Lin Yingxin clenched her fists tightly all of a sudden and closed her eye slowly. The song that Wen Xinya had performed was way more difficult to play than “Snow In Spring” and was a test of technique and fingering, especially in the eight stanza which depicted the battle in the mountains. There seemed to have been no pauses throughout that stanza where she continuously changed the notes and overlapped them. It was something that Lin Yingxin could not perform perfectly despite being proficient in playing the zither too.
Wen Xinya managed to convey the message and significance of “Ten-sided Ambush” which could only be relayed using a pipa, on the zither. That simply meant that she had incredible technique and skill. Although Lin Yingxin was good at playing the zither, she still did not dare to take up the challenge of performing that song.
At this moment, she almost broke her teeth from gritting them too vigorously. Xia Ruya was just spouting rubbish when she said that Wen Xinya would lose control of her emotions and end up forfeiting this showdown because of the effects of the jimsonweed. Wen Xinya didn’t even get poisoned. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to play such a difficult song at all. I’ve been duped by Xia Ruya and she’s obviously out to harm me.
The thought of it made her incredibly infuriated.
Now that she had lost the battle, her reputation would be ruined and she had sacrificed her title to bring glory to Wen Xinya, the ultimate winner.
Everyone would definitely say, “Look, Wen Xinya has even managed to defeat the winner of the previous gala, Lin Yingxin!”
She glowered at Xia Ruya with resentment in her eyes. How did I offend Xia Ruya in any way? What did I do to deserve this treatment from her?
At this moment, Xia Ruya was in low spirits too.
Even though she was not good at playing the zither, she could tell the difference in Wen Xinya’s and Lin Yingxin’s skills and who the winner between them was. She was, however, beyond shocked and in disbelief. How could this have happened?
I clearly had this all planned out. Wen Xinya is supposed to be suffering the effects of jimsonweed in full swing and her thoughts would be affected. She’s supposed to perform poorly and lose to Lin Yingxin.
However, Wen Xinya doesn’t seem to have been poisoned at all. What is going on? Which part of my plan went wrong? Did Wen Xinya not ingest the poison?
No, it can’t be. I watched her eat the cakes and drink the tea. There’s no way she wouldn’t be poisoned.
Could it be that Wen Xinya has found out about the spiked food and hence, did not actually consume them? Was she just putting on an act for us?
No, that’s impossible. There’s no way Wen Xinya would have known that I tampered with the food. There’s no way she would know about my plan.
What is going on?
As if she had been possessed by a demon, Xia Ruya glowered at Wen Xinya and tried to observe for any clues.
Xia Ruya’s gaze was similar to that of a venomous snake and Wen Xinya had obviously sensed it. She raised her eyes and stared at Xia Ruya composedly, seemingly trying to give her a warning.
Xia Ruya finally realized that she had allowed her emotions to show. She frantically looked away and hung her head low, seemingly thinking about something.
The sounds of applause sounded in the air again.
Everyone was snapped out of their trance and began applauding too.
They clapped so loudly that it seemed as if they had expended all of their energy while doing so.
The applause lasted for a long time.
One of the judges who was good at the zither said agitatedly, “Ten-sided Ambush is a song that requires precise technique and fingering. Everyone knows that the zither is too plain for this vigorous and dramatic song. However, Miss Wen has managed to convey all of the intended emotions of this song on the zither instead of the pipa and tugged at everyone’s heartstrings. She is a prodigy in playing the zither.”
The host chimed in. “The toughest part about playing Ten-sided Ambush is the variations in techniques that include exchanging, replacing and overlapping. Those who are not experts in playing the zither will never be able to play the song in such a vibrant manner.”
The other judges praised her fervently.
It was as if they had completely forgotten about Lin Yingxin’s performance of ‘Snow In Spring’ which preceded Wen Xinya’s. After having heard Wen Xinya’s amazing performance, they all felt that Lin Yingxin’s paled in performance.
Since it was just a friendly showdown, there would be no winner, though everyone had a tacit understanding of who the winner was.
Lin Yingxin had already lost.
Wen Xinya’s talent in the four arts had completely helped her undermine the winner of the previous gala.
“Your zither skills are really not too bad,” said Du Ruoxin, who surprisingly did not make a sarcastic remark.
Wen Xinya glanced at her silently.
Wen Xinya was not surprised by the outcome. Anyone who understood the art of zither would be able to tell that Lin Yingxin’s performance of ‘Snow In Spring’ was messy and complicated, a telltale sign of her unstable emotions. She had performed below her normal standards.
Hence, it was only right that she would lose.
Xia Ruya hung her head low, extremely dumbstruck and bewildered.
In order to plot against Wen Xinya during the gala, she put in a ton of effort into devising a scheme and had even gotten her trump card, the host, involved. Yet, at the end of the day, her plan had still gone in vain.
Wen Xinya did not lose the battle.
Wen Xinya did not lose control of her emotions because of the jimsonweed, either. She did not ruin her own reputation.
Xia Ruya had indeed salvaged some of her reputation by showcasing her talent in brewing floral tea.
However, she failed to complete her plan because Wen Xinya did not fall into her trap.
Feelings of jealousy and anger drowned her when she heard the heiresses complimenting Wen Xinya and discussing about how talented she was.
“It has been long since we’ve seen an heiress who’s talented in all four arts. Wen Xinya is really impressive. Although there are many other genuinely talented ladies who did not turn up today, Wen Xinya is not inferior to them either.”
“There were so many controversial rumors about her previously and I thought that she was really just a sham. I didn’t expect that she’s actually multi-talented. Those rumors must have been started by someone who’s out to defame her.”
“I’ve been learning the four arts from my grandmother since a young age and it has already been more than ten years since I started. Wen Xinya has only been learning from Old Mr. Mo for three years and yet, she’s already accomplished so much. You really shouldn’t compare yourself to others, lest you feel upset about being inferior!”
“Well, she’s lucky to have Old Mr. Mo as her grampy.”
“You can’t say that. Just like what Du Ruoxin said, one might not become a talented girl just because she has Old Mr. Mo as her grandfather!”
“Hehe, you have a point… someone was Old Mr. Mo’s granddaughter for 12 years but still remains talentless…”
