worry, he would take care of it for her. Who knew it would end up like this? She treated him as if he were an enemy, with a kind of disgust and hatred that didn't seem fake, making people feel both depressed and puzzled.

  "Come on! Don't you know?" Wu Xiang didn't believe it at all: "I'm most familiar with Lin Si's temperament, which is gentle and yielding. She rarely speaks and has a calm personality, most loving to avoid trouble and fearing to provoke disputes. Growing up, I've only seen her lose her temper once for the sake of her seventh brother. If you hadn't seriously offended her, how could she have treated you like that? She's probably more polite to a beggar on the street than to you! It's likely that you took advantage of her when you were alone with Lin Wu in this forest and bullied her!" As he spoke, he also slyly squinted his eyes.

  He said that calling him a flower was harsh, and with Lin Wu bullying Lin Jianrong together, Wu Xiang's expression made people very unhappy. Lu Jian was extremely displeased, but didn't directly explain, only lightly glancing at Wu Xiang: "You don't believe me? I say she plays the flute worse than you, must compare with her, I bet you'll definitely lose today!"

  Wu Xiang's face wore a faint smile, as if he didn't care at all, but his eyes flashed with two sparks of fire: "Alright! Let's make a bet! If I lose, that rare chess manual is yours! But if I win... your set of precious books will be mine! Do you dare?"

  Lu Jiansi thought for a moment and nodded slightly.

  Wu Xiang burst out laughing. As if he had already seen that precious and rare set, which he had searched for everywhere but never managed to collect in its entirety, become his own possession.

  Lu Xian's lips curled up into a faint, almost imperceptible smile. Wu Xiang would definitely regret it until he vomited blood. Thinking of this, he furrowed his brow again. Lin Jian Rong, everyone said she was gentle and quiet, but every time he saw her, she was fierce and aggressive, even when being pressured by Lin Wu and others. Although she looked helpless, it could be seen that she wasn't actually afraid, but rather coldly watching the joke. Why did she dislike him so much? Was it because of Lin Yu Zhen? Or for some other reason?

  Suddenly, Yang Mo's maid rushed over and bowed with a smile: "Our young lady has asked me to tell you that she has set up a banquet in the south bamboo pavilion. Please play the sheng for her, and she will send someone to invite the two of you." Yang Mo thought this was very considerate, as it would be more reasonable for them to coincidentally meet here rather than her deliberately coming to the plum forest to meet with the two men and then having Lin Jianrong and Wu Xiang compete in playing the sheng. Wu Xiang smiled: "This maid really has a lot of clever ideas." He took out two sheng from his sleeve, carefully examined them, chose one, wiped it clean with a white silk handkerchief, put it to his lips, and tested its sound. With his air sinking into his dantian, he began to play. Lu Jian stood beside him, intently staring at the changes in his fingerings, while her hands hidden in her sleeves also unconsciously followed the changes. When Wu Xiang reached the most exciting part of the music, he inadvertently caught sight of Lu Jian's small movements and raised an eyebrow. He deliberately turned his back to play, not letting Lu Jian see his fingerings.

  The two of them were both young and talented, and on the surface, they seemed to get along well. However, in reality, they also had a hidden competitive spirit between them. It was like playing chess: Wu Xiang had a unique strategy that he had studied since childhood, which made him one move ahead; Lu Duan, on the other hand, was a gentle and persistent person who didn't mind losing once or twice, but would continue to play without getting anxious or flustered until Wu Xiang became dizzy and exhausted and lost. This was clearly another form of cheating, but others thought it was because Wu Xiang's endurance was not as good as Lu Duan's. Wu Xiang had been resentful for a long time, and now that Lu Duan wanted to secretly learn his exceptional skills in playing the panpipes, he refused to teach him unless Lu Duan begged him.

  Lu Xuan noticed Wu Xiang's small movements, but didn't say a word. She just lowered her eyelids, folded her arms and calmly looked into the depths of the plum forest.

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