The female singer tilted her head and took a look at Qi Xia, then lowered her head again and continued to
stare at her zither.
Qi Xia didn’t make any noise. He sat down in the pavilion in the garden, propped up his chin, and looked
at the singer who had started plucking the strings once more.
The sound of the zither reverberated in the garden. The night wind swept by and the owers swayed.
“Why don’t you sing?” Qi Xia looked at the female singer. She just played her zither for a long time and did
not open her mouth to utter a word.
The female singer didn’t look up, but merely focused on the strings at her ngertips.
“You have to pay to hear my singing.”
Qi Xia raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking that this lady was a bit interesting.
Was she saying this because she thought he was a customer? Was that why she was being hard to talk to?
“Oh? How much do you want then?”
“It depends on the person. For the common people, I don’t take any money. As for nobles and the sort, I
don’t sing for them, no matter how much they give me.” The female singer answered.
“I’m a part of the common people.” Qi Xia said, without any moral integrity.
The female singer stopped playing the zither, looked at the gorgeous youngster in front of her from head
to toe, blinked her eyes, and said in a very straightforward voice, “Do you think I’m blind?”
Qi Xia smiled. There were countless singers and dancers in the Qin Music Hall, but it was the rst time he
had seen such an impolite fellow.
“Little Third Qi, is it worth the trouble irting with a little girl? I’m just someone making a living in your
music hall.” The girl pulled her eyes away.
“You know who I am?” Qi Xia smiled and asked. He was quite sure that in the few days he had gone to the
music hall, this person did not look up at him even once; so, how did she know his identity?
“Men are not allowed to enter the backyard of the music hall, not even those in charge of the Qin Music
Hall. Only the people of the Qilin Clan are qualied to break this rule, and among the younger generation
of the Qilin Clan, there is only one person called Little Third Qi, who is the same age as you. Little Third Qi
has already started to help the head of the Qilin Clan manage clan aairs. This is a well-known thing.
Someone who can come to the backyard at this time… Of course, you are the only one.” The female singer
spoke neither too fast nor too slow. She sounded extremely modest and polite, but her attitude was
extremely lofty and arrogant. She did not appear to be at all attered nor panicked because she had
guessed Qi Xia’s identity.
She was so calm, making one somewhat surprised.
“You’re very clever. With a brain like yours, it would be a waste to just sing here.” Qi Xia smilingly said. He
found the way she spoke in front of him very interesting. He also seemed accustomed to the way the
other person spoke, as he did not feel any rudeness at all.
“This little girl has no talent nor virtue, and only knows to sing a song and play a zither to make a living.”
The female singer gave herself an extremely humble description, yet one could not see the slightest
contempt for herself in her eyes; rather, there was a little hint of dislike….
She disliked the noble son who disturbed her zither-playing…
Qi Xia thought that this female singer was really very interesting. Her words and actions, and her attitude
that made people grieve, were very much similar to the gure in his memory. However, he could not think
of who that person was, as if that person had been hidden in the deepest part of his soul, and was now so
extremely vague that he could not even remember her face.
“Since it is your way to make a living, then you should sing for me.” Qi Xia shook his white jade bone fan
and looked at the aloof singer, calm and unrued.
The female singer looked up at Qi Xia and stretched out her tender little hand.
“…” Qi Xia paused. This little girl was really asking him for payment, ah!
