As musical instruments were mentioned, Gu Chaoyan did feel a bit hesitant. She could play the zither, yet she was not particularly good at it. She could pass the examination with it, yet she would still need to make efforts to put on an extraordinary show. Then what should she do? She put down the brush in hand and started to think with her hands cupping her cheeks.
Sword One stopped making the ink too. Judging from the way Miss was behaving, she might have no time to practice calligraphy today. So she made her a kettle of tea, prepared some snacks just to help Miss get more inspired.
She had just poured a cup of tea and was about to serve her when Gu Chaoyan struck the table. “I got it!”
Sword One almost upset the tea! However, Sword One was skilled enough to keep the tea steady, as she passed it to Gu Chaoyan. “Miss, the tea is hot. What have you got?”
Gu Chaoyan took a sip of the tea, feeling the fragrance of the tea spreading inside her mouth.
She loved this kind of sun-dried white tea, and she was going to ask Zhou Huaijin to get her some more in the following year.
“Sword One, can you ask Lord if he can get me a huge drum?” Gu Chaoyan asked. She just thought of the fact that a drum was also a musical instrument. So if she was going to put on a show of playing the drum, the show would look very extraordinary and wonderful. Also, she loved dancing on the drum in her previous life.
Gu Chaoyan was very pleased as she came up with this idea.
Sword One nodded. Lord was definitely going to get whatever Elder Miss needed.
There was still some time to go before the examination took place, so the time should be sufficient for the preparation.
Gu Chaoyan described the sizes and numbers of the drum she needed, as Sword One went out of the room and joined Sword Two.
Gu Chaoyan, meanwhile, was considering how she should perform the show.
***
The following day Zhou Huaijin asked Fu Bao to pick up Gu Chaoyan for the pitch.
When Fu Bao arrived, Gu Chaoyan was still sleeping. Gu Chaoyan had thought that what Sword Two said the day before was just helping her out in front of Zhang Mingyuan, so she never planned to practise the riding and shooting the following day. So it was not until Fu Bao arrived that she got up in a hurry and got into the wagon with a pair of drowsy eyes.
Gu Chaoyan did not fully wake up until she eventually came to the pitch at Lord Huai’s Mansion.
She had been to Lord Huai’s Mansion many times before, but she had not been aware of the existence of the pitch! And this pitch looked huge!
Zhou Huaijin was just getting off a date-color horse and walked towards Gu Chaoyan. He subconsciously removed his own drapery and put it over Gu Chaoyan’s shoulders. It was a cool day in the early autumn. As the breeze brushed by, a corner of the drapery was lifted.
“Want to have a try?” Zhou Huaijin pointed at a white, mild-looking horse as he asked her.
Gu Chaoyan nodded.
With Zhou Huaijin’s drapery on her, she hopped upon the horse, patted the back of the horse which started to run forward. Gu Chaoyan turned around and looked at Zhou Huaijin, asking him with a smile, “Want a race?”
Seeing her bright smile on her face, Zhou Huaijin realized that he had been worried for her in vain. So he hopped on the date-color horse, whipped it and followed her.
Sword One and Fu Bao spit out the dust they had just inhaled as they saw the two figures disappearing in front of them. For one moment, they wondered whether they should cry or laugh.
Zhou Huaijin had thought about slowing down just for Gu Chaoyan, but gradually, he realized that he was not able to catch up with Gu Chaoyan, even if he put full effort into it. So he gathered himself up and had a serious race with her on the pitch.
