Wu Xiang quietly turned his face to glance at Lu Xian's movements, seeing that he didn't look at himself again, and there was no anger or embarrassment on his face. He couldn't help but feel a bit bored, so he turned around again to blow air at Lu Xian, wanting to get him to look over again. However, Lu Xian refused to look at him even once more.

  As the music ended, a young maid came walking through the snow and solemnly invited them: "The girls are all in the bamboo pavilion surrounding the stove to admire the snow and plum blossoms. Hearing such a wonderful sound, they are very respectful. Please invite the two young masters to join in the fun."

  Wu Xiang took the flute and had just taken a step forward when Lu Dian said in a low voice, "With your state of mind from just now, you've already lost by a large margin. You will definitely lose!"

  He still insisted on winning! Wu Xiang was slightly angry and stopped in his tracks, turning his head to look at Lu Jian, but Lu Jian had already gone forward with a smile.

  Seven or eight large bronze braziers in the silver silk charcoal were burning red, warming the four-sided bamboo pavilion. The girls wrapped in light fur coats, holding delicate hand warmers, sat together in a circle and chatted.

  Behind her, the maidservants stood waiting to block the wind, in front of her were exquisite food and hot tea, raising her eyes she could still take in the beautiful snowy scenery, and at the tip of her nose was the cold fragrance of plum blossoms. In this atmosphere and scene, even if one's mood wasn't good, like Lu Yun or Lin Wu, they couldn't help but reveal a smile from the bottom of their hearts.

  But the pair of young men walking slowly from deep in the forest made everyone's eyes shine. Some people were more reserved, stealing a glance and then lowering their heads to smile, while others were bolder, using their female companions as cover to stare openly.

  Lin Wu considered himself to be somewhat related to those two and more familiar with them, so he stood up and warmly greeted them, causing everyone to look on with envy and admiration, his face and eyes involuntarily revealing a hint of pride.

  Yang Mei suddenly stood up and pointed to the railing opposite the crowd: "Second brother, you all sit there!"

  Wu Xiang smiled and sat down as requested. Lu Duan naturally followed suit, sitting down beside him. The men and women were separated by a few large braziers and tea tables, with pastries and hot tea in abundance.

  Lu Yun remained silent, personally pouring two cups of hot tea and handing them to the maid to deliver to Wu Xiang and Lu Jian. Lu Jian held the hot tea to warm his hands, gave her a slight smile, and Lu Yun returned him a smile. She then quickly glanced at Wu Xiang, only to see that he was staring at Yang Mei making eyes at her, but Yang Mei had an air of composure about her. She lowered her eyelids, staring at the charcoal basin in front of her, her slender hands unconsciously fidgeting with the silk handkerchief in her hands.

  Lin Wu looked at her, then at Wu Xiang, cleared his throat and turned to Yang Miao: "Miao?"

  Yang Mo Fang cleared his throat and said, "Second Brother, just now everyone heard you play the sheng, and they all thought it was a heavenly sound that's rarely heard. Can you play another tune for us?"

  The girls all looked at Wu Xiangkong with eager eyes as the number one young talent of Pingzhou. Lu Yun's handkerchief was twisted a few more times.

  Lin Jinyong gazed at him coldly, and suddenly felt that she seemed to have discovered a small secret that had never been discovered in her past life.

  It's rare for Wu Xiang to be so calm in front of so many girls, listening to Yang Mei's "heavenly music" and small boasts, without a hint of shyness or embarrassment. He smiled naturally and bowed: "My humble skills have disturbed your peaceful listening, I'm truly ashamed. It's more fun with everyone than alone, if only I play the flute, it would be too boring. How about this? We'll each send one person out, and see who wins?"

  Everyone burst out laughing, and just as Lu Yun was about to speak up, Lin Qi jumped in ahead of him and said clearly: "Alright, alright, our side will go first with my fifth sister! She can also play the sheng!"

  Everyone looked at Lin Wu, and Lin Wu's face turned red with anger. She glared at Lin Qi and said stiffly, "I won't." This was clearly meant to humiliate her in public. She had only followed Lin Jianrong for less than half a month and hadn't even begun to learn when Taoshi fell ill, and Lin Jianrong no longer had the heart or time to teach her. What could she do?

  Lin Liu Tian chuckled innocently: "Fifth sister, don't be modest, those days we heard you playing the sheng every day, which morning didn't you play for half an hour? Your sheng was given by Fourth Sister, right? Fourth Sister?" As she spoke, she looked at Lin Jian Rong, as if asking her to bear witness.

  Lin Jinyong wouldn't get involved in their little tricks and just smiled without saying a word.

  Lin Wu was so angry that he bit his lip, looked at Lu Yun with a pleading expression: "I really don't know how to do it, if it were something else, I would have tried."

  Lu Yun An gazed at her with a gentle smile, raising an eyebrow: "Playing the sheng is Wu Er Ge's family heirloom skill, after all it's a rare talent. If Wu Er Ge doesn't mind, I'd like to offer a zither piece. Although my skills are not refined, they're still quite familiar."

  "No need to be polite, let's talk about that later." Wu Xiang was preoccupied with the idea of competing openly and fairly with Lin Jianrong, winning in front of everyone, so that Lu Jie would have nothing more to say. Why would he be interested in Lu Yun's proposal? He directly called out Lin Jianrong's name: "Fourth sister, you've been learning since childhood, why are you hiding there pretending not to speak?" Lin Qi immediately spoke quickly: "Yes, yes, my fourth sister has loved playing the sheng since childhood."

  Lin Jianrong did not decline, but said: "However, I didn't bring a sword."

  Wu Xiang immediately pulled out another flute from his sleeve and handed it over: "I have one here!"

  Lu Yun glanced at Lin Jianrong, then looked at Wu Xiang and suddenly covered her mouth and laughed: "Wu Ergou, you're so careless! You've used it yourself, how can you give it to my fourth sister?" Isn't that unclear about the distinction between men and women?

  Wu Xiang was taken aback, just about to say that this was a new one, when Lu Dian said: "A Yun, don't you have several good ones in your room? Pick out a good one for your fourth sister to use."

  "Go and bring the best sheng from my room, and also bring my se and brother's jade flute." Lu Yun immediately responded, and politely asked everyone: "Do any of you sisters have a favorite instrument? I'll have someone bring it together."

  What's the point of learning all this on ordinary days? Isn't it just to show off in front of people one day? Now, someone wants a sheng, someone wants a guqin, and someone else wants a flute. Someone also expressed interest in borrowing Luyu's se.

  Lin Jien-rong listened to a piece of music called "Listening to Snow".

  In the snow and plum blossom shadows, a young girl's expression is serene, her eyes distant, as if she were wandering in the nine heavens, yet also focused with rapt attention. Her slender fingers are cold as frost, the sound of the sheng is like heavenly music. In the sound of the sheng, flying snow and plum blossoms drift away on the long river of heaven, a beauty like a dream, a life of quiet melancholy.

  Afterwards, no matter who played what piece with what instrument, everyone was no longer very concerned. They only remembered Lu Xuan being silent for a long time, Wu Xiang's shocked face, and his disbelieving expression, even when Lin Wu made excuses saying they were evenly matched, Wu Xiang still stood up and bowed sincerely to Lin Jianrong, saying loudly: "I lost. I concede."

  Yang Mei was over the moon, as if she had won against Wu Xiang herself. With a mischievous tone, she said: "Hey, Second Brother, you always look down on me, this little woman. This time, finally, a little woman has won against you!"

  Lin Jin bowed deeply and sincerely: "Wu Erge, please yield." This was not like the time she defeated Lu Yun, when she had been completely unrepentant. Facing Lu Yun, she had always been confident that Lu Yun was no match for her in the way of tea, but facing Wu Xiang, she truly felt a sense of reverence and awe.

  In terms of skills, they are considered to be from the same school, he has talent, she also has talent, but he is older than her, took the lead, and is a man, who has been traveling outside for many years, with a broader vision and mindset, his music comes from the heart, she was not his match. But at this time, she had gone through life and death, her skills were refined, her state of mind was different, she had already reached a higher level, even if unintentional, it would still be cheating, and he felt ashamed to accept it.

  Wu Xiang didn't know the reason behind this, he only knew that he had boasted earlier and now felt somewhat embarrassed. But he was born with a proud temperament, even in defeat his demeanor was extremely high, he just smiled and said: "Another day I will definitely ask Fourth Sister to teach me again." His meaning was very clear, he believed he wouldn't always lose.

  Lin Jinyong smiled wryly, with Wu Xiang's temper, he would probably have to look for her often to spar in the future. But this was also good, after all it was an opportunity.

  Lu Xian's eyes flashed with a hint of a smile as she took the jade flute and nodded to Lu Yun: "Let's play a duet, brother and sister, to add to the excitement."

  Lu Yun lowered her eyelids and gazed steadily at the guqin in front of her, saying in a low and measured tone: "Good."

  The sound of the qin rose, and Lu Xuan's flute quickly followed. The two siblings coordinated perfectly, and Lin Jianrong listened clearly, with Lu Xuan intentionally highlighting Lu Yun's qin sound and deliberately complementing Lu Fei. It was still like before, Lu Xuan and Lu Yun had a very good relationship, being considerate of each other and thinking for each other.

  The music ended, and the audience applauded. The girls who loved spring couldn't help but recall Lu Xie's elegant demeanor when he played the flute just now. Lin Wu looked at Lu Xie with even more fervor in his eyes. Wu Xiang, on the other hand, seemed unenthusiastic, lazily clapping a few times before saying, "I have something to attend to, excuse me." Then he said to Lu Xie, "I'll have someone send you the things when I get back."

  Lu Jian nodded slightly and said, "I'll send him out."

  Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Lu Yun turned around to look at Lin Jian Rong, her eyes filled with worry, but a sweet smile on her face: "Fourth sister, you're really amazing, next time there's an opportunity, you must teach me more, don't hold back."

  Today, Lu Yun told Lin Jinyong for the second time to stop hiding secrets. Lin Jinyong knew that her actions today were not upright, but she couldn't think of a better way out and could only nod randomly.

  Lu Yun gazed at Lin Jianrong, her lips curling up slightly to reveal a very faint smile. This smile was so familiar that Lin Jianrong suddenly remembered that in their past life, Lu Yun had smiled at her like this countless times. In the blink of an eye, something flashed through her mind, and she tried with all her might to grasp it, but couldn't catch hold of it.

  Lin Jinyong was lost in thought when she was suddenly bumped hard by someone, and then Lin Liu burst out with a sharp scream and jumped up. Next, Lin Jinyong was pushed away by someone's palm, and then Lin Qi angrily pointed at her and scolded: "Fourth sister, what are you doing? Can't you see that Sixth sister is drinking tea? Do you want to scald her to death?"

  Wishing everyone a happy new year!!

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