On the way, Wu Chengsi learned that Yang Tai planned to go to the Yuchun Music Hall in Chongrenfang, and frowned: "Why go to the music hall?"
Yang Tai explained: "Back to Your Highness, Wang Chen and his wife have always been inseparable from each other. His wife will challenge Chang'an music masters at the Yuchun Music Hall tonight, so he will be there too."
Wu Chengsi suddenly asked: "Does he know that this king will pass today?"
Yang Tai hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Your Highness, please forgive me. I mentioned to him that you might go to Yuchun Music Hall to visit him in person today."
Wu Chengsi was silent for a long time, and then ordered one of his guards: "Go to the Jinwu Guards Department and dispatch a team of Jinwu Guards to stand by near the Yuchun Music Hall."
The guard made a promise and turned around.
Yang Tai whispered: "Your Highness, I was negligent and should not have revealed that you were going there."
Wu Chengsi said warmly: "It doesn't matter. You only want to recruit talents for the imperial court. How can I blame you?"
The night was dark and the moonlight was hazy, as if there was a layer of clouds blocking the darkness.
When Wu Chengsi arrived at Yuchun Music Hall, it was still a quarter to the hour of Xu.
Outside the concert hall, there were some music lovers standing in twos and threes. Because these people were short of money, they planned to stand outside the concert hall to listen to the music.
Yang Tai stepped forward to buy the tickets, and the group entered the concert hall.
The space inside the museum is not large. Under normal circumstances, it can accommodate about fifty people.
However, the number of people was seriously exceeded at this time, at least more than a hundred people. Many people could only stand and talk among themselves, making it very noisy.
There are more than a dozen large lanterns hanging on the surrounding walls, illuminating the hall as bright as day. Tables, chairs, benches and musical instruments are being arranged on the wooden platform.
Yang Tai apologized to Wu Chengsi and entered the ear door behind the wooden platform, intending to call Wang Chen out.
Wu Chengsi looked around, searching for the three figures of Liu Lanshuang. However, the hall was too crowded. After searching for a while, he could not find the three of them.
Wu Chengsi didn't know it, but his glance made the three people in the hall have their hearts in their throats.
One of them is Nie Ziyun. He is located in the west of the hall, hiding behind a tall woman in red, for fear of being seen by Wu Chengsi.
The woman in red came from an aristocratic family and fell in love with Nie Ziyun. Nie Ziyun had promised her that he would marry her as soon as he became the Young Minister of Dali.
However, many years later, Nie Ziyun was still the prime minister of the temple. The woman in red couldn't bear it anymore, so she came to Chang'an to look for him.
This was the first time she saw Nie Ziyun cower like this. She glanced in the direction of Wu Chengsi and others and hummed: "Brother Yun, who are those people? Why are you so afraid of them?"
Nie Ziyun whispered: "The man wearing a white shirt and round robe is His Royal Highness the King of Zhou."
The woman in red suddenly became furious and walked towards Wu Chengsi. Nie Ziyun hurriedly grabbed her and said, "Sister Ping, what do you want to do?"
The woman in red said angrily: "Of course I'll teach him a lesson!"
Nie Ziyun said anxiously: "Don't do this nonsense."
The woman in red snorted coldly: "Don't think I don't know! If it weren't for him, you would have become the minister of Dali Temple long ago. Who would have gotten that boy Zhugenan!"
Nie Ziyun held her tightly and said, "Don't listen to other people's nonsense. This matter has nothing to do with His Highness King Zhou!"
The woman in red said angrily: "Why doesn't it matter? You have been the Prime Minister of Dali for almost ten years, but you have never been promoted! Zhuge Nan only became the Prime Minister of Dali Temple the year before last, and now he has been promoted to the Young Minister of Dali in just over two years. No!
Is it just because of King Zhou’s favoritism?”
Nie Ziyun's face darkened and he said, "Don't talk nonsense. Zhuge Nan was promoted because of his meritorious service."
The woman in red gritted her teeth and said, "Isn't that because someone gave him a chance to make meritorious deeds? Why didn't King Zhou let you follow him to Jiangnan?"
Nie Ziyun stopped talking.
The woman in red spoke softly, held his hand and said: "Brother Yun, I think you should stop being the Prime Minister of Laoshizi Temple. Let's go to Jiangnan together and live in Hongye Villa. You play the flute and I dance the sword. Don't you think so?"
Happy?"
Nie Ziyun thought to himself: "If I, a seven-foot tall man, live in my wife's house, won't I be ridiculed by others?"
He shook his head and said: "Don't be impatient, the minister of the temple will be old soon. After he leaves, Di Renjie should be able to become the minister of the temple. I have contributed a lot to the affairs of Daci'en Temple, so I should be able to fill his vacancy."
The woman in red asked: "How long will it take?"
"It shouldn't take more than a year."
On the other side of the hall, on the east side of the hall, Zhuge Nan, who was being discussed by the two people, was also in the music hall.
He also saw Wu Chengsi and hurriedly bowed and hid behind Murong Xuan.
"Brother Zhuge, although my eldest brother is not very good at martial arts, he has a calm personality and may be the type who is good at leading troops..."
Murong Xuan was working hard to promote his elder brother and wanted to get him into the military camp. Suddenly he noticed that Zhuge Nan was acting strangely and asked quickly: "Brother Zhuge, what's wrong with you?"
Zhuge Nan lowered his voice and said: "His Royal Highness, King Zhou is here?"
Murong Xuan was startled and hurriedly hid behind another man. Zhugenan lost his cover and had to find another one.
The two of them carefully observed Wu Chengsi's gaze, and only breathed a sigh of relief when his gaze passed by.
Zhuge Nan said hurriedly: "Brother Murong, let's leave quickly, don't let His Highness King Zhou find out."
Murong Xuan's mind was quick, he rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Brother Zhuge, don't worry, this might be a good opportunity."
Zhuge Nan wondered: "What good opportunity?"
Murong Xuan smiled and said: "Since His Highness the King of Zhou is here, he must also be here to listen to music, and it is very likely that he is here for a certain person."
"so what?"
"When everyone plays the music later, we only need to carefully observe the expression of His Royal Highness King Zhou to know whose music he likes best."
Zhugenan frowned and said, "Even if you know, so what?"
Murong Xuan narrowed his eyes and said: "As long as we know His Highness the King of Zhou's preferences, we can find ways to cater to him and make him happy. If he is happy, will he get less of the benefits from you and me?"
Zhuge Nan looked at him quietly without saying a word.
Murong Xuan was slightly uneasy and said: "Brother Zhuge, what did I say wrong?"
Zhuge Nan said in a deep voice: "Brother Murong, you don't understand His Highness the King of Zhou. He hates other people using this method to please him."
Murong Xuan was secretly startled and said in his heart: "That's right. The King of Zhou always cherishes his reputation, and the palace never accepts gifts. Such a person really cannot please you in this way."
At this moment, Yang Tai, who had gone to the backstage of the concert hall, finally came back. He walked out alone, with no one else around him.
Wu Chengsi noticed that his face was extremely ugly and frowned: "Yang Tai, what's wrong?"
Yang Tai smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, King Zhou, I'm really sorry. Wang Chen said that he wants to accompany his wife now and will not come over until the music competition is over today."
Zhang Gou snorted: "This Wang Chen is too proud of his talent. His Royal Highness the King of Zhou came to see him personally, and he actually dared to show off!"
Wu Chengsi said leisurely: "It doesn't matter, let's just wait a little longer. In fact, I'm also looking forward to the competition."
Not to mention others, even if only Liu Lanshuang and Princess Yiyang played in this competition, it was enough to make him full of expectations.
Suddenly, the crowd in the hall burst into excitement, and everyone looked towards the entrance.
Only a few tall men who looked like nursing homes were seen leading the way.
Behind them, ten men holding musical instruments filed into the hall. The person at the front of these ten people was the number one piano artist in Chang'an, Bai Mingda.
He was Li Zhiying's piano teacher. Although Li Zhiying had no musical talent, he cared about this female disciple very much and would often come to the palace to visit her, so Wu Chengsi met him several times.
Among the nine people behind Bai Mingda, three were old, five were in their forties, and only one was quite young, probably in his early thirties.
These ten people are all famous music masters in Chang'an City. No one expected that they would come together. Many people were thinking: "The ticket purchased today is so worth it!"
Behind these ten people, there followed an old man in green robes with a majestic face. After many people saw him, they suddenly thought: No wonder all these people are here. It turned out that they were invited.
Wu Chengsi also knew this old man in green robe, he was the Yue Jiaoxi from the Imperial Academy.
The manager of the music hall had already run over with a smile on his face and said: "Jiaoxi Yue, everyone, why are you all here?"
Professor Yue snorted coldly and said with a straight face:
"Recently, the music culture in Chang'an City has gotten worse and worse! First there was the arrogant Liu Zixian who went around looking for people to learn from, and now even people from Shu dare to come to Chang'an to provoke him. Can I not come to teach him?"
Wu Chengsi was secretly amused. Last time, Liu Lanshuang didn't show any respect to this Master Yue. It seemed that he had a grudge against him.
Yue Jiaoxi said again: "Where's that guy from Shu? Let him come out. I want to see what kind of person he is. He dares to look down on our Chang'an musical community!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a soft and cowardly female voice sounded from behind the music hall manager.
"My little lady has no intention of looking down on the famous artists in Chang'an. She just wants to entertain friends and let you all comment on the music of our Shu region."
Everyone looked behind the shopkeeper and saw a woman in an emerald green dress slowly walking over.
She has a delicate appearance, and her accent has the unique voiced sound of Shu, which makes people know she is from Shu.
Behind her stood a short, stocky man with a simple face. This man was carrying various large and small bags behind him. Judging from their shapes, they were all musical instruments.
Wu Chengsi stared at the man and asked, "Is he Wang Chen?"
Yang Tai nodded and said, "Yes."
When Yue Jiaoxi saw that this Shu master was actually a woman, he immediately became furious: "You, a woman, dare to come to Chang'an City to challenge you?"
The green group of women frowned and were about to speak when another cold voice suddenly sounded from behind Yue Jiaoxi.
"What's wrong with the woman? Whether the music is good or bad depends on the skill in the hand. What does it have to do with whether it is a man or a woman?"
Wu Chengsi looked behind Mr. Yue and thought to himself, "Why can't I see Lan Shuang and the others everywhere? It turns out they haven't come before!"
The speaker was none other than Liu Lanshuang, who was dressed as a man, and was accompanied by two princesses, Yi Yang and Gao An, who were also dressed in men's clothing.
Professor Yue shouted angrily: "It's you again!"
An old man holding a twenty-five-stringed zither glared and said: "Liu Zixian, what are you doing here? I am challenging the music masters of Chang'an City, and it has nothing to do with you!"
Wu Chengsi was secretly amused.
This old man was none other than Wang Bo'an, the master of the art of playing martial arts who fled without a fight that day. I didn't expect that he could do such a shameful thing and still be able to keep everyone's name. It was not easy.
The man in his thirties gently stroked the pan flute in his hand and said calmly: "So you are Liu Zixian. I heard that you like to challenge others. Why don't you challenge me?"
Liu Lanshuang glanced at him and said, "If you are interested, let's discuss it today."
Yue Jiaoxi said angrily: "Liu Zixian, you don't have a role to play here today. Get out of here quickly!"
Princess Gao'an couldn't bear it anymore and said coldly: "Who are you, and you dare to let us leave?"
Her words immediately stirred up waves, and several people shouted at the same time: "Discourteous!"
Wang Bo'an sneered and said: "They are indeed the same kind of raccoons. Shopkeeper Zhang, hurry up and kick them out, lest they affect today's competition."
The manager of the music hall glared at Liu Lanshuang and said: "Guys, you are not welcome here, please come!"
In the crowd, Murong Xuan's eyes flashed and he said, "Brother Zhuge, do you think Liu Zixian looks a bit like Mrs. Qin?"
Zhugenan was taken aback, looked at him carefully for a while, and whispered: "Yes, there are seven points of similarity. Could it be that he is the brother of Mrs. Qin?"
Then he said: "That's not right. Mr. Liu is an official in another place. How could he appear here?"
Murong Xuan narrowed his eyes and said, "In my opinion, this princess should be dressed in men's clothing!"
Zhuge Nan kept saying: "It's possible!"
Murong Xuan glanced at Wu Chengsi and said: "Brother Zhuge, since Her Royal Highness came here in disguise, she must want to compete with others. Now that she is in trouble, we can't just sit idly by and ignore her!"
Zhuge Nan hesitated and said, "But it wouldn't be good if the prince saw us coming here, right?"
Murong Xuan said: "The prince must also want to help His Royal Highness, but he can't come forward. If we can share his worries, he will only be grateful to us. How can he care about such a trivial matter!"
When Zhuge Nan thought about this, he immediately came to Yue Jiaoxi and others and said loudly: "Why do you drive people away? Who is more capable? Let's compete with Qu Yue!"
Professor Yue stared at him and said, "The ten people here are all top-grade musicians. Their reputations have been accumulated over many years. There is no need to compete at all!"
Murong Xuan also stepped forward and said calmly: "All the imperial examination candidates paid bribes and cheated, let alone the top-grade musicians?"
Yue Jiaoxi was furious and was about to refute sharply when he suddenly heard someone around him whispering: "Hey, isn't that Zhuge Shaoqing from Dali Temple?"
Yue Jiaoxi was taken aback, and his anger disappeared instantly. He swallowed back the words he was about to blurt out, with a look of panic on his face.
Princess Yiyang said in Liu Lanshuang's ear: "Sister Liu, I'm afraid that Dali Shaoqing will recognize you."
Liu Lanshuang also kept looking at Zhugenan and noticed that he glanced at her secretly for a few times, then quickly looked away and nodded "Yeah".
On the west side of the hall, the woman in red saw Zhuge Nan and said in surprise: "Why is this kid here too?"
Nie Ziyun glanced at Murong Xuan beside him and said, "I think he came with the young master of the Murong family."
The woman in red glanced at Wu Chengsi, then looked at Zhuge Nan, smiled slightly, and said: "Brother Yun, that boy didn't know that King Zhou was here, so he dared to come out and meddle in other people's business. Now he will be killed by His Highness King Zhou.
Are you to blame?"
Nie Ziyun nodded.
At this time, someone in the crowd shouted: "Let them compete. I heard that Liu Zixian once beat Wang Bo'an!"
The man playing the panpipe raised his eyebrows and said, "Teacher Yue, let the students compete with this Liu Zixian."
Professor Yue got off the donkey shunslope, nodded and said: "Okay then, you can compete with him to see if he is really capable."
The woman in green clothes on the side was stunned. She was obviously going to challenge the music masters of Chang'an, but why did the protagonist suddenly become someone else?
Without waiting for her to object, the man playing the pan flute said "I'll come first" and took his pan flute onto the wooden platform.
He put the pan flute to his lips, took a few deep breaths, adjusted his breathing evenly, then expanded his abdomen, and an ethereal and elegant note slipped out of the flute pipe.
The originally noisy hall gradually became quiet. The man's eyes were lowered and his head moved slowly and rhythmically. As he moved from the high to the low range, the lively music suddenly became deep and melodious.
The penetrating sound of the flute soon enveloped the entire hall. People's distracting thoughts were driven away by the sound of the flute, and people were immersed in the bright and spacious artistic conception of the pan flute.
Wu Chengsi secretly praised that the man playing panpipes on the wooden platform was indeed worthy of his name. A flute song made the platform clear and clear, giving him the feeling of being on a vast plain.
After a long time, the song ended and everyone burst into thunderous cheers.
"Well done, as expected of Mr. Lin!"
"Listening to this piece of music makes people forget their worries in an instant. It is indeed the number one flute player in Chang'an!"
"This is the strength of our Lin family! Liu Zixian, are you convinced?"
The man playing the pan flute also got off the wooden platform at this time, came to Liu Lanshuang, raised his chin and said: "It's your turn."
Liu Lanshuang didn't know why, she frowned tightly and didn't answer.
The man playing the panpipe said proudly: "Why, don't you dare to go on stage?"
Liu Lanshuang still didn't answer, but at this moment, someone shouted: "Hey, look, that Shu girl is up."
Everyone turned to look at the stage, and sure enough they saw that the Shu woman had already stepped onto the stage first. She also held a pan flute in her hand and said with a smile:
"I am very honored to be able to listen to the flute music played by everyone in Chang'an Lin today. I would also like to invite you all to listen to the flute music played by my little lady."
As soon as he finished speaking, his lips pressed against the flute, and a deep and soft weak sound sounded in the hall.
Everyone in the hall felt as if their heartstrings had been plucked, and they were instantly attracted to the music. They just wanted to be immersed in the music and did not want to speak anymore.
In just a short moment, the hall became even quieter than before, and only the ethereal music played by the woman in green could be heard.
Different from Master Lin's clear and bright flute music, the music played by the woman in green is softer and more elegant, like a woman in a boudoir, whispering to you.
Wu Chengsi secretly lamented that ancient repertoire all had one characteristic: they were rich in emotion and could affect people's emotions.
He had also listened to Liu Lanshuang's flute music. After careful comparison, he still felt that his wife's level was higher, but he didn't know why she didn't want to go on stage just now.
Just when he was thinking wildly, the woman in green finished playing, and the audience below praised her generously.
"Yes, Master Lin and I both have their own strengths!"
"The sound quality is so lingering that it actually reminds me of my wife who has passed away many years ago. She is worthy of being a member of Sichuan Province!"
"See, this is everyone's strength! Liu Zixian, are you convinced?"
This third voice is quite familiar. Just now when everyone Lin finished playing, this voice said similar words.
Wu Chengsi followed the sound and found that the person speaking was Wang Bo'an.
Although I have never heard this old man play, considering that he fled without fighting, we know that his skills are not very good, and his character is also so bad now.
That such a person can be rated as a top-grade musician shows that there is something wrong with the people who rated him as a top-grade musician.
At this time, the woman in green walked down the stage, smiled at everyone and said, "Everyone, can this little girl still listen to this song?"
Bai Mingda and others were so discerning, they all thought: "This woman's skills are not inferior to Master Lin, this match should be considered a draw."
Wang Bo'an touched his beard and said calmly: "You are not bad at playing, and can barely get into everyone's threshold, but you are still a little immature and not as good as everyone."
The woman in green frowned, glanced at the harp in his hand, and said, "In that case, the little lady will ask you about the harp music!"
Wang Boan was stunned.
Everyone Lin was surprised and said, "You can still play the harp?"
The woman's eyes swept over the instruments in everyone's hands one by one, and said with a smile: "I know a thing or two about the instruments in everyone's hands."
The crowd was immediately in an uproar, and the expressions on everyone's faces froze.
Although this woman said she was modest, it can be seen from her level of pan flute just now that she must be proficient in various musical instruments.
This requires not only hard work, but also extremely high musical talent.
Many people are thinking: "No wonder she dares to post a list to challenge all the famous masters in Chang'an. It turns out she has such amazing skills!"
Even Bai Mingda, the number one music master, is only good at qin music. Could it be that the status of Chang'an City's music center will be taken away by Shu?