"You, who claimed that my zither performance was flawed... What is the reasoning behind such claims? Are you also a zither expert? What qualifications do you have to call me out?" Fairy Fei looked at Yuan with narrowed eyes while she stood on the thin railings with perfect balance.
"Qualifications?" Yuan raised his eyebrows, and then he said, "Although I am not a zither expert, I don’t need to be a zither expert to tell that you had made several mistakes in your playing in the last hour. As long as I have enough experience in music, I can tell if something is amiss just by the notes and flow alone, and there were several notes that didn’t flow properly during your performance."
’T-This disciple...’ Fairy Fei clenched her teeth tightly after hearing Yuan’s words and her eyebrows twitched uncontrollably, but she was not angry at him. In fact, she was surprised that Yuan had managed to notice her mistakes, even feeling a little bit nervous since she has never been caught or called out before, as everyone would just assume that she was perfect.
However, she did not want to admit that she— a Core disciple— was wrong right before two Outer Court disciples.
"What is your name?" Fairy Fei suddenly asked him after a moment of silence.
"Yuan," he calmly responded.
"Disciple Yuan, right? Since you are so confident that my performance was flawed, why don’t you show me how it’s done?" Fairy Fei then laid her zither on the table and stared at Yuan with a serious look on her elegant face. "You have ’experience’ in music, right? Surely, you will be able to play the zither better than me if that is the case."
"Uhh..." Yuan looked at the beautiful zither that seemed to be made of some kind of wood laying on the table with a somewhat dazed look on his face.
Although he has never played the zither before, he was not someone who would shy away from something they have never experienced before, especially when it was related to music and instruments. After all, how else will he learn them if not by playing with them?
’That’s what I thought! Even though you may have a sharp intuition for music, you don’t have what it takes to play the zither!’ Fairy Fei smiled inwardly after seeing Yuan’s dazed face.
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Of course, she’d rather if Yuan didn’t actually play the zither, as she wouldn’t know what to do if he really played the zither better than her.
However, little did Fairy Fei know that she’d already dug a deep hole for herself by giving an instrument to Yuan who was widely recognized by the whole world to be the number one prodigy in history in the field of music.
And when Fairy Fei saw Yuan reaching for the zither, she cried inwardly, ’He’s actually going to play the zither?!’
Fairy Fei frowned before speaking out loud, "Wait a second!"
"What’s the matter?" Yuan looked at her with an innocent look on his face, and he continued, "You want me to play the zither, right? Although I have never played it before, I should be able to play it to some extent."
"Eh? You have never played the zither before?" Fairy Fei looked at him with her clear eyes wide open, as did Chu Bo who thought he was definitely an expert.
"Ahem!"
After a moment of silence, Fairy Fei cleared her throat before speaking in a somewhat stiff voice, "N-Never mind! You can go ahead and play the zither."
"Okay." Yuan nodded and pulled the zither closer before sitting back down.
Yuan then closed his eyes to practice a little bit more inside his head.
A few moments later, Yuan opened his eyes again and took a deep breath before he slowly lifted his hands like he was prepared to play the piano.
’Such calm movements... I would’ve never thought this would be his first time if he didn’t say it...’ Fairy Fei frowned when she saw Yuan’s arm movements before he even began playing the zither.
Yuan’s finger gently touched one of the strings on the zither, and a single later—
Ting~
An extremely crisp and beautiful sound echoed in the place, creating a calm ripple on the water while causing Fairy Fei’s heart to skip a beat at the same time.
Another note immediate followed afterward—
Ting~
Yuan began playing the zither with precise movements like a real expert who had years of experience with the instrument, replaying one of Fairy Fei’s earlier songs.
Fairy Fei’s jaw dropped when she saw this, and she cried inwardly, ’T-This damn brat lied to me! How dare you say this is your first time playing the zither when you can produce such flawless notes?!’
Meanwhile, when the other guests at the Dragon Pavilion realized the music had returned, they immediately mistook Yuan’s zither play for Fairy Fei’s zither play.
"Where’s Fairy Fei playing from? Why did she suddenly move locations?"
"Who cares where she’s playing from— this music is amazing! In fact, I think it sounds even better than just a few moments ago!"
"Perhaps Fairy Fei found a new favorite spot, enhancing her performance."
"..."
When Fairy Fei heard the other guests’ words, she nearly puked out a mouthful of blood on the spot but somehow managed to resist it by clenching her teeth tightly together.
’Just who is this Outer Court disciple?! If he can dine in this place, he’s definitely no ordinary individual! However, I don’t recognize him at all!’ Fairy Fei pondered to herself with a deep frown on her face.
The only thing keeping Fairy Fei from losing her temperament was Yuan’s unknown identity. Even though Yuan is only a mere Outer Court disciple, Fairy Fei knew very well that one’s outer appearance can be very deceiving and that she shouldn’t judge someone just by their looks. After all, no sane Outer Court disciple would be able to keep calm before a Core disciple, much less challenge them in such a manner!