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Marriage of the Di Daughter

Chapter 153 Part 5: Xiao Hong

Lu Ji thought, why does this bird act like a lecher? He then saw Ji Heng smiled and asked the bird, “What’s your name?”

Although this crested myna looked smart, it could not answer every question, so it just kept shouting “beauty” and couldn’t say anything else.

Ji Heng said, “Since you don’t have a name, you can be called Xiao Hong¹ .”

Lu Ji, “….. Master, this crested myna is black.”

“Um,” Ji Heng said, “but its name is Xiao Hong.”

Lu Ji was speechless. On second thought, it wasn’t his bird, he did not have to care much about it. Disregarding the crested myna, he told Ji Heng the purpose of his visit today, discussed the next plan with him for a while, and then left.

Just as he was about to leave, he glanced at Xiao Hong, seemingly very puzzled, then walked out the door.

After Lu Ji left, Ji Heng walked to the sword where Xiao Hong was perched and reached out to grab it. Xiao Hong turned its head to look at him and cooed. Ji Heng put it on the table, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and placed the handkerchief on the table. Xiao Hong stood on it, then he picked up the handkerchief, wrapped the bird tightly, and placed it on the small table beside the fireplace.

Even though it was freezing cold, it was always warmer inside the house than outside, so Xiao Hong wouldn’t freeze to death.

The little black bird seemed very comfortable in this warm environment. After a while, it squinted its eyes as if it was about to fall asleep. Ji Heng watched it for a while, shook his head, and walked to the other end.

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This bird shouldn’t be alive, but he really couldn’t do as Jiang Li said and feed a bird with mute poison on purpose, so it would be better to bring it back. The Shen family only lost a crested myna, and seeing how this bird was so noisy, it must be unpopular.

Inexplicably, there was an illusion of a magnificent house built for a beloved woman.

……

In the first few days after the New Year, every day was very lively. Children playing around could be seen everywhere on the streets, wearing new clothes, shoes and hats, holding candied haws in their hands, making all kinds of noises and full of joy.

During the New Year in Ming Yi Hall, students did not have to go to school, so the gates were closed. It was also a rare leisure time for the teachers, they either got together with a few good friends or took the time to do their own things. Anyhow, it was all very relaxing.

But Xiao Deyin was different.

She lived alone in a mansion and did not live with her family. People said it was because she had a toughness that was no less than that of men. She had no plan to get married in her life. Although she was gentle and beautiful, and many sons of officials were attracted to her, she was determined to become a guqin player and serve the guqin all her life. The Xiao family had tried to persuade them before, but later on, they stopped trying.

People did not understand her initially, but gradually they began to admire her. After all, a beautiful woman who was not interested in fame and fortune, nor did she want to marry, and simply wanted to be a good musician, was not something that an ordinary person could do. People respected her, students revered her, and as a teacher she was not strict, so her reputation in Yanjing was extremely good.

Although Jing Hong fairy was also an outstanding musician, she had a past of staying in a brothel and was not as pure as Xiao Deyin. Moreover, Jing Hong fairy was now married, so the title of the best musician in Northern Yan fell entirely on Xiao Deyin.

If it were in the past New Years, Xiao Deyin would have already visited her fellow qin friends everywhere, and they would play the qin and compose poetry together. But this New Year, Xiao Deyin politely declined all the invitations, saying that she had caught a cold and was not advisable to go out.

To be exact, it was after the Shen family’s banquet that day that Xiao Deyin caught a “cold”.

In the courtyard, the servant girl asked Xiao Deyin, “Teacher, are you not going out today?”

Xiao Deyin looked at the weather, it was a rare good day. It was not snowing, and the sun was out. The sunlight was so warm that it seemed to penetrate deep into her bones, and it also seemed to dispel much of the haze of the past few days.

She hesitated for a moment and said, “In that case, let’s go out and have a look around.”

Staying in the house all the time without seeing anyone was bound to arouse suspicion. As such, it would be better for her to go out for a walk. She just had to come back early.

Thinking of this, Xiao Deyin asked her servant girl to comb her hair, put on some make up, and pick out a dress that made her complexion look better.

There were many remnants of firecrackers set off by children at the gate of the mansion, making it quite lively. In order to seek peace and quiet, Xiao Deyin lived in a mansion located in an alley. There were usually few people coming and going in the alley, so it seemed particularly quiet. Xiao Deyin was just about to go out for a walk when she suddenly heard a familiar guqin sound coming from not far away.

It’s precisely 《Guanshan Yue》!

Her hands shook, her heart trembled, she grabbed the servant girl beside her and asked, “Do you hear it?”

The servant girl was startled and asked in confusion, “What did you say, teacher?”

“The sound of a guqin! It’s the sound of a guqin! 《Guanshan Yue》!”

The servant girl suddenly realized, “There is indeed the sound of a guqin nearby.”

Xiao Deyin finally felt relieved, thinking that she was not the only one hearing it, so it was not a ghost. Moreover, after listening more carefully, the sound of the guqin was different from Xue Fang Fei’s playing sound. This one sounded much more ordinary.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, two passers-by walked into the alley. After hearing what she said, they turned around and said, “This girl also knows《Guanshan Yue》. A few days ago, a mysterious guqin player appeared in Yanjing and played 《Guanshan Yue》 to perfection. Those who listened to it have been trying to imitate it and it has been all the rage in the past few days.”

One of them even laughed and said, “Come to think of it, some people say that this mysterious person’s guqin skills are more brilliant than Xiao Deyin, the number one guqin player in Northern Yan. I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

Xiao Deyin’s eyes went dark.

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Footnotes:

^{1: Xiao Hong 小紅: literally means Little Red 1.}

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^{This is the last part for this chapter! The author had slightly reduced the number of hanzi and we can mow move on to C154.}

If you haven’t noticed the new novel “Reborn as an 18 years old School Bully”, it’s launched as our 6th year anniversary. It’s a funny and light-hearted modern short novel of 64 chapters + 5 extras.  I don’t recommend reading it now though, wait until we have more chapters out before reading…. maybe start at the end of the year?  XD

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