General, Madam Called You To Farm - Chapter 613

General, Madam Called You To Farm
Chapter 613 – The real and the fake Jiufeng (1) 

Translator : Moon Lee
Editor : Tea
This translation made by Moonlight Teatime.
Please read my translation only at Moonlight Teatime. 
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It would be absurd to compare it to Zhou’s three most famous zithers.

It was owned by Nalan Yun, the zither master known as the Zither Immortal.

He was the most talented zither prodigy in generations, becoming famous at the age of seven and known throughout the seven kingdoms by the age of ten.

Rumors circulated that he was from Northern Yan, while others claimed he was from Western Jin.  

His identity was mysterious, and his whereabouts were elusive. 

He was invited to play at the Western Jin royal court three years ago, but then disappeared without a trace.  

Some said he had retired, while others believed he was dead.  

In short, few people had seen him in person, and even fewer had seen Jiufeng. 

Qin Yanran had only seen Jiufeng in paintings.  

Lin Ruyue sneered, “She actually brought a fake zither!”  

Everyone turned to look at Su Xiaoxiao with strange expressions.  

That’s right, no one believed that this Luan zither was a real one.  

After all, how could a country girl possibly own the real Jiufeng?  

Qin Yanran said with feigned concern, “Where did you buy this zither? Were you cheated?”  

When she said this, everyone immediately imagined Su Xiaoxiao, driven by vanity, being duped into purchasing an imitation.

Lin Ruyue sneered, “Someone wanted to buy Jiufeng but didn’t know anything about it, so they got a counterfeit. Did they genuinely believe Jiufeng was something you could simply stumble upon?”  

“What’s going on?”  

Princess Jingning’s voice suddenly came from behind the crowd.  

Everyone felt a chill at the back of their necks and immediately stopped mocking Su Xiaoxiao, returning to their seats.  

Princess Jingning sat down beside Su Xiaoxiao.  

The corridor could only accommodate two zither tables per row. 

Princess Jingning and Su Xiaoxiao took the first row. 

By the time Princess Hui’an arrived, only the second row was left.  

Princess Hui’an didn’t feel that Su Xiaoxiao had taken her seat. 

After all, one of the first-row seats undoubtedly belonged to Jingning, who let Jingning be the legitimate princess?  

As for the seat next to Jingning… Hmph, she would rather die than sit there!  

She also didn’t particularly want to sit behind Jingning.  

Qin Yanran timely came to her rescue: “Princess Hui’an, please sit here.”  

She gave up her third-row seat to Princess Hui’an.

Then she moved to sit behind Princess Jingning herself.  

She heard Princess Jingning instruct the young palace maid beside her, 

“Go to the storeroom and fetch a zither.”  

Just as Tao Zhi was about to comply, Su Xiaoxiao said, 

“No need. My zither is just fine.”  

“How can it be good? It’s broken.” 

Princess Jingning paused, perhaps thinking the girl didn’t want to trouble her. 

Then she said, “I will swap with you.”

Qin Yanran wondered if she had misheard.  

What kind of bewitching potion did this chubby little girl give Princess Jingning to make her voluntarily swap the zithers with her?  

But even more shocking was what came next.  

“It’s not possible.”  

That girl actually refused!  

“Why not?” 

Princess Jingning thought, there was no need to be shy, you have the right to be pampered. 

Su Xiaoxiao said bluntly, “I don’t know if Xiaohu would agree to let you touch his zither.”  

Princess Jingning: “.…..”  

The music teacher was a senior court musician surnamed Gao. 

He was well-versed in music theory and skilled in the guqin, Luan zither, and flute, a comprehensively talented teacher.  

He also noticed Su Xiaoxiao’s Luan zither.  

However, like everyone present, he had never seen the real Jiufeng but had encountered many imitations.  

This one was particularly crude, worn, old, with peeling lacquer and a knife mark on the headstock. It couldn’t possibly be more fake.  

Teacher Gao snorted coldly and refused to spare it another glance.  

Most of the young ladies at the palace academy had some foundation in music. 

For instance, Qin Yanran was skilled in the guqin, while Hu Biyun excelled at the Luan zither, and Miss Wang was proficient in the flute. 

However, the palace academy was primarily established for the two princesses, and the others were merely study companions.  

Since the princesses were beginners, the others had to start from scratch as well.  

Teacher Gao began by teaching the structure of the Luan zither and the five notes: gong, shang, jue, zhi, and Yu.

*The term refers to the five musical notes that rise in pitch, from gong (宫),shang (商),jue (角),zhi(徵),to yu (羽), which correspond roughly to the notes of 1 (Do), 2 (Re), 3 (Mi), 5 (Sol), and 6 (La) in today’s numbered musical notation. When a zhi minus is placed before zhi and a gong plus after yu, this pentatonic scale becomes heptatonic. Such division of the musical notes gives rise to a variety of tunes. Although Chinese classical music based on a five-note scale does not vary that much, it retains the beauty of a simple, quiet, and lyrical style. As ancient refined music and folksongs were mostly based on a five-note scale, this term often referred to music in general.  

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